dragons
Dragons were the dominant race of Scarterra during the First Age with mighty dragon cities and towers dotting the land and deep fortified caverns in Scarnoctis and the sea floor of Scaraqua.
They survive in the Third Age in small numbers. Despite their low numbers, each dragon is individually very powerful enough that if the dragons united they could conceivably take over the world.
Dragons are a fractious lot so such cooperation is not possible.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dragons come in a staggering array of colors and shapes. Some are stocky and compact like large lions, some are long and lanky like large snakes.
Some dragons have two large horns, some dragons have many smaller horns, some dragons lack horns altogether. Some dragons have large ear flaps and some have near invisible ear holes. Some dragons have crests, while othersgons have pseudo beards or whiskers.
Dragons have a wide variety of breath weapons. Ice, fire,
Genetics and Reproduction
Any two dragons of opposite sex can theoretically mate and produce viable offspring, but dragons generally prefer to mate with dragons who are similar to themselves as possible.
Some dragons are monogamous, and some dragons are not. Some dragons keep their young in their lair a long time and protect and educate them directly while other dragons lay their eggs and then leave them to their own devices.
Long term mate usually but not always involve two dragons of roughly the same age while short term mate relationships are usually but not always betweendragons of
Dragons preferences are not set in stone. Some dragons change their mating and child rearing preferences as they age.
Growth Rate & Stages
Wyrmling Dragons (hatching to 5 years old)
Most wyrmlings hatch from their eggs at roughly the same time. If a parent is present s/he might help the wyrmling escape their egg prison by gently tapping the shell. A wyrmling emerges from his or her shell a soggy bundle of scales. Within an approximately an hour they are dry and capable of crawling and simple flying (which is more like enhanced jumping instead of true flight). Within a few days, a wyrmling is capable of full flight. Wyrmling dragons seem to have proportionally oversized heads and feet compared to adult dragons and their wings are proportionally smaller.
The first thing a wyrmling wants to do is usually find food. If left in an untended nest, a wyrmling’s first meal is probably her own shell. Waste not, want not. This is a good source of vitamins and minerals and this also helps ensure that a young wyrmling doesn’t immediately try to eat her nest mates. If one or both parents are there, the mother and/or father will often provide live prey. Thus, the wyrmling’s first meal is also his first hunting lesson.
Once the immediate hunger is satisfied, a young wyrmling will seek out a lair. If they are in their parent’s or parents’ lair, each wyrmling will usually find a corner or alcove to claim as their own.
Even without tutelage from a parent, a wyrmling is born with a lot of inherent knowledge, including the Draconic spoken language, the basics of hunting, how to fly among other things. Even so, wyrmling dragons left to fend for themselves live precarious existences. A majority of young wyrmlings left to fend for themselves do not make it to the juvenile stage. Wyrmlings are instinctively aware of this danger on some level and their youthful energy is often tempered by instinctive caution. Some wyrmling seek out an older non-parent dragon as a mentor, a relationship which often lasts a few decades (a short period of time for dragons).
Juvenile Dragons (6 to 50 years old)
The juvenile stage is marked by a large growth spurt though the young dragon still seems to have over sized feet and an over sized head. They also have a mental growth spurt. A few early bloomers manifest their first sorcery at this age.
Juvenile dragons often choose to leave their parents’ nest at this stage in their lives. Others are pushed out. Juvenile dragons that grew up without their parents often find they have literally or figuratively outgrown their first lair and seek a larger more productive territory.
Adolescent Dragons (50 to 200 years old)
Adolescence is marked by a new growth spurt, which will gradually let a dragon assume its adult form (his head and feet are proportionately comparable to older dragons). Most adolescent dragons manifest their innate sorcerous talent at this time. Most dragons leave their parents’ nest at this time. If they haven’t begun seeking treasure already, they usually start seeking treasure now.
Many dragons go through a phase where they become fascinated with the weaker races, either helping them, bullying them, or just watching them. This often but not always manifest in adolescence. If a dragon is going to develop the ability to polymorph into smaller species, this power usually manifests during adolescence.
Young Adult (200 to 400 years old)
A dragon’s rapid growth spurts give way to slow steady growth. A dragon’s mental abilities continue to grow as well. Dragons who are late bloomers finally develop their talent for sorcery during this stage.
Even the most patient and tolerant dragon parents push their offspring out of the lair at this point. Some dragons with mentors part ways at this point. Most dragons begin searching for a new long-term lair and territory at this point…ideally one near the territory of a dragon of the opposite sex. Most young adults seek out a mate at this stage in their life if they haven’t started courtship in adolescence.
