Dragon
Dragons are one of four divine beast species on Eldara. They have an intrinsic elemental connection to fire that often manifests as heat resistance or breath weapons.
All dragons are driven by an instinctive need to gather, maintain, and protect a hoard. As dragons age, they become increasingly driven by their hoarding instincts to become isolationist and aggressive.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dragons are warm-blooded creatures with the body shape of a lizard or serpent. They have forward-facing eyes and sharp teeth designed for consuming meat. There are four known types of dragons.
Draconus draconus
Also known as true dragons, considered to be the original form of the species. True dragons have four legs, two batlike wings, and a long tail. True dragons possess a varying amount of horns on their faces which can grow from the center ridge of the nose, the brow, the forehead, the jawline, the top of the skull, or the temples. Most dragons also grow bony spikes from their spines that protrude through the skin along the dorsal ridge, and some have these bony spikes on their tails as well. They range from between 85-100 feet from nose to tail with a wingspan equal to their length, and weigh 30 tons on average. They have darker dorsal scales and lighter belly scales, with colors including red, orange, yellow, or gold. True dragons employ their connection with the element of fire as a breath weapon, breathing directed flame at a target. Because this tactic can cause a large amount of collateral damage, many dragons choose to use this ability only as a last resort. When shapeshifted into their bipedal form, true dragons can stand as ten feet, and although their wingspan is scaled down significantly in their shifted form, it still amounts to an impressive 7-8 feet.Draconus lindiformis
Drakes are a subspecies of dragons with a squatter build compared to true dragons and no wings. Their claws are exceptionally strong and can be used to break rock, and their scales are likewise extremely hard and resistant to damage. They are significantly smaller than true dragons, ranging between 26-30 feet in length and 9-11 feet high at the shoulder, weighing between 9 and 12 tons. They also lack the horns and bony spikes, instead possessing thick armor plates on their heads and protecting their spines, and often have bone clubs instead of spikes on their tails. Scale colors are typically greens or blues. Drakes do not breathe fire, but instead use their elemental connection to fire in order to both gain immunity to heat and superheat their own bodies if under threat. Because drakes prefer to live in wetlands, this can result in an eruption of steam if a drake feels threatened. When shapeshifted, drakes are broad-chested and stocky, with muscular limbs. They are an average of seven feet tall.Draconus vipera
Wyverns are a crepuscular and nocturnal variation of dragons. They have large eyes, slender bodies, long necks, and whiplike tails that end in a venomous stinger. They also have a set of long, hollow fangs that can be used to inject venom. Wyverns have a set of wings in place of their forelimbs that have a set of grasping claws at the wrist joint. Wyverns can walk on these claws with their wings folded, making them quadrapedal. Their hind legs are far more muscular than true dragons, since they have only one set of limbs to help them become airborne. They are roughly the same height as drakes, measuring on average nine feet at the shoulder, but are longer than drakes, between 35-40 feet, and are built lighter, weighing between 7-10 tons. Typical scale colors are purple, black, dark blue, or dark green. A wyvern's elemental magic is employed as a breath weapon, but instead of a directed stream of flame, wyverns spit liquid fire that melts the target. In their shifted form, a wyvern's wings grow from their forearms and elbows, and cannot be used for gliding. They are tall and slender, standing 7-8 feet tall on average.Draconus serpenpluma
Amphiteres are a type of dragon with a serpentine body, no legs, and feathered wings. Varying widely in length, most amphiteres average 20 feet, but some have grown up to 30 feet in length. Their wingspan is smaller than a true dragon's, only 16-18 feet. Their sharp teeth and intimidating fangs are not venomous, but instead their muscular bodies are built for constricting. They have light scales, with colors including white, cream, silver, pale blue, pale green, and light yellow. As opposed to using a breath weapon, amphiteres use their elemental magic offensively by creating fire tornadoes with rapid twists of their bodies. They might hide in the center of the inferno from danger or escape as it moves toward their enemy. When shapeshifted, Amphiteres do gain a defined torso with a pair of arms and hands, but their lower body remains serpentine. Therefore their height can vary depending on how far back on their tails they're balancing their weight. They find it most comfortable at rest to raise no more than a third of their body, and typically rise to around 6-7 feet in height.Genetics and Reproduction
All species of dragons are oviparous, laying clutches of eggs. They mate for the purpose of reproduction and will raise their young together before separating to lead their own individual lives. Dragons reach sexual maturity at fifty years of age but are not socially considered ready for parenthood until they near eighty. A dragon that desires a clutch will interview potential candidates for their suitability before choosing a breeding partner. The two will find a place to lair, which they will build together. On average dragons are gravid for five to seven years, but in times of scarcity or stress gravidity may continue for up to ten years. During this period, the mother dragon becomes increasingly solitary and hostile to company, including the sire of the clutch.
Once the clutch is laid, she will incubate them for another 2-4 years. Dragons can lay up to five eggs in a clutch, but at most two will be truly viable; this is thought to be a protective method, creating decoys for the vulnerable unhatched dragons. When the eggs are close to hatching, the female will contact the male to return and assist with raising the newborn dragons.
