4. THE DRAGONS

The dragons of the DragonLands are huge, winged, beautiful firebreathing monsters. They are all highly telepathic and possess certain remarkable abilities.

Dragons are all huge (averaging around 70 feet in length), but they vary greatly in size. Larger dragons are often stronger and have greater firebreathing capacity, while smaller ones are often more agile and have greater endurance. Dragons come in all colors, with the darker ones more prevalent in males, and lighter ones more common in females. Only queen dragons are ever metallic.

There are two categories of dragons: the JOINED and the UNJOINED.

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4.1 Joined Dragons

Joined dragons have gone through the process of linking themselves, body and soul, to a human. This process occurs right after a dragon hatches from its egg, but it is very selective. It is said that a dragon will not join if the right person is not there, but it is probably better to say that dragons instinctively seek out the best rider from all unjoined humans present in the area. There have been definite incidences of dragon hatchlings refusing all joining candidates presented to it and leaving the Hatching Ground to seek out some visiting landbound youth on the other side of the Warren. Due to the nature of the link, dragons usually join with humans of the same gender.

It is uncommon, but not unknown, for a dragon hatchling to reject all possible joining partners an "go wild". These dragons will immediately leave the warren, but often do not survive due to the difficulty hatchlings have in fending for themselves.

In the warrens, egg-laying female dragons are rare. A single Warren (with 100 - 500 dragons) is usually lucky to have 3 (frequently they have only two). Egg-layers, called Queens, are the largest of all dragons. They are the only dragons that are metallic (gold, silver, etc), and are usually larger and even more intelligent than the norm. The largest, most powerful (and usually smartest) Queen is the Empress, and her rider is the Dragonlady -- the acknowledged leader of the dragonriders. Because of the preciousness of Queens, queenriders do not fly into combat.

The power structure of the Warren Nation, in which the highest administrative positions may only be held by queenriders, is based on the belief that queens pick only the most worthy riders. Whether this is true or not, the belief is almost universally held among the Warrenfolk. Seniority among queenriders is based on the length of residence in a particular warren. The queen that has lived the longest in a warren is the Senior Queen and her rider is generally acknowledged as the Warrenlady. Riders of other queens in the warren are called Junior Queenriders and provide support and back-up to the Warrenlady.

Note that female dragons are fairly common, but most are not fertile. This is a phenomenon that exists only in the Warren dragons. Wild females are all fertile, not just Queens-- though there are still larger, metallic-colored females who are more fertile and lay more eggs than ordinary wild females. The infertility of most Warren females appears to be the result of so many female dragons living in such close proximity. Generally, the reproductive ability of the "lesser" females does not seem to develop when they reach sexual maturity (although at least one instance is known to have occurred where a nonmetallic female dragon *did* lay a single egg while living at a warren, though this occurred following her extended absence from the warren). In all cases, females in heat still fly to mate as if egg-laying were possible.

Joined dragons are innately peaceful. They are hunters and require a great deal of meat to live, but it is virtually impossible to get one angry (short of hurting its rider). Joined dragons never fight with each other, and for riders to compel their dragons to combat with each other is considered by dragonrider society to be the greatest evil. Due to their telepathic nature, joined dragons are in low-level telepathic contact with most of the other dragons in their warren and tend to know when those dragons are in trouble. They can also send telepathic messages to each other over long distances.

From the point of joining, the dragon and rider are linked forever. No matter what the distance, the thoughts of the two beings move together, and one bondmate can read what the other is thinking unless a concerted effort is made to keep privacy. The bondmates, once joined, are always loved and never alone. This is a state sought after and envied by most humans, Warrenfolk and Landborn alike.

All joy comes with risk. The death of one bondmate severs the bond, and the surviving bondmate feels his or her partner die in their mind. Dragons, who have an easy form of suicide available, almost always teleport to their death in that moment of agony. Humans have no such easy escape. Sometimes they live on as empty shadows of their former selves, but they are never truly whole again. If a human is still young at the time of the Dragon's death, rejoining is possible, though even this never completely heals the wound caused by the breaking of the dragon-rider bond.

