Here Be Dragons!
Unfortunately our last game session was cancelled as half our writing team couldn't make it due to work and family commitments. As I am often in the midst of family drama myself, I fully understood this and it does give me the chance to do a Creature Feature with a difference. As dragons on Hestia are a varied and diverse group I decided to do an overview of all of them, or at least, of the ones known so far. There are some main staples of fantasy writing but also some more hidden and obscure gems. Enjoy and let me know if it gives you any ideas for writing of your own.
The Draconnic Encyclopedia Part 1
Introduction
As the largest and most dominant predators on Hestia dragons are rightly feared and venerated by all who have any contact with them as even the more gentle members of the species can be incredibly destructive if angered. As such it has been agreed that a comprehensive volume outlining draconnic abilities and traits is a necessary educational text for those in positions of authority, those training to assume the mantle of positions of authority and scholars who shall advise both those in authority and educate the lesser classes as to the precautions they need to take to prevent disaster impacting both themselves, their communities and their countries.
Though every effort has been taken to verify the information presented here, the reader should remember that dragons are as much people as any human, elf, dwarf or even orc. What appeals to one dragon will elicit disgust in another so the descriptions of 'personality' are, at best, a generalization and any speaking to a dragon should remember to not assume that all dragons of one subspecies will be driven by the same desires. Where notable exceptions to the general personality type of a subspecies is known, they are discussed but the reader should always remember that dragons can change their goals and desires so up to date information is always necessary for deadly social faux pax to be avoided.
It is also hoped that the reader will remember the brave members of many species who struggled to collect this knowledge. Many perished in the gathering of this information and a moments silence to reflect on how incredibly dangerous dragons are should, hopefully, give any aspiring dragon scholar or dragon slayer the pause they need to fully reconsider their life choices.
General Notes on Dragons
Dragons on Hestia are unusual in that, in a world where most creatures conform to the body plan of one head, one body and four limbs, dragons possess a six limbed body plan. There is some discussion among scholars as to the cause of this deviation from the standard of nature's plan and there is some evidence to suggest that the pregenerators of the draconnic species created them rather than breed them from dire lizard stock as has been suggested in less informed papers.
What ever the cause of this difference, it agreed that just about all dragon subspecies have long bodies with a sharp abdominal tuck, four powerful limbs with 'feet' that can grip to different degrees of dexterity, long tails, mighty wing limbs that propel the beasts into the sky at will, long, powerful necks and large heads equipped with massive, fang lined jaws, keen eyes, and horns that protect the back of the skull.
Dragons also possess a natural elemental magic that they channel into a 'breath' weapon that they use to many different purposes. Dragons have been observed to use their breath weapon to attack foes, defend against threats and in displays of both a threatening or a reproductive nature.
Draconnic territories are often large by necessary, with a dominate specimen ruling over the territories of several subordinates that have to surrender both kills and treasures to the larger dragon. In this way most draconnic aggression is spent fighting their own kind, leaving the smaller folk to simply deal with living with the presence of a creature that can act more akin to a natural disaster than a being of flesh and blood.
It is also worth noting that the subordinates are often also viewed as potential mates at the right times of the life cycle, though if the dominate dragon is a female she will often travel from her territory in search of a mate she considers worthy of fathering her eggs. Where the territories of to differing subspecies of dragons overlap this can sometimes result in hybrid species of dragons. Though rarer than the main subspecies, these hybrids are successful enough to warrant inclusion in this tome.
The following entries will include the name of the subspecies, its regular color, whether it is common for them to gather in family groups, the (very) general personality type, which element forms their breath weapon and its effects on targets, whether it is known for them to regularly take on the form of another species by use of their magical abilities, what material they tend to hoard and their general environment.
Lava Dragons
The most well known of the dragon subspecies due to it being the most likely to destructively interfere with civilizations as well as noted as the fastest growing so reaches the size required to be invulnerable to damage by lesser races relatively quickly. This is possibly why Lava Dragons are the most likely to kill their own kind, particularly slaying younger, smaller specimens of their species - instead of seeing them as fellow dragons, they view them as potential competition that has to be destroyed while it is still vulnerable.
Color- Red to reddish gold. They are typically muted in color as hatchlings, even reddish brown, as a camouflage against predation, usually by their own parents. Infancy among red dragons is the most dangerous life stage and they disperse quickly to avoid competing with stronger specimens. They send the rest of their lives living the maxim of 'survival of the fittest' and there is no mercy in that mind set. As they age and grow, shedding scales and skin, their color brightens and becomes more vibrant as a show of strength, experience and sexual readiness. If, by some design of fate, the Lava dragon reaches old age, their color starts to darken towards black. Though the beast might be beginning to slow down by this stage, its sheer size and experience will make it an extremely dangerous foe and it is next to impossible to successfully face in its own lair.
Family - As can be deduced from the previous entry Lava dragons are not found living in family groups but if anything this makes them even more dangerous as they are the survivors of an utterly vicious fight for survival where everything and everyone has been an enemy.
Personality - Lava dragon can be most easily summarized by two words - arrogance and avarice! Having survived the unforgiving selection process to reach adulthood, Lava dragons believe that they and they alone have earned the right to own everything they lay their gaze upon. As their horde size also gives them power in the breeding rights, they will covert anything and everything created from precious metals to add to their bower. Cities must either be careful to not appear too wealthy or invest in heavy protections as a precaution if a Lava dragon moves into the area.
Known Exception - Tikrumpdel. An ancient Lava dragon of immense size and age. It is said that he survived his younger years by helping to establish the Northern dwarven holds, trading the heat of his flames for a share of the treasure and the safety of an army that would defend him if others of his species attacked. The parting between him and the dwarfs was surprisingly amicable when he reached the age and size where he was able to stake a claim to a territory and lair in his own right. It is said that while Tikrumpdel patrolled the skies of the tundra, the northern peoples knew a time of surprising peace, giving up offerings of food and treasures in exchange for protection from the more aggressive mega fauna, which further provided food to the dragon, enabling an even greater rate of growth than is normal in this fast growing species. Legend states that many of the dragons who are more open to mutually beneficial arrangements with the lesser species are descendants of Tikrumpdel, legend stating that the females of many different subspecies would seek him out to be the sire of their eggs, some even claiming that he is the 'father' of some of the hybrid subspecies.
