Lextari - Bibliophile

Bibliophiles or on Aqital "Lextari" guard Elaqitan's most valuable treasures - knowledge. They are found mainly on the continents of the four elements and on the island of Aqitalú, where they live mainly in places where there are many books. Lextari 1st class are the most intelligent species on the globe.

Physiology

Bibliophiles belong to the insect-like dragons (lindworms), as they have six limbs and wings and the lower body is segmented. Depending on the class, their size ranges from 14 to 17 cm with a weight of 15 to 20 g. This makes them the smallest and lightest dragon species ever found on Elaqitan.

They have colorful bodies decorated with dots and stripes. But they are also able to adapt to the colors of their surroundings when threatened. Especially when they leave their favorite places, the libraries, in the afternoon hours, their striking coloring would make them an easy target for predators.

Lextari by Blue Fairy 74

by Blue Fairy 74

Bibliophiles can be distinguished from one another by their individual head shapes and patterns. In addition, they have two pairs of eyes that move differently from each other, which enable an all-round view of up to 500 meters and particularly fast reading. Like all dragons, they can understand several languages and can speak many of them fluently.

by Blue Fairy 74

Diet & Modus Vivendi

Lextari are diurnal creatures. They feed mainly on insects and spiders that harm their books. In the late afternoon they leave their homes and fly to neighboring parks, gardens and forests to supplement their diet with fruit, nuts, flower nectar and other insects and worms until dusk.

They have developed a keen sense of smell that can detect even the slightest mold spores. As soon as they discover fungal infection on a book, it is isolated and dried with around 70 wing beats per second.

Bibliophiles are very sociable creatures and like to talk about all sorts of topics. They love passing on their knowledge to others, which is why many of them also teach at schools.

Bibliophiles spend their nights in a nest under the roofs of the libraries, where they cuddle up close to each other. These nests are made of a mixture of moss, feathers, animal hair and grasses and can be up to one meter in diameter. Depending on the size, there can be space for up to 250 dragons in addition to the queen. Traveling Lextari, or Guardians, who live with Elaqitanians often build small nests of their own, which they place under sheltered roofs, on stone ledges, or in tree hollows.

Scientific name:
Lumi LEXTA oslorix
Common Name: Lextari / Bibliophile
Line: Dragon
Origin: insect-like
Classes:
1st class Travelers
2nd class Librarianse
3rd Class Guardian
Habitat: Places with books
Life expectancy: 200 to 850 years depending on the class
Size: 14 - 17 cm
Wingspan: 16 - 20 cm
Weight: 15 - 20 g
Speed: 20 km/h
Appearance: caterpillar-like colorful body, 1 pair of arms, 2 pairs of legs, 1 pair of transparent wings, 2 pairs of eyes that can move differently from each other
Diet: Book pests such as cockroaches, termites, rodent beetles - additionally fruit, nuts, insects, worms
Sexual maturity: "Queen" at around 25 years old
Offspring: approx. 1,000 eggs in around 100 years

Reproduction & Development

In contrast to many other dragon species, bibliophiles reproduce through a queen, who lays around 1,000 eggs over the course of her relatively short life of just 100 years. The eggs are about 2 cm in size, round and pearly in color. Brood care is carried out by third-class bibliophiles who feed the newly hatched Lextari with milk from suckling ragweed-lice for the first 100 days.

A queen is only born every 75 years. She is sexually mature at 25 years old. Before she reaches sexual maturity, she leaves the library in which she was born and chooses several sexual partners from another dragon nest in order to be mated with. Before the "nuptial flight", the young queen secretes an attractant that stimulates the sperm production of the selected partners. After mating, she returns to her original nest to replace the old queen. When the young queen returns to her nest, she loses her wings. Like the brood, she is provided with food by guardians.

Life expectancy, size and weight depend on a Lextari's thirst for knowledge. The greater the thirst for knowledge, the older, taller and heavier a bibliophile becomes. They are divided into three classes.

Guardians - 3rd Class

All bibliophiles are assigned a book to learn to read about 100 days after hatching from an egg. They are slightly smaller than their counterparts.

Depending on their thirst for knowledge, they are assigned additional books over the course of their lives that protect them like their children. In addition, some of them take on the care of the offspring.

Guardians are as intelligent as humanoid species and live about 200 years. In larger Elaqitan households they are valued as equal members, as they ensure the preservation of the family's books and are considered popular conversation partners.

Librarians - 2nd Class

Guardians can become librarians starting at age 150 when a 2nd class book enthusiast dies or becomes a traveler.

Every library has at least one librarian, larger libraries may have several.

They must have read every book in their collection at least once in your life. Therefore, only dragons with a higher desire for knowledge are selected as guardians for a librarian.

Lextari 2nd class intelligence is equivalent to that of other adult dragons. They live about 400 to 600 years.

Travelers - 1st class

Travelers are the rarest and largest class of bibliophiles on Elaqitan.

After successfully "studying" as a librarian, they can satisfy their immense thirst for knowledge by traveling between the individual libraries of Elaqitan from the age of 400 onwards. As a result, they know most of the books ever written in Elaqitan.

They live up to 850 years and are warmly welcomed guests and popular advisors due to their omniscient intelligence.