Dragons
Mystics of Flame
While dragons have become very rare, they are well known for their immense power and flaming personalities.
They were once plentiful across the world, including Veskar, but they have now been reduced to a fraction of their number, almost entirely due to the spread of the corporeals.
They are the flying lizards of fire, and their incinerating wrath is well known and feared by all.
Appearance
There are different types of dragons, but there are a few things they all have in common: thick, scaly skin, long necks and tails, and big horns on their heads. They may also have smaller horns on other parts of their body, but this differs per type and individual.
They have strong hind legs on which they stand, and they support themselves with their wings, which have claws on the middle digit, in order to provide grip.
They all have big eyes that are usually yellow or orange, with large, round irises, that can see much further than any human eyes.
Types
Dragons can be divided into two main classes and six types.
Common Dragons
Common dragons, those that are the most plentiful. They are smaller than the greater Dragons, and there are four types.
Green Dragon
As their name suggests, green dragons come in a variety of shades of green, from a dark spruce to a more grey-green color, and everything in between. They are the most common type of dragon, and they are also the smallest. Their size ranges from that of a large elephant to twice that. There are estimated to be around a hundred of them left on Veskar.
Red Dragon
Blood Dragon
The red, or blood dragon, is named such for their deep crimson shades. They range from a reddish green to deep red, and some of them also have stripes. They have the general body plan of a green dragon, but they are slightly larger on average, and their tail has a flat leaf-shaped tip, which they use to knock over enemies and objects while flying over them. There are estimated to be a few dozen left on Veskar.
Blue Dragon
Water Dragon
The blue dragon, also known as the water dragon, gets its nickname from its aquatic nature. It is shaped to fit the water. Their legs are reduced to flippers, and their tails are flattened sideways to allow them to glide better through the water. Their necks and bodies are also much more streamlined, and their wings are shorter and more adapted to propel them through the water, which is further aided by the layer of slime that grows over their scales. Despite their aquatic adaptations, they can still fly perfectly fine, although they struggle with long-term sustained flight. These all live in the sea, and their numbers are completely unknown.
Brown Dragon
Earth Dragon
Brown dragons are somewhat the back sheep of the dragon clan, they do not have wings, and they move around on four legs. They come in a wide color range, from yellow, sandy color, to dark brown shades of mud, and everything in between. The colorations help them blend in with their favorite environments, those of rocky, sandy places, and occasionally, mud pools. They are extinct on continental Veskar, but they can still be found on Reinamye in particular, as well as Armir, and the other landmasses.
Greater Dragon
There are two types of Greater Dragon, the black and the white. Some think they are simply the same type of dragon, and the two of them are merely the male and female versions of said type, but this isn't true. However, because they are both very rare, they are known to mate across their two types, which is quite uncommon among dragons. In this case, the offspring will be either a full white or a full black dragon.
Black Dragon
Ash Dragon
The black dragon is the largest of all dragons. They have exceptionally large wings and the longest neck-to-body ratio of any dragon. They have long fangs, and they often have, in addition to their regular horns, a single smaller horn on their nose, which is not seen in any other types.
White Dragon
Ice Dragon
The white dragon gets its nickname of ice dragon more from its appearance than association with the cold. In fact, these dragons are more often seen in warmer, humid climates. Their most distinguishing feature is their four wings, and their exceptionally rounded and elegant stature. They are slender, and they have a round, membrane-like fin on the end of their tail. Their wings, too, are semi-transparent, with a slight blue hue.
Magic
Dragons have powerful magic, and as they get older and more experienced, their power grows, and so does their magic.
Dragons have two main magics: fire breath and transformation. These are actually the two main components of dragon power progression. The first, fire breath, is the one that spans most of a dragon's life, and only once they have mastered this can they attain their transformation abilities.
The flame stages allow the dragon to conjure flammable substances and ignite them with the ignition gland on the roof of their mouths. Because they are conjured substances, they must obey the rules of conjuration, and they cannot stay permanently outside of the dragon's body.
Stage 1 - Liquid Fire
The first stage is the one they discover when they are but tiny hatchlings. Contrary to popular belief, they aren't born with the ability to spew flame, but they quickly find this power as they get older. Liquid fire starts as a light watery substance that burns relatively cool, compared to regular flames, of course, and over time, as the dragon masters this ability, it becomes more flammable, more viscous, and it becomes hotter. The viscosity of the liquid is important because it allows for the flame to sustain ignition for longer, and it better sticks to surfaces.