Unfortunately, a consortium of jealous younger dragons eventually came together to cast down the old king of the skies and drive him from his home, though many say that he did not die but instead lives on under the mountains, impoverished but still drawing breath, waiting for the day when he can go storming back to power.
Elemental Weapon - Fire. The fire breathing ability of dragons is famous and yet it is only this subspecies that possesses it, further evidence that they are the most likely to cause destruction and death to the lesser races. The pattern of this fire is dependent on the individual dragon - some favor long strafing runs that leaves a corridor of destruction and seeds a wide front with flame, others prefer to 'hover' with the aid of the wind and focus a column of fire on to a particular target. A few produce fireballs that explode on contact with the ground, throwing both men and debris across a wide area. An extremely rare few produce a flame that runs like fluid, flowing over and across terrain and even skating over water, burning everything it touches. These 'great fire drakes' are the most feared of their kind, known for being the most cruel and greedy, their wroth feared by even larger dragons.
Shapeshift - Through some dragons are known for taking on the appearance of other species, the Lava dragons are not known for doing so, though there are a few clans of red scaled Dragonkin on the more geologically active islands. It is possible that these are the descendants of Lava dragons, that like Tikrumpdel, experimented with different ways of surviving the early stages of the life cycle, thus seeding the dragonkin clans who still worship their memories.
Hoard - Lava dragons value gold above all else, amassing great hoards of it as display bowers to potential mates. As the hoard and reputation of the dragon grows, adventurers, slayers and thieves are drawn to the lair of the dragon, providing the dragon with a very entertaining food source.
Environment - Lava dragons are most common in geologically active areas, clustering around volcanoes, hot springs and thermal vents. It is speculated that this maybe the source of the Lava dragon's accelerated growth, the geothermic heat powering up their metabolisms to speeds that would be impossible away from such energy rich areas. If this is true, it would explain why Tikrumpdel managed to reach such a size, if the legends are true, as the abundance of easy food and powering the forges of the dwarfs would produce an energy feed back loop that would supercharge his growth far beyond what would have been naturally capable. Being encouraged to feast upon mega fauna would have sustained this growth after he and the dwarven people parted ways.
Storm Dragons
Another well known main dragon subspecies, the Storm Dragons are more akin to a natural disaster than a deliberate menace to the lesser races below them, their lofty homes rarely interacting with other creatures. Indeed, some settlements have lived below a Storm Dragon for generations without knowing until something stirs the dragon to wroth and the settlements complacency is shattered beyond repair. Though not quite as quick to grow as Lava dragons, the isolationist behavior of the Storm Dragons means they are usually unseen in the early stages of growth when they are vulnerable.
Color - Some times known as Sapphire Dragons, Storm Dragons are born a light blue color, paler on the underside in a counter shading scheme that helps them blend into the sky to avoid predators. As they age the scales gradually darken to a deep blue that holds the quality of deep, clean water. If the Storm dragon reaches old age, its scales darken to near black, shot through with white jagged streaks, mimicking the lightning for which they are famous. Storm Dragons also grow a set of small horn like projections down either side of the muzzle and along both sides of the jaw and these seem to help channel their elemental magic.
Family - Though not as infanticidal as Lava Dragons, Storm Dragons are still disinterested parents but they at least allow the young to reside in the nest without the fear that their own parent will eat them. They do not, however, prevent infighting within the litter and battles between Storm Dragons of equal age are common. These can be directly fatal, or the loser is so badly injured that they fall as easy prey to other predators. Many young Storm Dragons leave the parental home to avoid being beaten by their siblings.
Personality - The Storm Dragons, controlling the elemental magic that is the only one likely to be able to challenge the strength of a Lava Dragon successfully, are by nature vain creatures, prone to preening and strutting. As such they are one of the few of the large dragons where deals can be made between the dragon and members of the lesser races. The heroes must be extremely cautious in their approach, showering the Storm Dragon with compliments and flattery before offering up an item for the dragon's hoard. After this performance has been done successfully several times, the heroes may ask for the dragon to reciprocate. If the dragon refuses the heroes must not push or demand or indeed, stop coming to give the dragon their gifts as this would be seen as an insult. The sensible course of action is to visit the dragon at least once or twice more before politely informing them that they have no more gifts for them and must travel on to find more. Very clever, very brave or very stupid heroes could use this opportunity to try once more to gain what they need from the dragon but must remember that if the dragon suspects that it is being played it may well decide to eat them in a single gulp.
Elemental Weapon - The elemental weapon of the Storm Dragons is the pure raw fury of a storm - lightning harnessed at the peak of its destructive power. Young Storm Dragons may be able to muster the power of a brief summer storm, a scattering of lightning bolts that stagger over the hills before fading away. As the dragons age and grow, they can bring more of this power to the field, the very oldest being able to not just channel lightning but also rain, hail and raging winds. Indeed, if two adult Storm Dragons go to war then the plains below their lofty forts are scared and wounded by twisting columns of wind that can rip whole buildings off their foundations and blast their shattered remains through any walls still standing.
Shapeshift - Shapeshifting into the form of other species is not a magic practiced among the Storm Dragons and blue scaled dragonkin claim to be the descendants of a bloodline begun in the dark days of the God War.
Hoard - Storm dragons are not interested in precious gems or rare metals, indeed a scroll of paper can hold greater value for them, if that scroll is a magic scroll loaded with arcane power. The treasure room of a Storm Dragon smells of ozone and crackles with power as the heaped mass of enchanted, infused and charmed items leak their power into the air, charging it with raw magical power. Indeed, the rumor of a powerful magical artifact being carried by a hero is one of the few things that can prompt a Storm Dragon to leave its fastness and hunt among the lesser races. Likewise, heroes can barter their safe passage from a Storm Dragon in exchange for a magical gift of great power.
