Elder Dragons

The greatest and most fearsome of dragons, Elder Dragons are vast and extremely dangerous creatures that fortunately spend most of their adult lives in deep hibernation. While lesser dragons (if any of such a species can be deemed "lesser") grow to be dozens of feet long and survive perhaps 1200-1500 years before dying of old age, adult Elder Dragons are regularly well over a hundred feet long and there is not a single account of an Elder Dragon having died of natural causes.  

Life Cycle

Mating and Hatching

Elder Dragons form complex relationships between mating pairs. Like most sapient species, these relationships vary widely, but tend to be very independent in nature - a mate might be permitted to select a lair nearer than other dragons, and frequent visits between lairs are common, but cohabitation is exceptionally rare. Exact relationship dynamics vary tremendously and are not well documented by humanoid scholars, as dragons tend to guard their privacy fiercely. However, it is clear that mated pairs, particularly those whose relationships have existed for centuries, make an effort to synchronize their hibernation cycle.   Ancient Dragon pairs rarely reproduce - the process appears to be extremely exhausting for both partners. Eggs are often laid in clutches of 3 to 4, and are incubated within the mother's hoard. During the 73 year incubation period, the mother enters a half-hibernation state, sleeping buried in the hoard next to her eggs, and yet emitting a tremendous amount of heat - a dragon slayer can tell if the dragon they killed was a mother by the state of the hoard, as the heat is great enough for gold to deform significantly, resulting in coins melted into interlocking pebbles of gold from the incredible heat. The father forgoes his normal hibernation cycle, guarding his partner's lair against all comers leaving only when the need for food forces him to.   After the eggs hatch, the mother awakens, and is regularly alarmingly light for so large a creature, having burned through her body's reserves to properly gestate the eggs. She immediately seeks a meal, both for herself and for her hatchlings, who, having already devoured their egg shells, require additional food within a day of hatching in order to survive. Meanwhile, the father returns to his own lair in exhaustion after his long watch, often without having even seen his offspring. In most cases, he will hibernate for about 2 centuries.  

Early Life

Elder Dragon hatchlings live with their mother for their first several decades of life, learning ancient wisdom, magic, and basic draconic etiquette. During this time, they grow from a mere 5-7 feet long at hatching to 15-20 feet long before they set out to find their own lairs, traveling far and wide, seeking places far enough from their parents' and each others' territories that they will not come into conflict. It is during this period that they are most likely to come into conflict with humanoids, and many are slain by glory seeking adventurers as adolescents, before they can truly establish themselves.  

Adult life and the hibernation cycle

Adult Elder Dragons skip through the ages like a stone skips across a pond, sleeping for decades or centuries in a cold, nearly lifeless state of hibernation, waking only for a handful of years at a time. During this time, they explore the world, learning, pursuing their interests, and amassing their hoard. While it is traditional to assume that a dragon's hoard will be a vast mound of gold, this is only truly typical of prospective mothers, and can be thought of more as a nest than a hoard.   A dragon's true hoard may be a vast collection of tomes of knowledge, or fine art, or a carefully curated collection of mystical artifacts or even just the remnants of some long lost society. Whatever it is, it is the physical manifestation of an Elder Dragon's obsession - a specific interest that captured them during their adolescence and will be diligently followed and studied through the ages. Most Elder Dragons will also collect a treasure hoard of gold, gems and other valuables, but, unlike their lesser kin, will happily trade away a portion of this treasure in exchange for any contribution that can be made toward their true hoard.  

Dietary Needs

While their hibernation cycle conserves considerable amounts of energy, allowing Elder Dragons to consume far less food than would be expected from their immense forms, they wake with a truly staggering hunger. To answer this, they have cultivated a species of draconic humanoids called Kobolds, intelligent humanoids who treat Elder Dragons with a near worshipful reverence.   Each Elder Dragon is served by a community of Kobolds, descendants of those who served their parents in ages past, either following them on their travels after leaving their mother's lair or, by some extraordinary accounts, riding them or being carried in a gondola. These communities spend much of their time growing a large herd of livestock - cattle, sheep and goats are all common (and will often be stolen from nearby farming communities if the supply grows dangerously low), but the preference is for cave dwelling species that live off of fungus, as growing these avoids conflict over grazing territory with the more common humanoid species (who typically outnumber kobold settlements by a considerable margin while also having superior weaponry...as long as the dragon is asleep).   Kobolds often find their own ambitions beyond that of ensuring an optimal supply of meat for the dragon they serve, and can be quite adventurous and inventive in their way. However, they typically regard surface dwellers with considerable suspicion (a distrust that is often mutual) and thus tend to keep to their own devices, delving underground and avoiding conflict.   In recompense for this service, most Elder Dragons prefer to aid the Kobolds that serve them, providing both their wisdom and their considerable strength as needed to eliminate problems for these communities. Peoples who find themselves embroiled in a long-standing feud with a kobold settlement often abruptly find themselves facing a much more dramatic problem when their patron dragon awakens - Elder Dragons possess the might to lay waste to entire cities, and can only be opposed by teams of the most capable warriors and magi. As a result, most other humanoids tend to regard kobolds with a wary acceptance - the cost of starting such a feud can be truly calamitous.