Draecrones

"I tell you, the Beast still slumbers in the Chasm, but I saw with my own eyes a snake flying just above my head. Long and twisted, with fangs readied to grab its prey. It resembled the Beast in all the paintings I’ve seen. Are you sure the Beast cannot reproduce to bring chaos upon the world, Aneas?”

“Leari, there is no such thing as Beast spawns. But I have heard of a myth containing a Hailan and a Draecrones, which fits your description.”

“Draecrones? I’ve never heard of such a creature before.”

“Of course, you haven’t. They are a myth. You probably saw something else that tricked your imagination. You have been staring too long at the paintings of the Beast. Go back and rest, Leari.”

— A conversation between two creature scholars.

The Draecrones is a mythical creature supposedly living in Fundras. They appear in all kinds of art originating in Fundras and used in Fundras and the Draechon's coat of arms to symbolise power and stability. Because of its ability to turn nearly invisible when flying against the sky, you never know when and how it will strike. This is the power most in Fundras values.

Though there have been speculations about whether the animal in the coat of arms is the The Beast of the Chasm and not this mythical creature. But who in Western Agia would be so silly to have the most feared Beast associated with Rathias on their coat of arms?

Appearance

The Draecrones resemble a long snake with wings. While some are depicted with legs, most are without. No one is entirely sure of their sizes, but many believe them to be around a meter long, and slim, so they are nearly invisible when soaring the sky. They are usually depicted as white but have been seen in other colours. Some scholars think they look like the Fangwyrms of Northern Agia, as well as paintings of the feared Beast. But none can say for sure the Draecrones are related to the Beast or to the Fangwyrms.

The Myth about the Hailan and the Draecrones

A legend, originating from 625 AGD, tells a story of a Hailan named Moechi Manoban who once had come to Fundras. He had heard of the Beast and wanted to study it further to get a better understanding of it and to find a better solution than Fundras’ current one.

After travelling for months to avoid the Lintudoma, Moechi arrived in a little town. He overheard the townspeople talking of their troubles with a flying animal they could not identify. The animal had been eating all their chickens, yet no tracks of any predators such as foxes or wolves had been found in the vicinity.

While investigating the area, he stumbled upon a half-eaten chicken by the stream and traced a trail of other dead chickens until he spotted what he initially thought was a white branch. The branch moved and hissed at Moechi, but Moechi was not unfamiliar with strange animals and dangerous ones, too.

Moechi slowly approached the animal and discovered it was wounded. He first thought it was a snake, yet it had bat-like wings. The animal hissed once more, and Moechi noticed it was about to launch an attack. He grabbed one of the nearby half-eaten chickens and prepared for its attack. The moment the snake-like creature flew into the air with its fangs readied to sink into Moechi’s flesh. Moechi’s hand with the dead chicken flew up, and the creature sank its teeth into that instead.

Hanging in mid-air, the creature fought to get free and continue its attack, but Moechi slowly sat the chicken and the creature down. Then he whispered gently to the creature, and it slowly relaxed.

Moechi cured the creature’s wound. It was then a small “thhhhaank you” hissed from the creature’s mouth. Moechi pleaded with it not to attack any other settlements, and he would bring it food instead, which the creature accepted.

Geographic Distribution

• Western Agia