Dragons (/ˈdɹæɡən/)
The children of Root
Dragons were and still are the sapient beings on the surface of Vitality. The term “dragon” refers to the species as a whole. Subspecies are called Myriads. There is no such thing as a “true dragon”, other than Root, the creator, herself.
Myriads
There's 32 Myriads, based on their overall characteristics. Each Myriad represents an element, with each of the 16 elements having 2 representatives. The elements define almost everything about a dragon, from its powers to its appearance. The Myriad of the dragon defines the rest of the characteristics of the dragon.
The Myriads are the different kinds of dragons there are, with dragon being the general term for all of them.
The Myriads are listed below.
| Time | Mind | Light | Dark | Water | Fire |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advent | Erudite | Quasar | Oilslick | Sea-dragon | Char |
| Diamondback | Ardor | Lucent | Stygian | Angler | Kerosene |
| Terra Firma | Air | Ice | Lifeblood | Storm |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strata | Swift | Amorphous | Biota | Wolvren |
| Gault | Veil | Hoarfrost | Crux | Argent |
| Molten | Crystal | Nature | Sound | Space |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coulee | Spire | Cervus | Echo | Nebula |
| Scoria | Rutile | Sandbox | Lyrebird | Void |
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dragons are mainly characterized by their long quadrupedal bodies, with massive wings for flying, and typical scally bodies. Dragon wings are usually twice the size of the dragon, with the membrane coming from the attachment site of the wing at the shoulder to attached at the hip. At their feet, the have small sharp claws or talons attached to the tips of their Phalanges. These claws or talons are also on the tip ends of their wings. Of course, each of the Myriads have different appearances, though some smaller details come from elements.
Dragons also have different organs depending on their element. Water dragons have gills, Fire dragons have glands that allow them to breath fire, and Lifeblood dragons have exoskeletons (for unknown reasons).
Muscular System
Skeletal System
Morphology of Myriads
Advent
Diamondback
Ardor
Eurdite
Lucent
Quasar
Oilslick
Stygian
Angler
Sea-Dragon
Char
Kerosene
Gault
Strata
Veil
Swift
Amorphous
Hoarfrost
Biota
Crux
Argent
Wolvren
Coulee
Scoria
Rutile
Spire
Cervus
Sandbox
Echo
Lyrebird
Nebula
Void
Biological Traits
Life Expectancy
Technically speaking, dragons are immortal. They can never die by old age. They can be killed by literally everything else though. The most common way to die for dragons “naturally” is disease. Dragons have very good immune systems but as bacteria and viruses evolve as they get older dragons are more and more likely to die by diseases. By 350, there are dozens upon dozens of diseases dragons can die from. The second main cause is, of course, death from wars, or more accurately, death by other dragons. The Frost Wars alone has killed millions of dragons. Exhaustion is the other most prominent dragon killer. Healers can indeed cure this easily but they typically come to late or are never able to come at all.
With all these factors, the average age at death is 378. Though the oldest dragon ever lived was Epoch, living to be 998 years old at death.
Sizing
Dragon sizes vary between Myriads. However, they all stand the same height at the shoulders, as long as their the same age. At 20, they stand at 18.2. From there, Light and Dark dragons are considered the average size, while the largest dragons are Water dragons and the smallest are the Air dragons.
Genetics and Reproduction
Genetics
Dragon genetics are absolute. Dragons will always inherit a Myriad and an Element from their parents. Both these things will define the characteristics of the Dragonling. The Myriad has a specific set of traits (patterns, colors, etc.) that will show depending on the element. These Traits cannot be mixed either, though for patterns the specifics can vary slightly between dragons. The traits that show will usually have some resemblance to the parent the Dragonling took the Myriad after. Unless they’re other parent is of a different Element, and the Dragonling takes the Element, then they will have different Traits. Each Myriad has completely different Traits for each Element, meaning each Myriad contains 16 different sets of Traits (patterns, colors, etc.). Every trait set is different across all the Myriads. Among these traits there is no true dominant showing trait, but rather some will have a higher chance of showing depending on the showing traits of the parents.
