Silver Dragons
Silver dragons are a breed of metallic dragons.
A silver dragon enjoys the company of humans and elves so much that it will often take the form of a human or elf and live among them for the majority of its life. It should be noted that silvers, like all dragons, believe themselves the most superior creatures in the world. However, apart from the ability to fly, which they enjoyed greatly, they tend to prefer the physical forms of humanoids for everyday life.
Although the dragonforging artifacts could potentially turn any type of chromatic into any type of metallic, the majority of silver dragons came from white or green dragons.
Basic Information
Anatomy
It has long curved wings that are broadest along the trailing edge. The wing membrane attaches to the dragon’s body behind the rear legs and well down the tail, and the head has clearly visible horns. The outer alar phalange forms a second “thumb” at the leading edge of the each wing. They smell like rain.
Genetics and Reproduction
A silver wyrmling’s scales are blue-gray with silver highlights. As the dragon approaches adulthood, its color slowly brightens until the individual scales are scarcely visible. From a distance, these dragons look as if they have been sculpted from pure metal. As a silver dragon grows older, its pupils fade until in the oldest the eyes resemble orbs of mercury.
After 165 days' gestation, silver dragons lay their 2 foot long eggs in a bed of snow. The egg must be buried in snow, encased in ice, or
kept in a temperature below 0°F for 660 days before it will hatch. A newly hatched silver wyrmling has scales of a bluish gray, which change to silver over time. Silver wyrmlings are intelligent, kind, extremely curious, and adorable.
As they mature, many silver dragons leave their clans for long periods of time to live among nondragons. They tend to live for many years with the same group of humans or elves, having grown attached to them. As members of the family die, the silver dragon, grieved by the loss, often choose to stay with the family, remaining a true and loyal friend and champion through many generations. If the dragon feel comfortable enough around these nondragons, it might even decide to reveal its true self.
Growth Rate & Stages
They are considered wyrmlings for the first five years, very young until age 15, reach the juvenile stage at 26 years, and become sexually mature at 51 years, being considered fully adult at 100. They are considered mature at 200, old at 400, very old at 600, and ancient at 800 years. Beyond 1,000 they are considered wyrms, and great wyrms after 1,200 years.
Ecology and Habitats
Though they can be found nearly anywhere, silver dragons love high mountains and vast, open skies with billowing clouds. They enjoy flying and sometimes soar for hours just for the pleasure of it. Silver dragons prefer aerial lairs on secluded mountain peaks or amid the clouds themselves, with the main entrance only accessible by air. A cloud lair always has an enchanted area with a solid floor for storing treasure and laying eggs (if they're at the Throne of Wings).
The lair itself is similar to the gold's in its sophistication and design, although the silver dragon's lair tend to be far less intricate. A typical lair contains a main entertaining area, a storage room, a vault, a sleeping chamber, study, library, shrine, and two clinic rooms where the dragon could offer help and protection to those who need it. The lair will also have a concealed back entrance for use in emergencies.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Silver dragons are dedicated omnivores and always seek a variety of foods. Many prefer human fare and exist on it exclusively for years without suffering any ill effects. Though many silver dragons have favorite dishes, they seldom pass up the chance to try something new.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Silver dragons are extremely rare and elusive, preferring to take the guise of kind and elderly humanoids or very attractive and young humanoids. They very much like to associate with elves and humans, not necessarily because they prefer their company over other races, but because they try to learn from the shorter-lived humans.
Most silvers group together in "clans", a loose organization of dragons who choose to live together as a family. Clans take communal responsibility for protecting and raising their wyrmlings. A senior member of the clan might act as a leader, but no true leader actually exists. Silver dragons do not feel the need for a strict social structure, since they are most content to live as honestly as possible.
Silver dragons form loosely knit family units or clans with a matriarch or patriarch (called the “senior”) presiding. The senior gives advice, settles disputes, and coordinates any actions the clan might take as a group. A clan of silver dragons can be spread over an entire continent, with the individual dragons in it establishing their own lairs and otherwise going about their business. Individual silver dragons
might go for decades without associating directly with other clan members, but the clan takes care of its own and is always available to provide support or advice.
Courtship and mating among silver dragons is always a civilized and decorous affair. They always seek mates outside their own clan—mating within the clan is a serious taboo. Either sex can initiate courtship. When two silver dragons agree to be mates, they seek the approval of the seniors from both clans. The approval is largely ceremonial, and is rarely withheld (never without good reason). Many silver dragons mate for life, but not all do so. Once a courtship is completed, one of the pair leaves its clan and joins the mate’s clan. Usually, the younger dragon or the dragon of lower status is the one to change clans, but this is not always so.
