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Message: <blockquote data-quote="mythusmage" data-source="post: 1304784" data-attributes="member: 571">On DragonsIt is a rare person who has not seen a dragon in flight, the legs tucked in against the body, the great wings slowly beating as the animal flies across the sky. With the exception of Antarctica every continent has a permanent dragon population. Others have had occasion to deal personally with a dragon. But still the animal is the subject of an incredible number of myths and urban legends.Dragons belong to the order, Dracos. Their closest relatives are Crocodilians, Aves, Lung, and Dinosauria. As with Lung and the Manticoria dragons are functionally hexapedal, though descended from quadrupedal ancestors. They are warmblooded, have four chambered hearts, nurture their young, have pets, and can live a very long time.Dragons also have magic. As with most every sophont on Dragon Earth they can learn magic. Much of it is an innate dweomercraft most every dragon is seemingly born with. But they are as capable of learning formal magic as any human, kobold, or dwarf. Even their ‘breath weapon’ is magical in origin, being a form of apportation. for instance, the red dragon apports the fuel for his fiery breath, blows it out as he exhales, and lights it off with a magical spark. All without even thinking about it. As a blue dragon once told me, “I try not to think about it. If I thought about it I’d probably electrocute myself.”Which leads us to the matter of dragon immunities. Dragons are resistant to most anything that resembles their breath weapon, but not entirely immune. A black dragon can be harmed by acid for example. It just takes more and at a higher concentration than it would for most any other animal.Dragons can be best described as catlike in form. Pantherine as a matter of fact. Their bodies are lithe and supple, with a long neck supporting a large head, a long, thick tail, and a pair of wings that can span a distance equal to the dragon’s total body length including tail. There are variations on the theme, but that should suffice for most species.Other than their breath and their wings the most notable feature of the dragon is his scales. Now, these are not fish scales, or lizard scales for that matter. They are more akin to the feathers of birds and Lung scales in structure. Indeed, a dragon’s wing scales are featherlike in form and function. In some older books on dragons they were refered to as feathers. According to the latest research it would appear that dragon scales, lung scales, and bird feathers arose from the same ancestral structure, taking different forms as the three lineages took separate paths. It’s just that a dragons ‘body feathers’ (as some writers once referred to them) have a solid ‘leaf’ at the end of the stalk that attaches the scale to the body. This in contrast to the more ‘feather-like’ feathers of avians and the hair-like scales of the li lung. (The so-called serpentine lung have scales much like that of the true dragon.)(Authorial Note: I know, the above could be better phrased overall, but it just isn’t coming to me. That’s why this is a rough draft. Advice is more than welcome. I also need a better ending than this lame thing. so expect revisions when I can get them done. A complete re-write now that I think of it. But the above should give you some idea of where I’d like to go with this section. (Where? Basically describe the modern day dragon and show how he fits into today’s world. But right now that part isn’t coming together. Don’t you hate when that happens?(In any case, expect the posting on dragon evolution next in this thread.)Alan Kellogg, January 9th 2004</blockquote>

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