Desert Dragon/Feathered Dragon Species Profile

Written by Remnas

Bestiary entry, written and researched by; Cambyses ~Imperial Zoologist of the Ayselin throne.

The Feathered Dragons, or as they are more commonly known the Desert Dragons. They are an ancient species of powerful dragons. no one knows when they came into being in the evolutionary tree of dragon kind, and no one knows how they are related to the Progenitor dragons. We know for certain that the High dragons/Serpent dragons are hell-bent on ensuring that the world believes them to be the most ancient species of dragons to yet live on Ealtiyn. I believe they lie, however, and fossil evidence and Desert dragon ancestral memory may hold the key to answering the question, "which dragon species is the closest to the progenitors?"
Desert Dragons are a beautiful and mystical species of dragon. They have the most primordial connection to magic and the most unique appearance compared to their cousin species. one only needs to look to the skies as they fly overhead to see and appreciate their awe-inspiring beauty. I can't help but feel these dragons are special compared to their counterparts.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Desert dragons have what would be described as a typical Wyvern body plan, with two wing arms, and two legs. They walk on all four limbs while on the ground, and are incredibly nimble and graceful fliers in the air. Unlike their cousin species however they do not possess flight membranes; instead they have bird-like feathers that they use in flight. These feathers also cover the length of their bodies. Desert dragons also possess a number of methane filled gas sacks running the length of their spine lightening the bones and providing fuel for fire breathing. Their limb, tail, and rib bones are all hollow; while their spine and skull bones are not. Their bones are made of a kind naturally occurring organic titanium, and their muscles carbon fiber.

Biological Traits

Desert dragons, are covered in often brightly colored feathers, and scales. They have large articulated manes made of feathers they use to express emotion. The ends of their tails have a fan of feathers they  use to stabilize themselves in the air and to serve as a secondary way to show their mood (anger in particular). They breathe fire hot enough to melt stone, and in times long forgotten once possessed the ability to breathe lightning. Desert dragons are incredibly intelligent and capable of telepathic communication. Bonded dragons (dragons that have a rider) are capable of communicating with words, more often than not unbonded "wild" dragons will communicate with images, sensations, and emotions in lieu of actual words. Perhaps one of the saddest things about desert dragons would be their incredibly low birth rate compared to clutch size. It is typical that for every clutch of 20 eggs, only 3 will hatch as healthy young dragons.

Egg Description

The appearance of desert dragon eggs is similar to that of Rough sandstone the color of the infant dragons scales and feathers; the egg is about the size of a football. A female desert dragon will typically lay clutches of fifteen to twenty eggs, but only three to four of the eggs will hatch successfully.

Hatchling Description

When hatched Desert dragons are around the size of a small cat and incapable of flight, they are covered from head to tail in soft down feathers that are similar in color to their mothers feathers allowing them to hide in her feathers as she cares for them for the first 10 years of their lives.

Growth Rate & Stages

• Egg: 12-24 months of gestation
• Wyrmling: 10 years
• Adolescent: 10-15 years (depends on when the dragon reaches sexual maturity)
• Juvenile: 15- 1000 (this time is spent with the young dragon wandering and learning)
• Adult: 1000-1500 years (the years in which the dragon will focus on rearing young and finding a lifemate)
• Wyrm: 3000-3500 years (at this stage the dragon has reached maximum size and its prime child-rearing years are behind it, it will spend this time building familial bonds with its descendants and focus on passing on its knowledge)
• Ancient Wyrm: 3500-4100 years (this stage of the dragons life is often defined by a somber almost depressive mood by both the dragon and its family members as they prepare for the dragons end, while not weak per se these ancient dragons are not in their physical prime and their bodies have begun to show their age, their feathers and scales have lost their luster, the feathers across their body have begun to become sparse, and the beauty the dragon once had is well and truly lost)

Additional Information

Social Structure

Desert Dragons have a highly matriarchal societal structure. A thunder of Desert Dragons is led by the strongest and wisest Female amongst them, being named the Matriarch upon defeating the former matriarch in a battle of wits and combat prowess. They have tightly knit family groups often with several generations of a family of dragons living and working together due to the low birthrate of their species.

Uses, Products & Exploitation

These Dragons are used as mounts and companions by the Ry'dos Ahk'liniyn/Dragon Riders. Bonded to an individual Rider from birth they become in a sense a spiritual sibling to their Rider.

Facial characteristics

Desert dragons possess expressive Manes made of feathers that they use as threat and mating displays as well as mood indicators. They also have highly articulated lips and facial muscles allowing them make facial expressions that can be approximated to humanoid ones.

Average Intelligence

Desert dragons are highly intelligent, capable of having long and complex philosophical discussions, as well as solve problems that would leave most individuals of average intelligence stumped (even if how they come to the solution isn't quite how most humanoids would come to said solution). Desert dragons are also fully self-aware and have a highly defined and complex sense of self. Their intelligence goes beyond even that however as Desert dragons are also sentient, and capable of communication via telepathy.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Desert dragons have extraordinary senses of sight, smell, and hearing. It is often said that a desert dragon could see an oviraptor hatchling in a field of grass from several miles away, and could smell it from even further. They also possess powerful psionic abilities and are capable of communicating psychically.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

While not what you'd consider a traditional form of symbiosis; the relationship between Desert dragons, the Koragi, and The Danis/Dark Elves is through mutual cooperation and protection a symbiotic relationship.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

It is hard to pinpoint a set standard for desert dragons, for similar reasons as to why it would be hard to determine what their culture is. However, one thing is certain, what a desert dragon finds beautiful is a healthy, strong, fierce dragon. Dragons whose feathers and scales shimmer and shine in the noonday sun are considered the most beautiful by their peers because such lustrous scales and feathers are a sign of the health of the dragon upon whom they reside.

