# Jabrosky's Dragons are Different



## Jabrosky (Jul 30, 2013)

'Twas just ruminating on how to make my current project's world more interesting and different from the real world, and one of the ways I intend to accomplish this is to throw in dragons. They function mainly as aerial transportation in my setting, much as horses function as terrestrial transportation, but people may always use them like fighter planes. Now onto how my dragons are different...

In my world, dragons are not scaly lizards or serpents. Instead they are giant birds. More specifically they represent the last surviving branch of the Enantiornithes, a group of primitive birds which once thrived during the later Mesozoic Era. As such they have retained from their ancestors ancient theropod traits such as toothy beaks and three-clawed wings. However, dragons have also evolved some unique characteristics in the sixty-five million years since the Mesozoic’s end, including most notably the mass of a small airplane and the ability to spit gobs of venom.

Dragon venom has a bright orange color that gives it a fiery or lava-like appearance, but it does not burn like real fire. Nonetheless one gob of venom can kill a human being in a matter of seconds and an elephant in minutes. This of course makes them superbly adapted at hunting large mammals for food. Dragons may spit their venom at prey and predators alike from the air, but they can also employ their sharp teeth and wing-claws for short-range combat.

At present there exist three wild dragon subspecies, all native to tropical regions. The first lives in Central and South America, the second in Africa, and the third in southern Asia and Australasia. Humans have domesticated all of these subspecies in Mesoamerica, the Sudan, and India respectively. Although domesticated dragons have since split into many different breeds and spread all over the world, all can interbreed and produce fertile offspring with each other.

As I said in my opening paragraph, people in my setting may ride dragons both for transportation and military purposes, but due to their size and aggressiveness, they make for high-maintenance and risky pets. Consequently only the wealthiest and most influential people (e.g. rulers, nobility, and generals) can afford their own dragon. However, since dragons do possess a relatively high intelligence as far as birds go, they can make quality friends if you get on their good side.

Any additional thoughts or questions?


----------



## Ireth (Jul 30, 2013)

Hoe does the venom work? Doesn't it typically have to enter the bloodstream to take effect, as with snake bites? If your dragon just spits a glob of it onto a human's chest, and that human has no open wounds or anything, what would happen?


----------



## Jabrosky (Jul 30, 2013)

Ireth said:


> Hoe does the venom work? Doesn't it typically have to enter the bloodstream to take effect, as with snake bites? If your dragon just spits a glob of it onto a human's chest, and that human has no open wounds or anything, what would happen?


I think it would seep through the pores in the human's skin. Or are those not connected to the bloodstream?


----------



## Steerpike (Jul 30, 2013)

I like the idea. With respect to the venom, there are poisons that work on contact with the skin. I think some amphibians have them. It might be more accurate to refer to them as "poisons," because my understanding is that "venom" works through injection into the body, such as through a snake bite.


----------



## Spider (Jul 30, 2013)

That's interesting. Not sure how scientifically advanced your world is, but could dragon venom be used for medical purposes (like snake venom)? Also, wouldn't it be risky for influential people like rulers to ride dragons, or are they already trained before the people ride them? 

Great idea, by the way.


----------



## Jabrosky (Jul 30, 2013)

Spider said:


> That's interesting. Not sure how scientifically advanced your world is, but could dragon venom be used for medical purposes (like snake venom)?


Right now I am leaning towards a "Magitek" world where magic functions much like advanced technology. And yes, dragon poison might have medicinal properties for those people who can't afford a mage's services.



> Also, wouldn't it be risky for influential people like rulers to ride dragons, or are they already trained before the people ride them?


Probably the latter.


----------



## Gurkhal (Jul 31, 2013)

Looks very cool and an awesome idea.  What I could question is the use of the term "dragon". The word dragon has alot of meaning and symbology associated with it and you might get alot of that luggage with you if you call them dragons. But if it works for you, go for it.


----------



## Queshire (Jul 31, 2013)

My only concern are the bird-like traits It seems like it might remove them too far from the idea most people have when they think of Dragons. Now, I think adding a few bird-like traits would be neat, maybe a fringe of feathers or a bird-like body shape, but personally I would go with having them be reptile with bird accents instead of birds with reptile accents.


