Dragonhealing Craft

This Craft focuses on the medical care of dragons and Firelizards.

Dragonhealing

Our system for dragonhealer rank is product of MANY hours of work and study to figure it out. All the dragonhealers in the Pern novels are riders -- for a reason. Moreta's Orlith often helped control a dragon -- after all, would you want a patient the size of a jet plane who you _couldn't_ communicate with? Riders are often unconscious, and therefore unable to assist when their lifemates are injured. No dragonhealer can progress beyond the apprentice stage without a dragon partner - they go to be beast or human healers instead. Sometimes when injuries are heavy, human healers within the Weyr aid in the stitching up of dragons, but even a Master will not attempt a major injury, such as a wing repair. No healer in the Weyr would be lacking in basic dragon healing training -- but only riders specialize in it.

The only printed resource concerning this is on p. 94 of the DLG: "The Weyr trains its own dragon healers, mostly from riders who show an aptitude and an interest in healing, though anyone with training and knowledge can help heal injured and burned dragons." This does not prohibit advancement without a dragon but implies that Impression is necessary.

The above reasons are the basis for the assumption that dragonhealers must be dragon riders, at least to advance to journeyrank. Without dragons, they'd be JM beast healers or regular healers, and just happen to help out a bit on the injuries where the dragon and rider were capable of assisting in the process.

Dragon Anatomy

Skeleton and Limbs

A dragon's skeleton comprises light, flexible plates, and the rib cage is one large, fused piece. There are 10 vertebrae in the neck and 56 in the back. Ball and socket joints in their legs keep their knees from dislocating during takeoffs and flights. Their front limbs have five-fingered (pentadactyl) claws with retractable, sharp talons. Rear limbs have three toes with much softer, non-retractable nails. Their short forelimbs give them a lopsided movement when walking and they tend to relax in an upright position rather than prone. Neck ridges start behind the head knobs and run to the shoulder muscles of the wings, where they grow less prominent. The ridges continue again from behind the wings down the tail.

Internal

A dragon can hold its breath for up to ten minutes. Its lungs are dorsally placed and can expand its chest up to two times its normal size when full. Muscles are a shiny silvery-gray, and the back legs are massively muscled for takeoffs. There are two stomachs, one for food and one for firestone. A weyrling dragon eats 7-8 times per day, but an adult eats two times per sevenday. Several hearts beat in the ribcage, placed similarly to those of humans. A dragon is warm-blooded and its usual body temperature is 35 degrees Celcius (about 90 degrees Farenheit). Their 'blood' is a green ichor because it is copper based, and gives their flesh a greenish tinge.

Hide

A dragon's hide is smooth, soft, strong, and hairless, and should be glossy in color with no hint of grayness. A chalky hide is one of the first signs of illness. Hide color may change tone with age, deepening its original tone, though some browns may develop a greenish tinge and golds a tint of bronze. Female dragons 'glow' when proddy, as their hide color brightens and appears to gleam just before she rises to mate. There are five colors of dragons: Gold (pale yellow to dark antique gold), bronze (golden-green to brownish), brown (tan to chocolate), blue (all shades), and green (all shades). Golds and greens are the female dragons, bronzes, browns, and blues the males.

Head

A dragon's head is more pointed and triangular than a fire lizard's. A dragon is hatched without all his teeth, with the canines appearing sometime in their first turn. At adulthood, a dragon will have 48 teeth. The front teeth are used for hunting and the back molars for chewing firestone. Their tongue is forked.

A dragon's sense of smell is less developed than a human's (which is why they don't notice the stink of firestone), but they can detect "strange" or unusual scents.

The head knobs of a dragon are more prominent than that of a fire lizard and they have no ears. The head knob is thought to act as ears, as they react to noises that are not related to their telepathic abilities.

They have multifaceted eyes that appear to whirl, which is merely a trick of light off the facets. The speed of the whirling indicates their level of emotion. The color indicates emotion: blue/green is content, yellow is alarm, red-orange is anger, red is hunger, white is danger, gray is pain, and purple is mating, lust, or love. They have no eyelashes, merely eyeridges, and three sets of eyelids. The innermost eyelid is transparent and used particularly for underwater swimming. The two outer eyelids get gradually thicker, and the main time a dragon will close their outermost eyelids is to sleep. Eyes protrude outward, giving them peripheral vision to see above, to the sides, and beyond. Dragons can also see air currents, which aids in Threadfall. Dragons can look through their riders eyes.

