Dragon

And the old god Vaneeshka, mother of vast oceans and feminine divinity, looked down on the serpents of the isle and placed her hatred into their bodies, so that they would find failure in all their struggles, and would be hated by all. But Balmund took pity on the serpents, and through their struggles he blessed them with strength greater than any being, that they might perish with dignity, but dignity seen only by themselves.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Described as beings of immense power and suffering, under the fleeting protection of Balmund dragons were granted legs and wings to give them domain over the sky and land. While doomed to live out unending lives littered in thievery and hopelessness, they were also given an element of control over their demise, Balmund blessing them with bodies capable of withstanding the cruelty of the world and the instinctual understanding of how to bend it to their will. They are said the have maintained their serpentine origins, most notedly in their elongated midsections, strikingly humped necks, and tails. Their wings, their greatest defense and a rare material treasured for crafting shields and armor, can come in multiple pairs or a set of two, connected to the shoulder blades and found running along the spine. They are large in size, vastly larger than any human, and have curved claws that are rarely used in combat.

Genetics and Reproduction

Dragons are sterile/infertile by nature and cannot reproduce offspring.

Growth Rate & Stages

There is no record of any dragon producing offspring. Instead, they simply came into being in full maturation. They can continue to grow to larger sizes if given the proper sustenance and heat, and a healthy dragon can shed its skin twice a year to accommodate their quick growth. Although, it is rare that they live long at all, and if they manage to survive it is typically under extreme and taxing circumstances that prohibit healthy growth.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Dragons are purely carnivorous and are ambush predators despite their size and bulk. They swallow things whole, their jaws able to unhinge fully from the skull to allow larger prey to be swallowed and digested. Unlike snakes, they are not terribly slowed after ingesting large meals, Balmund giving them powerful arms and legs to carry them safely away from anything that would wish to harm them, and making eating inconsequential to their survival. They have powerful stomach acid that allows for bone to be broken down and absorbed, leaving their stool blotched with white.

Biological Cycle

Dragons are seemingly unaffected by seasonal changes. Once thought to be coldblooded like Balmund, this was proven false by Duke Brinus of Marcith, who, in fact, lived decades near the Deep and within the ice caverns of the old world. They fell into hibernation with Balmund, but it is predominantly understood that this hibernation was due to their symbiotic relation with the god and not a biological need. Once Balmund fell into the Deep, it was understood that dragons would perhaps never going into hibernation again.

Additional Information

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Like their ancestors, dragons have no ears. Their jaws can still detect vibrations (though limited now due to their contrasting height with snakes considering the addition of arms and legs), but Balmund did not want them to suffer silent deaths and was said to have given dragons his own ears, so that they might stave off their deaths a little longer. Alongside this, Balmund also gave them his eyes, so that they could see clearly during the day and register heat through the night.

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

In Balmund's deep desire to have dragons somehow withstand their horrible fate, it is written that he gave them the ability to die with dignity, but a dignity only they could see. This, unlike the numerous physical traits given to them, was seemingly a psychological protection, Balmund knowing that any realization of their cruel inevitability would leave them unwilling to survive.
This created within the dragons a strong sense of grandiosity, the entire species as a whole driven further to overcome their shared plight with the notion that their suffering was due to being better than anything else. Their lives were hard and miserable because they were great and powerful, and the world could not accept them because the world was too ignorant to comprehend them. This created a sort of psychological invincibility that would allow the species as a whole to go on living without fear of self mutilating acts or desires. While it was not a perfect solution to the issue, it was apparently enough to keep them going.
This also separated the dragons from any other animal, giving them the complexities and intelligence once unique only to mankind, only differentiated by the stark lack of empathy that was bestowed upon humans during their creation.

History

Fathered chiefly by the old god Balmund, dragons were doomed to lead lives of endless suffering, but blessed with everything needed to make survival possible. They flooded the old world and were first enslaved by the giants, their wings and teeth crafted into weaponry and armor. It is said that Balmund saw their suffering and reached out into the world a second time, his wide jaws closing over atop the ruling kingdom of the giants and swallowing them whole. This created the great fissure in which the remaining dragons sought refuge in, its sheer depth and width making it near impossible for anything to explore. After this, Balmund fell into a deep sleep along the rim of the canyon, and the dragons hibernated within the crevices of the great fissure for years.
Nearing the beginning of the new world, when the young gods came down from the stars and touched humanity with new spirits, King Illsmore pledged himself and his kingdom to forever follow the rulings of the new god Ruuben. Ruuben, who was presumed to have connections to the old god Vaneeshka, implored King Illsmore to seek out the remaining dragons in existence with the hope of expunging them while Balmund slept. She blessed her highest priestesses with new magic, a holy veil of smoke that would flush the dragons out of hiding, and filled King Illsmore with the desire to conquer.
King Illsmore, his army, and the priests of Ruuben swarmed the great fissure, killing the dragons in their weakened states and filling the canyon with Ruuben's blessed mist. Balmund awakened enough to see the canyon filled with the blood of his children, rolled over the side, and plummeted down onto King Illsmore's army. The canyon was so deep and so wide that once Balmund hit the bottom, accompanied by King Illsmore's knights and Ruuben's priests, he broke through and fell even deeper into the center of the world. The dragons, saved one last time from certain extinction, fled across the great fissure and into the old world where no one could reach them.
While dragons have since been hunted in the new world, most have forgotten what they once were. It is unknown how many remain hidden in the new world, but the years of the dragon hunt have since lost their appeal, overshadowed with the overwhelming amount of curses overtaking humanity.

Origin/Ancestry

Correlated to the old god Balmund, the first of the coldblooded, and snakes.

Lifespan

Immortal, but can be killed if severely wounded.