Dragons
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dragons are most often large megafauna in the form of 'reptilian' winged beasts, possessing incredible intelligence and even more powerful magic. Most possess four legs, two wings, a long neck, and long tail covered in a scaled armor-like hide, although there is much variation and diversity in their kind. There in the past were dozens if not hundreds of different subspecies of sentient dragons, however in the present day, only one remains, highly hybridized between these other species, mirroring the human race's past crossbreeding with other humanoids. In colder climates, feathers and fur adorning the body are common, while in hotter ones scales are the dominant trait. Different anatomical traits have created Recognized Subtypes Among Dragons.
There is some sexual dimorphism among dragons, though it can vary and is not absolute. Males often will have large spur claws on their front legs as an additional toe, often have larger horns or crests, and can much more easily 'flush' their necks, throats, and faces with blood to produce a bright red tinge to their scales (provided they do not have fur or feathers in the area). Most female dragons will have thicker bones and higher reserves of calcium for egg production, and are known to on average be larger than male counterparts. Many regional variations exist, such as that females of the Lunar Dragonflight often have antlers with more points, or Kindal Dragonflight members often have males with much brighter colors when compared to females.
Dragons, at least all that produce flame, have evolved to have a two chambered stomach, that is often considered to be in two parts- The stomach itself, and the gas chamber. The gas chamber collects flammable gasses produced by digestion and stores them for use in breathing fire. As a muscular structure, the chamber contracts when there is need to use their flames, forcing it up to the mouth and to be highly compressed, where the gasses can be combined with chemicals in the saliva to produce fire. It is widely believed that the 'Pits', which are glands lining the lips and gums of a dragon's mouth, may be a derived form of venom sac, as they are not found in venomous dragons unable to produce fire, and may play a role in flame production by creating the chemicals needed to ignite.
All dragons are also highly reliant on a system of air sacs within the body. Not only do these structures drastically reduce a dragon's weight, they are also crucial to their respiratory systems. The air sacs have been likened to 'proto-lungs' by many, as they expand and contract with breathing, and help to circulate the blood and keep oxygen levels in equilibrium, though less effectively than the lungs. If a dragon has injured their air sacs or contracted a respiratory infection, they will often struggle to receive enough oxygen and filter carbon dioxide out of their bodies, a process that can be slow, painful, and potentially deadly, particularly to elders and hatchlings.
Genetics and Reproduction
Dragons can breed throughout the year, however they generally have the most success of having offspring if they mate and lay their eggs to hatch before winter. There are differing breeding seasons around the world when dragons commonly come together to find mates and produce offspring, but this can vary greatly depending on local temperature, humidity, and weather. Most often, the breeding season occurs in the fall or early spring, or during wet seasons where there is plentiful food. Younger dragons are often more affected by breeding seasons than older ones, and much more likely to participate, although it does not seem as though dragons ever reach a point in their lives where they are too old to reproduce. Most dragons will typically lay between four and nine eggs a season, and will have a period of one month following where they cannot reproduce again. During this time, dragons become highly aggressive to anything or anyone large enough to harm their eggs and offspring, and will hunt much more frequently to feed their offspring, and in the case of females who have laid eggs, replenish their calcium. Their higher stress levels often result in territorial conflicts during this time being much more brutal and less open to negotiation.
Most dragons hatch between 65 and 82 days after their eggs are laid, however this can vary depending on incubation temperatures. Higher temperatures result in faster incubations, but also often smaller and weaker offspring that may have difficulty surviving their first few years of life. While lower incubation temperatures are considered safer for the health of the hatchlings, they do result in fewer eggs as temperatures can drop too low at night and in northern regions, resulting in failed development or stillbirth. What seems more important is a consistent temperature throughout incubation, which is often maintained by the parents piling decaying vegetation over the nest, laying on or next to their eggs, and heating stones and gravel with their flames to arrange around the nest.
Growth Rate & Stages
Within two weeks prior to hatching, hatchling dragons will begin to recognize the voices and calls of their parents and close to hatching, may begin to call to them. They will hatch once the oxygen supply within their eggs gets too low to sustain them, breaking open their shells with an egg tooth like many reptiles, which often falls off shortly after birth. The process of hatching can be exhausting for newly born dragons, and most will often sleep for several hours at a time while breaking apart their shell once they have initially ruptured it and secured a source of air. The sound of their siblings hatching and sensation of them moving within the nest or against their siblings have hatched often causes others within the nest to hatch as well, even if laid at different times or by different parents. Hatchlings are incredibly vulnerable and cannot fly on their own, entirely relying on their parents for food and shelter. During this early stage of their life, they begin to slowly learn their language and customs, as well as care for themselves, albeit slowly. Hatchlings beg their parents for food with chirps and squeals, although often cannot recognize who or what is their parent, and lost hatchlings may try to beg other creatures for sustenance. Fast growing, hatchlings can double in size and weight up to five times over their first few years, at which time they are considered a juvenile.