Environment - Storm Dragons spin their lofty fortress over the great plains of the world, weaving magic and cloud together to form solid ground out of a mist of rain droplets. As the dragon grows and matures it will work and rework its home, expanding it and altering it to its whims and wishes. No two castles in the air are the same. By magic they usually drift within a set area to avoid straying into the territory of an equal or worse a greater Storm Dragon. However, wars sometimes do break out, resulting in super storms that stalk across the plains below, battering them with rain and hail, electrifying them with lightning and tearing them with raging winds. The damages caused by these storms can take years to repair and sometimes the dead can't even be found to be buried. Anyone with any sense keeps a weathered eye on the horizon and watch for the towering ramparts of a Storm Dragon's Castle in the Air.
Tomb Dragons
Smaller than either the Lava Dragon or the Storm Dragon the Tomb Dragon is still a canny foe to be reckoned with. Growing at a slower rate than its larger cousins, the Tomb Dragon is in some ways the more dangerous because of having to stay in survival mode for a much longer period of its life. This drives a higher level of intelligence and social understanding of the lesser races as, to survive, it must understand its foes to a greater extent.
Color - A deep, dark black. Starting as a dull black striped with dark greens and browns as camouflage as hatchlings, the black gradually dominates their hides as they grow and mature, gaining a glossy polish in maturity and old age. The face of the Tomb Dragon lacks the nasal 'horn' common in other draconnic subspecies and has the ability to close its nostrils in the manner of a crocodile. This is due to the Tomb Dragon's primary diet as they scavenge off of the bodies of older dragons that have fallen prey to disease or old age, plunging their heads in under the thick hide of the dead to reach the choice internal organs. As such Tomb Dragons are also known as Carcass Dragons and other, less pleasant, names.
Family - Five weeks after mating, a Tomb Dragon female will lay her clutch of eggs in a specially prepared pit lined with dead leaves and other soft vegetation. Once laying is complete she will then cover the eggs over with more vegetation before capping the nest with sand. She then abandons the nest and leaves the area, the young digging themselves out of the nest upon hatching. They disperse almost immediately, using their camouflage and keeping low to the ground to remain hidden from predators, hunting for carrion and injured animals to feed upon.
Personality - Tomb Dragons are known as some of the most sadistic dragons alive, seeming to take positive delight in leading travelers astray in their gloomy territories, feeding off of the growing terror and pain of their victims, toying with them as a cat might toy with a mouse. They enjoy letting their prey keep the illusion of hope and escape only to snatch it away at the last possible second so that they can watch the despair and disgust on their enemies faces, tongues flickering as if to taste the hopelessness on the air. They will orchestrate personal conflicts just to watch trusted friends become mortal enemies and will stoke family feuds to gloat over the misery caused. If said feuds trickle into murder the Tomb Dragon will be most happy to dispose of the bodies.
Elemental Weapon - Possibly more terrifying than even the flames of a Lava Dragon, a Tomb Dragon spits gouts and vomits fountains of a hideously potent acid. Whereas the flames of a Lava Dragon kill quickly due to thermic shock, the acid of a Tomb Dragon can take minutes to finish the kill as the victim slowly dissolves into a soup of their own internal organs. Unless distracted by other threats, the Tomb Dragon will stand and watch as the victim screams and writhes, memorizing every twitch of agony.
Shapeshift - Perhaps most terrifying of all, Tomb Dragons regularly take the form of other races once they are old enough to master the magic necessary to do so. They will worm and wriggle their way into positions of trust and advisement and to begin with their advise will be good but slowly, ever so slowly, almost lovely, the poison will trickle in. For a Tomb Dragon there is no finer sport than to bring a kingdom to complete and utter smash for three hundred years, give or take a decade or two.
Known Example - Armasar Mockblight. Known only by the human name he assumed, Armasar Mockblight appeared to be an older, handsome human male with ash white hair, stunning blue eyes and a nose that had been broken at some point in the past. Quiet and reserved in his manner, he curated the museum and historical society of the Kingdom of Albion, an island nation of substantial size, as well as being a lecturer in the main University that taught its future nobles and Kings. It was only with hindsight that his influence was seen for what it was and his sheer longevity questioned. It appears he was the driving force behind indoctrinating the rulers of Albion into believe they had the divine providence to rule the world, resulting in an expansionist mind set becoming embedded in the culture of the Isles. This, in turn, lead to a pan-continental Empire that funneled relics back into the collection of the museum, swelling its archives as the Empire bloated to unsustainable size. As the Empire began to collapse, Armasar provided the details of a grand ritual that promised to pool the collective power of every citizen of the Empire. It took fifty years to prepare for the ritual, by which time Armasar was directly ruling the Isles, with the King and nobles as his puppets, toys that clung to his promise that the ritual would bring in the utopia of their unending rule over the Isles and the reestablishment of their power over their fractured empire. Armasar was there to watch over the initiation of the ritual and what he promised was delivered, in the most damning way possible. In the space of a single day every marked citizen of the Isles dropped dead and rose again as a nation of the undead, shambling corpses that bow to the will of their phantom King and his court of ghosts, a court that is said to still be under the control of Armasar Mockblight. Over a thousand years later the Providences of the fallen Empire that managed to gain their independence before the day o the ritual still fear the ghoulish capital of the once Empire and have mutual protection pacts against the expansion of the undead kingdom, a mark that the power of the Albion Empire continues to this day. Legend has it that the doom of Albion was a source of the disaster that struck the Burning Continent five hundred years later and though scholars dismiss such claims, fishermen who are brave enough to travel close to the south coast of Albion report seeing black dragon wings soaring above the now wild and over grown land. Indeed there is the expedition of one Davide Hulot that claims to have sailed part way up the Thymes Estuary and explored the ruins of Londinium. Though scholars debate the validity of all his claims, several crew members of the expedition wrote or dictated similar accounts and other records confirm the deaths of over half the expedition. Whether this was from the predations of the Tomb Dragon Davide reported to live in the still standing museum or more natural causes we will never know.