Adult (400 to 700 years old)
At this point a dragon is truly a force to be reckoned with, roughly half of all dragons don't make it this long. His physical growth begins to slow but does not stop. Dragons often settle into routines at this point. Whatever their attitude towards dealing with the humanoid races usually solidifies at this stage in lie. If they haven’t done so already, a dragon probably settles into the territory he plans to die in. If a dragon seeks a permanent mate, this is usually when they pair up.
If the dragon was the sort to befriend or manipulate humanoids, at this point in her life she probably begins to withdraw from non-dragon societies. Whether dragons view humanoids as friends or pawns, after watching three or four generations grow old and die, many dragons don’t find seeking close relationships worthwhile anymore.
Wyrm (700 to 1000 years old)
Dragons reach their physical peak at this life stage. It is a rare feat for a dragon to reach this great age. Even rivals will give grudging respect to dragons of this age. Few young dragons could potentially rival a wyrm of this power, so it’s common that dragons become mentors and leaders of their own kind at this age.
A female dragon is nearing the end of her fertile years. Most females try to raise one last clutch at this point. If she doesn’t have a mate, it’s not hard to find one. Age is power and status and a female wyrm can dictate terms to most males.
Great Wyrm (1000 to 1500 years old)
A Great Wyrm dragon is at her physical peak and her mental abilities are beyond compare. Great Wyrm dragons are living legends known for hundreds of leagues around, at least by dragonkind. Physical growth stops, but a dragon’s mental acuity continues to expand.
This marks the end of a male dragon’s fertile years. They will have hordes of suitors as many females who want their offspring to have such a powerful mentor and protector. Unless they’ve taken great pains to maintain their secrecy, dragons of this age often have world-wide fame.
Wise Wyrms (1500 to 2000 years old)
Less respectively called twilight dragons. At this point a dragon’s physical prowess finally begins to decline though they mentally remain as potent as ever. Wise wyrms are the most magically gifted of any dragons.
While respected for their wisdom, twilight dragons recognize that they are vulnerable. They have physically declined to the stage of an adult dragon. They now have more treasure than ever before and less ability to defend their treasure. This attracts rival dragons and mortal dragon hunters in large numbers. Dragons have a special ritual where they can pass peacefully on their own terms. Most wise wyrms opt to do this (after making final arrangements to preserve their legacy) rather than cling tenaciously to life.
Ecology and Habitats
Dragons can live almost anywhere.
Dragons develop a wide variety of adaptive powers. Some of their powers are inherited from their parents and others develop in response to their environment.
All dragons can swim, but not all dragons can swim well. Dragons that evolve to be aquatic usually are longer and thinner than dragons that are not aquatic. All dragons can dig with their claws, but few dragons can burrow fast through snow, sand, or soft soil. Burrowing dragons tend to have comparatively short necks and stocky builds. It is very rare for a dragon to be fully aquatic and a natural burrower. It is extremely rare for a dragon to become aquatic or evolve into a natural burrower if they aren’t born with these aptitudes.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Dragons have digestive systems almost like furnaces and can process almost anything they can swallow.
Dragons are true omnivores capable of eating almost anything. They can subsist on meat, vegetable manners, minerals, or even simple water.
Normally eating gems is a special treat. Most dragons develop unique personal preferences for their favorite food.
Some dragons eat people, others avoid eating mortal flesh entirely. Some dragons eat lots of people. Many believe that a dragon that develops a taste for mortal flesh risks contracting a variation of Cannibal Sickness nicknamed Man Eater's Madness.
Biological Cycle
According to records from the First Age, one dragon queen supposedly managed to have fifteen clutches of eggs over her lifetime. This is considered the record for fertility.
Most females produce seven or eight clutches of eggs over her lifetime. Most females only choose to fertilize three or four clutches. The average clutch of eggs is three to five eggs.
A male can theoretically have a limitless number of offspring but females tend to be fairly choosy about thier mates.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Dragons have amazing sensory capabilities, arguably outstripping all other life on Scarterra. Dragons essentially have the same senses as wyrmlings that they have as great wyrms. The difference is that young dragons are often overwhelmed by all the sensory data they are receiving and older dragons are perfectly capable of sifting the useful information out from the "noise".
Their eyesight is comparable to eagles letting them see far in great detail. They can stare at the sun unblinking and they can distinguishing colors and fine details in very faint light.
