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Dragons
The dragon is a
warm-blooded reptile with the ability to control its body’s
temperature internally. This characteristic enables them to adapt to
the different climates of their extensive habitat and to maintain
his activities both day and night throughout the year, as he is not
dependent on the warmth from the sun like the other reptiles. The
dragon generally has wings, and his bones filled with hydrogen, for
lightness (and fiery breath). There are records of dragons who have
lived for five hundred and even a thousand years, but there are no
knows cases of dragons who have died from old age. On the other
hand, they died from accidents, certain diseases, or as a result of
the actions of their most relentless enemy: MAN.
The Skeleton
The dragon is
the largest known flying creature. Their bones are hollow and
contain hydrogen, produced from eating bones, to maintain their
enormous bulk in the air. Their wing bones fit on to broad shoulders
which support the powerful wing muscles, which require an
extraordinary articulator system unknown in other species. Their
bones are tougher than reinforced concrete and much lighter. Dragons
can fly well and with great speed.
The
Muscular system
The dragon’s
muscular system is fascinating and complicate. I evaluate the power
in the bite of a dragon to put to an average of 2 ton per cm cube
(i.e. It could easily gnaw steel). Dragons are very powerful. Their
leg and arm can support great charge without much difficulty but
this only applies on ground movement because in the air, a dragon
could not maintain more than half of is weight for a long period of
time. The muscles on their legs and arms were not suited for
running, but they could walk (With the many different mutations
Dragons have undergone, it may be possible that some species of
dragon could run.)
The Scales
most species of
Dragon's body’s are completely covered with tough, shiny scales. As
dragons love adornment they stick precious stones and other jewels
to their neck and stomach, which also act as added protection. They
stick these jewels on using their saliva which has powerful adhesive
qualities. Dragons often wear jeweled breastplates to protect their
soft abdomens. The scales are pentagonal, and shaped like a
teardrop, with two long sides and two shorter ones, and a very short
fifth side attached to the skin. The dragon can make them stand on
end whenever he likes to preen them. The dragon is a very clean
creature and takes great care always to keep his skin and scales
clean and immaculate, much like a cat. In their normal position, the
scales overlap very neatly and, thanks to a tiny cavity in the
surface, they fit into each other to allow perfect freedom of
movement. Scales have the following characteristics:
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The innermost part is composed of a compact hairy
formation firmly rooted in the epidermis.
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On the hair follicle there are some tiny glands
which secrete a substance that adheres firmly to the skin.
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This substance is rich in minerals, which determine
the hardness and the color of the dragon's scales.
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The external surface has a horny, translucent
texture, which gives the scales their habitual luster.
A dragon does
not need to shed his skin like most other reptiles. As the scales
grow they are renewed automatically, like human nails and hair. They
are not shed from the body, except rare cases during illness.
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Coloring
It is impossible
to list the enormous variety of hues that make up the dragon's
brilliant coloring, but they can be divided into three broad color
groupings:
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Blues, ranging from dark blue to silver and
mother-of-pearl.
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Red, ranging from copper-red to dark red and
reddish-black.
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Greens, which include every imaginable shade of
green and yellow and even dark brown, emerald green and burnished
gold.
Although these
three principal color groups are not usually mixed, a dragon's
coloring is rarely uniform. In general, their scales are several
hues from one of the main color categories, with a metallic luster
which is hard to define. When the scales have a pale or opaque it is
a sure sign of ill health. Many dragons are known by their scales,
such as Ancalagon the Black, Smaug the Golden and Spars the Green.
Large or Small?
For many of you,
the word "dragon" means a huge, enormous or imposing creature, such
as is portrayed in fairy tales. Dragons are more likely to be small
creatures (from 1 foot to 10 feet long).
To prove this theory I will attempt to explain a principle of
physics called "Physics of Proportion" or "Physics of Lilliput".
First, you look at a cube (1cm x 1cm x 1cm). If you decide to double
the length and you want to keep the proportion you will have a
bigger cube (2cm x 2 cm x 2cm). The length of the enlarged cube will
be multiplied by 2, the surface will be multiplied by 4 and the
weight/volume will be multiplied by 8. Well let’s say that a bird
needs to have a wing span equal to his body length to fly. Enlarge
this bird ten times. There will be 100 times more surface. However
he will weight 1000 times more and since his wings give him the
power to fly and that these rely on the surface and not on the
volume, he will be unable to fly for his lack of lift power.
A large creature could have some difficulties flying, but we haven't
proof they cannot exist. The second thing is the structure of the
dragon. Some people believe that Dragons have cartilage instead of
bones but this could only be possible in very small creature. The
shark, for example, lives in water and in water your apparent weight
is much lighter than in air that explain why an animal like this
could live with only cartilage. Look at your nose and you ears.
These are made in cartilage but as you have surely notice, this
isn't very strong and it could not support the weight of your entire
body. Now if they cannot be made with cartilage, they are obviously
made with flesh and bones but the fact with bone is that they rely
on the surface (i.e. diameter and not superficies) to be strong and
large bone increase the mass and thus make the flight much more
difficult.
