Dragons
Dragons
Reproduction
The mating process varies among the species, but most engage in aerial competitions. One such competition, engaged in by the alpunn, is a long flight in which many males chase a single female. The male who catches up with her first gets to mate with her.
Once a female has mated, she carries her eggs inside her for one month. During this period, she carefully selects the grounds in which she’ll lay her eggs. When her time has come, she’ll spend the better part of a day laying the eggs, which will harden over the course of 6-8 weeks. The eggs are universally oval in shape and they are covered in tiny pores to allow the embryo to breathe.
As dragon names aren’t gender specific, a mother names her eggs when they have been hardening for 4 weeks. At that point, she knows which will survive and which won’t and so feels safe in naming her offspring.
Once the eggs have hatched, one or both of the parents will spend two months on average teaching them things that they need to know. From that point onwards, the learning moves from simply listening to their parent(s) to a more hands on approach, putting things into practice. Young dragons engage in play much like kittens do in preparation for learning to hunt.
Hatchmate - dragons who are born from the same clutch
Nestmate - a dragon that shares the same parents, but is of a different clutch.
Broodmate - these dragons share one biological parent--usually a sire, but sometimes a dam.
Clutch - a group of eggs a female lays at one time. Females will have many of these in her lifetime
Hatchling - a newly hatched dragon
Nestling - a dragon not yet ready or able to leave the nest
Sire - male parent
Dam - female parent
Brood mother - a female dragon not related to a dragon by blood, but still a member of their family group. Commonly used by species with harems.
Harem - name given to a group of females who mate with the same male
Mate - term for a pair of reproducing or bonded dragons. Term is gender neutral.
Lakinn - male dragon
Omir - female dragon
Arach - dragon who doesn't conform to either gender norms
Flight - a group of dragons, typically only used with unpartnered ones
Wing - a group of dragons, typically only used with partnered ones
Quickling - draconic term for non-dragons. Doesn't include wyvern
Development
As the eggs age and the embryo develops, the dragon inside will gradually consume all of the material inside the egg. Once this is gone, it leaves the shell brittle, making it easy for the hatchling to break free. A day or two before the hatching, the young dragons are able to hear what is going on in the outside world and can respond to auditory stimulus.
Once they’ve hatched, their first instinct is to look for food. One or both of the parents has their first meal ready for them. Dragons who have riders obtain their assistance in chopping the meat up into smaller portions for the young dragons.
Right from hatching, they can walk and see marginally well. Their vocal skills are rudimentary, comparable to a four year old human child. They have a genetic memory that allows them form speech and to understand what’s being said.
Hatchlings need to eat daily meals for the first six months of their lives. They can consume up to half their own body weight in food each day. At six months, they’re reached 40% of their adult size, but are still dependant on their parents for food as their hunting skills are poor at best, though some are able to catch small animals to supplement what their parents bring in. At this point in their lifespan, they only need to eat once every three days. A good sized shagback makes a good meal for them.
At a year old, they are proficient enough hunters to leave their parents. At 80% of their full size, they can survive quite well on what they can catch. Full size is reached at two years of age and females can begin to reproduce six months later. Male dragons are late bloomers and aren’t able to reproduce until they at least four years old.
Each species has specific milestones regarding their special abilities.
Culture
Culturally, dragons have an oral tradition that dates back to the early days of the world as they are the oldest race on Keverynn, followed by the wyvern. According to them, Amasuyeva is a real being who is the immortal mother of the dragon race. Her First Children are also quite real:
Aellar the Blue
Arrack-kemann the White
Tuarethel the Gold
Verenmisce the Green
Lashante the Silver
Language
Dragons have their own language with little variation amongst the species. They don’t share this language outside of themselves, not even with their riders.
Dragons aren't capable of understanding the speach of the bipedal species of Keverynn, nor can they speak to them. Solinn are the exception as their innate gift is universal language. Dragons who have Chosen a rider gain the ability to understand the language spoken by their rider.
Wild, unpartnered dragons generally don't bother with two-leggeds, but sometimes help the Dragonlords, particularly if their mate has a rider or they're related to a partnered dragon. Some who help have no affiliation with a rider's dragon. If they need to communicate with a two-legged, they use a paired dragon as a translator.
Diet
Dragons are largely opportunictic predators. They don't much care what they eat as long as there's enough of it. They have animals they won't eat as they don't provied enough nutrition. This changes as they age and grow.