Their sense of smell is better than blood hounds. Smell and taste are linked. A dragon can achieve slightly better olfactory input by tasting the air.
Their sense of hearing is very attuned to small and/or distant sounds yet their ears are shielded from damage from most sudden loud noises.
The only sense that dragons have that is fairly weak is their sense of touch. Given how thick their hides are, they aren't able to distinguish fine details. This is one case where younger dragons have more acute senses than older dragons.
Civilization and Culture
Major Language Groups and Dialects
All dragons speak Draconic. This is entirely innate to dragons, even an egg that is abandoned and a dragon that grows up without even seeing another of it's kind is fully fluent in spoken Draconic.
The written word is different. Dragons can only read and write the Draconic language if they are taught it.
Dragons are highly intelligent and can pick up new languages easily. Unless a dragon has zero interest in dealing with lesser creatures, most dragons learn several languages over their lifetimes.
History
The first dragons were the mortal souls who fought alongside the Nine during the the Divine Rebellion and survived. They are souls that regained a tiny portion of Turoch's immense power before the Nine helped shape physical bodies for them.
In the First Age the dragons formed their built impressive cities, fortifications, and sprawling farms. They formed nations and tribes based on their physical features, ideology, and/or religious practices. The competing nations fought over ideology, living space, and natural resources.
This ultimately led to a dragon queen trying to gain an upper hand with a massive magical ritual cast at what is now called Mera's Lake which accidentally triggered the First Unmaking. This killed about 90% of all living things.
While compared to other creatures, dragons were well suited to surviving the natural disasters, they struggled to find food and a lot of dragons died of starvation or fighting other dragons over food. A lot of dragons were too stubborn to abandon their holdings and treasure and many died trying to keep their possessions safe from thieves and natural disasters.
While most modern dragons claim to have the blood of ancient dragon kings and queens, it seems to be the case that dragon nobles took disproportionately heavy losses during the First Unmaking. Most of the survivors from the First Unmaking were essentially the dragon equivalent of modern peasants.
At the dawn of the Second Age, the Nine decreed that elves would be the new dominant race. Most dragons were more concerned about personal issues than who ruled Scarterra but a fair number of dragons resisted the divine regime change. This led to a culture among most emerging elf tribes that venerated dragon slayers. Even in now in he feudal era of the Third Age, there is still residual bad blood between elves and dragons.
While not all dragons resented the elves, many dragons felt like the Nine abandoned them when they created the first elves and this caused a great many dragons to turn away from religion. A trend that has never reversed, at least not on a large scale.
Another trend that emerged at the start of the Second Age and continued into the feudal era of the Third Age without abetting was a cultural divide between land and sea dragons. While many dragons are physically and/or magically capable of living on land or in the sea but most modern dragons prefer to stay primarily in the sea or primarily on land. Scarterran and Scaraquan dragons can interact with each other fairly easily, but most choose not to do so.
Other dragons rushed to try to reclaim lost treasures from the First Age, which they sometimes had to compete with other races to do, but the dragons usually had the upper hand. While there were no mighty dragon kings and queens like before, but the average dragon in the Second Age was now much richer than the average dragon in the First Age though most dragons were not in a good position to spend or use their wealth. Also, out of nostalgia for the glory days, many dragons desperately clung to relics and mementos of the First Age. Dragons were already dispositioned to be misers but the early Second Age really cemented the dragon stereotype of isolated hermits jealously guarding large piles of treasure.
While their numbers were greatly depleted, there were still far more dragons present in the Second Age than exist now in the Third Age. A few tried to rebuild the ancient draconic kingdoms of old. At best, these kingdoms might loosely unit a score or two of dragons. These little kingdoms were often opposed vigorously by other mortal groups but more often than not they were brought low by internal divisions.
Not all dragons were hostile to the emerging elves and other humanoid races. Some sought to help the "lesser races" or at least observe them peacefully. It was a very rare ability for dragons in the First Age to be able to shape change into much smaller creatures but this ability gradually became more common during the Second Age. The trend continued into the Third Age. Now about half of all dragons in the current age can easily take on humanoid form to walk among the lesser races more or less undetected.
The Second Unmaking was not caused by dragons, it was caused by elves. No dragon saw it coming though later many claimed they did. Others made snarky comments about how they knew elves would wreck things but not this bad.