Hoard - Tomb Dragons love to hoard the relics of destroyed kingdoms and empires, even more so if they themselves brought the kingdom to smash. They delight in detailing the agony of the fall of heroes and kings, of turning great victories into hollow betrayals and then keeping the mementos of the anguish of their victims. It also feeds their sense of superiority to be able to look upon how many kingdoms and Empires they have outlived and destroyed. If they can corrupt so many and out live so many, then surely they are the pinnacle of existence.
Environment - Any who explore ruined places or tracts of wilderness must remember that they are probing the bones of a once thriving kingdom and that these kingdoms were most likely brought to smash by the manipulations of a mature Tomb Dragon. Always tread with care and remember the dragon that wrought the destruction may no longer live but its children most likely now inhabit its territory and they will be just as sadistic and vile as their sire and mother.
Swamp Dragons
The first of the hybrid subspecies dragons as they are the most numerous of the hybrids. Of a similar size to Tomb dragons, Swamp Dragons inhabit a strange middle ground of morality, not as wantonly cruel as Tomb and Lava Dragons but not as disinterested as Storm Dragons. They prefer to stay away from the lesser races, living in environments not conducive to large gatherings of people, but do have an understanding of the social structures and interplay of civilizations. In many ways, of the less friendly dragon sub-species, the Swamp Dragons are the ones that you are most likely to walk away alive from, if you do not provoke a confrontation. They do not look for trouble and expect none to look for them.
Color - Hatched as a dark greenish yellow, Swamp Dragons become more brilliant green as they age and grow, some even calling them Emerald Dragons in maturity. They are also the most clumsy in flight, their wings being stubby and narrow, akin to the wings of a puffin and better at pushing them through water than air. Indeed their primary diet is fresh water fish and other aquatic animals. In the earlier stages of growth they are at risk of becoming food for the larger fish species, with at least one species of fish developing lower teeth so long that they have to have special sockets in the roof of their mouths to fit the fangs when they close their mouths, just so they can pierce the hides of hatchling Swamp Dragons and turn them into food.
Family - Female Swamp dragons build special mounds of rotting vegetation in which to nurture their eggs, which they guard vigorously and only a fool would approach one of these mounds. After hatching the young dragons are cared for by their mother for up to five years, after which they disperse and take their chances. Few of each clutch reach maturity.
Personality - Swamp dragons are mostly stand offish and isolationist, keeping themselves to themselves in their territories. With mortality being so high among the young, there is surprisingly little fighting over territories, with conflict only usually taking place during the dry seasons and droughts, when their preferred territory dries up and food becomes scares. When it comes to their interactions with the lesser races, most Swamp Dragons are content to stay away from people as long as people stay away from them. That being noted, there are some Swamp Dragons who have a working relationship with the lesser races, accepting food and gifts in exchange for keeping invaders at bay. Thus has some of the smaller races managed to cling on at the edge of bigger people by enlisting the aid of a Swamp Dragon. As larger, more 'civilized' people tend to be interested in draining and therefore damaging the Swamp Dragon's territory this is not totally an altruistic behavior on the dragons part.
Elemental Weapon - The elemental weapon of the Swamp Dragon is forged from the combination of the two different elemental weapons of their parents - lightning and salt. This results in an incredibly dangerous elemental weapon - electrified salt, in short chlorine gas. This rolling cloud of greenish yellow fog chokes and strangles any breathing being that is unfortunate enough to be caught within its mass. It blinds the eyes, ruptures the linings of the air ways and fills the lungs with a bubbling foam. The victim quickly drowns within their own fluid, gasping for a breath that pulls more toxins into the lungs and only increases their agony. It is for this reason and this alone that all intelligent beings should be glad that Swam Dragons are content with their isolated territories for it is speculated that if the Swamp Dragons shared the same sadistic bent as the Tomb Dragons, they would have scoured the world bare of life.
Shapeshift - Despite their dislike of interacting with other races Swamp Dragons have a natural ability at the spells necessary to change form. It is speculated that has been caused by an environmental selection of the ability in times passed. A few of the communities in the bayous speak of a mighty empire in the depth of the jungle where the Swamp Dragons were gods and the Kings and High Priests were their sons and daughters. It appears that, for a time, this empire guaranteed a higher survival rate among the hatchlings so in time the trait for shapeshift became dominate in the blood of Swamp Dragons. What caused the fall of this mighty empire is unknown but is possibly linked the Swamp Dragons' almost unreasoning hatred of Tomb Dragons and since then Swamp Dragons have tried to avoid the civilizations of other races. However, it seems that they cannot completely cut the ties with the people they once ruled, with the jungle communities that give up offerings to them claiming that they are the descendants of the empire and that is way the dragons still come to their aid.
Hoard - The only reason Swamp Dragons maintain regular contact with the outside world is because of their love of objects that glitter but they are more choosy about what they will include in their hoards. Gold coins, minted as they are by the hundred, hold no value for a Swamp Dragon but a golden filigree coronet studded with seed pearls would instantly have their attention. They also value wrought silver, ivory, fine statues and cut gems. Even stained glass, if of fine enough quality holds their interest. It appears that Swamp Dragons value the time and effort that a piece of artistry takes, rather than any inherent value in the material used.
Environment - Swamp dragons prefer water logged in environments but dislike salt water and cold weather. As such they are mainly found in jungles and swamps of the tropics, as well as river deltas and deep lakes. Unlike Storm Dragons were appeasement is a must, most Swamp Dragons are content to watch a passing group of adventures, shrug their shoulders and go back to whatever they were doing. With their natural aptitude for shapeshifting magic they are most likely to approach the party in the guise of a orny old fisherman sat at the end of a dock, grudgingly pass the time of day to ascertain what the party's intentions are and if the party isn't looking for trouble, they will then point them out the best route to take them out of the Swamp Dragon's territory as soon as possible.
Glacier Dragons
The smallest of the dragon subspecies, the Glacier Dragons never get much taller at the shoulder than ten feet tall. However, they are heavy in the beam, with stocky limbs, a barrel chest and a thick layer of brown fat under their scales, making injuring them a tough challenge. They are also the most nomadic of the dragon subspecies with very few set territories. As such, they congregate in large numbers at certain times of the year and then disperse on mass to wander across their home range in search of food.