The only known way to break the human-dragon bond without the agony of death is for the human to journey outside the DragonLands for an extended period of time ("extended" is calculated in hours rather than months; a human can walk out of the DragonLands for a matter of minutes with no penalty, but even half a day could put the bond at risk). The dragons do not suffer the shock of feeling their lifemates die in their minds, so often do not commit suicide. However, a broken bond can never be restored; no matter how much affection they have for each other, the human and dragon must forever live with that emptiness.

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4.2 Unjoined Dragons

Unjoined dragons are an entirely different story. They are wild and predatory and extremely dangerous. Most unjoined dragons live in the wastes that border the DragonLands, and travelers through the wastes run a high risk of becoming prey to them. At times when food is especially scarce, these unjoined dragons venture out of the wastes and attack nearby towns. At this time, the dragonriders are called forth to protect the landbound people, and it is the only time when combat between dragons is accepted. However, the joined dragons still find it highly traumatic.

Unjoined dragons possess all of the abilities of joined dragons. They are also highly intelligent and resent the existence of joined dragons. To the unjoined or "wild" dragons, the joining process is viewed as "selling out" to lesser beings, beings that are considered food. Wild dragons view joining as a form of enslavement, and will go to any lengths to prevent a human from getting near their hatching young.

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4.3 Mating, Egg-laying and Hatching

Sexual maturity can range from 3 months (very rare) to 12 months -- the average, of course, being 6 months of age. Female dragons mate at irregular intervals, averaging once or twice a year. Mating passion usually comes on with little or no warning, and features a brief but complete personality-change in the female dragon.

When a female is struck by mating passion, she screams a challenge to all the males in the area. Most males that are able will bellow in response and fly to her. When she feels she has the attention of enough male dragons, the female takes to the air, challenging any male to catch her if he is capable. The males pursue her. This is called a "Mating Flight". During a mating flight, the female-- in spite of her personality traits when not in heat-- is arrogant and often cocky. She will not believe that any male is strong enough to catch her, and will work to avoid ANY male catching her, even a male that is a friend when she is not in heat.

Of course, the purpose of the mating flight is for the female to be caught. Eventually, a male will close the gap between him and the female and physically grab and restrain her. There is a brief moment of free-fall as the two Dragons struggle with each other (which is why the mating flight usually takes place very high in the air), during which the female either breaks free in the first few seconds or acknowledges the victory of the male. The male and female retreat someplace to mate.

If the female is sterile, the story stops here. However, if the female is wild or a Queen, eggs will be laid 1-2 weeks after mating. A Queen usually lays between 10-40 eggs, with the extremes being fairly rare. A good-sized clutch of eggs is about 25. A young Queen in her first or second mating usually lays around 15. The metallic wild dragons, which share all the characteristics of joined Queens, tend to lay clutches of comparable size with warren Queens. A non-metallic wild female usually lays between 1-10 eggs, with 15 being considered a huge clutch.

Eggs are usually laid on sand or sandy soil in a secluded place where they are unlikely to be found. Often wild females will find caves that they can fill with sand. Each warren maintains a sand-filled hatching cavern for this purpose. The sand is heated with the Queen's fiery breath to maintain a temperature suitable for the development of her young. She will watch over and protect these eggs as they harden. In the last weeks before hatching, the young dragons have developed enough to communicate with their mother telepathically. At this point, the Queen names her young (which is why newly-hatched dragons always know their own names) and begins to teach them.

The eggs harden for about 1 month before hatching. Usually, the Queen dragon knows an hour or so ahead of time that her eggs are going to hatch. In the Warren, this is a big production. The hatching cavern is lined with bleachers for spectators. The Warren-hatched dragonets are presented with a select group of humans with which to join, (these humans have been "searched" and possess what is called "affinity"). Sometimes hatchlings choose not to join, or find someone who is not among the candidates. Once joined, Warren dragon hatchlings are cared for by their joined humans until maturity. Young dragons grow at an extremely fast rate.