It is true that the hydrogen in Dragons bones allow them to gain
more lift and makes them lighter, but this would still not be enough
to enable a very large Dragon to fly. It is more realistic to say
that dragons are small creatures if you consider that they can fly
otherwise, they will follow the same principle in the structures of
these huge magnificent reptiles, the dinosaurs (in this case their
wings would be absolutely useless).
(Summary of the "Physic of Proportion": The rule is simple, when you
change an object proportionally, the change "A" affect the dimension
as this: the length=A, the Surface=2A and the Volume=3A.)
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Reproduction
The reproductive
system of these creatures is internal, which means that it is nearly
impossible to determine if a dragon is a male or a female, only the
general behavior and the small change in their color can provide
information about the dragon's gender. Dragons lay eggs like
reptiles and birds. The eggs are protected by a hard shell that with
time will weaken to let the new baby dragon break it more easily.
The incubation period of these creatures is mostly unknown; some
eggs will hatch in a year, others two and some more than five years
(hence the dragons endangerment). The dragon’s eggs are rich in
calcium and the newborn dragons eat it so as not to waste the
nutriment in it.
The mating process is known as dragon-slide: the two partners fly
high in the sky and after a moment they grab each other and close
their wings and make free-fall. Then at less than a hundred feet
from the ground they open their wings and land. The dragons unusual
mating process is mainly because dragons love speed and risk, and
add these to the pleasure of love... you have a sensation that
humans could never enjoy. (Sound like fun? Then you should have been
born a dragon).
Society
Dragons tend to
be loners by nature or by obligation, we can say without a big
inaccuracy that dragons are not very populous on Earth, few people
have been lucky enough to see dragons. Dragons pass much of their
time alone in their lair. During this time, they learn about their
environment and how to use it wisely. Because they are alone a great
deal of time, most of them enjoy company of other dragons and even
human as long as they come in perfect love and trust. It may be
possible that dragons have some sort of council lead by an elderly
dragon but this yet has to be proven.
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Dragons and Mankind
Throughout
history dragons and human beings have been unable to live peacefully
side by side. As a result, mankind has not been able to benefit from
ancient dragon knowledge. Man's craving for power and religious
beliefs have kept the world engulfed in interminable and bloody
struggles. The dragon lords could not understand the reasons for
man's self-destructive behavior, and kept well out of the way,
retreating to remote hiding places far from all this confusion.
Shrouded in mystery, the dragon's trail remains lost in the
obscurity of legend. However, the dragons secretly pursued their
quest for knowledge without completely excluding the human race,
since they accepted and taught those few men who sought the essence
of truth. We could wonder what would happen if the dragons revealed
themselves to the eyes of all humankind... Would we be able to
accept another form of intelligence far superior to our own or would
we feel the need to fight those, who at the end, could come to our
rescue?
Types of
Dragons
Dragons can be
divided into three social classifications, based on their
intelligence. Lesser class dragons are rather dim, beasts. Mid class
dragons are just as intelligent as humans, and can speak in our
tongue, too. Greater class dragons are mystics... the ones who
protect the Earth in myth.
It is often thought that the lesser dragons are the smaller kind. As
with all dragons the social classifications has nothing to do with
their appearance. (I think there's a lesson for humans there!) The
social classification of dragons depends on their skills and
knowledge/wisdom. Lesser dragons are not necessarily dumb, but
include those that are not willing to learn. These dragons tend to
be more physical beings that prefer to act first and think about it
later.
Mid class dragons are just as intelligent as humans (by this I mean
they have the ability to think for themselves and to solve complex
problems). They often learn a few languages and can speak in human
tongue. They have harnessed the ability to travel the astral plane
and can communicate telepathically. These dragons tend to be the
linguists and engineers. They come up with the ideas for the lower
class dragons to create.
Greater dragons are the mystics. They become bored with learning
languages and turn to natural elemental magick. They have the
ability to travel the astral plane and can mix with all creatures.
They communicate telepathically and have excellent knowledge of
mathematics, astronomy and magick. In Eastern mythology they are the
protectors of Earth and the ones that bring the rain and the
sunshine. They are immensely proud beasts. Other talents of these
dragons may include shape shifting, extended invisibility,
telekinesis, divining and knowledge of the future.
There are also different kinds of dragons. The Chinese have five
kinds of dragons. Imperial dragons have five claws (all others have
four); Celestial dragons guard the heavenly abode of deities; Dragon
spirits rule wind and rain and cause floods; Earth dragons clear
rivers and deepen oceans; and Treasure guarding dragons.
In heraldry, a dragon with two legs is called a wyvern; a dragon
without wings is a worm; a serpentine dragon with wings but no legs
is an Amphiptere; a dragon with wings and legs is termed a guivre.
Further meanings of these draconic images was determined by how the
dragon was posed: rampant (forelegs raised), passant (one foreleg
raised), stat ant (all four feet on the ground), wings endorsed
(upright over the back), displayed or depressed, tail nowed
(knotted). Even further definition was determined by the color:
gold, gules (red), sable (black), or vert (green).
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