Juvenile dragons, which are still under their patent's care, are still dangerous to the average mortal. Still quickly growing and every hungry, they may begin to learn to hunt as early as five years old, with their parents bringing them small or injured prey to practice on such as young ungulates, large lizards, snakes, or livestock depending on their size. Juvenile dragons will also begin to learn how to speak Dragontongue properly. It's during this time most dragons learn to fly, often by being toss from trees, large rocks, or small cliffs by their parents akin to many birds. Many juveniles also begin to practice flight on their own through play. Depending on their heritage and amount of available food, it can take between 10-20 years for a dragon to be considered a subadult.
Subadult dragons most often leave their parents' territory around 20-25 years old, as they have grown too large for their territory to sustain the entire family group and are well adapted to survive on their own at this stage. Their larger sizes allow them to capture and subdue large prey and many will begin to establish their own territories. Still much more social than adults, subadults often will form gangs of others within their age group from neighboring territories, most often led by the eldest subadults with the most experience. Curiously, most subadult gangs are highly mixed and often do not contain their own siblings, as they spread out to other areas and this behavior is thought to coincide with the beginnings of subadults practicing attracting mates and mating displays. Around this time, most subadults will begin to explore their identities and often begin to identify with a particular gender role, although this can and often does change later in life. The vast majority of subadults are too young to breed until 30 or 40 years of age, but will still begin to pair off with temporary mates and establish their own territories, leaving their gangs behind.
Once dragons have paired off or begun to exhibit breeding behavior, they are considered adults, and chased permanently away from the territory of their parents to create their own, often very far from where they were born. As adults, they are in the prime of their lives, incredibly powerful, and their magical abilities begin to develop at an exponential rate. Adult dragons often will split apart from their first mates in favor of those more closely or complementary to their personalities and abilities, but generally do not seek out reproduction in earnest until around 70 years old. The vast majority of dragons are adults, as in this stage there is very little that can challenge or pose a threat to them aside from humanoids with modern weapons and magics, or others of their own kind.
Wyrms are hotly debated as to whether they are a distinct life stage, or a cultural concept. These dragons are incredibly ancient, and depending on flight and region, the age requirement to be considered one can vary, though often it is between 8,000 and 10,000 years old once may first be called a wyrm. Most wyrms are exceedingly massive and powerful, so much so that they do not consider even adult dragons a threat, and may at times allow them to reside and nest in their own territories. Due to their incredible ages, wyrms are often highly respected while at the same time regarded as highly dangerous, by mortal and dragon alike. While most flight leaders are wyrms, not all wyrms are flight leaders.
Dietary Needs and Habits
A dragon's diet varies considerably depending on many factors, most often a combination of age and size, however territory and ranking also play a rather large role in what is available to them. All dragons alive today are obligate carnivores, however subspecies of omnivorous once existed, and purely herbivorous dragons are but a mere theory. Some are able to digest plant matter and grains, however they are treated as a rare, occasional snack rather than a staple. Young dragons and small subspecies of feral dragons often feed on small prey such as birds, small mammals, and fish, however as they grow in size, so do their appetites and prey. Medium sized dragons often prey on animals unavailable for other carnivores on a regular basis, such as buffalo, bears, moose, and occasionally may attack young elephants, hippos, and crocodiles. The largest of dragons however see all other creatures on the menu.
Like all fire-breathing dragonkin, dragons will also cook their food before eating it. Almost all will do this with their own flames, although most consider it rude to cook it in their own mouths while eating.
Curiously, most dragons, even the largest among them, do not typically regard whales as food unless scavenging from beachings and will not attempt to hunt them on their own unless desperate. The reason for this is unknown, but may have to do with that the word for whale in Dragontongue is most commonly translated to mean 'large danger fish', suggesting that some whale species may see low-flying dragons as prey themselves.
The vast majority of dragons tend to take advantage of being able to somewhat control their metabolisms as they grow into adulthood, slowing it during lean seasons and going into a topor-like state when food is scarce. Dragons also tend to cache their kills when food is plentiful, saving it for hard times and only partially feeding. Dragon caches are typically built in salty sands, clays, or bog marshes to assist in preserving their prey, which will often be cooked by their flames while in the cache. When returning to a cache, dragons will cook their food again, resulting in that the oldest food items are often heavily scorched and charred.
