Wher Growth Guide

[Jabberwoky]

Wherlet Growth Guide

In this guide, you will find an in-depth overview of how your wher is growing, from hatching to adulthood, and what milestones they'll be hitting at the respective age mentioned. It includes images, percentages, rough real-life animal size comparisons, and a couple paragraphs of information, spaced out every month and a half IC, to match the usual month-and-a-half half-season changes that we undergo every month OOC.

Other Resources
-A gif can be found here for those interested in seeing the changes.
-Slideshow of growth changes can be found here! Height of reference individual is 6'0".

Disclaimer: TPA's Pern does not have bears or rhinos of any kind. These are simply provided as real-life animal size comparisons.

Thanks to Hastings and Jackdaw for their work on this project!

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 0 Months (Hatching)
OOC: 0 Months
Size: 15%
White: Lapine
Green: Lapine
Blue: Feline
Garnet: Feline
Brown: Feline
Bronze: Small Canine
Gold: Small Canine

Your wher has just hatched! Wher chicks are small enough to be easily carried and moved around, which is a good thing, as they are relatively helpless. Though capable of walking or play, young wherlets are mostly concerned with sleeping, growing, and eating. Right now, they eat an enormous quantity of meat– up to an eighth of their body weight each day. As whers weigh more than dragons of comparable size, this comes out to a significant amount of food!

Many young whers show hunting instinct and have a tendency to try and eat anything that moves or smells interesting. Make sure not to let your wher accidentally eat things like shoes, sticks, and leather! Constipation and blockages can be a serious problem for a young chick.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 1.5 Months
OOC: 1 Months
Size: 25%
White: Feline
Green: Feline
Blue: Small Canine
Garnet: Small Canine
Brown: Small Canine
Bronze: Medium Canine
Gold: Medium Canine

Over the course of half a season, your wher has nearly doubled in height and has trebled in weight. Though they can still be carried, the larger whers are getting heavy enough that it's more of an exercise than an easy task. Percentage-wise, your wher is eating less, but given how much larger they are, they're eating more pounds of food per meal!

Though they seem solid, your wher is still in the early and vulnerable phase of growing, and care should be used to ensure that they don't over-exercise, which can lead to damage of the growth plates of their bones, and lead to problems such as hip dysplasia or bowed legs.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 3 Months
OOC: 2 Months
Size: 35%
White: Medium Canine
Green: Medium Canine
Blue: Medium Canine
Garnet: Large Canine
Brown: Large Canine
Bronze: Large Canine
Gold: Sow

At the end of their first season, your wher is now the height of a hatchling dragon - but weighs significantly more! Metallic whers are too heavy to be easily carried or shifted, and may even outweigh their handlers by a good amount. By this age, most whers have shifted from mostly sleeping to a more standard schedule, with perhaps one or two naps; more active wherlets are starting to put on muscle as well as bone and tissue mass. All whers should be eating a mix of whole prey and pre-butchered wherry, and will be starting lure training and bait-hunting with their partner over the next few weeks.

This is typically the earliest that handlers can start bringing their young whers on hikes and exploration, and care must still be taken to ensure that your wher doesn't over-exert their self in their eagerness. Stone bruises are a very real possibility for whers on their first patrols, as is pad-rot; make sure to take your wher to the healers if they are limping or favoring one foot!

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 4.5 Months
OOC: 3 Months
Size: 45%
White: Large Canine
Green: Large Canine
Blue: Large Canine
Garnet: Sow
Brown: Sow
Bronze: Boar
Gold: Boar

At a season and a half, your wher is nearly half their adult height - but still far from their adult weight and bulk! While still in their early, more rapid-paced growth, your wher should be capable of short hikes and is likely to be interested in hunting or whole carcasses. It's a good idea to introduce small live prey, such as tunnelsnakes, lapines, whersport, and greenfowl into their diet, to give them practice holding and killing live prey without putting stress on their joints by hunting. Whers should be capable at following scent-trails by this point; now is when to start introducing your wher to working blind during the daytime. Don't forget the goggles and blindfolds!

