Movement of Path, without moving her wings.

[GinnyStar]

I was just looking over The Gift of Dragons:"The Girl Who Heard Dragons", and from the point of view of Aramina, when the three dragon/riders come to aid, them. When Path come to help take her parents to the cave site, she was without moving her wings, like walking.

http://books.google.com/books?id=B8e...moving&f=false

Almost like later on in Skies of Pern, the way dragon's move things. Any comments?

[P'ter]

I don't think that Path was teleporting, I think she just pounced with her wings furled so that she didn't damage them on the trees.

[Greenrider Tresa]

Same here, P'ter.

[Multi-Facets]

Path also seemed to glide while she was moving on the ground; I think that means she was quite graceful.

Teleporting is generally considered a bad idea if you don't have a lot of airspace, too. Can't remember where I read that, though.

[LadyDeerskin]

i've never understood how any of the dragons (or Talents, for that matter) could teleport anytthing/anywhere if you have to know exactly what a place looks like at that moment, so that you dont go back or forth in time, how can you do it without there being a camera on that landing spot, running 24/47/365?

Originally Posted by Multi-Facets

Path also seemed to glide while she was moving on the ground; I think that means she was quite graceful.

Teleporting is generally considered a bad idea if you don't have a lot of airspace, too. Can't remember where I read that, though.

[Kath]

Originally Posted by LadyDeerskin

i've never understood how any of the dragons (or Talents, for that matter) could teleport anytthing/anywhere if you have to know exactly what a place looks like at that moment, so that you dont go back or forth in time, how can you do it without there being a camera on that landing spot, running 24/47/365?

Ah... this one's easy, in my own head at least. It's all about certainty and complexity.

Rule number 1 - dragons don't time-travel unless they really, really want to. There's an extra level of force/energy/concentration/whatever to move through time as well as space. So long as you pin down the location well enough, you'll get there in your current timeline. If you want to travel through time, via intent or by accident, you NEED a visual marker that ties your exit-point to that time rather than your own. A certain dragon on the star-stones, different architecture beside the Hold doors, the Red Star over *there* in the sky....

Rule number 2 - How good SHOULD your visual be? In my opinion, it only needs to be good enough to be unique, to give a dragon (or Talent) enough details to 'fix' on. A basic image of a location is all you need - you don't even need to get the lighting and other warm bodies in the area right, unless you're fixing on them as 'important' details. You need to match the details you're holding fast to - sloppy visualisation will still get you lost - but if you needed video-level accuracy, where would you draw the line? Dragon sized objects in the right place, or cats? Or even ants? And then there's all the other physical details, the airflow around you, the heat of the sun, biting rain - and the fact that even if you could get ALL of this information, you'd still have transmission lag, and would be trying to head back in time if you followed them precisely.

All a camera does is [potentially, mind] give you a better resolution with more detail than a human or dragon eye - more detail than you can use or hold in an instant, and out of date to boot - and even though it does all that, it's still a LONG way from perfect detail. Let normal teleportation rely purely on the identification of a unique location, and let timing only occur with EXTRA details and MORE force of mind... and the problem does seem to go away.

[Multi-Facets]

Being clairvoyant would help, too.

[GinnyStar]

Also have clear space around rider/dragons pairs when taking off or landing.

Perhaps they had something on the order of practings imaging the refences where they are going, notes, or if the can draw good an image, to help with lit like the 'drum roll' list that where in Dragonsdrum.

As for air curents, that could change the point of flight, the weather, the dragon can see in fog their rider's not, Moreta Dragonlady of Pern.