Behaviour
Dragons are incredibly fierce in defending their territories, and known to patrol areas they have claimed as their own regularly, driving out others of their kind. They are not particularly social outside of their own young offspring and mates, seeing all others as competition for food, mating rights, and space. Unrelated and unbonded dragons can become extremely aggressive to one another and may fight unprompted, as their presence alone causes them incredible amounts of stress. This does not typically affect other races, who are not seen as threats and can safely make their own territories and homes within a dragon's territory safely and ignored. Dragons will typically respect others' claims to land and resources as long as they are not starving or too close to their nest when they have eggs or hatchlings- Those who are too close are often warned, especially when the dragon was there first, and may be driven away if the threat is ignored. In the past, this behavior was often thought of as needless aggression on the dragons' part, especially by humans.
The dragons are also known to be highly protective of their offspring while they are still too young to fend for themselves. Dragon hatchlings are very weak, unable to fly, and cannot feed themselves for the first few weeks of their lives, ever demanding of food and protection. It is not uncommon for parents to move their nest many times once their offspring are born in order to keep it hidden from predators, often within the deepest parts of their territory. Single entrance caves or hollows dug by dragons are the most common, with one parent often staying behind to feed their offspring and defend them while the other hunts. As hatchling dragons are quite small, unable to fly, and often quite slow and clumsy, it's not uncommon for their parents to move them by holding them in their mouths to bring them to a new location enmass. This behavior has in the past been confused for dragons cannibalizing their living offspring.
Despite being highly territorial, dragons will generally show mercy to younger, weaker, or other related dragons during territorial skirmishes, often letting them go for far more severe behavior with less wounds than unknown individuals. It has also been noted that dragons will almost always ignore adults migrating with hatchlings and refrain from killing adults they're aware have hatchlings. This is likely due to that such dragons almost always flee combat themselves and avoid it altogether, and that cultural ideals may result in the attacker being shunned and pushed out from their territory themselves.
Cannibalism
Cannibalism has existed among dragonkin presumably since their kind evolved, as it is seen in some shape or form across all dragonkin species, including basal branches of the family tree. Among sentient dragons, for much of their history cannibalism has existed as means of survival. Dragons would cannibalize unhatched and spoiled eggs as well as stillborn hatchlings in order to keep their nests hidden, as well as a way for females to regain lost calcium to stay in good health. Corpses of fallen dragons found would often be fed on, but other than hunting other species of dragons, their own kind's meat was not deliberately sought out except for during the more dire of times. This behavior changed due to the The War of Black Ash and following period of mass starvation. Dragons, out of hunger, began to regularly hunt their own kind and seeing one another as a food source, much like many other races did. The practice has become ingrained in the species as the only respectable way to perform their burial rites- A dragon whose body is not consumed is thought to be dishonored by this, as passing up on their sustenance is an insult to what they can give back to their own kind. Outside of funerary rites and disposing of dead eggs and hatchlings, cannibalism of other sentient dragons is frowned upon in most circles, and deliberate hunting of their own kin largely banned.Additional Information
Social Structure
Dragons are not a very social species, in most cases only tolerating their current mate and young offspring. They are incredibly territorial to all others within their space and claimed territory, and will become aggressive to nearly all other dragons that enter that space, especially when they have hatchlings or juveniles of their own. Dragons that meet one another outside of their own territories, such as areas claimed by mortals or by another dragon will often tolerate one another's presence as long as they do not get too close or display any aggressive behavior themselves. Dragons that become aggressive or refuse to leave one another's territory may provoke brutal fights, which can very quickly turn deadly. Nesting parents are known to be the most aggressive and likely to kill rivals.
Family groups of dragons are called flights, and where the term comes from when referring to different ethnicities of dragons. These flights are often of the parents or harem and their offspring too young to survive on their own, and can change and shift throughout the year and as their offspring fledge and leave their parents' territories. A 'Flight leader' is almost always the eldest or strongest of the breeding group with the most experience, and generally the one to have initially claimed the territory they reside in.