Stage 2 - Gaseous Fire
The second stage is the gaseous flame. It doesn't have as much range as the liquid flame, but it burns much hotter, and it is even able to melt metal, given enough focus and time. Over the course of a dragon's life, they learn to channel their gas optimally, making it burn more efficiently, and thus, much hotter.
Stage 3 - Solid Fire
The final of the flame stages allows for the burning of a solid powder, creating a flame so hot, it can easily burn through most rocks and metals, the only metal armors capable of holding such a flame at bay for more than a few seconds, are Mithril and Jet plates, Mithril is able to keep from melting for up to three minutes of sustained exposure to a dragons solid flame, research has shown that the person inside the armor can only survive this process for no more than ten seconds before they are cooked alive. As a much better thermal insulator, Jet is a more reliable option. It is able to withstand up to ten minutes of sustained fire, but they aren't used as armor. Dragon hunters use large, thin Jet shields. which they can easily hide behind. While this flame is the hottest of them all by far, it has only a very short range, and it burns so bright, even the dragon itself has trouble seeing what it is setting on fire.
Stage 4 - Transformation
The oldest and strongest of dragons obtain the ability to choose a corporeal form, a single corporeal form, which they can transform in and out of at will. A dragon in their corporeal form is impossible to distinguish by sight alone.
Social Life
Dragons are solitary and only meet up to mate. They sometimes stay together, and they also form long-term relationships, but for dragons, that means meeting up with each other every few years, and not having children with any other dragons.
They do stay around each other when they have hatchlings.
Reproduction
Dragons lay large, smooth eggs with thick shells that can weigh up to twenty kilos. The colorations reflect the type of dragon that they will give birth to, and even the patterns on blood dragon eggs reflect the patterns the dragon will later have.
They can lay from two to five eggs at a time, and from the moment they hatch, it takes about twenty-five to thirty years before they become fully independent.
During this time, the male will stick around to make sure they aren't attacked, but the female will do most of the raising. When the children are old enough, they will each go their own ways.
The Greatest
Due to their rarity, there are only four known greater dragons who live on Veskar, one of them on the Mystic Isle of Reianmye, one on the northernmost island in the sea of a thousand isles, another in the mountains of Quianmye, and the last on the volcano on Sekhanmye.
Living Habits
All dragons like to live in holes in the ground, but many of them in the modern day are associated with mountains, this is less due to their liking of those places, and more because the corporeals hunted them incessantly for the past few thousand years.
Now, dragons generally live in caves, or they make a burrow under the ground. Water dragons still like caves, and they will find their underwater caves to live in.
The Greater Dragons of Veskar
There are four greater dragons left on Veskar.
Daethraxés the black, is the black dragon that lives on Reianmye. He is approximately 800 years old, and has lived here for most of his life. His mate is a red dragon that lives in the Yenoan mountains, and they have had many red dragon offspring, but only one black dragon one.
Lysanélae the blaze, the offspring of Daethraxés. She is approximately 300 years old, and lives in the mountains of Tiananmye. She is not known to currently have a permanent mate or any offspring.
Nylathaés the White, the white, who is around 700 years old. She is only confirmed to have had two offspring, one killed by a fiend, the other by hunters. There are rumours that she has had more, but if so, they either died, or left Veskar for good.
Her mate is Kraekanythix the Molten.
Kraekanythix the Molten, the black dragon that lives in the volcano on Sekhanmye. He is over 900 years old, making him the oldest dragon on the continent. He wasn't born here, and came to live on Sekhamnye approximately five hundred years ago.
Feedback is always Welcome!
I really enjoyed this article <3 The classification into Common and Greater dragons, and then into individual types gives a clear taxonomy that’s memorable and useful. The Flame Stages are a clever and original mechanic. The progression of flame types based on age and mastery adds a satisfying sense of growth and danger. Terms like “Blood Dragon” and “Red Dragon” are used interchangeably; same with “Ash” and “Black Dragon,” I think it would be more clear and flow better if one or the other term was used. Maybe mention the alternative name, but then use one through the article? You mention “corporeals” as the cause of dragon decline, but they’re not explained. Who or what are they? Is there another article about them? If so, maybe link to that. What are dragons’ relationships with sentient species? Are they worshiped, feared, hunted, revered? Adding a bit more lore or cultural perspective from the setting would help readers understand dragons’ roles in the broader world.
Thank you for this feedback, the corporeal races include humans, elves, dwarves, etc. in most my articles i assume that this is already known by the reader. I will definitely put interactions ard relationships with sentient beings in my to-do list!