Tamwen
Troubadour
I'm working on a dragonrider story right now, and I'm trying to figure out my dragons. Here is what I know:
I'm using Night Furies as a basic template, so to speak. So in my head, they have the same bodies and flat, triangular heads and such. No retractable teeth, though.
They're animals. Very intelligent animals, but animals. They can understand language, both verbal and body language, and can communicate their feelings and thoughts effectively, but they aren't the kind of beings you can make formal treaties with or anything, and if they're wild, they can be very, very vicious.
They are omnivorous, but prefer meat.
Male dragons are only slightly bigger than female dragons.
They take about a year and a half to become fully grown, and are capable of breathing fire by the time they're about a month old, though the power and intensity of the flames grows as they do.
They have lifespans comparable to humans, maybe slightly longer.
Their skin is leathery,and very, very tough. Their wings, however, are incredibly vulnerable, and if they're punctured, a dragon is pretty much toast.
In this universe, they're comparable to dogs in that they are man's best friend. However, after the elves took over, the situation became similar to that of the American Bison in the 19th century, with the elves trying to completely eradicate the dragon population to not only break the moral of the humans, but also to make it impossible for dragonriders to resurface.
Here's what I'm rather torn on. Their hide. When I first thought of the idea, it came with the scene of a young man stumbling on a mama dragon and her clutch. The mama dragon, who's being chased by elven hunters, grabs the guy and covers both him and her eggs, and camouflages herself, like a chameleon. The hide also shifts color in non-hostile situations with their mood, which is one of the ways they can communicate how they feel.
Then, I was thinking about how people could tell the gender of dragons when they're newly hatched, and thought of the bioluminescent markings on the Na'vi of Avatar, and thought that might be rather interesting. Like... the size of the markings, or the general pattern, can point to whether the hatchling is male or female. They also change color with mood.
I like both, but I can't really choose which to use. One of my friends said they could work together, so I thought of a third option where hatchlings have the markings, and then as they grow older, those fade and their whole bodies are able to change color.
Thoughts? Opinions on any of the ideas? Thanks in advance!
I'm using Night Furies as a basic template, so to speak. So in my head, they have the same bodies and flat, triangular heads and such. No retractable teeth, though.
They're animals. Very intelligent animals, but animals. They can understand language, both verbal and body language, and can communicate their feelings and thoughts effectively, but they aren't the kind of beings you can make formal treaties with or anything, and if they're wild, they can be very, very vicious.
They are omnivorous, but prefer meat.
Male dragons are only slightly bigger than female dragons.
They take about a year and a half to become fully grown, and are capable of breathing fire by the time they're about a month old, though the power and intensity of the flames grows as they do.
They have lifespans comparable to humans, maybe slightly longer.
Their skin is leathery,and very, very tough. Their wings, however, are incredibly vulnerable, and if they're punctured, a dragon is pretty much toast.
In this universe, they're comparable to dogs in that they are man's best friend. However, after the elves took over, the situation became similar to that of the American Bison in the 19th century, with the elves trying to completely eradicate the dragon population to not only break the moral of the humans, but also to make it impossible for dragonriders to resurface.
Here's what I'm rather torn on. Their hide. When I first thought of the idea, it came with the scene of a young man stumbling on a mama dragon and her clutch. The mama dragon, who's being chased by elven hunters, grabs the guy and covers both him and her eggs, and camouflages herself, like a chameleon. The hide also shifts color in non-hostile situations with their mood, which is one of the ways they can communicate how they feel.
Then, I was thinking about how people could tell the gender of dragons when they're newly hatched, and thought of the bioluminescent markings on the Na'vi of Avatar, and thought that might be rather interesting. Like... the size of the markings, or the general pattern, can point to whether the hatchling is male or female. They also change color with mood.
I like both, but I can't really choose which to use. One of my friends said they could work together, so I thought of a third option where hatchlings have the markings, and then as they grow older, those fade and their whole bodies are able to change color.
Thoughts? Opinions on any of the ideas? Thanks in advance!