Dragons

In Nielea, dragons are ancient, strong, and adaptable. They are in a state of constant change as they grow, as their environments heavily affect their growth, powers, and appearance. They are highly sensitive to the changes in their environment as well as the magical energies around them, and as a result, Dragons come in many forms and appearances.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Adult dragons at the age of maturity have 3 pairs of limbs; 1 pair of hind legs, 1 pair of forelimbs, and 1 pair of wings. They are always covered in scales, though some variants may have features such as fur or feathers in a variable amount on their bodies. Dragons are digitigrade knuckle walkers, and their forms will almost always have large, muscular wings developed for sustained flight.
Dragons at adulthood stand at an average of 30 feet tall, and an average of 48 feet long from head to tail. The average dragon's form is muscular and thin, with elongated necks and tails for balance. This average is, however, not the standard and is an approximation from the vast amount of variations that exist in the species.

Biological Traits

There are a total of 23 known dragon variants that have been classified by their environment or the circumstances that they were raised in. Their bodies and abilities change heavily depending on where a dragon grows up, but they always maintain the same body plan of forelimbs, hind limbs, wings, and a tail as well as some form of breath power.

Acid Dragons

A very rare type of dragon that exists in acidic environments or has otherwise been exposed to acidic elements. Such locations seem to be within some types of caverns, volcanic or sulfuric regions, and some bogs. These dragons exhibit yellows to greens in colors and often exhibit noxious smells. Their scales are rounded and foamy looking, creating a porous look. Their body seems short with sharp and gaunt features. Parts of their body- such as their horns- take on a melted look, while the spines on their body jut out like jagged spines in two rows along their backs. In addition, their wings are thin and not strong enough for sustained flight and are more preferable for gliding or swimming. Acidic Dragons also have toxic and acidic drool, as well as the ability to breathe a highly corroding breath of gasses and acidic liquids. This can make them extremely dangerous to engage without magical wards, as their breath is capable of corroding away at metals and dissolving flesh from bones.Even just breathing in the gases can be harmful to living beings.
Because of the difficulty of maintaining exposure to an acidic element, they tend to learn towards smaller lifespans than other dragons. This also results in them sometimes getting into human settlements in searched of mined acidic minerals and elements, highly acidic foods, and alchemical supplies with acidic properties. They seem to especially enjoy stealing away pickled foods. meats, and citruses.

Air Dragons

Air dragons occur when a dragon has taken to living almost entirely in the skies and are not heavily exposed to other potential elements- such as storms or auroras. They prefer to take up residence in any high up locales, such as mountaintops or large tree species that can withstand their size, such as Amaranphys or Sequoias. They have grown fluffy down trailing along their backs, and acting as a main along their necks and upper torso to maintain their body temperatures, and their wings have grown to be large, feathered and efficient at long distance flight. Air dragons have long, slender, streamlined bodies that seem to trail along in in the sky, with their feathered tails trailing behind them. They have no spines or spikes on their bodies, and their horns tend to be curved and aerodynamic.

Aurora Dragons

mildly radioactive

Borough

stunted

Celestial

night dragons

Crystal Fae
Forest
Fire
Glacial
Jungle
Kana
Magma
Metallic
Mountain
Necrotic
Oceanic
Sand
Smoke
Snow
Storm
Swamp
Water

Growth Rate & Stages

The life of a dragon can last for thousands of years, but the first half century of their lives are the most important. They start out as spherical eggs with a glossy surface, larger than a giant's head. When it hatches, out crawls a young, vulnerable whelpling that is equivalent to a newborn. They are small- around the size of a cat- and wingless with only front legs and developing hind legs, and their bodies are almost snake or lizardlike. Whelplings are relatively helpless other than the ability to bite and claw in defense, but their bodies are too weak to defend for long. Most dragons die in this or the following life stage- as they are their most vulnerable and are left by their parents half a year after hatching to allow them to develop. In this stage, they do not grow in relation to their enviroment. After several months pass, the whelping is big enough to be considering a lindwyrm. When they are at this age, their hindlegs are more developed but still useless, and their body has grown stronger, resulting in a larger, fatter body that is still serpentine. Some nubs have begun to grow on the back of their bodies behind their shoulders, and continue to grow as they age. They have also developed stronger teeth and claws, and are much better at defending themselves- requiring no parents to overlook them. They are about the length of a ox at this point, and weigh almost as heavy as one. Once they hit two years old, they are called Drakes. Their legs have fully developed, but are stubby proportionately. They reach the length of 14.2 feet at this point, and continue to be as heavy as they were as a lindwyrm. Their body, tail, and neck are more definited apart from each other at this point, and the nubs on their back have developed into nonfunctional winglike appendages. At this point, they begin to wander and explore, and their bodies start to somewhat take in their enviroment, resulting in minor changes such as colors, spines, and horn growths. They also may release small puffs or discharge powers related to their enviroment, but these powers are weak. Wyvern - 5 years old Wyrm - 11 years old Draconis - 20 years old Adult Dragon - 50 years When a dragon has been alive for a millennium, they are considered an Elder Dragon. This is less a life stage and more of a term to describe the age and power of a dragon. This is usually difficult to tell aside from their size being used as a relative guess- as they usually tower over over even the biggest boulders and as tall as all but the tallest of trees, averaging at around 70 feet tall at the shoulder and around 129 feet long from head to their tails. However these estimates are not solid, as the adaptions dragons undergo can cause great variance in body types- and as such are averages. This age is also the point where a dragon starts to struggle to maintain an energy source- though this will always vary by type. Because of this, they will likely stop growing altogether, but it's not impossible for them to continue or resume growing as long as they maintain some source of energy. There have even been signs of dragons that could rival mountains in size that have managed to exist, but no known dragons seem to have reached this size.

Dietary Needs and Habits

While growing up, a dragon will consume a mix of meat, fruits, berries, and vegetables with their omnivorous diet. They are efficient hunters with their ability to swoop in on their prey like a hawk, and they have fearsome claws and teeth that can easily pin prey down. But once a dragon has started exposing their self to an environment or element to adapt to, they start to wean themselves off of their adolescent diet and instead begin hoarding things that contain the essence of whatever they have adapted to- though they will still sometimes consume meat and vegetation if it potentially contains the essence they desire. Sometimes they will even consume inedible objects- such as gems or metallic items- to continue to absorb the essence they need.

Genetic Descendants

• Lich

Scientific Name

Draconus primus