Growth Rate & Stages
Dragon hatchlings are capably mobile immediately out of the egg and hatch with their eyes open. Their wings are immature and incapable of carrying them in flight for several more years, but hatchling dragons are fully capable of using their elemental magic fresh out of the shell. Since dragons are typically only children, twin hatchings must be closely monitored by the parents - hatchling dragons will attempt to establish the right to their own territory and may attack their twin, with some of these encounters resulting in severe injuries or even death. The risk of extreme territorial behavior is only present immediately after hatching, and is thought to be an instinct that protected hatchling dragons against threats to the nest when freshly hatched. After the danger of initial hatching has passed, sibling dragons can be raised together.
Dragons remain in the hatchling phase for the first decade of their life. They grow rapidly during this period, are naturally curious, and at roughly five years of age begin practicing play-hoarding, where they will gather and guard random objects and defend them against their parents. They begin acquiring language during this period and can express themselves with limited constructions of 1-3 words.
After their first decade of life, the young dragons grow from hatchlings into dragonets. Their wings are now large enough to support them while gliding from a height, they are capable of forming full sentences, and have begun to reason through simple logic chains. It is at this point where dragon parents will take their dragonet out of the lair for the first time and begin introducing them to other dragonets close to their age. It is also when a dragon is gifted the first pieces of their own individual hoard, as they are now judged to be old enough not to simply eat the gifts. Dragonets may still lose, accidentally melt, or otherwise destroy these first hoard pieces, so the gifts are typically simple - coins, plain gold or silver circlets, and etc. Each dragon parent will give the dragonet a piece from their own hoard.
Dragonets will spend the next forty years growing, learning, forming relationships, and slowly building their hoard. At or near fifty years of age, they are no longer called dragonets, as they have officially become young dragons. It is near this age when a dragon will have its first true flight, give or take a few years depending on individual maturity. Young dragons will dig or build their own lair adjacent to their parents, and the parent dragons will begin the process of dissolving their child-rearing partnership and going their separate ways. However, young dragons are not considered full adults for another twenty years. This in-between stage is a critical period in dragon development, as young dragons begin making decisions on their own for the first time. The parents take less of an active role in raising the young dragon at this point, beginning to function as supporters and advisors.
At seventy a dragon is a full adult, and is now able to claim land and property. In ancient times, a newly-adult dragon would fly away from their home lair and seek out a territory that was either abandoned or held by an elderly dragon, which they would battle to the death for possession. In the current era, a complex system of inheritance, land rights, and property rights typically allows a newly adult dragon to begin building their social prominence with the assistance of their parents. New adults are often gifted the lair they were raised in as the parents return to their own individual residences, and for a second time in a dragon's life they receive a gift from each parent's own hoard. Unlike the first gift of childhood, the hoard-gift given when a dragon becomes an adult is carefully selected. It is often an object of particular sentimental value or deep meaning to the parent dragon, a prized piece that is extremely difficult to part with. This is the last time in a dragon's life when they will receive a hoard-gift.
Behaviour
Dragons are territorial, haughty, possessive, and often greedy. They are fiercely loyal to their blood family but less inclined to devote themselves to a cause or a particular ruler. While capable of negotiation and compromise, they prefer to impose their will through strength, either of body or of arms.
All dragons, regardless of subspecies, are driven by a compulsion to gather and protect hoards. A hoard is distinct from a dragon's everyday belongings, which can be freely bought, sold, or given away. Different subspecies of dragons are driven to hoard different kinds of objects. A dragon will protect their hoard fiercely and can be driven to violence if pieces are stolen, mishandled, or even misplaced. Because of this, dragons rarely allow others into their hoard unaccompanied, and this privilege is typically reserved only for their children. Dragons have eidetic memory when it comes to their hoard. They can recite the contents from memory, notice a missing or damaged piece with only a glance, and know immediately when something is missing.
True dragons are driven to hoard precious metals and gemstones: Gold, silver, diamond, ruby, emerald, and sapphire. They are as attracted to unworked metal and uncut stones as they are to finished pieces - objects such as coins, jewelry, and ornamental decorations will be carefully sorted and stored in one section of the hoard, while unworked material is stored in another section where it can be melted, twisted, shaped, re-worked, or in the case of gemstones cut as the dragon pleases.
Drakes hoard metal of every kind, but the most important aspect of a hoard piece is whether the metal has been worked. Unworked metal holds little attraction to them until it has been forged and shaped, at which point it is considered worthy of a hoard. The object does not have to be aesthetically pleasing, but drakes will reject items that are made poorly.
Wyverns prefer to hoard semi-precious stones and are particularly attracted to those that exhibit bright colors or color-shifting properties: opal, topaz, moonstone, tourmaline, aquamarine, and amethyst are highly desirable for hoards due to their color, while natural pearls, lapis lazuli, and nephrite jade are prized for their rarity. Wyverns will arrange and re-arrange their hoards by color, size, or shape of the stones, and will spend several hours tumbling and polishing them to satisfaction.