Facial characteristics
A silver dragon in its true form can be recognized by the smooth, shiny plate that forms its face. The dragon also has a frill that rises high over its head and continues down the neck and back to the tip of the tail. A silver dragon has the tallest frill of any metallic or chromatic dragon. The frill is silver towards the body, fading to a purple hue at the edge. Long spines with dark tips support the frill. The dragon also has ear frills with similar spines. It has two long, smooth, shiny silver horns, also with dark tips, which point up and back from the head. A silver dragon has a beaklike nose. They also have a pronounced, sharp, dangling frill under the chin, which had the rough appearance of a goatee. It has a pointed tongue.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Silver dragons prefer portable treasure that they can keep with them while living among humanoids. They especially prize items that show exceptional workmanship, everything from carefully cut gems to intricate carvings to textiles and jewelry.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Silver dragons enjoy the company of humanoids and often take the form of kindly old men or fair damsels. They cheerfully assist good creatures in genuine need, but usually avoid interfering with other creatures until their assistance is requested or until inaction would allow something evil to come to pass. They hate injustice and cruelty, though they concern themselves less with punishing or rooting out
evildoers than with protecting the innocent and healing their hurts.
Silver dragons often dwell in towns or in dungeons. When doing so, they typically take a humanoid form and blend in with the rest of the population. They always situate themselves near one or more open areas where they have space to assume their true forms when necessary. One unusual trait they have is the love of human dining, and they will use their alternate form ability to take part in large feasts.
Silver and red dragons often come into conflict. This is only partly because they lair in similar territories. Silver dragons despise red dragons for their love of carnage and penchant for destruction. Duels between the two varieties
are furious and deadly, but silver dragons generally get the upper hand, usually by working together against their foes, and often by accepting assistance from nondragons.
A silver dragon often assumes a humanoid from, usually appearing as a kindly old human or a comely young elf, and spends most of its time in that form. Silver dragons do so to more readily associate with humanoids. Some scholars maintain that silver dragons prefer the
company of humans or elves to that of other silver dragons. As with most things draconic, the truth is more complex than that. Silver dragons believe themselves to be superior to most other beings, just as other kinds of dragons do. Unlike other dragons, however, silvers believe that being a dragon imposes some limitations. Many of these are practical in nature, such as their massive size and the huge living
space requirements that go along with it.
What concerns silver dragons the most, however, is the draconic sense of time. They’re happy to live more than 2,000 years, but they constantly fight their tendency to reflect on things and let opportunities pass them by. They understand that short-lived races such as humans must seize every opportunity that comes their way, which gives them a drive toward accomplishment that most dragons lack. Silver
dragons seek to couple their own long perspective on the world with humanity’s dynamism. It’s a lesson silver dragons believe other dragons would do well to learn.
Though lawful and good, silver dragons have no great love for hierarchies and formal authority. They believe that living a moral life involves doing good deeds and taking no actions that bring undeserved harm to other beings. Actions that cause no harm are not their business. Silver dragons are hardly pacifists, however, and they are quick to battle other beings who would do evil or harm the innocent. They usually do not take it upon themselves to root out evil, as gold and bronze dragons tend to do. Silver dragons find that, in time, evil tends to make itself felt almost everywhere, and they seek to stamp it out whenever it appears in their vicinity. Should they discover widespread evil looming over the land, however, they are both willing and able to locate its source and tackle it there.
A silver dragon living among nondragons often develops strong attachments to its nondragon companions. When such a companion earns the dragon’s trust, the dragon maintains the relationship for as long as the companion lives, and may pick up the relationship with the companion’s descendants. A silver dragon always eventually reveals its true nature to a trusted companion. This honesty relieves any pangs of conscience the dragon may have about deceiving its companions. It also prevents any awkwardness that may develop if the dragon has to ask some special favor of a companion, such as taking care of the dragon’s abode while it embarks on some venture that might take decades to complete.
Dragons can live for millennia, while humans only live a few decades. This vast difference in time leads to inherent psychological differences concerning time. Dragons tend to think things through for years at a time, using their razor-sharp intellects to hone a plan to perfection, solve incalculable puzzles, or other such things. Silver dragons, however, note that humans are able to accomplish much in their short lifespans because of their ambitious drive for success. When a silver dragon can combine its own long-term perspective with a quick and ambitious attitude, the benefit is undeniable.
Silver dragons are nonviolent and avoid combat except when faced with evil or aggressive foes. Often they remain in their assumed forms and attempt to quickly end battles using their spells and magical abilities. When fighting in their true forms, they prefer to remain airborne, and they use any clouds in the area to conceal themselves and to take advantage of their cloudwalking ability. No matter who or how they are fighting, silver dragons usually seek to eliminate the leader or the most aggressive foe first, in hopes of persuading the survivors
to surrender or retreat.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Lifespan
They have lifespans that could reach 4,200 years.
Average Height
12 feet tall
Average Weight
20,000 pounds
Average Length
55 feet long, with an 18 foot long body, 16 foot long neck, and a 21 foot long tail.
Average Physique
8 feet wide, with a maximum wingspan of 75 feet and the ability to fly through a space as small as 30 feet
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
The wings show darker markings along the trailing edges.
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