Unlike the natural disasters of the First Unmaking, the Second Unmaking was personal. The demons wanted to snuff out the souls of each and every mortal, including dragons. Some dragons had a "We are all in this together!" attitude and worked with lesser mortals to fight demons and protect places and groups. Others took the opposite route and tried to find an isolated place to hide and wait for the cataclysm to end. Others fell in between. It was not clear which strategy was best from a purely survival standpoint, many dragons in all three categories died and many dragons in all three categories lived.
Both draconic and humanoid historians believe that dragons took proportionally fewer losses than the other mortal races during the Second Unmaking but their number weren't great to begin with so every loss of even a single dragon seemed like an irreplaceable loss.
A few dragons resisted the rise of the new upstart humans but most realized doing so was futile. While there were many hostile interactions between dragons and early humans, relations were generally better than that of elves and dragons. A lot of dragons took it upon themselves to shepherd and guide populations either out of altruism or an egotistical desire for self aggrandizement or some combination of both.
While many dragons go out of their way to avoid interacting directly with humanoids, others do not. Despite having proportionally fewer numbers, dragons are more likely to mingle and scheme with humanoids in the Third Age than they did in the Second Ages. Half-dragons, while still fairly rare, are much more common in the Third Age than in the Second Age.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
99 out of a 100 would-be dragon slayers fail, but there always seem to be 101 dragon slayers per dragon. -Jemmurth the Swamp King, dragon.Most dragons refer to all other mortals as "lesser races". They don't view this as arrogant or hostile, they view it as a simple fact. Many dragons believe that their superiority comes with a moral obligation to not abuse their power. They have a moral obligation to be a beneficial presence to the lesser races, or at the very least not be a detriment to them. Other dragons view lesser races as beneath them in all senses of the word. Lesser races exist to feed or amuse the dragons or else they are vermin that must be expunged. Lesser or not, many dragons recognize that as superior as they are, they are vastly outnumbered by the other mortals so they cannot afford to push too hard out of them lest they trigger a response. Even the mightiest dragon has trouble fighting 1000 armed men and dragons are outnumbered at least 10,000 to one by the lesser mortals. Also, a small organized team of humanoid heroes with the right magic can take down a dragon.
Average Height
Dragons do not very greatly by their height. Height below is a relaxed standing position on all four feet.
Average length is nose to tail. In most cases a dragon's tail is about half their total length. Dragons that are especially stocky or lanky can vary up to 33% from the average.
Juveniles and wyrmlings are about half as tall as they are long. Adolescents are about a third as tall as they are long. Young adults and older are about a quarter as tall as they are long.
Average Weight
The primary determinate of a dragon's weight is his/her age. The secondary determinate is their raw strength. Dragons that are stronger than average for their age tend to be beefier.
Wyrmling 40-100 pounds (Large dog)
Juvenile 100-800 pounds (small horse)
Adolescent 800-2000 pounds, (typical horse)
Young Adult 2000-5000 pounds, (female orca)
Adult 5000-8,000 pounds, (male orca)
Wyrm 8000-12000 pounds (typical elephant)
Great Wyrm 12,000-14000 pounds, (large elephant)
Wise Wyrm 9000-10,000 pounds
Average Length
Average length is nose to tail. In most cases a dragon's tail is about half their total length. Dragons that are especially stocky or lanky can vary up to 33% from the average.
Burrowing dragons tend to have shorter necks and tails while aquatic dragons tend to have longer necks and tails.
Wyrmling 6 feet
Juvenile 10 feet
Adolescent 20 feet
Young Adult 30 feet
Adult 35 feet
Wyrm 40 feet
Great Wyrm 40 feet
Wise Wyrm 38 feet
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Phrenology may be a discredited science in the real world, but it's very real for Scarterran dragons. Dragons can guess another dragon's aptitudes and to a lesser extant their personalities by looking at their body type, facial features and scale patterns.
Dragons that favor subtlety usually develop a coloration that matches their favored environments. Dragons that are especially vain or blunt in their methods tend to develop colors that stand out. Dragons that are especially magically talented are often shinier.
Geographic Distribution
- Border Baronies Region
- East Colassia
- East Colassian Mountains
- Fire Plains
- Great Colassian Desert
- Great Fjord of West Colassia
- Inner Ocean
- Island of Khemarok
- Outer Ocean
- Penarchia
- Scaraqua
- Scarnoctis
- Scarterra
- Sea of Enosha
- Sea of Mangcha
- Sea of Mubete
- Sea of Resona
- Sea of Taedi
- The Dark Sea
- The Great Colassian Tundra
- the Grey Forest
- The Long Sea
- The World Seam Mountains
- Umera
- West Colassia
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