It is quite uncommon, but dragons will sometimes form permanent life-long bonds with one another, usually with a dragon that compliments their personality and abilities extremely well and after having chosen them as a mate several times. This is often regarded as being akin to marriage in humanoids, though does not have any specific ritual or act tied to it. These dragons that have mated for life often will fall into the 'non-competitive' gender role within their society, and not seek out other mates or harems during breeding season, though it does still occur occasionally, particularly with younger dragons. Mated for life dragons are typically much calmer and confident than their peers, comfortable with their established territories and able to readily and consistently protect it from rivals. While the number of mated for life dragons is extremely low, estimated at between 1 and 5% of all dragons, it is seen as an ideal of their society to find a permanent mate.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Dragons are found world wide, filling the role of apex predators in their environments. Typically, dragons are most comfortable in semi-arid, temperate, and tropical environments, usually avoiding deserts and polar regions, though some limited populations do exist within them.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The eyes of dragons are unique, with multiple pupils that act as filters for different types of sight. They can see auras and essences, along with being able to see magic and some UV and ultraviolet light. The vast majority of dragons are able to utilize magic to extraordinary capabilities due to their long lives and low Magic Resistance. All sentient dragons have some degree of Immortality, and cannot be permanently killed without destroying their essence.
While it is their most well known trait, not all dragons can breathe fire. Among those that cannot, the vast majority of them are venomous, suggesting that fire-breathing may be a derived trait that evolved from venom in most dragons. For fire-breathing dragons, flames are produced from a mixture of flammable gasses and liquids produced largely by the sinuses and saliva glands, which is then vaporized and spat through the mouth, alighting when combined in a cross stream.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
The Blood Eel is a symbiotic creature with most dragon species, most well known for preventing Dreamer's Disease and other infections.
There are a wide variety of Dragon Mites, lice, and other skin parasites that have evolved to specifically prey upon dragons and their kin. Most are not deadly and are considered a nuisance and mark of poor personal hygiene.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
Dragons are known for dividing themselves into groups called Dragonflights. These groups are defined by loyalties and magic, rather than species and race.
Kindal Dragonflight
Beauty Ideals
Among the dragons, beauty is considered to be the hallmarks of good health and signs of many battles won- Brightly shining scales, free of parasites and blemishes aside from scars, any fur or feathers neat and well oiled for a sleek appearance, full mouth of teeth, and bright colors adorning the body. Jewelry, such as horn rings, piercings, and fine cloth spun between the horns or draped over the back and around the shoulders is considered highly attractive. Tattoos and scars differ among the flights, however the common consensus is that they are the marks of long lived dragons- the longer one has been alive, the more powerful and thus more beautiful. Many dragons go out of their way to fake scars, either with tattoos or cosmetics, to appear more attractive to potential mates and partners.
Gender Ideals
There are three main gender roles in draconic society, all of which are centered around a dragon's role in reproduction. Outside of breeding seasons or trying to find a mate, one's gender is not considered important and does not impact the way they are treated by others of their kind. Biological sex is entirely separate from gender with no impact on it or how dragons choose to identify themselves- female dragons can be stags, males ewes, and vice versa, and dragons do not often understand the concept of sexuality as known among humanoids. Due to their own differing ideas of gender, most dragons have extreme difficulty in recognizing the genders of humanoids and mortals. Due to that non-competitive pairs often have higher success rates in raising offspring to healthy mature adults, it is thought that the process of stags creating harems of ewes is a system to select the best mates to later become non-competitive with and be their lifelong mates, while still having as many offspring as they can in the meantime.