While it can be tempting to go on longer hikes with your wher now that they can keep up with you more easily, keep in mind that they are still very young, and that their growth has not yet started leveling off! A little bit of patience goes a long way at this stage, and it remains important to get your wher frequent check-ups with the healers to catch any issues early on.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 6 Months
OOC: 4 Months
Size: 55%
White: Sow
Green: Sow
Blue: Sow
Garnet: Boar
Brown: Boar
Bronze: Black Bear
Gold: Black Bear

One-third of the way through wherlinghood, your wher is now over halfway to their adult height! As their growth rates slowly start to level out, young whers are encouraged to start going for longer hikes, and to build up their strength through swimming and other low-impact activities.

At this stage, whers are fitted for their first sets of carry-straps, and get their first introduction to weight-training. They will carry small lead weights on their straps to slowly build up to carrying heavier objects - including you! Though it's not safe to ride your wher for long periods, over time they will build up enough strength to carry a person for short periods at a walk. While some whers dislike being ridden, it's important for them to know how to carry both live and inanimate weight - and important for you to learn how to ride a wher, a far different business than riding either a runner or a dragon.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 7.5 Months
OOC: 5 Months
Size: 62.5%
White: Sow
Green: Boar
Blue: Boar
Garnet: Black Bear
Brown: Black Bear
Bronze: Grizzly Bear
Gold: Grizzly Bear

At this point, your wher's growth in height and length has begun to slow, while they begin to bulk out. While leaner whers may retain a more draconic frame for some time, burlier whers are likely to start showing the slab-like shoulders, thick neck, and massive haunches their kind is famed for. Your wher is finally old enough to allow high-impact activities! Though pairs are cautioned to take it slow in the beginning, it's time to start building muscle for both sprints and long-distance running. Whers interested in trying to learn to glide should start really focusing on building up their wing muscles, including holding wings outstretched and swimming with the wings.

Watch out for sore joints, muscle aches, and leg-splints from over-exertion! As always, make sure to go to the healers if anything seems wrong, including just overall soreness. You might be pushing your wher too hard for their developing body!

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 9 Months
OOC: 6 Months
Size: 75%
White: Boar
Green: Black Bear
Blue: Black Bear
Garnet: Grizzly Bear
Brown: Grizzly Bear
Bronze: Grizzly Bear
Gold: Grizzly Bear

By now, even the smallest white can become an immovable object when they don't wish to shift, and easily outweigh their partners. Manners are starting to become more and more paramount, and this is about the time when whers start to be unable to move through the smaller-sized tunnels of the inner Weyr, and are restricted to the wherhandler barracks, large transit tunnels, and bathing caverns - and some of the larger whers may have already been uncomfortable there for some time!

This stage in development also marks when whers move from being chicks into being adolescents. Both greens and garnets may have a one-off early Run as early as nine months of age; this does not mark full maturity, however, and even handlers whose whers have Run must respect strictures against sexual contact for the full turn.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 10.5 Months
OOC: 7 Months
Size: 82.5%
White: Black Bear
Green: Black Bear
Blue: Grizzly Bear
Garnet: Grizzly Bear
Brown: Grizzly Bear
Bronze: Kodiak Bear
Gold: Kodiak Bear

Even the smallest of whers now outsize wherries by a fair margin, and your wher should be hunting all of their own prey at this point, both from the hunting grounds and from outside the Weyr. Try and use hunting as a method of visiting and exploring some of the more remote areas in the local area, as well as hunting larger or more dangerous prey (like cattle or wild hogs) in pairs or groups of three!

Keep vigilant for sudden growth spurts and rub-sores from the carry-straps! While wher growth is typically leveled out at this point, it's possible for whers to show a few rapid weeks of growth even now, and should be fed and rested as that occurs.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 12 Months
OOC: 8 Months
Size: 85%
White: Black Bear
Green: Grizzly Bear
Blue: Grizzly Bear
Garnet: Kodiak Bear
Brown: Kodiak Bear
Bronze: Polar Bear
Gold: Polar Bear

Congratulations! You've made it through the first turn of wherlinghood, and are two-thirds complete with growth and training. From here, growth really slows down, but your wher will continue gaining height and weight until they hit their full growth in six more months. Even the smallest whers should be able to carry a rider for a loping run around the outside of the Weyr with ease - which is good, since this marks your introduction to official patrols!

