Dragons

  Dragons are a species of highly intelligent reptiles that are native to Essaria. Found all over the world, they are mostly solitary creatures, carving out a territory for themselves and typically only interacting while mating or when in conflict with other dragons.  

Subspecies

   

Physiology

Age

Living for thousands of years, dragons typically go through major age categories of their life, through which they grow physically and magically:  

• Wyrmling (0-5 years)
• Very young (6-15 years)
• Young (16-25 years)
• Juvenile (26-50 years)
• Young adult (51-100 years)
• Adult (101-200 years)
• Mature adult (201-400 years)
• Old (401-600 years)
• Very old (601-800 years)
• Ancient (801-1,000 years)
• Wyrm (1,001-1,200 years)
• Great wyrm (1201+ years)

  Very few dragons reach beyond the stage of Very Old. Many are killed by other dragons or by adventurers, while others die of old age. It is not clear why some individual dragons are able to live longer and reach the venerable ages of Ancient or Wyrm.  

Features

Dragons are all scaled creatures with varying magical abilities. They all have the ability to expel an offensive breath. Most of these are elemental in nature, such as fire or lightning, though there are exceptions.   Their number of limbs varies. Most common are six-limbed dragons, with four clawed legs and two leathery wings. Some subspecies of dragons have different sets of limbs, both with and without wings.   All dragons have three eyes, which are intrinsically tied to the Three Moons of Essaria. When a dragon hatches, the placement of its eyes correspond to the celestial position of the moons at that moment. (With the Disappearance of the Third Moon, it is not known whether new dragons are born with two eyes.)   Many dragons possess the ability to shapechange. This phenomenon is not widely understood, but dragons have used this ability to infiltrate and influence mortal civilizations throughout history.  

Subspecies

There are many subspecies of dragons. These can be further organized into various "septs," or families, of dragons.  

• Chromatic: black, blue, green, red, white
• Metallic: brass, bronze, copper, gold, silver
• Imperial: forest, sea, sky, sovereign, underworld
• Primal: brine, cloud, crystal, magma, umbral

  As a rule, chromatic dragons are typically cruel and selfish, metallic dragons are usually selfless and noble, gem dragons are typically reclusive and neutral, and primal dragons reflect the nature of the elements they represent. However, there are many exceptions to this rule, and it's not impossible to find a heroic red dragon or a tyrannical gold dragon.   Yet other dragons exist, though they are even more uncommon than these.    

History

Dragons were highly active during the reign of the Pliscian Civilization. Since records of those times were almost all destroyed during the Pliscian Winter, it is unknown which of the two races came to power first. What little is known indicates that dragons were treated differently from the other sentient races of Essaria, who were typically used more as tools. Dragons, on the other hand, were treated as full individuals, autonomous from the agenda of the Pliscians.   Most of the dragons perished during the Pliscian Winter. The few that remained retreated into hiding, along with the mortal races. As time went on, these dragons and their descendants have slowly emerged.