Demidragon

Wretched children of dragonkind; a once proud race now reduced to mere animals, tamed and domesticated to the service of mortals.

That's right, son. We call them drakes and lizards, but that thing before you is a dragon. Doesn't quite live up to the stories, eh? It's a sad fact, but the great wyrms have gone from the world.

— Musings of a demidragon trainer

Demidragons are the accursed offspring of the great dragons of old. They are land-bound creatures of animal intelligence, roaming the wilds as predators or bred by mortals as beasts of burden. Their elemental resistances make them valuable companions to people travelling in extreme environments, such as the freezing darkness of the World's Edge.
In the beginning of the Age of Apocalypse, the Eternal Sovereign Louhi slew the dragon-gods Bahamut and Tiamat and stole their divine powers. Perhaps seeing dragonkind as a threat to her cosmic plans, she bestowed a terrible curse on their entire race. All dragons born since then are scrawny and weak, clumsy and graceless, incapable of flight despite their wings, and unable to shapeshift or to properly command their innate sorcerous powers. Moreover, they are far less intelligent than dragons of before.
Demidragons are technically the same species as dragons, but due to the stark contrast between dragons born during the Age of Apocalypse and before it, the younger members of the species have been given a name of their own. Demidragons are also known as drakes and lesser dragons. The intelligent and majestic dragons of old that still survive in the Age of Apocalypse are referred to as dragons, true dragons and high dragons.
Contents

Special characteristics

Oh, they were sophisticated and majestic creatures, soaring across the skies, scales glinting in the sun... The mountain tops shaking with their great roar! They would converse with mortals. They would aid us in our struggles, walk among us in disguise. Or so my grandfather told me.

— Musings of a demidragon trainer

Addled Minds

Unlike the high dragons that came before them, demidragons are no more than animals. They are incapable of complex thought and far off from being able to learn languages. But their minds are not simply of lesser intelligence than before, they are also tortured. Druids that use magic to speak to demidragons quickly learn that their thoughts are erratic, troubled and pained. Conversations with demidragons can make no sense even by the low standards of speaking with animals in general. Their thoughts get stuck on loops, they seem to possess memories that they shouldn't, they often forget what was previously discussed, and are oblivious to even the simplest of concepts.

Elemental Abilities

Demidragons are sorcerous creatures, becoming imbued with the elemental energies of their environment during their gestation period, i.e. while still developing within the egg. For example, demidragons born in cold climates are often attuned to the element of frost, entirely immune to cold and capable of unleashing freezing breath attacks. As the offspring of dragons, they should also have the ability to spellcast, but this has never been observed. Even their elemental breaths are rarely seen -- it is as if most demidragons simply don't know they have such an ability.

Flightless

Despite having great leathery wings, demidragons are unable to fly. It is unclear what causes this, since their anatomy does not greatly differ from that of dragons. It is suspected that the flightlessness of demidragons has a mental cause instead of physical.

SYNONYMS
Drakes, lesser dragons
PHYSICAL INFORMATION
Demidragons are quadripedal reptiles with long necks, longer tails and two great wings on their backs. They can be of various chromatic and metallic colors. Demidragons grow much smaller than true dragons, usually ending up a size between a big horse and a small elephant.
LIFE-CYCLE
Reproduction and birth
Demidragons are born from demidragon or dragon mothers.
Growth rate and stages
Demidragons reach their full size in five years. True dragons would keep growing for much longer, but demidragons don't.
Mortality and death
Demidragons do not seem to age noticeably after five years. Mortals believe that demidragons might have the same lifespan as true dragons: somewhere well over a thousand years.
ECOLOGY
Origin or ancestry
Cursed offspring of dragons.
Distribution
Universe
Habitats
All climates and biomes.
Population
All across the Circle of the World.

Domestication

The last high dragon of this region died before I was born. These lesser dragons we are left with are pitiful things in comparison.

— Musings of a demidragon trainer

Many cultures in the Circle of the World tame and breed demidragons. Most often they serve as beast of burden, pulling carts and carrying cargo. They can also be used as mounts or beasts of war.

Dragons without wings

Most breeders of demidragons clip the beasts' wings shortly after birth. Since the creatures are unable to fly, their long wings are seen only as a hazard: they take space and are prone to injury, not to mention the damage the ungainly beasts can cause with them to people when in a foul mood. Much less common is the clipping of a newborn demidragon's tail in addition to its wings. Safety is the primary reason for such a practice, for the drakes' long tails can be just as dangerous as their wings to trainers and handlers. However, most breeders argue that the tail is essential for a demidragon to develop a proper sense of balance.

Service in extreme conditions

Demidragons are invaluable servants to peoples living in cold climates close to the World's Edge. Like their dragon parents before them, demidragons are imbued with an elemental affinity before hatching -- an affinity for, for example, fire or frost -- and this provides them incredible resilience towards that element. The elemental affinity of a demidragon is influenced greatly by the environmental conditions that its egg was subjected to. Demidragons born in cold climates are most often attuned to the element of frost, allowing them to easily survive even in the most freezing temperatures.
This magical trait is essential for the Westerlings, a people that live in the far west of the Circle of the World. The entirety of their civilization is confined to The Twilight that lies before the cold darkness of the World's Edge, and their lands of Westeria are cold, stark, and barren. The continued survival of the Westerlings is dependent on expeditions made into the World's Edge glacier, a wasteland of absolute darkness and freezing cold, teeming with dangerous creatures.
The Westerlings use demidragons to pull great sleds known as cutters across the ice as they head for the ruins and mines of fallen Isatian cities to plunder resources they otherwise cannot harvest. Demidragons are excellent draught animals for such a purpose, for they are immune to the freezing cold, can go for days without food, and can sate their thirst by eating ice and snow. They can even defend themselves against monsters should the need arise -- and it often does.

Wingless Dragon by porcelianDoll

Above: Domesticated demidragons are gangly and wingless, a far cry from the majestic wyrms of legend.

They are broken, just like everything else in this world. Wingless and senseless. Wild. But like so many broken things, they can still be useful in their way. *sniffles* Now fetch me the lash, son.

— Musings of a demidragon trainer