Twins are the most odd thing about dragon genetics. There’s several different type of twins, with twins being defined as dragons that hatched from the same egg. The type go as follows; identical, parental identical, divergent, and true identical. Identical twins are defined as dragons sharing the exact same body type with few show trait differences, though some more major differences can range from patterns to elements.
Reproduction
Dragons come from eggs that come from a male and female of the species (the parents). The female, the mother, carries the egg or eggs for one year before laying it in a soft nest. Eggs carried by the mother and for a short time after being laid are incredibly soft and leather like. Many parents often fear of squishing and breaking their eggs, though this is rare.
Dragon eggs, after being laid, begin to harden after a couple of days. This process is speed up by the presence of Gold around the egg. After another year of growing, dragon eggs are finally ready to hatch. Sometimes they can hatch up to a month early or late, depending on what the healers can sense. Gold, once again, aids in the hatching process of the eggs. The egg shell is weakened by the surrounding gold, so that the Dragonling can break out. However, this comes at a cost of the egg being generally weaker, to outside sources as well. Though they’re still pretty tough regardless. Without gold, most Dragonlings don’t hatch.
Growth Rate & Stages
Dragons start off their lives as eggs in their mother’s womb. There they grow for a year, until they are laid as leathery eggs that eventually harden. For another whole year they continue to grow before finally hatching. They can hatch late or early, but it’s considered dangerous if they hatch more than a month early or late, and should be taken into medical care immediately. Once they hatch they are able to take their first steps only minutes after. And first words only hours after, depending on how much the parents talk during this time.
First flight is usually taken when the Dragonling is about 6 months old. By this time they can form complete sentences and fully form words, though they may not make sense. This time is also when some parents put their Dragonlings in an introduction to formal education. Once the Dragonling turns 1, they must be put in formal school, or their Myradic equivalent. Dragonlings grow an average of .81 ft per year, starting off at and average of 2 ft tall at the shoulder when they hatch. They grow like this until 20, when they are at 18.2 ft tall at the shoulder. They can be so much smaller or larger than this when they hatch. Those smaller than the average are called runts, they will grow still enough to reach the standard 18.2 ft at the shoulder. Wing, neck, and length growth all vary between Myriads. It should be noted that since their eyes hardly grow, only dragons have massive, absolutely massive eyes when they hatch. Dragonling eyes, in fact, take up a majority of their skull.
As their minds grow, Dragonlings are able to have good reasoning and thought by 5. Although their still not capable of making good decisions, often making impulsive decisions. Their bodies continue to grow steadily as well. By the time they’re 10, Dragonlings are technically fully mature, but their minds aren’t fully mature until 20. Most adult dragons still call them Dragonlings until their 20, though legally they are young adult dragons. However, they still cannot marry until the age of 20. Dragons can either go into the workforce and own their own place, or continue education, particularly on their elemental power. There are many schools for the elements but the best ones are in their country of origin (ie. the Spire and Rutile dragons have the best schools for the Crystal element). These schoolings are only provided from ages 10 - 15. After that they can either be apprenticed for their element or continue more schooling for their element on their own. Those who do choose to continue schooling usually end at 20. Those who are apprenticed will continue until they have perfected their art and will join their teach in the workforce.
At 20 dragons are completely mature and are considered full adults. Socially this is when they can marry and have Dragonlings of their own, though most wait till 22 for that.
After 20, dragons only grow an average of .13 ft per year. The slower growth rate makes it so that older dragons won’t be absolutely towering over the 20 year olds. If they grew to fast then dragons wouldn’t be able to interact with each other. Though this makes the largest dragons all that more impressive.
=Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Dragons quite literally cover the entire surface of the world. Both land and sea, they divided the world into 32 separate pieces of territory, plus neutral land which is owned by the United Coalition of Vitality. Dragons own everything.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Dragons are named at a Naming ceremony at the age of 2 months. Until then they’re simply called a Dragonling. Dragons are usually named after their elemental characteristics, something that is power related, like Epoch (a period of time in history/someone’s life) who is a Time Dragon. Dragons can also be named after physical characteristics like Ebon (Jet-black color) a Dark Dragon. Since they’re named at 2 months, they can also be named after personalities, like Seethe, a Wolvren.