Amphiteres hoard created works, which includes all forms of visual art pieces as well as the written word. Individual amphiteres each have a strong sense of personal aesthetic and will be drawn to art pieces that speak to them in some way. They collect paintings, sculptures, pottery, decorative glassblowing, and of course books. Their hoards are often well-lit and resemble display galleries with small attached libraries. Amphiteres often spend much of their time re-copying the older manuscripts and scrolls in their hoards so the words will be preserved.
As dragons age, their drive to hoard and protect grows stronger over the centuries. Different dragons reach this stage at different times, but all dragons will eventually self-isolate to the extreme out of paranoia that their hoard may be stolen, in whole or in part. Signs of the encroaching old age include a dragon refusing visitors, moving portions of their hoard from their primary residence to a secret location, becoming short-tempered and impatient, and resorting to hissing or roaring instead of speech. In these late stages, a family will often mourn the loss of their relative as if a death had occurred, and a dragon's children and living relatives may gather - at a respectable distance - and hold vigil until the day when the elderly dragon finally departs for places unknown. Dragons will continue to live on after this mental decline, but their lifespan typically does not last more than a few decades once they become hoard-sick; this is because they eventually become obsessed with adding more and more to their hoard and, since their capacity for language and negotiation has sharply declined, they will attack others and attempt to steal wealth, which typically results in their death either at the hands of the defenders or revenge-seekers after a successful theft.
Civilization and Culture
Gender Ideals
Dragons have very little use for gender roles, as both male and female dragons are fully capable of establishing and defending their own hoards. Material possession is considered attractive in both sexes, as this demonstrates success in a dragon's main goal of accumulating a hoard. Female dragons are slightly larger than males due to the need to gestate clutches of eggs, but relative muscle mass is the same across both, meaning neither has a true physical advantage. Language distinguishes between the two sexes soley for the purpose of seeking out a mate, and gender differentiated titles (King/Queen, Lord/Lady) are of equal rank.
Courtship Ideals
Dragons are not romantic and only seek a mate when they experience a biological drive to reproduce, which may be once every several decades if not even less often. Some dragons never feel the urge to reproduce during their lifetimes and will never seek a mate.
Courtship can be more accurately defined as negotiation, which typically begins with the male presenting the female with his accounting books, which record every piece of his hoard down to the most meticulous detail. If he finds his accounts returned to his residence, his suit has been rejected, but if the female subsequently invites him to her residence, he is being considered. At this point the prospective parents will converse about child-rearing philosophies, goals for their children, and what each considers to be an appropriate hoard-gift. If they find that their opinions and desires are compatable after several of these negotiation meetings, they will each temporarily close up their individual residences and begin the process of constructing a family lair.
Common Etiquette Rules
Unless the information is offered, it is impolite to question another dragon about the size or contents of their hoard. Contents may be discussed in casual conversation and dragons will often inform their friends or relatives when they acquire a new piece, but asking a dragon how much weight they have in coinage or how many books are in their library is extremely rude.
It is likewise impolite to ask a dragon where he or she lives. Many dragons maintain several residences over their long lives, and their current primary residence is always where their hoard is located. Most dragons do not receive company in their homes, but meet with friends, family members, and acquaintances in public or outside on the residence's grounds, if applicable. In the case of extremely wealthy dragons, they might build a residence large enough to possess both an indoor receiving hall and several different rooms that can be used as treasuries, so they may move their hoard as often as their instincts desire it.
Dragons will rarely decorate themselves with pieces from their hoard - often, wearable pieces are considered not quite good enough to be added to the hoard itself. It can insult the quality of a dragon's hoard to assume that any given piece of jewelry or textile they are wearing came from the hoard, so dragons will not ask each other about the composition or source of any part of another dragon's outfit.
Since they are extremely proud of their hoards, a common practice is to brag about its contents. Dragons do this often and loudly, and may exaggerate the contents significantly in casual conversation. It is polite to allow these conversational fictions to continue, and at times a group of dragons will enthusiastically complement one of their fellows on a rare piece of their hoard that does not actually exist, while all in the conversation are aware that the object was made up by the boaster.
Similarly, dragons are exceptionally familiar with how to discern the quality of an item quickly and accurately and are able to immediately discern the purity of any given metal, the clarity of a stone, or the workmanship in an artisan or artistic piece. A dragon who sees substandard quality is emphatically encouraged to keep this to themselves unless a merchant is attempting to sell them the item, at which point the dragon is free to respond to the insult with equal insults toward the merchant.
Common Taboos
From a young age, dragons are taught to never enter another dragon's hoard unless invited and accompanied. A dragon found alone in another dragon's hoard is considered extreme provocation, and defending one's hoard with lethal violence is entirely acceptable under these circumstances.
In extremely rare cases, luckless dragons who have been unable to secure a mate but desperately desire children may attempt to steal eggs from another dragon's clutch. Dragons already consider thieves to be the lowest of criminals, but theft of an egg is a heinous crime. If the mother dragon does not hunt down and destroy the kidnapper herself, they will inevitably be brought to justice.
Scientific Name
Draconus
Lifespan
Immortal
Related Organizations
Related Myths
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