Cordric

Found only in the highest peaks of the Kakas Mountain Range, the dreaded Cordric soars above the ice and snow. Renowned for their size and strength, fully grown cordrics can measure 5 meters in length and stand 3 meters off the ground with a wingspan of over 6 meters. With white scales that make them nearly invisible against the sky and the second hottest fire in the world, these dragons proudly claim their title as the apex predators of the mountains.

A cordric's fire is the secret to its cold weather survival. The heat produced within the dragon's body keeps it warm in the freezing air but it is not actually fire. It is a special chemical reaction occuring within a unique organ found in the chests of all dragons called the dragon heart. This organ is different from its actual heart. It does not pump blood but rather a highly reactive liquid derived from the dragon's food and dragonnip. When sprayed from glands in the cordric's throat it reacts with the air and ignites in a superheated jet of fire.

Young cordrics rely on their fire for hunting, blasting their prey with a jet of flame to burn them alive. Cordric attacks are easy to spot by the scorchmarks surrounding the charred bones and flesh of their latest meal. This tactic, while effective, destroys most of the cordric's food so young cordrics must hunt regularly to survive.

Older, more experienced cordrics have devised a more dangerous but rewarding hunting strategy to tackle their favorite prey: banthus. Adult cordrics will wait for a blizzard to blow across the mountains before leaving their dens to hunt, using the extra snow cover to mask their presence. The added stealth and camoflauge allows the wyrms to ambush a lone banthu that would be too dangerous to fight head-on. If it were to attemp such an attack on a clear day the banthu herd would spot it before it was within striking range and form their defensive wall. Even a cordric would be unable to penetrate the banthus' wall of horns and tusks without risking serious injury. But under the cover of a whiteout, the cordric uses its heat vision to swoop down and grab a banthu from behind, using its size and strength to carry the struggling animal high into the air and then drop it, letting gravity do the rest. It must do so quickly as carrying a struggling two-ton animal is very tiring, but with its quarry freshly killed the Cordric can feed to its stomach's content. After eating its fill the cordric will take a portion of meat with it to eat later and abandon the rest. The remains of the carcass become food for other small predators and even other cordrics who have learned to search for the kills of more experienced hunters in hopes of a free meal.

Cordrics have also hunted Great Ironfeathers using the same ambush technique to tackle the birds on the ground or in the air, but such attacks are rare and usually a sign of desperation. Being aireial creatures, The cordric's method of dropping its quarry from a high altitude is ineffective on ironfeathers and the birds' tough feathers make teeth and claws all but useless so the cordric must resort to overpowering its prey by brute strength. The ironfeathers' tenacity and sass make them very difficult to kill, so cordric's generally avoid them if they can help it.

The Seltiks believe these elusive dragons possess magical properties. Killing one and consuming its flesh is said to give the hunter supernatural speed, strength, and intelligence.