Dragons

The dragons are a race of airborne reptiles who are innately connected to the flow of wyr. Ancient and powerful, they ruled the skies long before the Endsworn rose and nearly exterminated them. Over the years, dragons and their shapeshifting cousins the wyverns changed as the wyr around them did, turning into flightless drakons. Dragons may be extinct, as the last sighting of them was over twenty years ago, but recent events have caused a certain statue in the Westerwoods to stir...

Basic Information

Anatomy

A dragon is defined by the presence of four legs and one pair of large, bat-like wings. Like other wyr-connected beings, they have wyrcores - the organs which allow a being to shift and manipulate wyr. However, these are different in one way: they do not grant direct access to a Wyrpath. Instead, the dragon's wyrcore is unusually large, always nestled next to the heart, and grants certain psychic abilities. A dragon is otherwise anatomically similar to most four-limbed lizards.

Growth Rate & Stages

Dragons generally have four main stages of life:
A yearling is the proper term for a young dragon under two years of age. These young ones have not developed wyrcores and cannot fly, but have near-impenetrable skin and impeccable senses of smell and taste.
A drake is an adolescent dragon between two and seven years old. At this point, they are developing their adult functions. Wings and wyrcores become functional, and their growth speeds up dramatically.
An adult is called a dragon, between the ages of seven and one hundred. They exhibit the typical characteristics of dragons and value physical strength over magical prowess. Over one hundred, they are known as elder dragons and prefer supernatural power.

Ecology and Habitats

Dragons are cold-blooded creatures. Unlike wyverns, which thrive in seas and snow, dragons prefer the heat. Their natural habitat is the Araen Wastes, which have both warmth and wyr. Some travelled further afield to the northern continent, Edohar.

Additional Information

Average Intelligence

Dragons are one of the few wyrbeast species to be fully sapient. While their minds are not like humans' or ikayal's, they have a consciousness at the same relative level.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Dragons have sharp senses and an innate sense of the wyr around them (much like storm mages). Additionally, they can read nearby people's minds, and even somewhat influence them with enough concentration. It is this that makes it extremely difficult for one to sneak up on a dragon; unless it is distracted or somehow addled, even an unconscious dragon can sense nearby mages or mortals with ease. Some dragons can partially control other minds, though this does not extend to other dragons.

Genetic Descendants

• Drakons

Scientific Name

Konasaur senex

Lifespan

90-150 years

Conservation Status

Dragons have been dying alarmingly quickly ever since the Endwar. Like other wyr-connected species, dragons have slow reproductive cycles, and the Endsworn killed them in massive numbers. Their situation was worsened by groups of raiders looking to sell dragon hides for armour, and dragon eggs for relics. Axu authorities and the desert nomads outlawed this practice- seemingly too late. If any more are sighted, the human nations have agreed to take them to the Wastes for safety.

Average Height

Yearlings: 0.9 - 1.2m; Drakes: 1.7 - 4.3m; Dragons: 4.8 - 14.8m; Elder Dragons: 15.2 - 21.8m (at the shoulder)

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Dragon scales come in many colours, though orange and yellow hues are most common in the southern kind. Northern dragons can be brown, green or grey. Blue and white dragons are extremely rare due to dragons' need for warmth, and there has only ever been one truly black dragon.

Geographic Distribution

• The Araen Wastes

Perception

Dragons are seen by most as both noble and dangerous. In the past, the people of Ara revered them as rulers of the desert. Statues and scrolls discovered in the Araen Wastes often include dragons, either in positions of power or as steeds. As time passed, they were seen more as mounts than anything else. Now that they are so rare, dragons have become symbols of fortune and nobility. Humans consider even their eggs to be lucky.