Courtship Ideals

During mating season, a female and male Desert dragon will engage in psychic conversation with one another. In this conversation the female will test the males wit, intelligence, instincts, and personality. What she is looking for is a male who complements her in all the best ways and who she considers to be her equal.

Relationship Ideals

The ideal relationship amongst desert dragons is one where both the male and the female play to each other's strengths while making up for their weaknesses. They don't want to mate with an individual who, when it matters most, fails them. Once mated the pair of dragons might as well be considered untouchable when together with each dragon making up for the others weakness while combining their strengths. Interactions between mates will include helping each other with the rearing of young, long and deep psychic conversations that will flow from one topic to the next and after long enough together a love so intense that scarce few things could withstand it.

Common Etiquette Rules

Desert dragons are considered to have the most primal personalities of all the species or dragons; and are quick tempered with people they view as being cowards and not worth their time, however are incredibly patient with those they approve of. They have an incredible fondness for Koragi (human) and Dark elven children often letting them play with their hatchlings or play hide and seek around their massive bodies. They have an almost genetic hostile response to Elder dragon and the High elven species preferring to fight them and attack them than to be cordial and negotiate with them. despite their sometimes... explosive personalities desert dragons are well loved by the Korag and Danis. desert dragons are also incredibly patient with the children of the Danis and Koragi inhabitants of the cities built around their nesting spires. often allowing them to play on them and around them when they choose to rest in the many areas in the city reserved for dragons to lounge in.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Culture is a hard thing to define for desert dragons, as what you or I would describe as being culture, or having cultural significance simply has no bearing for dragons. However there are a few things that could be considered cultural for these magnificent beings. One thing would be their construction and inhabitation of nesting spires. These structures are constructed by hosts of dragons over millennia with fire and flapping wings to melt and shape stone. Which among the oldest thunders of desert dragons results in an almost organic-looking spire of obsidian stretching high into the sky, being circled and flown about at all times by hosts of dragons their prismatic scales glistening in the desert sunlight.

Mating, Mating flights, and Nesting

Desert dragon females choose mates in the early winter each year. The mating displays and aerial battles and dances of males attempting to win the attention of a female are often likened to highly intricate and beautiful dances, with competing males not seeking to harm one another but simply outshine their competition. In the cities that the Koragi and The Danis have built at the bases of the great nesting spires of the dragons, the start of mating season is celebrated, and there are large fairs and the inhabitants set up bleachers to watch the dances of the dragons. The true beauty of these mating rituals comes out when a male catches the eye of a female lounging on the ground below. When she decides to personally test a male she will let out a beautiful deep trilling song not unlike a birdsong, but it's deeper and more mellifluous than even the most beautiful birdsong. The male in response will let loose his own Dragonsong (as most humanoids call the cries of Desert dragons).

The next portion of the mating commences when the female joins her chosen male in the skies. Together they begin their own aerial dance looping through the air and singing as the spin higher into the sky before diving back down coming dangerously close to the ground. Such theatrics are necessary in the mind of the female for she is testing the male, she is the lead in this dance and she needs to see if he will follow her no matter where she leads. This is important for the sake of her future offspring as they need a sire who she will be sure won't fail her and her children when it matters most. Desert dragons mate for life so as these acrobatic aerial dances take place they are psychically conversing, with the intention of the female being to see if she and the male are compatible with one another.
Should this go well and the female chooses the male to be her mate she will fly upside down beneath him, lock talons and they will mate with one another. while they are mating they are also forming an intense psychic bond between one another effectively joining their minds together and keeping an open line of communication between one another no matter the distance between them. At the conclusion of this process the mated dragons will return to their home spire, with the male flying along the outside of the spire and once he finds a suitable spot he will begin carving out a nesting complex in the side of the spire with fire, and his wings. While he does that the female will land at the base and descend through the tunnels to the volcanic underbelly of the spire where she will construct a nest to lay her eggs in amongst the thousands of other such nests scattered across the black sands of those hidden volcanic plains.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

To define customs or traditions for a species whose anatomy, and psychology are so alien to that of a humanoid is a rather challenging task. However, if you gain a thunder of dragons trust and know the right questions to ask you'll quickly find their day to day lives are far richer than one might initially imagine. For example Desert dragons have what I've named the "Celebration of first flights" where infant dragons with newly grown flight feathers take to the skies for the first time. this is quite an awe inspiring event to witness as hundreds of small dragons take flight for the first time signifying their growth and showing that they're no longer wyrmlings to their peers. 
Another tradition is that when an ancient dragon nears the end of it's life it's family members will carry it to the caldera of a dormant volcano where the dragon will crawl into the magma tubes that crisscross the inside of the volcano and pass away peacefully, it is for this reason that many of the volcanoes across Ealtiyn are considered sacred by desert dragons as they are the burial places of their ancestors. These customs and many more are what help to make the desert dragons so distinctive when compared to the other dragon species of our world.

Scientific Name

Draconidae Wyvernius plumae

Lifespan

5.5k-6.5k years

Average Height

15-20 meters

Average Weight

15-20 Tons

Average Length

69-76 meter Length
148-155 meter Wingspan

Average Physique

Highly muscular, but incredibly light compared to their overall size.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Scales and feathers, that range widely in color from the most vibrant shades of red and purple to the most muted brown.

Related Organizations

• Cae'los Ahk'liniyn or Riders of Dragons