For the next several months, you'll be doing patrols alongside adult pairs, unless you're a dual handler with an adult wher. Get familiar with the routes, sounds, and creatures of the Weyr! Soon, you'll be doing this on your own.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 13.5 Months
OOC: 9 Months
Size: 90%
White: Grizzly Bear
Green: Grizzly Bear
Blue: Kodiak Bear
Garnet: Kodiak Bear
Brown: Polar Bear
Bronze: Polar Bear
Gold: Sumatran Rhino

Though not quite at their full size, your wher is approaching their full height and should be bulking out; larger whers may outweigh their handlers by a factor of ten! Make sure to keep an eye on your wher for foot abscesses or other injuries as they continue to build up callouses and expand their duties.

You should spend the next months settling into your roles as Weyr guards, and reviewing in preparation for your first threadfall. It's a good idea to do both nighttime and daytime patrols, as threadfall is typically during the daylight hours.

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 15 Months
OOC: 10 Months
Size: 94%
White: Grizzly Bear
Green: Kodiak Bear
Blue: Kodiak Bear
Garnet: Polar Bear
Brown: Polar Bear
Bronze: Sumatran Rhino
Gold: Sumatran Rhino

At this late stage in development, your wher should be long past any last growth spurts. The next month will see a very gradual final growth, which might be hard to miss compared to the quick growth of only a few seasons ago. You might notice that your wher's saliva is even more acidic than before - this is because they have reached their full physical maturation in regards to Threadfighting.

This half-season will see your first Threadfall as active groundcrew. Take care and don't be too hasty - Thread grows quickly once it reaches the ground, and some larger burrows might require agenothree or flamethrowers, rather than being eaten. Remember that you and your wher are still students at this point. No heroics or foolhardiness - see to the safety of your wher!

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 16.5 Months
OOC: 11 Months
Size: 97.5%
White: Kodiak Bear
Green: Kodiak Bear
Blue: Polar Bear
Garnet: Polar Bear
Brown: Polar Bear
Bronze: Sumatran Rhino
Gold: Sumatran Rhino

At this age, all wherlings should be growing comfortable both with patrolling and with groundcrew duties. While lessons are now mostly reduced to review in preparation for final exams in only a few short weeks, you should be turning your attention to preparing for your future as a full-fledged wherhandler. Your wher is nearing adulthood, and any last adolescent lankiness should be all but replaced with the solid and powerful form of an adult wher - and along with it, early bloomers might begin running or chasing at this time! Take some time to scope out empty adult rooms in the barracks, and request for your preference. Wherling barracks have been tight for some months now - look forward to getting some elbow room again!

Don't forget to take your wher to one last check-up with the healers before graduation. It's time to show off all the strength and agility you've gained over the past months, with endurance races, relays, and even gliding competitions. Take some time to consider what area of specialization you and your wher might be suited for - basic guard and patrol duty? message-running? combat specialization? There's a lifetime of opportunity ahead!

[Jabberwoky]

Age: 18 Months
OOC: 12 Months
Size: 100%
White: Kodiak Bear
Green: Polar Bear
Blue: Polar Bear
Garnet: Sumatran Rhino
Brown: Sumatran Rhino
Bronze: Black Rhino
Gold: Black Rhino

Your wher has finally reached adulthood, and with it, graduation! Official graduation generally occurs a fortnight or so after the final examinations, but unofficially, pairs that pass the final exams are welcomed into the ranks of wherhandlers right away. From here on out, wherhandling is what you make it! Pairs are officially moved from wherling quarters to adult quarter at graduadion, so make sure your applications are in with the headwoman before the exams, or expect to be assigned a room at her convenience.

By now, all males should be chasing, though some late-blooming females may not yet be running. If your female wher hasn't started running yet, never fear - she is very likely to run within the next six to eight months! It's the rare wher who doesn't run until after two turns of age, but it is possible - particularly for golds.