Dragon

Basic Information

Anatomy

Covered in scales, possessed of four legs and a long, writhing tail, a dragon appears to be a giant reptile at first glance. Nevertheless, dragons are a classification unto themselves, with characteristics of predatory mammals as well as reptiles. In fact, a dragon’s external anatomy—with four legs directly beneath the body rather than splayed to the sides—is more mammalian than reptilian.

Wings

A dragon’s wings are simple in structure. Each consists of a membrane of thin hide stretched across a structure of lightweight bones, like a bat’s wing.
Each wing is large enough that nothing short of numerous large tears can threaten a membrane’s integrity.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Because dragons make use of supernatural energy as part of their digestive process, they can consume and digest all sorts of food. They can also consume substances that wouldn’t qualify as food to other living creatures. They find meat and other organic material the easiest fare to digest. When meat is unavailable, dragons resort to eating large plants, such as trees and large bushes.
Dragons might make use of their breath weapons even when hunting prey that could not possibly survive a melee encounter. Some dragons breathe on prey that is already dead. Since dragons use the same energy in digestion that they use for their breath weapons, they find it easier to digest prey that they have already bathed in their particular form of energy. A red dragon, for instance, can more swiftly digest—and thus prefers the taste of—prey that has been charred by fire.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

At the center of a dragon’s eye is a thin, vertical pupil, like that of a cat. Whereas a cat’s pupil expands to admit more light in dark areas, however, the expansion of a dragon’s pupil allows primal energy flowing in the creature’s bloodstream to emanate from the pupil. This minute seepage of magic grants a dragon its dark-vision.
Dragons do not have external ears. As with snakes, an internal mechanism detects sounds. From the outside, the only evidence of this mechanism is a tiny hole between the scales. Some dragons have frills or fringes of scales along their heads; in such cases, one such set of scales might surround the auditory canal, focusing sound inward in a manner similar to that of a mammal’s external ear. These scales are not, however, a necessary part of the design.
A dragon’s sense of smell is split between its nostrils and its tongue. The nasal aperture can detect odors from a great distance, but that aperture is less capable than the tongue of differentiating an odor’s components. When a dragon draws near the source of an interesting scent, its flickering tongue identifies and pinpoints various odors, much as a snake’s tongue does.

Scientific Name

Animalia Chordata Draconia

Related Myths

• The Spear of the First Emperor