Color - The hatchlings of Glacier Dragons are born mottled grey and white, with crescent shaped wings that gives them superb air control in heavy turbulence. Besides their eyes, they also possess sensory pits below the eyes that are believed to give them the ability to 'see' heat signatures and a lateral line down their sides that enable them to sense proximity by disturbances in the air currents. As the dragons age and grow towards maturity their scales lighten to pure white and the rare examples of old Glacier Dragons are noted to be shaded with the deep blues of ancient ice flows.
Family - Glacier Dragons are the only dragons to retain their eggs within their bodies until they are ready to hatch, a possess that takes at least up to a year although, though some mechanism not yet understood, Glacier Dragon females can retard the development of her eggs, delaying their hatching in a bad season in the hopes that a better season will happen the following year. It is believed that hatching can be delayed in this manner for up to five years. Once the young are hatched and expelled from the mother's body, they remain with their mother for two to three years with some populations of Glacier Dragons having been observed to have young who help their mothers raise the next litter for a year before leaving to live on their own and find their own mates.
Personality - Glacier Dragons are noted for being the most animalistic of the dragon subspecies, given the least to introspection and planning. They live almost exclusively in the now. Even the decision to delay the hatching of their young is driven by current conditions, not a plan of how it could be in the future. As such they are the most easy to distract. If you drop a large enough portion of food on the ice they will break off the chase to devour it immediately. Glacier Dragons really do believe that a meal in the claws is better than two meals running free.
Elemental Weapon - The elemental weapon of the Glacier Dragons is throat full of water so cold it freezes upon contact with any surface, caking ships with skins of ice and encasing fools stupid enough to challenge the dragon in a solid, irregular block of ice. This not only kills by a combination of suffocation and hypothermia but also freezes the meat, thus preserving it for future use, if the dragon can plan that far ahead.
Shapeshift - Even if Glacier Dragons could master the art of shapeshifting there is no practical reason for them to do so and so they don't.
Hoard - Unusually among dragons it is the female Glacier Dragons that gather the hoard but they also show the greatest ability to think of the future in this short sighted subspecies, with most female Glacier dragons having a favored ice cave where they will birth their offspring and store their hoard. What they hoard can be distressing to the lesser species because what they hoard is the frozen bodies of their foes. These they will display in niches cut into the wall of the ice cave. In a environment where food is always at a premium being able to save some of their targets to put on show in this way denotes a mighty huntress and a Glacier Dragon female will always try to keep her 'larder' well stocked.
Environment - Glacier Dragons live in the icy wastes of the polar ice caps, with a few colonizing the ice sheets of the high mountains. It is an environment of high risk, high reward with food being scares until a big kill such as walrus or polar bear is made, or a whale carcass washes up. As such, besides the birthing caves that each female favors, there are very few territories on the shifting ice sheets of their home, with Glacier Dragons being widely dispersed through out the year until they gather for the great dances at high summer were new mates are inspected in massive flying ballets over the sparkling ice. The only other time a large number of Glacier dragons are likely to congregate is the presence of a super large carcass, such as a whale or a dragon of one of the large subspecies washing up.
Night Dragons
The only hybrid dragon that comes close to challenging the size of a Lava Dragon, which is hardly surprising as one of the founders of a Night Dragon blood line is a Lava Dragon. Born of an unusual union between a Lava Dragon and a Storm Dragon, Night Dragons grow quickly but have an extended 'childhood', and have a higher understanding of social interplay than either of their parents, rivaling the social abilities of the Tomb dragons, with whom they have a long term competition. One of the most legendary and elusive of the draconnic subspecies they are never the less a heavy influence on the lesser races.
Color - Night Dragons are hatched with bright royal purple scales, leading to their other names of Royal, or Regal Dragons. They are graceful in configuration, with the litheness of their Storm Dragon parents married to the bulk of the Lava Dragon. In horse terms, they are akin to the Hunter breed that is a hybrid of Thoroughbred to Shire horse. Their eyes are large and well placed in their heads, with noble jaw lines and majestic barings. As they age and grow towards maturity their scales darken to a deeper, richer hue, sometimes leading to the mistaken identity of Amethyst Dragons, the mistake being the belief that Amethyst and Night Dragons are two different species, when they are merely the same species at different stages of growth. In old age Night Dragons become almost completely black, sometimes leading to being mistaken for Tomb Dragons, an identity mistake that they do not appreciate.
Family - Of all the draconnic subspecies Night Dragons are the most involved in rearing their children and seem to have definite family attachments. Although all adult dragons will have involvement with the egg clutches the direct parents have the priority, second only to the patriarch or matriarch of the family. The hatchlings will be reared and trained to fore-fill needed roles within the family structure and plans, gaining responsibilities as well as influence as they prove themselves capable. These family dynamics are not always unchallenged and it is the responsibility of the patriarch or matriarch to maintain order within the family ranks and lay down the law if it is decided that the family has grown beyond sustainability and therefore must split to 'bud off' a new family of Night Dragons to found their own territory.
Personality - Night Dragons maintain an air of calm rationality, a chilly composure belying the strength of their fury when roused. They are analytical, literate and reserved. They listen to everything, watch everything and think about everything before they act. They are masters at diplomacy, strategy and logistics. They do not believe in 'goodness' or 'justice' or morality, merely that the world can be run in such away that people do not bother people, friction is kept to a minimum and noisy, messy things such as wars can be avoided. Above all they believe in efficiency and a lack of waste. They believe very much in occupational therapy and that such things should lead into a job so that all can contribute and none are left behind. They are not, however, sentimental. If war is inevitable because of the aggression of a neighbor, then the thoughtless, easily lead and the ignorant will be encouraged to sign up on mass to be fed into the grinder that is war, a brutal but efficient trimming of the fat of society, while the more intelligent will be funneled towards the more thinking roles in the armed forces. They are nothing if not pragmatic and will weigh the dice of chance in favor of selective breeding for intelligence.