When dragons are hatched, the hatchlings are about the size of a large German Sheppard. Each day their size increases. The amount of the increase would coincide with their being a small, medium or large dragon. By the end of two weeks they are about half the size they will become, (making them rideable), reaching their full size by a month. But even though they are full size they don't have the bulk on them that an older dragon does so they can easily be identified still as a young dragon.

A hatchling is hatched with a certain amount of knowledge of the "outside" world which they learn from their mother while still in the egg. The mother names her offspring and explains the world to them as they are growing in their eggs. Of course their concept of the world is from a dragon's viewpoint, and depending on how much their mother explains about humans, they may not be able to comprehend their rider's views at all at first. They will learn in time to appreciate their frailer counterpart.

In the wild, the mother dragon cares for her young for the first 2 weeks to 1 month while they are still helpless. A varying degree of contact is maintained between the mother dragon and her young once they are mature enough to be independent, but one should not underestimate the power of emotional bonds between dragons.

It is estimated that a dragon could live to be over 100 years old... however, few wilders live that long due to their harsh living environment. As for joined dragons, it is assumed that the lifespan is often cut-short because of the death of their life-partner or soul-mate. When the human in a pair dies, the dragon will "suicide" by teleporting without a destination.

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4.4 The Powers of Dragons

As stated before, dragons are magical creatures, and have a certain number of innate abilities.

4.4.1 Firebreath

All dragons are natural firebreathers. Firebreathing is intended for self-defense and the occasional dragon combat (among wild dragons). Constant fire (such as is necessary in wraith combat) can be maintained perhaps a half an hour before the dragon's reserves are exhausted. Fire production is supplemented by feeding dragons flammable substances (usually coal). These substances are burned by the dragon internally, and the waste products are expelled as any food waste.

4.4.2 Teleportation

All dragons can teleport. Teleportation requires that the dragon have a clear picture of the destination in mind. Failure to clearly picture a destination can cause materialization in a random location (in the very mildest occurrences), materialization in solid objects, or failure to materialize at all. In addition, frequent teleportation can cause strange side-effects in the riders (a variety of symptoms from headaches to coma). Thus, it tends to be used in moderation.

Also, since a dragon carried with it into teleport any object (saddle, rider, etc.) with which it is in physical contact, dragons can teleport *only* when in flight - in other words, when they aren't in contact with the ground.

4.4.3 Telepathy

All dragons are telepathic. This means they can communicate with other dragons and the occasional telepathic human. This telepathy is distinct from the dragon-human bond. Telepathy cannot read the communication between dragons and their joined humans.

4.4.4 Other abilities

Some dragons show other psionic or magic abilities. If you have a dragon in mind with another power (or the alteration/absence of an existing one), it requires Admin approval.

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4.5 Sea Dragons

As the dominant lifeform of the DragonLands, dragons have also evolved to fill the same niche in the Sea that lies to the west of the DragonLands. They are rather similar in appearance to other dragons, and have wings that allow them to fly through the air as easily as they swim in the sea. However, they tend to sport colorations that allow them to blend more easily into their underwater environment, and have colorful crests running down their necks instead of the neckridges their land cousins have. They breathe scalding steam instead of flames, which require them to first ingest quantities of water which they heat internally. They can also administer powerful electric shocks to anything that comes into contact with strips of conductive flesh which run down their sides.

Sea dragons can join to human riders, but since they hatch on offshore sandbars or in isolated tidal pools, this is an extremely rare event. Wild sea dragons are as mistrustful of humans as the wild dragons of the DragonLands, though they keep to themselves and have not been known to attack human settlements.

Joined sea dragons can impart to their riders the ability to breathe underwater, but this is limited to periods of about 2 hours at a time. Sea dragons are fully telepathic, and can converse normally with other dragons or human telepaths.

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