Dragons: Serudla and Sro

There are two species of beast on Ardha which are colloquially both called "dragon" in certain tongues, or "taneen" in certain others. These two are visibly quite similar, though one is winged and the other not. The winged form is called sro and the unwinged form is called serudla. Some scholars believe the two are indeed related species, while others maintain that they are merely similar manifestations of draconic glory but otherwise unrelated.
Sakkra and Alkari, and certain human cults, are known to worship both sro and serudla as deific beings, with the sro preferred by Alkari (in general), and the serudla preferred by Sakkra. But both races are as like as the other to be found worshipping the local sro or serudla, whichever may be present. The Sakkra in particular tend to have myths and legends directly in contrast with those of humans--where a human legend might tell of a Sainted bogatyr saving a city from the depredations of a ravenous serudla, the Sakkra legend would be that a great serudla-avatar emerges from the depths of the earth to venge an aggrieved tribe of Sakkra against the depredations of a human wrecca and his band of ruffians. Alkari worship tends not to emphasize this contrast; indeed, the ancient Denyans are known to have joined the Alkari in sro worship as glorifying an embodiment of the godhead that is otherwise dead, except in Heroes and such creatures as sro and serudla.


Serudla
These are huge creatures, serpentine in body structure, albeit many-legged. Their bodies are covered with gleaming armored scales, usually of a green-grey color--though other hues have been reported--and with great bony crests above their heads. They have six muscular legs along their long bodies, and two grasping-arms just beneath their long snakelike necks. The hands of these grasping arms are almost as dextrous as Lyran hands, and are put to good use by the serudla, for these dragons are quite intelligent for "beasts". Indeed, with their great strength, serudla are known to wield huge broadswords and falchions, often one in each hand, in their battles against would-be bogatyrs.
Part of their "draconic" nature is the ability to spew forth a stream of acid in a kind of breath attack. This can be quite dangerous to those ahead of the creature, especially those in direct melee with the creature. The effects of this acid can be quite deadly, with the melting away of flesh and bone. There is no universally attested way to defend against such an attack.
Serudla are also known to hoard treasures to themselves, especially gemstones and jeweled items. They have also been reported to wear what items they are able. It is the recommendation of many Miners' Guilds (whose members are most likely to come upon a serudla cavern by accident in their digging) to offer flattery and any money in one's possession in an attempt to buy one's life away from the wrath of the serudla--some guilds maintain a wergild treasury of gems that they allow their miners to carry in the course of their work for just such an incident, though this is not a common practice.
The largest serudla grow up to 40 feet long--rumors suggest sightings of larger--but most commonly reports indicate a length of 25-30 feet. They tend to dwell in the deeper places of the earth, in caves and mires, though they really seem able to adapt to any environment, even the cold wastes of north and south. There are serudla on both southern and northern continents.


Sro
Rather similar to serudla in body-structure, the sro adds huge wings to this plan of serpentine body, six legs, and two arms. They are also armoured in gleaming scales, tending more toward black, dark grey, or dark blue, though other colors have been reported, and great bony crests surmount their terrible heads. Just as with the serudla, the sro is capable of wielding great swords in its two arms, which many do when anticipating battle.
Even more so than their land-based counterparts, sro gather treasure unto themselves and hoard it in their lairs. They especially like gems and jewels, but are also happy to hoard coins and bullion, beautiful arms and armor, and even valuable spices of various kinds. They are even more prone to accepting bribes and susceptible to flattery for those whose lives are threatened by them, and so ship-captains often keep srogild onboard, to offer in case of the attack of a sro. Contrariwise to serudla, most sro do not seem capable of spewing any kind of breath attack, but must rely on their heavy blades and their ferocious bite when in battle.
Though they certainly seem capable of living in any environment, sro most often dwell on islands or coastlines with easy access to the seas, or in lairs overlooking rushing rivers or placid lakes. They seem to prefer having large bodies of water in which to cavort when they desire, hence the predominance of the srogild on shipboard, but not among other guilds. Sro grow to greater lengths than serudla, with the largest credible account of a 60 foot long creature, though legends speak of 100 foot or larger sro. These monsters are fortunately rare, and the usual sro is reported at the still intimidating length of between 30-40 feet.