Dragonesses commonly have names with hard “s” sounds. It is seen as more feminine when it comes to females, hence why they’re called Dragonesses. Of course this doesn’t mean that every name with an s is a feminine name, like the name of King Vitreous, it’s simply that s names are more preferred for Dragonesses. There’s always names that go against this preference, many parents like to be “unique”, so there will be males with s names and females without.
One definite naming rule is that no dragon will ever be named after an Element or Elemental. No government allows it, it is a sacred name for the direct children of Root. Attempting to name a Dragonling after one is considered so disrespectful that your social life will end if you even try it.
Major Organizations
After the Reckoning, to keep it from happening again, Vitreous, one of the 12 survivors of the Reckoning, helped create the separate countries and the rules for their government bodies. After this he created the United Coalition of Vitality, an organization with representatives of all the Myriads meant to keep peace in Vitality. He stayed around as an advisor until the representatives decided to make him King of the Coalition, later called King of the Capital. Despite having the title King, he didn’t have power over the countries, just over the Capital. He also gained all the land surrounding the Capital and made it Neutral land, only belonging to him and his wife Epoch, another Reckoning survivor. That was the only true power he had, but his name meant everything to everyone. He was once named the most powerful Dragon on the Surface of Vitality.
There hasn’t been a “King” of the Coalition since King Ebon (the second king after Vitreous). After him the representatives elect an impartial jurist who manages the Court of Representatives. What the court decides is what the jurist will carry out. They do not make decisions on their own, but they can veto decisions from the court so long as the jurist deems it against the constitution of Vitreous.
Courtship Ideals
Dragons are monogamous. They always only have one partner at a time, often through marriage. If a dragon even tries to have more than one partner, they can face serious repercussions, usually the destruction of their social life. However, widowed dragons can remarry, especially if their partner dies young (under 200). Widows in high places of power often remarry quickly so that they wouldn’t be swarmed and/or manipulated by suitor just trying to marry for their high status. They may often marry close friends as they’re long past the age of bearing dragonlings.
Dragons also have a preference of marrying dragons within ten years of their age. It is also VERY ILLEGAL to marry dragons under the age of 20. They may be technically adults at 10 but no one considers them fully mature until 20. While not illegal, dragons can and sometimes will marry dragons 10+ years older or younger (so long as they’re not under 20) than them. It does become illegal when it’s over 50 years. Many argue that the number should be more around 30 but the laws have never changed for some reason.
Average Technological Level
Excluding the Storm Myriads, all other Myriads have roughly the same technological level. The most wide spread tech is often considered the invention of the ink impressioner, though more commonly called the printing press.
Dragons also have steel and iron tools, weapons, and armor. They have successfully integrated irragation systems into their crop farms. The irragation systems have greatly improved the Dragon crop food output. They also use the irragation systems for their livestock. Despite being able to fly, Dragons have also created large, covered carts with wheels called haulers. These haulers use large bulky horses to pull them along. haulers are used to transport large amount of goods across the heartland. Sailing ships were also created for both the purpose of transporting goods and Dragons. Ships are so massive, they can hold a full crew of 10 Dragons on one deck. Ships are usualy only good for material transport, or supplies in the case of wars. If a Dragon actually needed to travel, then it is still best to simply fly.
Storm Dragons
Both Storm Myriads have a vastly different tecnological level than the average. The Argent have a much higher level, while the Wolvrens have so much less. The Agrent have used their powers to create new and greater technology. The Wolvrens on the other hand, don't even have proper iron tools. They choose not to advance like the rest of the world. Despite their differences, Argent and Wolvrens are both highly inteligent.
Timeline of Major Events
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Dragons have always spoken very similar languages, though it was never fully unified until Vitreous was elected as king of the United Myriads. At his time the languages were Dargonic and Darvonic, dialects of Draconic. Combining them with his language from before the Reckoning, the name of which is lost, creating the current language of Myradic, named after the Myriads.
There are also many sign languages, elemental languages, and dead languages and dielects. Although, in the modern day, Myriadic is the primary and standard spoke language.
For more information, see the Vitalitian Languages article.
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