Dragon
Dragons are large reptile-like creatures that have dwelled on the planet for many, many years, with a lot of mythos suggesting they held sentient intellect in an age perhaps prior to the Ekethian race. They are beings of nearly unrivaled natural connection and influence in the Chaos energy, sometimes existing in such a way that their bodies pull it like gravity, and most will develop a 'Crystal heart' - where it literally turns more like an organic gem mineral, and collects and better channels magic. With the right understanding and age, a dragon can shape pieces of its environment by mere thought and mood. However what they have in power, bodily ability, and a near immortal lifespan, they lack in dexterous ability. They are still regarded as 'monsters' for their form, and cannot often hold the same objects, or structure a society around their own kind in the same ease and way a human could. As such, they tend to take from others, seeking to human, reketta, and other culture with odd interest, sometimes intruding and demanding it.
For their power, aggression, and greed, dragons are sometimes hunted. Theirs parts are valued, and their end is desired. Only a few have established more easy diplomacy, and magic transformation that has allowed them to cooperate with humanity and other, but even then this has sparked an uprise in haflings that go on to repeat a cycle of undesired results, and draconic resentment. Sometimes now even the mere sight and speak of a dragon, often delivered by telepathy, is reason enough to frighten smaller races into hostility. Still they're mostly terrors for how their heads have long since wired culture and gems to have a deep primal compulsion to take and hoard treasures.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Dragons possess four legs, with the hind legs once evolved out of full talons, and now only holding a smaller back-claw at the digitigrade end. Their foreclaws are more dexterous, but not quite 1:1 with a human or reketta hand. They have large wings, long necks, long snouts, and often grow horns behind two pointed ears. Their long tails may often end in small spaded or tipped ends, but not always. Their scales are actually made in part out of metal, while their underbelly (chin-to-tail) is a segmented softer side. Males more often have elaborate or even extra horns, and sometimes parts of a crest, or more vibrant head scales. Females tend to have simpler scale features, and often get bigger - not as an immediate biological trait, but as a chance of them living longer and eating more.
Size varies mostly by age, but also by experience. A dragon can live for a little over a millennia at their best, and will spend the first hundred years often no bigger than double that of a horse. Eating balanced and gravitating chaos are both effects that help the dragon age to become bigger. Scales shed individually with wear, or in uneven growth (often the case if they overfeed), however when the ascend in a full growth spurt the whole body sheds an entire skin like a snake. By age 600 or so a dragon might reach the rough maximum size of that comparable to some palaces, with a vast wingspan and tail length that could do serious harm to settlements. Often at this point, some dragons compensate and hide such a massive form by knowing Polymorphing principles, and can shapeshift to blend among humans or others. Some older dragons that stay small may have had poor investment or development in Chaos.
Author Note:
It is important to note that Dragons are distinctly not like others of the Draconic family. In this universe, and honestly my others, I've dignified the dragon apart from the wyvern, and wyrm for good reason. A wyvern is NOT a dragon in this setting - and it should't be considered as such in others honestly.Genetics and Reproduction
Dragons are sexually mature by age eight, but often don't mate until they're fifteen or older. Often males live and breed more nomadically, finding females and staying with them until they're impregnated. Then the two will often fight for territory, often with the female winning and keeping it as a nest for her young. The children are often thrown out before they get competitive for the lair themselves. In rare chances of the male owning the land, they will 'lend' it to a weaker female and rear its young to be a 'clan' family that stays in a networks of tunnels and rooms. The male young will still leave early when able to fly, so they can mate with new genetics.
Older dragons however more often experiment with those outside its own species, and are among the more known and infamous potential of halfling makers. Often this is done by a dragon becoming enabled with polymorphing magic and tricks, and sometimes even change and experiment around the same gender. A dragoness can actually become both pregnant and impregnate another female at once by assuming the male form of its mate's race. Alternatively, a dragon may stay true to its form, but hypnotize or overpower weaker subjects, often stirring up mixed legends of their actions around 'sacrificed' maidens, or the knights that proposed a fight. Some Reketta may commit to this more willingly for their higher cultural affinity of dragons. Meanwhile dragons will even rape or trick trolls, gryphons, and others to produce sometimes awful abominations that warrant death the same way a dragon itself might.
Ecology and Habitats
More than anything else, dragons tend to love earthen habitats, and dig out caves. Caves can be simple, but as the dragon and potential gold or clan grows, it develops deeper networks, dens, even trick paths and trap rooms. There are a few dragons however that dwell in ruins, or active castles, with others living under heavy disguise for a decent period.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Many myths and folk remedies stand to muddle the waters on what a dragon is worth when broken down to parts. Scales can be used in forging, and decor. Horns are common in potions. Their saliva is often as good as an oil, and will burn even for a short time over water. The most indisputably valued part is a crystal rich dragon heart, though capture and preservation is rare enough that information is sometimes not collected well, or the product wasted on mythical lies. Finally there is the proxy result that a dragon's long presence will grow Chaos conductive crystals, and their caves can be mined for more than just the stolen treasure.
Some common misconceptions that might one day yield better results are the misuses that have been done to their stomach, liver, lungs (air or regular), tail, wings, teeth, and other. For example, its believe the right spell and forging of their stomach can result in turning it into gold, for the sheer fact they're capable of ingesting it. This has proven false in all cases, save for confusion in finding gold still inside the dead organ.
Lifespan
1'000+ Years
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