Amethyst Dragons
"People always say it's the brave who die first in a war. That's certainly not true. It's the wise who die first. Otherwise, why would there need to be a war?"A subspecies of Gemstone Dragon with a violet hue and powerful psychic abilities, Amethyst Dragons were once wise philosophers and mages among Dragonkind, until their first major desire to step in got them largely eradicated, with plague decimating the rest. Now, if any still live, they are certainly in hiding, far and away from the noble mentalists they used to be.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Amethyst Dragons have your typical draconic setup. Four legs and a mostly prehensile tail. Where Amethyst Dragons differ is that their body doesn't outwardly have any bone protrusions along their back, brow, snout, or other limbs and joints. Instead, these appear when the Amethyst Dragons use their psychic abilities, with the size, number, and clarity of these psychic protrusions being markers of one's skill and threat level.
Additionally, where most dragons have leathery, bat-like wings, Amethyst Dragons have more insect-like wings all along their spine, with most having six in total, four larger wings and two smaller ones in the middle.
Genetics and Reproduction
Amethyst Dragons reproduce like others of their kind, with the difference that Amethyst Dragons begin to speak with their hatchling inside the egg, so they'll emerge with a minor grasp of their psychic abilities already, along with facts of the world their parents passed on.
Growth Rate & Stages
Like all Dragons, Amethyst Dragons are considered Wyrmlings until the age of 5, Young until the age of 100, Adults until the age of 800, and Ancient past that point. With each year that passes they grow larger, fiercer, and more skilled in their magical and psychic arts, as well as growing larger and more focused hordes.
Ecology and Habitats
Amethyst Dragons prefer to stay in deep, dark caves, the deeper the better. They can make do in any cave setting, but the further away from most other species the better.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Amethyst Dragons are omnivores, but they prefer meat, especially fish or large aquatic mammals when possible. The hunting process is simple, as they can either lure in their prey with psychic interference, or their smooth body allows them to move quickly and relatively silently to hunt it down.
Behaviour
Amethyst Dragons are largely sociable and docile creatures, spending their time speaking amongst each other, and refining their hordes rather than hunting or ruling over their prey.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Within their own units, Amethyst Dragons do not have any other strict social hierarchy than their own familial structures. Compared to their other Gemstone Dragons, they took the roles of advisors and strategists, or as arcane archivists in times of peace. Compared to the more known Metallic and Chromatic Dragons, they are enigmatic mind-speakers, whose strange powers and abilities in subterfuge and strategy make them dangerous foes to cross. Either way, they are treated with regard and honor, either out of respect or fear.
Domestication
Being powerful predators and sapient creatures, Amethyst Dragons are not domesticated. They have however done some domesticating of their own, making a proper society of Mind Drinkers, Telejellies, and Mindcylliums that have entered their domains within the Plane of Mysticism. The three started off as almost feral species, despite their intricate rapports amongst each other, that sought to drink powerful psychic energy, leading them to the nesting grounds of the Amethyst Dragons.
The Amethyst Dragons, however, saw this is a potential for followers, aides, and to train themselves in the art of society. Thus, instead of wiping out the monsters that came, they looped them into their higher intellect, letting them see the depth of psionic potential within each of them, leading the Dragons to be revered, with structure and society spinning out of that reverence.
Facial characteristics
As opposed to the ridges and horns of their cousins, Amethyst Dragons have smooth, rounded faces. While the general shape of the face is the same, it does not contain the sharp edges and points that would normally be there, taking an almost aquatic mammal's shape.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Amethyst Dragons used to live within the Plane of Mysticism with their fellow Dragons, with a handful choosing to stay more permanently in the Material Plane, with most merely traveling there if setting foot there at all. After the Drachenschreck Era, all but a handful of Amythest Dragons were exterminated, leading them to flee back to the Plane of Mysticism and stay there for perpetuity, although poachers and diasese supposedly killed the rest.
Average Intelligence
Amethyst Dragons are highly intelligent on average, but they are often mired with the need for more stimulation and get worked up into hyper-focus frenzies for years on end.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Alongside the typical enhanced senses of the Dragons, Amethyst Dragons also possess powerful mental senses, being able to detect thinking minds as well as magical forces without physically seeing them.
Civilization and Culture
History
Dragons in general do not have a concrete line of history as Mortals do, with the Amethyst Dragons being no different. What is known is, much like many other Dragons, they inhabit the Plane of Mysticism primarily, a chaotic alternate world where monstrous creatures roam in unexpected ways, finding more society and unity than they do on the Material Plane.