Bonded dragons don't often feel the need to hunt as riders keep herds of animals specifically for them to use
Rabbits and similarly sized animals are sufficient for a very young dragon, espcially one who's just learning to hunt. Aside from the elau (a large, flightless bird), it's extremely rare for a dragon to eat birds.
Alpunn: their acceptable hunting range is large. Wild dragons live on fish, walrus, caribou, and elau.
Tiann: relatively speaking, they have a small area they call home. They prey on migrating flocks of elau and moose. Some have acquired a taste for fish and will hunt large marine animals off the east coast.
Seqenn: while the migratory yahal fall in their hunting area, they rarely eat them, preferring red tailed deer when their in season. In the off season, they eat non-migratory animals.
Solinn: they particularly enjoy wild cows and yahal as well as red tails when their migration path brings them through their province.
Vukann: their primary diet is yahal and red tail and will eat wild cows if they can get them. They also have a fondness for the large fish that populate the Liusje River.
There are non-migratory animals in each territory that they'll eat as well. Larger dragons will sometimes hunt bears.
They make a point of not hunting other predators unless there are no other options. Some argue that wyvern are an exception to this rule, but wyvern meat tastes bad to them so while dragons will happily kill wyvern (and vice versa), they won't eat them. Wyvern, on the other hand, will happily eat a dragon if the opportunity is there.
Speed
Dragons often fly slower when carrying passengers. This is partially due to the limitations of non-dragon endurance and partly from the added weight. The more passengers they carry, the slower their speed. How many passengers they can carry varries among species and individuals.
While carrying riders wearing proper gear, they can travel somewhat faster than they would an unequipped rider.
Siathi passengers also reduce how fast they can go due to the drag on the siathi's wings.
Burdened (with rider)
Wyndchild - 90 kph (flight)
Tiann - 220 kph
Solinn - 200 kph
Seqenn - 160 kph
Vukann - 140 kph
Alpunn - 120 kph
Dragonriders
The story goes that there was a seqenn named Holtrenn who felt out of place among the other dragons. She’d spent a lot of time observing the humans who lived in the same area that she did. They amused her with their antics. One day, she felt an odd sort of pull towards one in particular, so she spent most of her time observing that one, a young woman named Kalainn, in particular. The more she watched, the stronger the pull became. One day, Holtrenn approached the human and was startled to learn that she understood her strange words. The pair talked for some time and then the woman had to go back home.
Kalainn came looking for Holtrenn the next day, clearly distressed. Speaking to the dragon the day before had sparked something in Kalainn, something that had caused her discomfort from being away from Holtrenn. Together, they sought out Aellar, who told them that it was possible for some dragons and some people to form a bond. It had never come up before as dragons tended to keep their distance from people to avoid scaring their livestock and humans avoided dragons for much the same reason.
Kalainn and Holtrenn became the first Dragonriders. It wasn’t until the time of Jia Litrell and Amanthrenn, nearly a century later, that the Dragonlords would be formed with Jia as the first Argent Dragonlord. Her companions Taia Silvermoon, Yung Greklinn, Shajten clan L’trusha, and Kaylandolei became the first Auric, white, Veridian, and Azure Dragonlords respectively.
An adult dragon occasionally feels a tugging on their kalar (their spirit or essence) that sends them out in search of the source of the tug. It’s this tug that is the initial formation of the bond between a dragon and their rider. Dragons most often Choose people in their area as their rider. Most riders are human, though green dragons most frequently Choose chume’taly as their riders given that they share the same territory. In some extreme cases, a dragon will travel outside of their province to find the source of the tug.
In bonding, a dragon can partner with a male or a female, regardless of the dragon’s gender. It’s most common to see same gender dragon and rider pairs, though opposite gender pairs are seen.
In the event that a dragon is killed, the rider dies soon afterwards as they cannot survive the shock of the loss regardless of what species they are. Dragons, on the other hand, can survive without their Chosen rider, though it’s not pleasant. Some have been known to find another rider, but the bond isn’t as strong as it was with the first rider.
Not all of the dragons that associate with the Dragonlords have Chosen riders. Some allow themselves to be ridden much as wyndchilds do. In some cases, a dragon will have a friend among the warriors and will allow that person to ride them into combat. Not all dragons will allow this, however. Some fly into battle with no rider. There are also dragons who choose to remain apart from the Dragonlords.
Species
There are several distinct species of dragon.