Elemental Weapon - Like the Swamp Dragons, the Elemental Weapon of the Night Dragons is a combination of their progenitors Elemental Weapons, in this case - fire and lightning. This result is a weapon that is nearly mythical in its power, some believing that it does not exist or that it is the providence of the gods alone - the Plasma Burst. Light purple in coloration, so bright as to be painful to look upon, the Plasma Burst screams across the sky in a straight line that vaporizes flesh, blood and bone so fast that the target doesn't feel the loss of their body. Indeed, there does exist the account of one Gotz Berlynch who fought a war against a city that was under the protection of a young adult Night Dragon that, in the extreme of battle, flew out to protect its territory. Gotz's right hand was caught in the beam of the Plasma Burst and vanished in an instant. Gotz recorded some years later that he never felt the destruction of his hand, with the pain only beginning about an hour later when the cauterized stump was being dressed to prevent infection. In short, Night Dragons, though they reserved it for the most dire of circumstance, are more than capable of defending their territories and should be treated with extreme caution.
They are also known for being capable of an area affect, with cloaks of liquid night rippling from under their wings, drenching an area in a darkness so thick that torches struggle to pierce the gloom and even creatures who specialize in night vision struggling to see through the pall of darkness. Out of this blackness the beam of the Plasma Burst will shriek to annihilate targets with a precision that leaves the masses reeling.
Shapeshift - Unlike most draconnic subspecies Night Dragons are most likely to be encountered when they are wearing the form of another being, some of them maintaining the same persona for years or even decades at a time to interact with their hoard. If a city has a particular family who are known to be the most notable moves and shakers of the social structure, often dictating the direction that the community moves in, then it is a distinct possibility that they are a family of Night Dragons using the shapeshifting magic to organize their hoard to their preferred conformity. They will tend towards conservatism until they are convinced that the proposed change will benefit the greatest possible number of people and decrease tensions between social groups. Therefore they will, most often, stand against bigotry and prejudice because such things encourage oppression and oppression encourages resentment. Where there is resentment, violence simmers not far behind and that is to be avoided.
Hoard - The Night Dragons are the most unusual of all draconnic subspecies because what they hoard are living, breath creatures, to be exact, the members of organized, regulated societies. However, unlike the Glacier Dragons, they do not wish to transform said people into frozen statues. Instead, they hoard the power of social control and influence, bringing cities, countries and sometimes whole civilizations under their control. Often they found family dynasties that become dictators of their territories but they are reserved dictators, ever mindful of the long term and sustainability. One could even call them benevolent dictators. This immediately brings them into conflict with Tomb Dragons and their need to sow chaos and destruction.
Environment - Night Dragons are found almost exclusively in cities, hollowing out lairs underneath the bottom most strata of the foundations for when they wish to assume their natural form. These lairs are strictly off limits to anyone outside of the family and a breach of this rule is instantly punishable, by death. In all things you must respect the family.
Laughing Dragons
Laughing Dragons are almost the polar opposite of every other draconnic subspecies, even down to their elemental magic. They are slightly larger than a Swamp Dragons but have a bulkiness that Swamp Dragons lack, some even referring to their body build as chubby, a description that these hybrid dragons do not mind in the slightest.
Color - Laughing Dragons are born a light pink hue and start chuckling even before they are out of the egg, their vocalizations signaling that their hatching is imminent. As stated they are a large breed, growing only slightly slower than their Night Dragon cousins, with whom they share a family dynamic of being the silly, slightly annoying one at the party to the Night Dragon's more serious demeanor, but are more broadly built, being more rounded. In youth this roundness is almost the rolly-pollyness of puppy fat and they are noted as being clumsy but bouncing with it. As they grow and mature they maintain a degree of this chubbiness but darken in hue as they age, gaining an almost cerise pink hue in old age.
Family - Laughing Dragons enjoy having many children with which to play with but as time goes on the older children with disperse to go exploring and 'have fun' with many different people. They will occasionally check back in with their parents to share what they have discovered and enjoyed. Large family gatherings of Laughing Dragons are noisy, chaotic affairs that make the locations they are held in echo to the babbling of many, many voices all talking at cross- purposes and thoroughly enjoying it while they do so, until the fun runs out and they go their separate ways to find more 'cool' stuff before they gather again.
Personality - Laughing Dragons always see the good side to every situation, nothing is ever to bleak that a joke won't alleviate the tension, after the funeral the wake needs to be a rocking affair, a good send off to help you remember the good times. If something isn't worth a laugh then it isn't worth anything at all, as far as a Laughing Dragon is concerned. Frowning and worrying and moping won't keep old boney from the door so if we are too poor for a holiday let us dance and sing and laugh at home. Laughing Dragons very much believe that there is no such thing as a stranger if that stranger says hello. If anything, they are the perfect pill against the despair the Tomb Dragons try to sow. If they are too late to stop the smash then they will help the survivors pick themselves up and find the hope in all the hopelessness, even if all that hope is, is the chance to build something better after the fall, the chance to build something with more laughter and love, than selfishness and division. They love the bright, the good, the kind and the caring. If life must be lived, the Laughing Dragons believe, then let's live it until we are so full of life that we feel like we are going to burst with it!
Elemental Weapon - No one is quite sure how the combination of fire and ice resulted in the elemental weapon of the Laughing Dragons, least of all themselves but it's funny so who cares? Or at least that is the attitude of the Laughing Dragons, much to the despair of serious scholars. However it arose the elemental weapon of the Laughing Dragon is bubbles. Yes dear reader, you did read that correctly, the Elemental Weapon of Laughing Dragons is bubbles, or if we can be slightly more serious than these irreverent creatures ever could be, soap. How they spit this soupy, foaming mass of mess without choking on it, is not as yet known but the effects are some what better studied. Against a large creature, such as a hostile dragon, the bubble jet is aimed for the eyes and nose to induce stinging irritation and painful distraction. It is also noted to be an effective flame retardant against the fires of Lava Dragons, much to these beasts' wroth. Against smaller creatures the bubble jet is used to saturate wings and inhibit flying. Of course a Laughing Dragons favorite target are those on the ground, where upon it will soak the ground before said target in a slick of bubbly, soapy foam and then sit there laughing until they cry as said targets try to stand up, run, stand up again, walk, stand up again, maintain a grip on their weapons, stand up again, crawl and finally give up. If this show is not entertaining enough the Laughing Dragon will call jokes and friendly insults, just to lighten the mood.