----------



## wordwalker (Jul 31, 2013)

Queshire said:


> My only concern are the bird-like traits It seems like it might remove them too far from the idea most people have when they think of Dragons. Now, I think adding a few bird-like traits would be neat, maybe a fringe of feathers or a bird-like body shape, but personally I would go with having them be reptile with bird accents instead of birds with reptile accents.



This was my first thought too. Putting a new spin on concepts is fun, but calling birds dragons might seem too much if you don't add some reptile touches too.

The poison should be mildly corrosive, to help it penetrate skin, or clothes, or the thick hides of animals it evolved to hunt. I can see  someone getting spattered and trying to yank off their jacket before it kills them. (Spit fire-colored acidic poison of doom? yes please.)

Be sure you read Naomi Novik's Temeraire books.


----------



## Zero Angel (Jul 31, 2013)

This is the coolest idea of yours that I have read. Cool!


----------



## Steerpike (Jul 31, 2013)

wordwalker said:


> This was my first thought too. Putting a new spin on concepts is fun, but calling birds dragons might seem too much if you don't add some reptile touches too.



Birds inherently have reptile-touches, don't they? Scales, claws on the feet, and so on.

One area where these dragons probably differ from many birds would be that birds have hollow bones and that probably wouldn't work with these dragons.


----------



## Jabrosky (Jul 31, 2013)

Here's some concept art for one of my dragons:








Does it look too avian to be called a dragon?


----------



## A. E. Lowan (Jul 31, 2013)

I think it looks awesome, its colors are glorious - but too much like a theropod to call a dragon.  The others are right, the term "dragon" is a very loaded one, filled with imagery and expectations that I'm not sure you want to carry.  You may be better off coming up with a term as unique to your world as your beautiful creatures.

I'm also not sure about its ability to fly given the weight of it's flanks and legs.  It looks like a running land bird to me, like the terror birds of South America.  Unless it's getting a considerable magical boost to assist it in getting air born and maintaining flight, I would make it more gracile and make those wings bigger to support all that weight.  And, yes, it's going to need hollow bones - many theropods actually did have them, which is where our modern birds inherited them from.


----------



## ThinkerX (Jul 31, 2013)

Traditional or not, Jabrosky's 'dragons' are somewhat similiar to the dragons I'd envisioned for my world...though I was thinking more along the lines of a 'evolved pterodactyl' (sp?).  I envisioned mine as dwelling atop cliffs near sea shores or swamps brimming with tasty seafood or reptilian thingies, and being more of gliders or 'hoppers' than fliers.  Glide down from the cliff, snag lunch, eat lunch, and then 'hop' back up the cliff.  

I also really didn't see them as being particularly smart: capable of understanding and mimicing some words, inclined to collect shiny objects, but not really sapient.


----------



## Zero Angel (Aug 2, 2013)

Call 'em dragons! If that's how you think of them, that's what they are. Besides the fact that everybody and their dog calls whatever they want dragons, these are pretty dragon-y.


----------



## shangrila (Aug 2, 2013)

You can call them dragons. The creatures are basically modelled after dinosaurs, at least in modern fantasy, and since a fair few dinosaurs were apparently feathered, to me it's a natural stepping stone.

That said, if they're giant birds they don't sound like dragons. Personally, the dragons in my world are feathered as well, but they're more feathered dragons than giant birds that might be similar to dragons.


----------



## Asura Levi (Aug 2, 2013)

Jabrosky said:


> Here's some concept art for one of my dragons:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I do think so. It reminds me of two fantasy creatures, Chocobos and PecoPeco (from Final Fantasy and Ragnarok Online respectively).

About the dragons, you can go like they did in 'how to train your dragon', just have different species (breeds) with different traits, some more avian while others more reptile. Some will be docile and easy tamable but will suck in warfare while others will be the 'prise' of the country who only the king is able to ride without being eaten.

EDIT: was forgetting.
In my fantasy work, true dragons are godlike creatures, but they do have an 'offspring' called dragollas, that are just dragons as we know it, with its own characteristics varying with the habitat. 
And, feel free to use the name if you do not want to call yours dragons. I don't mind


----------



## Edankyn (Aug 2, 2013)

Jabrosky, did you perchance go by the name Tyrannohotep on another site (society of muses)


----------



## Jabrosky (Aug 3, 2013)

Edankyn said:


> Jabrosky, did you perchance go by the name Tyrannohotep on another site (society of muses)


Yes, that was me.


----------