While most Dragons take residence in a series of locations known as the Scalelands, Amethyst Dragons are one exception. They instead made their nests all over the Plane of Mysticism and even set up their largest nesting grounds in the middle of a strange circular island formation. Nonetheless, they still flew and hunted the same as their Dragon brethren, and that included flying into the Material Plane and occasionally grabbing more for their hoard, or subjugating a region that looked particularly nice.
At some point during their history, a large number of other psychic species tried to overpower the dragons at their central nesting grounds. Notably, the tentacle-faced Mind Drinkers, the lackadaisically floating Telejellies, and the gentle giants of the Mindcyllium. Despite having all the power and wherewithal to destroy every member of the three that came closer in order to feast on the psychic energies emitted by the dragons and their eggs, the Amethyst Dragons instead decided to show these creatures a different way of living.
So, during a series of Psychic confrontations, the Amethyst Dragons filled their minds with concepts of social strength, unity, empathy, and complex planning and consequences, that shocked the other species into a new understanding of their own mental capacities and the true nature of others around them. They also understood the sheer power the Amethyst Dragons held over them, and in those circular islands, they created their own communities in order to praise and serve the Amethyst Dragons properly. Thus began the civilization known as The Isle of the Mind.
While reports and records of Amethyst Dragons span the centuries of Edda's past, there's very little record of them doing anything notable. There aren't terrifying monsters recorded in Eddan history, no regal proto-kings, no emissaries of gods or disasters. It seems that they were largely content within their own Draconic courts within the Plane of Mysticism and kept to themselves in most other contexts, preferring to study and practice their own powers and understandings.
However, that changed when Edda came to fear the Dragons.
Around 2500 PE, Dragons had become more prevalent and more aggressive on the Material Plane, and even in the Plane of Mysticism, more territorial fights were starting. The Amethyst Dragons foresaw the outcome of this rise in aggression and realized they could do one of two things. They could either seclude themselves and let the world burn down around them, or they could try and stop the terror that might come.
Unfortunately, they decided to step in.
In a show of unity and strategy, Amethyst Dragons let themselves be seen widely for the first time, as they flew to every corner of Edda and to every gathering in the Scalelands, as hordes of Amethyst Dragons delivered the same message. If the Dragons did not curb their aggression and settle things in a relaxed manner, the Mortals would band together and seek to exterminate them. In retaliation, Mortals would die by the score, and their homes and families would be turned to ash and smoke to be tossed in the wind. It was a message intended to make both sides see reason, as they psychically shared their visions.
Both sides, however, saw this not as a warning, but as a threat. The mortals thought that these strange creatures were the Dragons vanguard, announcing their intent, while the Dragons thought the Amethyst ones had turned traitor against them, and wanted them to lie down and do nothing while mortals lined up to slaughter them.
The retaliation of their attempt would decimate more than 80% of their population, as the Mortals had recently discovered the power of Electrum, a metal that disrupts and cancels psychic abilities. While they weren't the most populace kind of Dragon, this was not a meager number, and would only be reduced further as the Drachenschreck Era raged onward. By the time the majority of Dragons had been killed, forced back into the Plane of Mysticism, or allied with, all but a handful of Amethyst Dragons still lived.
While those few still might've been enough to replenish their kind, it wouldn't be in the cards, as in the wake of that Era, a strange infectious disease that rapidly deteriorated the mind and mental faculties wove its way through the Isle of the Mind. While the smaller species were able to circumvent the harshest pieces of the disease, it festered and propagated at an unstoppable rate among the Amethyst Dragons, rendering the last known few alive entirely brain-dead, until their body merely stopped working. What was the cruelest nail in the coffin, however, is that somehow, the disease infected even embryo's within their eggs, rendering them stillborn.
Thus, did the Amethyst Dragons cease to exist. At least, in their form as Dragons. But, as pithy scientists are known to say, life always finds a way.
EXTINCT
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Draco nitor illustratus
Lifespan
600 years
Conservation Status
As far as anyone has seen for over two millennia, there are no longer any living Amythest Dragons. Their landmarks, technologies, and cultures are protected deeply by their cousin-dragons and by their followers in the Plane of Mysticism.
Average Height
20 feet tall by 80 feet wide, wingspan included
Average Weight
5,600 lbs
Average Length
25 feet, tail included
Average Physique
Your standard Amethyst Dragon will be as large as their other draconic cousins, but with a smoother and more slender body, their rounded scales flush with their skin.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Due to their nature as Gemstone Dragons, Amethyst Dragons have purple scales with off-white underbellies, and their psychic manifestations typically range from deep violets to bright pinks.
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