Shapeshift - Laughing Dragons start shapeshifting as soon as they are able too, just to see what fun the lesser races have. They spend the rest of their lives flitting from form to form, seeking to spread laughter and friendship where every they go. They are life's forever optimists, always game for a high adventure and new sights on the horizon as long as they have good friends at their sides and a following wind. If they can make an epic but humorous ballad about it afterwards then all the better.
Hoard - The hoard of a Laughing Dragon is nothing that you can carry in your hands and nothing that can be traded for gold, though some would say that it is better than gold because it cannot be stolen or rusted or devalued or degraded. The Hoard of a Laughing Dragon is its store of jokes and tall tales, its memories of warm friendship and swinging parties. You cannot take from a Laughing Dragon, it can only give and what it gives does not diminish its store one single drop but rather increases it forever.
Environment - Any where there is people there will be a Laughing Dragon at least once. Infected with a wanderlust that drives them ever onwards, Laughing Dragons will travel their entire lives, enjoying all that life has to give. Often they travel as wandering minstrels, though some will band together to be bands of traveling players, spreading joy and good cheer where ever they stay, taking but little and giving much in the way of laughter and friendship. Laughing Dragons believe it is their life's mission to remind others as to what makes life worth living. If you enter a tavern on the way side and there is a minstrel in the corner that looks slightly different from others of their kind but the place is humming with light hearted folk songs, rollicking sea shanties and foot stomping dance tunes then you just might have met a Laughing Dragon doing what they love to do best - lead the dance until the party ends and people go home happy but exhausted, loaded with fond memories of a night they will never forget.
Coral Dragons
Medium sized, roughly the same size as a Swamp Dragon, the Coral Dragon has a flatter, broader snout than many other dragons, resembling a crocodile or alligator, the eyes, ears and nostrils being set high on the head. Their toes are also webbed but the most striking thing is their wing conformity. Not only to they have the usual wing limb, which comes to a pointed tip but the wing continues all the way down their sides, right to the end of the tail, supported by whalebone structs that are anchored by ligaments to their muscle structure so that they can flex with the dragons motion and also be folded back to aid with streamlining both in and out of water. Thus a Coral Dragon flying over head has a triangle silhouette with the broad end leading. They also have a strange wing beat in level flight, more akin to the rippling motion of a cuttlefish's fins than the wing beat of other dragons. They favor level flight and dive bombing runs but are capable of close combat maneuvering in tight spaces. As such they will fake injury to tempt an attacker to close with them, then roll at the last moment and bring their claws into play when the attacker has no room to evade. They 'fly' as well in water as out of it and there is some evidence that they have a gill structure as well as regular lungs.
Color - Coral Dragons are hatched a muted sandy yellow with brown strips and a pale whitish belly in a counter shading scheme. They favor shallow water at this stage and are usually found, if they are found at all, living in tidal mangrove forests, feeding on shell fish, carrion, bird's eggs, turtle eggs and even fruit. They are one of the only truly omnivorous draconnic subspecies in existence, if not the only one. As they grow and mature their scales lighten to a brilliant yellow and they start pushing into deeper waters and a more marine mammal based diet, though they are opportunistic feeders and will take a bait ball just as readily. In old age their scales gain a metallic sheen that has some scholars under the mistaken belief that there is a 'Gold' subspecies of dragon, were as the truth is, once again, that it is merely a case of mistaken identity.
Family - Coral Dragons lay their eggs in banks of warm sand and then abandon them to the risks of such a breeding scheme. As such Coral Dragons do not have families among their own kind but are known to build their own families from people they meet as they mature and grow. They are open to collaboration with other intelligent species.
Personality - Coral Dragons have a reckless, thrill seeking bent to their personalities. They love playing the odds and running the risks. The higher the stakes, the more they will gamble. They live life right on the edge, a knife's edge away from disaster, always courting death and dancing with oblivion. The worse the situation the more they will whoop as they throw themselves into the fray. The news that there is an accursed treasure laying unclaimed on an island that can only be found with one particular compose? Coral Dragons will be after it in a flash, scouring the seven seas in search of the prize, no matter what the obstacle or the risks.
Elemental Weapon - Unlike many draconnic subspecies where it is difficult to know which comes first - the elemental weapon or the environment - there is a direct correlation between the Coral Dragon's environment and its Elemental Weapon. Coral Dragons build up a high amount of salt within their tissues which could cause disruption to their nervous system. To counter this they have a special organ in their throats that extracts the salt from their blood and stores it, mixed with a small amount of water, in a pair of poaches that run the length of their necks. If provoked the Coral Dragon can spit the contents of these sacks at high pressure, knocking the target prone and coating them in a thick rind of salt. If this salt rind isn't washed off soon, it dehydrates the target, drawing moisture out of their tissues and causing death by thirst. It is speculated that the lesser races learnt to preserve their food by salting by observing the effect that the Coral Dragon's Elemental Weapon has against targets.
Shapeshift - Many Coral Dragons find taking on the form of members of the lesser races to be agreeable as it enables them to walk the decks of sailing ships and join crews of buccaneers and free booters. Often they will wind up becoming the Captains of these raucous, unruly crews, plying their deadly, risky trade up and down the trade routes of the tropics, stealing and plundering and looting. Granted they are not usually known for massacring opposing crews because then they wouldn't be able to have a second round tomorrow and the fun would stop. Those that do not go into such illegal trades, they will be found among crews of whalers and sea born monster hunters, always at the front of the fight and roaring for more.
Hoard - The hoards of Coral dragons tend to be small and made of items that can be worn. It is not unusual for Coral Dragons to have piercings loaded with golden rings, even when they are in their natural form, golden chains looping the rings together, until the dragon appears to be in the certain of a filigree web of gold and silver. They also were bracelets as claw rings and looped onto their horns. Some even have their teeth set with diamonds, which has the added benefit of making their bites even more deadly.
