Dragons like tasteful ornamentation. And big. Stuff has gotta be big, because in natural form, nothing is bigger than a dragon.
The Dragon race is well-known for their beautiful architecture and sound buildings; they're the best builders around, and their structures are as beautiful and long-lived as they are.
Nothing is more important to a Dragon than Honor, and the best way of maintaining and defending Honor is usually wars or duels.
First Dragon Serrinar's Nestlings
1. Ferronar - Male
2. Draana - Female
3. Selle - Female
4. Gruul - Male
Serrinar's scales were originally irridescent in sun and moonlight. Each one of his nestlings had a different color of scale, depending on the color their father's scales were at the exact moment they were born:
Gruul was born when his father's scales were a deep jade, so his scales are green.
Draana was born when her father's scales were sapphire, so her scales are blue.
Selle was born when her father's scales shone white with the rising sun, so her scales are
white.
And Ferronar was born when his father's scales glittered darkly on a moonless night, so his
scales are black.
In human form, each dragon's hair color is derived from their scale color, and there are differences in tint and shade through the blue and green scale colors (i.e. sky blue, indigo, navy, light blue, dark blue - these are all possible scale/hair colors for a blue dragon).
Each "Dragon Nation" is derived from one of the four original nestlings; thus there are four nations, or, in older texts and parlance, "hues."
The Black Hue or Black Dragon Nation is the royal family of all the Dragons. Although each Nation has its own king and queen, princes and princesses, the Black Dragon King is King of All Dragon Nations.
The White Hue/Nation is responsible for most of the dragon priests/priestesses, as well as scholars and other learned men and women. Most Dragon historians and writers belong to the White Hue.
The Blue Hue/Nation are the artists of the dragons - sculptors, dancers, musicians, and the like. Blue Dragon jewelry is a rare find outside of Dragonlands, and highly prized for its solid aesthetic.
The Green Hue/Nation are the architects and builders, primarily. Strangely enough, most have a great love for nature, and natural designs and motifs are often a strong influence on Dragon buildings, which are almost always made out of marble.
Dragon scales are one of the toughest things around, and suits of armor from dragon scales are near impenetrable. In human form, a dragon warrior will always have a suit of scales, usually made from the scales of one of his ancestors.
Honor for a Dragon male consists of war, battles and duels, on top of things like keeping one's word and doing right, etc. etc. Honor for a Dragon female means...well, what you think it means. She gives herself to no one but her mate, and she protects her children. (Unlike humans, who seem to think females incapable of fighting, Dragons leave child rearing and protection entirely up to the female, who, if her nestlings are threatened, is easily twice as dangerous as any male, whether in human or dragon form.)
To be dishonored means that one must find a way to restore one's honor (a Dragon will not kill himself. Period.), and as easy as it is to lose honor, it is three times as hard to gain honor back. Literally. Quite often, you must perform three tasks or quests or something similar in order to regain any honor at all, although it will always be somewhat tainted in the minds of others. If you fail to restore your honor, you are exiled.
As for humans...Dragons regard the creatures with distaste but generally leave them alone.
A dragon in human form is marginally easier to kill than a dragon in natural state. But only marginally, mind you.
It has been said that the only sure way to kill a dragon is to cut out his heart (take that as you will...).
It is Dragon S.O.P. after a battle that to the victor goes the spoils. The leader of the army gets first pick of any arms, treasure, and men (that is to say soldiers, combatants, not civilians) that he wishes; his generals pick after that, etc. etc. It's often how one pays one's armies.
The last thing any dragon wants (esp. a male dragon) is to appear weak. Never ever show your vulnerable side to anyone.
Dragons in their natural form have very sharp eyesight. Their sense of smell is unparalleled, in or out of human form (although it is naturally much better in dragon form than not), and they can distinguish a great number of things by sniff alone. In human form, except for their heightened sense of smell, their senses are barely above human.
Dragons are...kind of, sort of...cold-blooded. They have an "internal furnace" of sorts - this is the source of their ability to breathe fire and it keeps them warm in the coldest of weather (although if left outside unprotected in human form for too long, they will become susceptible to hypothermia). If they didn't have the "internal furnace" they would rely on ambient temperature to regulate their own body temperatures, as cold-blooded creatures do. Instead they rely on the combination, being able to sort of mentally adjust the furnace in order to adapt to conditions. Most of the time, it's on "low" anyway.
Dragon females have periods of heat - after a fashion. Even in heat, it is not certain a dragon female will become pregnant - it's just more likely. The percentages go something like this:
Likelihood that a Dragon Female will become pregnant:
Dragon lifespan is approximately 600 years for females and about 500 for males.
Dragons lay eggs, in case you hadn't guessed. They simply cannot stay in human form to lay eggs (another duh), so they will revert to dragon form and make a nest for their eggs. Many dragons are fond of mountains for nests, to better protect the eggs and newborn hatchlings.
As a race, in human form, dragons are not that tall. They average 4'10" - 5'5" for females
and 5'2" - 5'9" for males. Also, dragons generally don't take human form until they're at
least 200 years old. It can happen earlier, but it's rare. It's also rare (and rather
worrisome) to have it happen much later than that 2nd Century mark.
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Playing a Dragon
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Dragons are very proud and VERY concerned with Honor. This does not make all dragons
stuck-up; feel free to interject whatever personality you see fit. Dragons can be as goofy
as any human; they just hide it better, especially around other dragons!
Playing a Black Dragon is even worse, as their pride is much more inflated on account of being dragon royalty. And you'll need some serious bribery to play a Black Dragon in direct line of succession for the Dragon Throne. There're many branches of the royal family; you can be Black Dragon and not be anywhere near ascending to the Throne (still, it helps to keep track of where you are, i.e. "I'm 4,615th in line for the Throne...").
Unlike human royal families, Black Dragons aren't likely to do much manuevering to gain the power of the Dragon Throne, and outside the Black Nation, the Throne is seen as a burden best left to the Blacks anyway.
Pick a color of dragon first, then go from there. See Ilina, White Dragon Scholar (under Other NPC's), as an example.
.:~Main Index~:.