Nibekone dragon

Short introduction

The Nibekome dragon is named after the city state of Nibekone on the eastern fringes of the Madini steppe. It is known only from this place and kept there as a mounted animal. It is used in the military for its strong temperament, driving fear into its foes but also their strong loyalty for its owner. As the animals are very special and rare, there is only one cavalry regiment and the king himself, who are allowed to train and ride the Nibekone dragons.

Appearance, distribution and ecology

Nibekone dragons reach a total length of about five metres and wingspans of eight metres. They have four limbs, of which the forelimbs are used for walking as well as as wings. The hind limbs are quite long, enabling the dragons to walk quite easily. Their tails are very thin and end in a fan-shaped fin, the size of which c<n be adjusted by moveable bony spines.

Otherwise they are not especially good-looking. Their greyish skin is covered with a fluff of off-white to sand-coloured fibres, which makes them appear somewhat like sparsely feathered baby-chicks. Also their faces are shorter and broader than with most carnivorous dragons, giving them a toad-like, eerie-looking face. While the appearance is not awe-striking, it is nontheless useful in battle, considering what some enemies going against Nibekone see is are the hideous faces of their dragons.

It is unknown, where the wild-form of the Nibekone dragons used to live and how far their area of distribution exactly stretched. Nowadays no wild individuals are known. Evidence from ancient books, stone carvings, murals and other written or drawn sources indicate they were present in eastern Madini, the northern part of Nuat Duinis Talou and also maybe the eastern parts of Andaperna.

One cave painting from the Ipindi Mountains shows several of these dragons, some walking, some hunting, one even catching what appears to be a human of elf. When the wild form got extinct is also a topic of debate. Few even claim they are still around, especially people who have been to the East.

Behaviour, cultural role and use

The Nibekone dragons natural behaviour can only be guessed. Being a carnivore, it is probable that it hunted prey of sizes between sheep and humans. Their diet in captivity consists of sheep, smaller beaked shield dragons, turkeys and prisoners. The Nibekone are feared to feed captives from military campaigns to their dragons. But also thieves and murderers are regularly sentenced to be fed to 'the cavalry', as they say.

Albeit playing an important role in the Nibekone forces, the dragons are not animals that can be bonded with. They only form very strong relationships with the person they have imprinted on. So every soldier who is deemed worthy getting promoted into the dragon-riding cavalry regiment has to spend one year with his or her dragon in a special camp in the mountains, feeding them, taking care of them and building a deep relationship with them. After that one year they return to the forces.

Keeping the Nibekone dragons takes a lot of effort as they need much space and food. Nonetheless they fit the particularities of Nibekone warfare well enough to be worth the expenses. They are not easily held back, even by their riders and unapt for holding formations or even being close to one another or other parts of the military. They are thus used as shock troops to swoop down on unorderly marching, unsuspecting enemies, to snitch riders from the backs of their horses, camels or dragons or to hunt and kill withdrawing enemies on the run for their lives. Their riders are only their secondary weapon, either carrying long spears or shooting arrows from the dragon's back. The ferocious demeanour of the Nibekone dragon is, what makes them so useful for the military and the main asset of this special troop.