Environments - Coral Dragons love the waves, they love the water, they love the rolling of the seas where the waters are as warm as bath. They live for the wild tropics and the risks of shark infested waters. They will never willingly travel away from the sound of the sea, no matter what the risks. If the Dragon has a lair away from the lesser races then it will be invariably hidden within the cliffs and accessible only by an underwater tunnel that bends like a grease trap to make an airlock. How the air with in the lairs is renewed is unclear.
Tropic Dragons
Roughly the same size as the Laughing Dragons but not as chunky, Tropic Dragons have a streamlined shape but regular wings and can flight extremely well, often soaring to the heights where spots start dancing in front of the eyes just to see how fast they can go in a flat out dive. From this it can be judge that this hybrid species has inherited some of the reckless behavior of their Coral Dragon kin. More widely distributed than the Coral Dragons, Tropic Dragon, despite their name have been know to colonize the temperate rainforests. As such it is a good idea that, if the traveler finds himself in an area of rampant growth, he should prepare to appease one of the most dangerous Draconnic Subspecies in existence.
Color - Tropic Dragons are born a muted orange brown color from nests constructed in slot trenches in the forest floor. As they age and mature, they rapidly brighten to a vivid orange that is unmistakable. By the time they are slightly taller than a heavy horse at the shoulder they will be an almost glowing orange and be edging into sexual maturity.
Family - Coral Dragons live in tight knit family groups, lead by a matriarch, who will be the oldest female of the group. The sire of the eggs has responsibility for guarding the slot trench nest while the young are developing but both parents are fully responsible for rearing their young after hatching. As noted, Tropic Dragons reach sexual maturity while still relatively young. This is not due to there being a high mortality rate among the young but rather that their life spans are greatly restricted compared to other dragons. Whereas it is not unknown for a Lava dragon to live to a thousand years old, a Tropic Dragon matriarch will have down well to last until five hundred. As such they have to compress both live cycle and growth into a much short period.
Personality - Of all the draconnic subspecies, the Tropic Dragon is known for being the most affectionate and nurturing of them all, even going so far as to adopt the offspring of other species to rear. It seems that they have a much greater empathy for the shorter lived, lesser races as they share their awareness of the shortness of time and their own mortality. As such they try to cram in as much friendship and affection as possible into what time they have, building up lives as their legacies. Among the Tropic Dragons it is believed that you do not truly die until your name is no longer spoken.
Elemental Weapon - It may seem bizarre that such a kind and understanding creature can be counted as one of the most dangerous draconnic subspecies, especially when contrasted with such a monster as the Tomb Dragon but this is solely due to the Tropic Dragon's elemental weapon. Being the combination of the fire of a Lava Dragon and the salt of a Coral Dragon, the elemental weapon of a Tropic Dragon is pure sodium. Given they penchant for living in wet environments, this gives them one of the most explosive weapons possible, made worse by the fact that it can have a delayed ignition. The Tropic Dragon spits a lump or line of liquid sodium, sodium particles that are suspended in a protein based 'oil' that degrades rapidly upon contact with oxygen and water or worse, vinegar. This grey sludge smells of salt and can take up to a minute to ignite. However, when it does ignite it burns with a heat that is vicious and immersing in water will only result in an explosion that shreds all soft objects within its blast range. If this 'sodium breath' is dumped into vinegar, the result is a sputtering, popping blue flame followed by a small explosion after which the flame reignites before the grand finale of the main explosion.
As the process that produces the sodium is an internal one, there is the very great risk of a Tropic Dragon exploding upon death, if that death is not due to old age. In short, if dragon hunters invade a Tropic Dragon territory then it is more than likely one or more members of the clan will sacrifice themselves in kamikaze attacks with the sole purpose of taking out the dragon hunters with their last, explosive death throws.
Almost as a counter point to the destructive power of their Elemental Weapon, Tropic Dragons are another subspecies that possesses an area of effect aura. Where ever a Tropic Dragon walks vegetation springs to life and already existing vegetation experiences a growth surge that sends it tangling across the ground. People who are lucky enough to be under the protection of a Tropic Dragon clan rarely have to fear famine, though even these magnificent beasts can do very little against the ravages of a drought.
Shapeshift - Tropic dragons are more than capable of the shapeshifting magic and it is considered a mark of full maturity among them to be able to do so. Some clans even go so far as to dictate that their first partners have to be from among the local lesser races to tie the two grows together in mutually binding pacts of loyalty with many clans considering their dragonkin offspring and adopted lesser race children to be full members of the clan. They will also try to create marriage bonds with other draconnic subspecies to further protect their territories without the use of violence. There have even been rumors of Tropic Dragons who have managed to curtail the deprivations of younger Tomb Dragons through these wily means.
Hoards - If a Tropic Dragon has any hoard at all it is in their gardens, growing green and lush. They are tied deeply to the lands they live on and the gift of an exotic seedling or seeds with be more than appreciated by these creatures, particularly if it is a new food crop that they can use to support their small people families and the herds that they themselves depend upon. Tropic Dragons encourage the practice of restorative farming and rotational grazing so that if they make changes to an ecosystem and landscape it is done at such a pace that the ecosystem can adapt and find the new opportunities thus presented.
Environment - The lands that Tropic Dragons are always lush and prosperous, be that tropical rainforest or temperate rainforest, plants just grow round them without restraint. It has been speculated that this area of effect is what drains a Tropic Dragons life force and shortens their span upon Hestia. As stated at the start of this entry, if a traveler enters an area of unexpectedly rampant growth, then they should prepare for an encounter with one of the most dangerous draconnic subspecies. If you come in peace, however, then you can rest assured of a warm welcome and a sanctuary like no other.
And there we go. This took a lot more work to create than I expected it to, so much so that I am going to have to produce it as a two part entry into the lore of Hestia but I do hope that you have enjoyed the details of, roughly, half the draconnic subspecies of Hestia. If you have been reading Draconnic Shenninagans then I can reveal that the characters have met one of the species listed here and they know it, but they have also met a further two and as of yet they have no knowledge that they have done so. There is also a fourth draconnic subspecies they have encountered a member of but that one with be included in the next part. Can you work out which characters are dragons or not? I look forward to hearing any fan theories.