Wings

The wing is 1 and 2/3 the dragon's length. Half of the wing has bones shaped similarly to an arm from shoulder to finger joint, including an elbow. Dragons have immense strength in their shoulders and upper wing to provide lift power. The elbow is slightly flexed and the leading edge is a membrane that goes from shoulder to finger joint. The first two bones run almost together, to form the outer spar portion of the lub. The remaining two wing bones fan out from the finger joint. The inner bone almost perpendicular from the spar bone and ends midway between the body and the forestay fingertip. From the dorsal spire to this inner bone is the primary mainsail, the largest of the sails, which supports most of the body weight. The secondary mainsail runs from the inner bone to the midbone, and the spar mainsail runs from the midbone to the sparbone(s). The smaller two mainsails provide some support for body weight, but their primary purpose is to provide maneuverability. The outermost, or forestay, tip functions almost independently, and is called the 'fingersail'. Cartilage provides additional support from arm and finger joint to the leech or trailing edge. The wing membranes are almost translucent in firelizards and are nearly so in dragons. The membranes are thicker over bones and at mast attachments, and are much stronger than they appear. A dragon can still fly with 1/3 of the sails damaged. As the dragon grows older, the fingertip and elbow joints harden, lessening their maneuverability.

Tail

Dragons have forked tails, and their sphincter is in the fork. They store excrement for up to five days in the tail, then eliminate while between. Those whose dragons cannot between, such as weyrlings or injured dragons, must muck out their dragon's couch or weyr. The genitalia are under a pouchlike flap where the tail joins the body and are only exposed during mating.

Telepathy

A dragon can bespeak anyone but refuses as most seem to find this a distasteful action, as does bespeaking a watchwher. Speaking to fire lizards does not seem to bother them as much, although most only speak to them if bored. Dragons' short-term memory lasts 2-3 days. Once a dragon is past their prime, the less they can concentrate. Dragons find it hard to remember other riders' names and frequently slur them, which is partly the origin of the honorific. They don't understand cause and effect - just because they see their rider making new riding straps, they don't necessarily associate it with increased safety during the next Threadfall. Dragons are easy-going and very mild-mannered and rarely offer unsolicited opinions. They are unaggressive and would only attack a human if their rider was in danger. They have an excellent sense of spatial perception, which explains how they avoid mid-air collisions when coming from between

Mating

A few days before rising, a gold or green and her rider may have a period of proddiness. The signs vary from pair to pair - can include irritability, moodiness, or being overly affectionate. The dragon's color will deepen and brighten a day before rising, although greens can rise with little or no warning due to something such as Threadscore throwing their cycle off. Greens rise to mate more often than the fertile golds, who usually rise to blood from sleep. Golds are very possessive of their possible mates and will fight to the death if another gold rises at the same time. Greens do not share this possessiveness, and the only side effect of multiple green risings in a Weyr is no more than an increased number of disappointed males.

Treating Dragon Injuries

Each Weyr trains its own dragonhealers - mostly riders with an aptitude for or previous training in healing. A dragonhealer needs dispassion, skill, and dexterity, and most of all cannot hesitate to perform drastic actions to save a dragon's life or wing. During emergencies, human and beast healers can be drafted to assist. When an injured dragon lands, any folk on the ground should immediately apply numbweed to injuries to stop the flow of ichor until a dragonhealer can be found to assist the injured dragon.

The dragonhealer should get the injured dragon's lifemate to remain calm and encouraging, as this will aid in treating the injured dragon. Pain will echo through the link to the rider, but he must suppress this in order to help his lifemate. The dragon of the healer locks gazes and minds with the injured dragon. In the case of larger injuries, the dragonhealer is usually assisted by others, particularly those dragonhealers who do not have a dragon lifemate. Before doing any stitching, the dragonhealer should be careful to coat their hands with Redwort and then oil three times to keep the Numbweedfrom numbing fingers to the point of uselessness.