Stags
Stags center their identity around attracting as many seasonal mates as possible and chasing away competition and rival stags. Highly confident, aggressive, and determined to impress others, stags often compete during breeding seasons among one another to make themselves look the best and most fit, both in personality and physical ability. While extremely aggressive to one another, stags often do not kill each other in their competitions, instead having an understanding that their physical fights are mainly for show, and so that they have the chance to impress ewes, and as such most wounds given are often shallow and non-deadly. During breeding seasons, stags will often meticulously groom and adorn themselves with trinkets, paints, and clays to make themselves more visually impressive. Stags seek to impress a harem of ewes, gaining as many mates as they can.Ewes
Ewes identity is more centered around nesting, rearing offspring, and defending territory. While stags compete among one another to impress ewes, ewes compete over territory and claiming as many suitable nesting spots as they can, and are known to be much more brutal amongst one another. Competitions between ewes happen earlier in the year than those between stags, with ewes chasing off competitors entirely, only stopping their fights once stags begin to compete. Even when a part of the same harem under a stag, ewes can still be incredibly competitive and seek to drive away others from nesting too close to them, as they often will have separate nests within the same territory though closely bonded ewes, often those who have built a relationship over their time in the same harem, may nest together cooperatively. Ewes are not typically aggressive to stags, although may frequently kick them out of the nest aside from mating or when they need to leave their nests to hunt.Non Competitive
Sometimes called Non-Comp or NC dragons, they fall into an identity that is not centered around finding or attracting a mate. Non Comp dragons can do this for a variety of reasons that vary from individual to individual, and some may be personal. Generally, non-comps are most often dragons simply not interested in finding a mate or they have already found one, with no interest in creating or being a part of a harem. Less common are dragons who have lost their mate, either to competition or death, and take a period of time to mourn. While stags and ewes are incredibly fierce and competitive amongst themselves, they pay non-comp dragons no mind at all during the breeding season, only seeing them as threats for food and water. Non-comps can pass through the territory of a stag or ewe relatively safely as long as they do not have offspring. Non-comps sometimes forgo mating, but are not defined by avoiding doing so. As most non-comp dragons have already found a lifelong mate they will still reproduce and often do to higher success than others.Courtship Ideals
Dragons seek out companions and lovers that are of similar power to themselves and often complimentary to their own abilities. A dragons mate, as viewed through their culture, should be able to readily prove such through sparring and wit. The process of courting, once having driven off competitors, is a brutal affair as the pair will often spar both physically and through magic in order to prove their mettle until they are either satisfied or one surrenders and flees. These spars can last for hours and become quite bloody, especially between pairs of stags or pairs of ewes, should they pair together, and are sometimes interrupted by new challengers. While not meant to go until the death, particularly aggressive dragons will often challenge those still injured or insist on chasing them away when gravely wounded, which may result in a death.
Once paired, they will remain such until they either split after the breeding season or one outpowers the other and seeks a mate of similar skill, chasing off the weaker one. It can seem cruel or even abusive to mortals that pairs must challenge one another to be accepted by their peers, but among dragons, this prevents large imbalances of power and abusive relationships from forming, as both are equal and at any time are capable of defending themselves physically. When one dragon in a pair or harem becomes too powerful or drastically weakened, they will often be chased out by the others, with the more powerful of them claiming the territory. There are exceptions to this, as dragons with severe disabilities, illness, or other ailments are still accepted by their partners as their condition is not seen as a fault in their power or desirability.
Relationship Ideals
Like other dragon species, polyamory is incredibly common and often expected depending on a dragon's gender role and age. Adult stags and ewes will often have or be a part of a harem respectively, and ewes in particular are known for mating with multiple stags and only keeping a relationship with the most impressive one. Dragons seek partners that are of equal but often differing types of strength, such as a physically strong dragon bonded to a magically strong one. Relationships are built upon hard earned trust and respect that is not easily lost.
Although dragons will often have many partners each year, the ideal is for one to find a mate and become a pair. Permanent mates are akin to marriage among dragons, a partner that they wholeheartedly trust with their life and territory, and in turn they trust them as well.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Dragontongue is the most common among dragons, being primarily made of the natural sounds and calls a dragon will make. The draconic language comes in two forms- True Dragontongue, and Common Dragontongue.
True Dragontongue is instinctive, known by all dragons at birth. It consists of the primary forms of communication such as mating calls, aggressive calls, non-aggressive calls, and passive noises. Communicating in True Dragontongue is at its most simple, how feral and very young dragons use the natural sounds of their species. It also heavily relies on body language, as a dragon without body language is comparable to speaking in monotone to them.
Common Dragontongue, unlike the basal dialect, is much more complex in both speech and body language. A true language, with hundreds of words body signs, it is most often too complex for mortals to speak, although it can be understood by many if given the proper study and time. Common dragontongue also is often too low of a frequency for most mortals to hear or understand, consisting of low rumbles, growls, and snarls in the audible spectrum. Common (False Dragontongue) is derived from it.
Common Etiquette Rules
Dragons take etiquette quite seriously, and doing so wrong can result in serious bodily harm or even death.
Looking a dragon in the eye is considered a challenge worthy of a fight, and a sure fire way to get one's self killed if done at the wrong time. It is considered polite to not look at their face until given permission, and even so, for humanoids and mortals to look at their noses, between the eyes, or just in their general direction rather than directly. Body language is incredibly important to communication with them, and messing up or using the wrong form of it a grave insult and taken as mocking.
