Dragons
Dragons are powerful, Mystical Creatures in the Course Books storyworld.
Contents
Dragon Names
Dragon formal introductions are done like so:
[Dragon Name], of the [flight name], out of [Mother's Name] by [Father's Name].
Example:
Hunter Jusenkyou, of the High Mountain Flight, out of Sahar by Hygelic.
Dragon flight names always end with Flight. Example: Ozork Flight, High Mountain Flight, Warsong Flight, Lowland Hills Flight, etc, etc, et agnosiam.
Physical Types
Dragons can be classified by how they fly, and they fly one of three ways:
Black Earth Dragon
Dragons of this type have extremly large lungs and many tiny air bladers within their bodies. They swallow fire to heat the air bladders, thus producing lift much like a hot air ballon. Small wings are used for steering and propulsion. Black earth dragons excel at distance travel and need very little energy to fly far.
Blue Air Dragon
Blue air dragons use magic to fly. They will typically have no wings at all or very small wings. Conversly, they might have very large but completely decorative wings that serve no actual function. These dragons are typically the rarest, but also the most powerful. They are often highly manuverable.
Red Fire Dragon
A red fire dragon flies much like an aircraft, using lifting surfaces and flapping wings for thrust. Red fires are the most common and typically fill the roles of hunters and warriors. Red fire dragons are also the only type to have been subjected to scientific study. According to Rinoin scientists, Red fires can fly at speeds of up to 400mph and can break the sound barrier in a dive.
Belief System
Though dragons worship the One King and the Last Dynasty, tradition holds one called The Broodmother as both the mother of all dragons and the moral authority.
Dragon-form
Dragons can shapeshift, but only into a limited number of forms. Specifically other mystical creatures and humans. They cannot disguise themselves as anyone, the dragon has very specific 'forms' in it's other shapes, all of them distinct and identifiable. A dragon in human-form might not be identifiable as such to a human, but if compared to it's dragon form the similarities would be obvious.
Organizational Structure
Dragons live in flights. The flight is a close-knit community with a herarchy and leadership. Usually the eldest dragons lead. The flight will live in an eerie, a system of gaves usually heated by geothermal energy(volcanic activity). Dragon eeries are heavily guarded, outsiders are not permitted under any circumstances(including dragons from other flights). Though dragon eeries are a community, the dragons consider each other dragon in the flight to be as family, referring to each other as 'brother' and 'sister', regardless of actual familial relationships. Dragons do organize into family groups, and are very interested in consanguinity(family relationship, in laymens terms who is related to who and how). Though familial relationships are rarely spoken of, every dragon nows how he is related to every other dragon.
Dragons mate for life. Eggs, however, are hatched in a communal rookery, tended to by the entire flight. Despite the massive size of dragons, eggs are only around a foot in diameter. The exact incubation time varies drastically between flights, with some as low as four months and others as high as two years. Hatchlings grow very quickly, doubling in size every two or three months. Hatchlings remain in the rookery for the first year or so of life, before venturing out into the eerie with their parents. Hatchlings only ever leave the rookery with their parents; when the parents must leave the hunt the hatchlings are returned to the eerie. This continues until they reach around the age of three. By this time their physical bodies have matured enough to begin learning to hunt and fly.
Despite their long lives, dragons develop mentally along a similar time line to humans. Much of their early life is governed by instinct, but they soon become aware. Dragons have exceptionally good memories, and thus have no need for books. Every dragon will learn the oral history of the flight by age ten, along with any other information they may require.
Dragon grudges last a long time. When one flight is 'at war' with another, the war does not end until one flight has been completely annihilated. Though the war may not involve any active battle, all dragons know which flights they are at war with, and if one ever encounters a dragon from an opposing flight, they will battle one another until one lies dead.
