Post by Bunhash on Nov 1, 2010 11:18:55 GMT -8
Race: Dragons
Lifespan:
Females live 800-1600 years,
The Male lives 2000-3500 years
Physical Descriptions: Dragons vary drastically depending on their dominant and recessive genes and the type of dragon they are. To clarify, there are multiple 'breeds' of dragons, each hosting different dominant genes that mark them differently from the other 'breeds'. Each breed is labeled differently based on these traits and shuffled into classes based on those labels.
King Dragons - A King Dragon is the dragon that resembles the first king's traits. These dragons are enormous in size with long necks, broad jaws, four solid legs and two wings protruding from their backs. In addition, and most notably, all King Dragons have shiny, almost metallic looking scales in solid colors; either black, gold, red or white. Only 1% of dragons are born King Dragons.
High Dragons - High Dragons are the most common breed of dragon and those that make up the majority of dragons in Draconia and the world. They are smaller bodied than a King Dragon by proportion but still tower over most smaller buildings in size. They have the same long neck, broad jaw, four solid legs and two wings as the King Dragons but vary in coloration. Most High Dragons retain a bit of color temperature orientation (cool colors, warm colors, etc) but never bare a single color like the King Dragons do. Most commonly, a High Dragon will have no less than 30 different shades of color upon its scales. The majority of dragons in existence are High Dragons, about 60%.
Barid Dragons - These dragons are defined by a single characteristic; gills. These dragons can vary in shape, color and size to any amount but each have a set of gills that allow them to breathe both air and water. Less than 5% of all dragons are born as Barid Dragons.
Wyr Dragons - Wyr Dragons are often called Wyrms or Wyrvern. They share the characteristic of two fully formed back legs and instead of having front legs, they only have a set of wings (though often with small claws at the tips). This is a less savory trait one can be born with. Approximately 25% of all dragons are born as Wyr Dragons.
Jestic Dragons - Jestic Dragons are dragons who are born without the marking traits of the other types. They may be born with extra legs, no wings, short necks, skinny faces, no spikes, no scales, much smaller than others or with any other manner of differences. The remaining percentage of dragons who are born are Jestic Dragons and looked at as rejects. The King will not mate with Jestic Dragons. About 9%.
No matter which traits a dragon is born with, males are always nearly 10 times the size of their female counterparts.
All dragons can breathe fire, unless deformed, and each is born with a gas bladder meant to lighten them for flight. The gas forms naturally and is highly flammable. A simple few clicks of the teeth can ignite the gas when being released (in the form of breathing out), and thus comes a stream of overly hot fire. Dragon skin is as strong as cured leather and all dragon scales are the same strength as or stronger than Jadice metal.
Social: On a whole, all dragons retain the same types of mannerisms; those that live within Draconia or those who live in the wild. Being that they are more as people than animals, they all have intelligent minds with problem solving abilities, morals and a sense of judgment, can speak and if taught; read, write and perform a variety of skilled tasks.
The females (the gender that makes up 99% of all dragons) are generally social albeit gruff. They enjoy having wrestling matches with one another and flying and swimming competitions. The younger females often compete in best teeth contests, best snarl contests and best playing dead contests. It's safe to say they are silly around each other. As with foreigners, they behave like any other people would to someone unknown; with reservation and skepticism. Like anyone, if they do not like someone, they can become hostile, but if they do like the stranger, they may be welcomed as kindly as family.
Males are another story altogether. Males are hostile and reserved always. They very rarely accept outsiders, even those of their own kind and are known to violent at the slightest of annoyances. This behavior is not challenged simply because there is no people in Terrastra or number of female dragons that could do anything about it if they wanted to; he is always that strong, huge and violent. This dark nature is assumed to be present in all males as there are so few males alive and those who are won't stand another.
This ratio of 99% female to 1% male is not a natural occurrence however. Since the beginning of life when Aboshan created Dragoshan, the first king of dragons, Dragoshan killed any newly created or born male dragons. His unwillingness to share the females, which he considered his property, brought upon the first system of dragon living. His rules became law. Those rules began with:
1. There can only ever be one king of dragons and all females will belong to him.
2. The only dragon who may succeed the king is the heir chosen by the previous king and one who resembles him most.
3. All other males must be killed upon birth.
They were the only laws for a long time, the laws that founded Dragoshan's first kingdom and for a time this was all he needed but things changed. At first, the only dragons who were hatched had the same traits; four solid legs, two wings, long necks, broad jaws, and could breathe fire. About halfway through Dragoshan's rule, other traits started to appear; shorter bodies, no wings, slim faces, no spikes, two wings in place of front legs... To dragoshan, these dragons were abomination. More laws followed:
4. Those born unlike the king must be killed upon birth.
It was the color of the scales alone that Dragoshan didn't mind. He found there were so few born with his scale traits, those with one universal color, that he decided only those who were special, like himself, were born with a single color. These were his favorite. From this spurred the first two classes of dragons.
5. Those born in a single hue, those who honor their king so highly, are to be called King Dragons.
6. Those born with several colors but resemble him otherwise are to be called High Dragons.
These laws stayed in place for hundreds of years. The population of dragons grew but only by females. The dragon kind was not 'diluted' by different traits because all born not as high or king dragons were killed before they even opened their eyes.
When Dragoshan was nearing death at the end of the third age, he named his successor; Tilith Thunderstone. Tilith was a much kinder soul than his father was (though he too was violent as most males are). He was truly a male of honor. His first tasks as king were to reunify his broken kingdom and create an alliance between the Gnomes and the dragons, one that would benefit them both. Under his instruction, the dragons came to the southern land once owned by his father and along with the Gnomes, the dragons created the great city of Draconia. With his new kingdom came a reform of the laws. Some he kept, others he altered.