Common Dress Code
Dragons do not commonly wear clothing in a traditional or mortal sense. Instead, dragons focus on accessory, such as scarification, tattoos, body paint, and jewelry. Smaller individuals may adopt eye shaped symbols, although this is often frowned upon due to their kind's natural aversion to looking one another in the eye, though this is often done deliberately by the smaller party, and can sometimes be regarded as an individual with trauma from being attacked in the past and coping mechanism for defending themselves.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Cannibalistic by nature, it is the norm among dragons to feast upon their fallen brethren upon their deaths. While this tradition has been observed in dragons for nearly all of recorded history, the War of Black Ash exemplified it, due to massive food shortages and the period being known for mass starvation. Not to waste any potential food source, the dragons would ritualistically butcher the bodies of the fallen, and take only as much as they could carry for themselves, leaving nothing to waste as the body would be split among all in the region for as much as the body would last, even among enemies. The tongue, and if present, the mane, of the fallen dragon, would be returned to their birthplace to be buried where they were born, as a symbol to rejuvenate the next generation.
Common Taboos
A mated pair of dragons with one significantly more powerful over the other is the largest taboo of dragon kind. This can be shown in several different ways, with 'power' having many definitions- age, size, strength, magical prowess, experience, etc. Dragons who participate in such are viewed as manipulative and abusive, and subject to retaliation from their peers which in extreme cases, may even result in the offending party being attacked and challenged for their territory until completely removed from a region, or in the worst cases, even killed.
Attacking or becoming territorial to migrating parents with hatchlings is also taboo, as most often, these individuals have lost their territory to unfortunate circumstances. While most won't allow them to stay permanently, they are often granted temporary protection while passing through other dragons' territories as long as they stay away from their own nests. Attacking and killing hatchlings or juveniles is also taboo and a great crime among dragons.
History
The dragons are an ancient species, having existed on Terra since before the human age. Their existence was mostly a myth, unproven, for much of human history, as the vast majority of dragons had succumbed to illnesses such as Dreamer's Disease, war amongst one another, or were deep in hibernation due to a lack of resources following the previous ice age. It is unknown exactly what caused the dragons to awaken- be it human activity or a need to feed, only that they began to en mass during the 2030s. The dragons began to feed and claim territory in the world that had changed during their slumber, causing many conflicts with humans.
Continuing to war with one another, many dragons, most notably Neia Lun De Draco, Aien Sol De Draco, and many other flight leaders, stooped to inexcusable methods, using human, omnia, and other flights of dragons alike as slaves and soldiers. This war resulted in the extinction of the human race and once it came to a head with the Omnia's Revolt during the War of Black Ash, the dragons for perhaps the first time found themselves overthrown as the reign of gods began. Much of Terra is now divided into Draconic or Divine territory, with neutral areas few and far between and often hotly contested.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The interspecies relations with dragons is a long and complex history, with many grim and abhorrent acts. Dragons are indisputably and directly responsible for the downfall and extinction of Humans, as well as the colonization and subjugation of most other Humanoids. Although tensions in the modern era have eased signifgantly, it is unmistakable that in the past, the dragons as a whole were complicit in shaping the world as it is today and are responsible for a great many social and ecological tragedies.
The existence of the Omnia in particular is entirely due to the dragons and their cruelty, marked by slavery and mistreatment of their kind as well as denial of their existence at all for thousands of years, especially by the Lunar Dragonflight. The current War of the Moon is regarded by many as a long overdue confrontation of the misdeeds of dragons to all mortalkind, not just the omnia, though this notion is spearheaded by them.
Fairies also greatly suffered in the past due to the actions of dragons. During times of starvation, it was not uncommon for large dragons, especially wyrms, to attack fairy nests and raid them relentlessly, treating the race as a source of food. As such, the vast majority of fairy hives have deep trauma surrounding the dragons, and remain incredibly suspicious and aggressive to them, with the mere presence of a dragon being enough to send them into aggression.
Not all interactions between dragons and mortals is negative, however. The Blood Dragonflight is well known for their fierce ally ship to mortals and humanoids, through a joint alliance with Vampires and Blood Demons. Their clade oftentimes act as mediators in conflicts between mortals and other flights. Similarly, the Lightning Dragonflight acts the same when dealing with the pantheon.
Many groups distance themselves heavily from their past, either through reparations or outright denial.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Genetic Descendants
Scientific Name
Draconis draconis
Origin/Ancestry
Dragonkin
Lifespan
Immortal- Cannot die unless killed and the essence destroyed
Conservation Status
Least concern
Average Physique
Sleek bodies with minimal body fat, covered in thick, resilient scales with feathery or fur like adornments are the most common in dragonkin.
Related Ethnicities
Related Myths
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