Overstressing

This injury is most common in weyrlings but can happen in older dragons during Falls with heavy winds. Obvious signs of overstretched tendons are evident if a wing or limb is favored or the dragon is limping. If a wing tendon is overstressed, it may misshape the sail. In extreme cases, a sprain or break may occur. To treat, wrap the area with a cloth and immobilize with reeds if necessary. Keep the dragon resting until it heals. Swimming may help a dragon regain control of an overstressed tendon. No flying if the wings or hind legs are injured.

Fractures

The density of dragon bones make them difficult to break, but equally difficult to set and heal. A wing can be broken easily from a bad Threadscore or from being tossed into another dragon by the wind during Fall. Other limbs can be broken this way as well. A simple fracture might appear as if it were a sprain, but a compound will be evident by the abnormal angle of the bone and a possible puncture of the hide by the broken bone.

Simple Fracture

If unaligned, move bones back into place and place splints at 90-degree angles to each other. Wrap splints with bandages and keep the dragon from flying or engaging in other activities that cause further injury.

Compound Fracture

If the skin has been punctured, clean the area with redwort. Align the bone edges and lock into place. If the fracture is an open wound, splinting inside with wherry gut may be necessary. Suture any damaged muscles and veins from the inside and outside as needed. Splint and wrap with reeds and cloth for protection. Check daily for infection and signs of poor healing, coating three to four times a day with numbweed if the bones broke the skin until the skin heals over. Do not bandage, as wounds heal faster if left to the open air.

Minor Threadscore

The rider can treat a minor threadscore with numbweed and leave the wound open to the air to heal. Deep wounds may take longer for the numbweed to take effect, so the rider must reassure their lifemate that the pain will be relieved soon.

Major Threadscore, Non-Wing

As numbweed should have been applied when the dragon landed, the dragonhealer should clean the area with redwort and sterilize needles and thread with redwort. Gut thread is used internally because it dissolves over time. Treated tanner thread is used externally. Suture any veins to stop the flow of ichor and stitch injured muscles back together, working outwards until the wound can be stitched closed. Use cross stitches in heavily used areas such as the shoulders or hind limbs, and backstitch at the end of each suture. Check daily for infection and signs of poor healing, coating three to four times a day with numbweed if the bones broke the skin until the skin heals over. Do not bandage, as wounds heal faster if left to the open air.

Major Threadscore, Wing

The worst injury a dragonhealer is called upon to repair is usually a threadscored wing. A fragmented leading or trail edge could already be liberally coated with numbweed to stop the flow of ichor and ease the dragon's pain. Considering the smallest dragon has a wingspan of at least 30 meters (approximately 96 feet), one or more assistants will be necessary, depending on the extent of the injury and the size of the dragon.

• 1. Send for the supplies needed: a table, a length of cloth longer than the dragon's wing, reeds, oil, a very thin numbweed, needles, redwort, thread, and a bowl.
• 2. A rider dragonhealer should survey the damage from the air, relaying information to the dragonhealer on the ground. The table is placed in front of the wing for the dragonhealer to stand on while stitching the wing.
• 3. Pour redwort into the bowl and sterilize all needles, thread, cloth, and reeds in it before using.
• 4. Cut the cloth long enough to support the dragon's wing, and coat it with numbweed.
• 5. Support the wing underneath the cloth and stitch it to the wing bones and stretch it from the dorsal to the finger joint.
• 6. Make neat tacks to attach the cloth on the dorsal side after liberally applying the thin numbweed to the wing.
• 7. Fasten the cloth to the underside and pull taunt with help from the assistants. Attach to substitute for shattered battens and sail.
• 8. Apply numbweed with a paddle and smear cloth again with a thin coating of numbweed so the tatters can be placed on the cloth for regrowth and reformation.
• 9. Lay all remaining fragments of wing sail on the cloth.
• 10. Brace the trailing edge with reeds and gauze.
• The wing will mend with an overlapping of growth, and will remain scarred for a few turns, but eventually will wear down smooth. The dragon will learn to compensate for the change in the wing's form in flight.

NOTE: Fellis is FATAL to dragonkind, and as such should never be used in their treatment!