1. There is only ever one King of the dragons and one Lord of Draconia.
2. All females, except the King's mother and her daughters and Jestic Dragons, are required to mate with the King and produce for him many children.
3. All males born within Draconia must be killed upon birth.
4. No other males may live within Draconia's walls unless castrated.
5. The King alone may choose his heir who must resemble him greatly.
6. If the King dies without choosing an heir, the King's eldest living daughter may choose his heir from those who resemble him most.
7. All dragons are to be named by traits and sorted into classes.
7a. Those born in a single hue, those who honor their king so highly, are to be called King Dragons.
7b. Those born with several colors but resemble him otherwise are to be called High Dragons.
7c. Those born with gills to breathe water are to be called Barid Dragons.
7d. Those born without front legs and instead have only a set of wings and back legs are to be called Wyr Dragons.
7e. Those born different from those labeled above are to be called Jestic Dragons.
8. As long as the Pact of Ages exists, no Dragon may harm or punish a Gnome without the Dragon King and Gnome Elect's expressed permission.
9. All treasure found in Draconia belongs to the King. Any found outside the walls belongs to the finder.
10. No foreigner may enter Draconia without permission from the King.
The laws of Tilith Thunderstone remain in place today though the dragon King is now Erech Infernus, the all black dragon king and Tilith's successor.
Estimated Population: 24,000 individuals.
Standing Army: Yes. They have one of, if not the, best fortress standing on Terrastra. The walls are so high that even the most agile find it difficult to scale them. And aside from this they know how to defend themselves from its walls quite well. A small group could technically hold the fortress against a full army but the land here is teeming with dragons who can all respond to the call of war in an instant.
They have powerful warriors and spellcasters. Immensely powerful healers and spies. Siege weapons they use to attack any approaching forces. And they themselves are both cavalry and infantry.
Size: Very small. Estimated to be around 1,500.
Brief list of Names: Several troops of Dragons are well known amongst the people of Terra because of their service in past wars. The "Sisters of Erech," were an organization created by the late King Erech, breed to have mostly black scales and used in Stealth operations. The "Daughters of Aboshan," are a fanatical group who rely on brute strength and extremely thick armor to defeat foes.
Breeding/Relationships: The male has a duty to keep the dragons populated so it is his duty to mate with all in heat females while they are fertile. He can be roused for intercourse several times a day. All dragons have eggs instead of live birth and the male keeps a company of 'nanny' females in his hall whose job is to solely sit on all newly birthed eggs until hatching. The females who have the eggs do not get to keep their eggs nor play mother to them as dragons are self-sufficient after a month after hatching and the male always wishes to oversee all newly birthed dragons.
Any and all males hatched from the eggs are promptly eaten or stomped by the king as he will not tolerate any other males in his land or near his females. This rule is only broken when the male is nearing his death. When his body starts to slow down, he knows he has but a few years to create his successor. At that time, the male is very fertile for the course of 5 or 6 years and he will mate with almost all the females, causing a mass birthing of new dragons. Once all the new males are hatched, he will pick his favorite, eat or kill the rest then die.
Once he is dead, the other dragons consume him. The new male gets his heart and he takes over as the new king and head of the dragons.
The mother of the new male is always able to recognize him as her own he can recognize her as his mother as they share a special bond. She becomes part of the nannys that hatch eggs and is never required to mate with him as this would be foul even to dragons. In addition, any daughters she may have had before he was hatched are also called to be nannys as he will not mate with his direct sisters either.
A dragon female takes 45 days to make the egg inside of her before laying it. The egg then take 16 months to mature before hatching and requires constant heat to survive. After hatching, a dragon baby has gel-like scales and such a tender underbelly that with even the slightest pressure can puncture and kill the infant. For the first ten days his/her scales will harden to a soft leather consistency and the underbelly hardens to a touchable state. By 30 days the small dragon's scales are about a strong as iron and his/her underbelly is a tough flesh. It takes until maturity for any dragon to have a full set of body scales (at the strength of Jadice metal) and tough leathery skin underneath. Females come of age around 100 years old and males come of age at 50 but do not become fully matured until 500 or so. He will remain about the size of a full grown female until he is nearly 300 years old.
Magic: Very High
Speed: Very High
Strength: Highest
Skill: Very High
Special Abilities: Magical Resistance - some females and the male are resilient to magic. It doesn't affect them almost at all.
Export/Craft: Dragons are full of wisdom and knowledge and use it to create thousands of books. Books of truth, of lore, of stories or of horrors. A dragon made book is always bound in black leather with a dragon scale attached to its cover. And because these books are so very large in size, there are a few shapeshifters of their kind who are used to take on a human form to write small copies of the large books for their kinsman the Ashtel.
Territory: Draconia
Native Language: [][][][]. There is no way to pronounce this language in common tongue. Instead it is commonly referred to as Dragonian by other races. Dragonian sounds like a series of hisses, growls, clicks and low range noises that most can not even hear. All dragons know this language and the Ashtel are able to understand and read it. The written version of this language is much more common and easy to understand as most of the books are written in it.
Current Leader: Erech Infernus, the Black King (Age 1912) (Non-Player Character)
(Previous Kings include: Dragoshan (the first king) and Tilith Thunderstone (the second king).
Alignment: Neutral
Creator: Aboshan
Rp Notes: If you wish to play a dragon, you must be sure to choose what is acceptable for the dragon-kind. You may not play a male King or High Dragon because he would have been killed but there are a few wayward male Wyr, Jestic and even Barid dragons alive in the wild. Alos, obviously, any other males can never go to Draconia or risk being killed by not only the king but his army of females. You may play any class of female you wish. No one person may play the king of dragons (Erech currently) as he is too powerful for one person to play.