The Journal of Sven Drake

[Sven & Hermes]

WARNING! NOT FOR THOSE WHO ARE PRONE TO THE TL;DR!

During your encounters with me, have you ever wondered what was in that little notebook that I carry around everywhere? I have rarely shown the contents to others.

It's about time I did.

Here I will be posting all sorts of research I have discovered upon many dragon species, my opinions on them and getting into fine details of some of the dragons I have spent more time around.

And he's going to start with my peeps, because I'm awesome and I saw him first!

Shush, Hermes. We don't want a biased report, do we now?

[Kenna & Fenrir]

YAY, I get to look into your book! *cough* I mean, I'm glad your showing us this Sven... I've been antisipating this...*Looks around Dodily*

[Sven & Hermes]

The Ambassador Dragon

Custom Dragon created by Redkitebait
Category: Western

Legend:

• Strictly to be followed on this RP site.

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[/li][li] For the sake of the RP site, may be ignored.[/color]
[/li][li] Sebastian's opinion[/li][/ul][/color]



Distribution[/center]

Ambassadors can be seen on most of the 5 continents, though fewer on Antartica for many reasons which will be explained further along. Being a mobile species, these dragons have made their home on nearly all corners of the globe. It is hard to track them down because of their constant and somewhat random migration behaviour.

Anatomy and Physiology

At first glance, you would think that this dragon was some sort of Gryphon, or Hippogriff. It's physique is not like you would find in most dragons, who tend to be more serpentine. These dragons range from about 2m to 4m metres in height from feet to base of the neck, so are classed as a small to medium sized dragon. They are not long, around 5-8 metres long from head to tail.

It's head is like a bird's, with a beak. Despite a lack of teeth, there are molars at the back, designed for crushing tougher meats and small bones. Muscles around the corners of the mouth serve to easily break away or soften harder sections of meat from the carcass, whereas the beak is designed for ripping and tearing the food source. They have a large cranium, and their skull betrays that at one time, they did in fact have horns, though nowadays they don't exist. Instead, they have twin 'crests' that consist of 3 elongated scales. Although their mobility is limited, is it more than enough to express the creature's emotions.

They have a sleek, aerodynamic body that is compact. Because of the compact body, their legs look too long for their body. Despite being adapted to flight, Ambassador dragons are just as adept on ground, though they prefer to travel through the open air. Their huge wings, when not in use, are folded at their sides, like a bird. Their 'rudders' situated on their rump act in a similar way to a bird's tail. When not in use, the rudder often hangs below the tail, half-closed. All the bones in their body are hollow, which makes these creatures a lot lighter than they look. These dragons have not yet been weighed. The dragon's tail is semi-rigid; the tail does not touch the ground, unless the dragon is laying down. It is still flexible and is sometimes used in expressing emotions, like how a cat wags it's tail when angry or annoyed. It's tail piece is static; there are no muscles to fan or fold it. It's main use is to avoid too much drag and weight whilst in the air.

Compared to most dragons, the Ambassador's have minimal fighting capabilities. They have short, stubby curved claws on their toes, and the fire they produce is more of a display than an actual weapon. The maximum range recorded for these dragon's flame is 7 metres, though this is rare. It is more around the average of 3 metres range. They could set you on fire, but it can easily be put out if you stop, drop and roll, unlike other dragons in which severe burning or disintegration is common.

Dimorphism

Sexes are somewhat similar in appearance. Males tend to be taller and longer than females, and claws on their toes are a little bit longer and sharper, though not noticeable at first glance. During mating season, males will moult and gain patterned scales in certain areas, primarily on the twin crests, tail piece and primary scales on the wings. The patterns are a solid colour of the tint, showing off either spots about a quarter distance from the scale's tip, spot proportional in size to the scale. Occasionally scales elsewhere may be 'tipped' with the dragon's colour, like the wingtips of a Kittiwake or akin to the Whitetip Reed Shark. Males also have a higher chance of having 'warm' tinting, but is still slim. Male's crests and tail pieces tend to be longer than those of females.

Scales

The Ambassador's scales are something quite remarkable. They are mostly a thin oval shape, but pointed at the end. The edges are very sharp and can easily slice through flesh with applied pressure. The scales are very durable and difficult to destroy, but this is suprisingly the Ambassador's biggest weakness. If the slightest damage is struck against one of these scales, say a chip or a scratch, the scale will almost immediately dislodge itself, so that a new one may grow. New scales take more or less 2 weeks to grow back into a usable state, though an extra week may be needed for the scale to be strong enough to resist wear. The durability allows the dragon to maybe bump into hard objects unscathed, but isn't good against brutal and aggressive attacks, such as swords, acid or anything of that matter. The scales are important to the Ambassador because their wings, rudders and tail piece are lined with elongated scales, which work in the same way as feathers. The loss of too many of these scales will stop the dragon from flying. The Ambassador's scales are loosely attached to the skin, for easy ejection, insulation and for impressive displays. Like mentioned before, the scales can act in the same way as feathers. Ambassadors are able to 'puff' up their scales when threatened, making them look bigger and become a huge mass of deadly spikes. They can even give a 'ripple' effect to their body as a threat display. Sometimes when they are irritated or annoyed, their scales may raise slightly. When the scales lay flat, the surface of the dragon's body appears smooth and glassy. The control of these scales carries on with the wing and rudders, which can fold or expand at will, even if the limb is straight open. This allows the Ambassador to adapt to long-distance travel by stretching the initial length of the wingspan, so the dragon can exert less energy during migrations. This extra level of control allows the Ambassador dragons to coordinate themselves incredibly well in the air – which will be described in the following category.

The colour of the Ambassador's scales and skin are strictly a deep, jet black. However, each dragon has a coloured 'tint' in which the light reflected off the scales is a sort of colour, in the same way as light hits the black of magpie feathers. The colours are nearly always cold colours; blues, greens, and purples are common, though warm colours such as orange or red can be found on rare occasions. The eye colour tends to match more or less the tint, though sometimes the tone is either darker or brighter.

If an Ambassador dragon gets caught in winter, they will moult and regrow white scales. These white scales do not possess any tint, and with the black skin underneath, works in the same way as a polar bear's fur. The consequence for this is when the dragon in question returns to it's original black-scaled state, one or two white scales will remain permanent. This is seen negatively in the Ambassador's social system, and will not be accepted in the society unless the scale is invisible by periodically removing the scale if it is not important to the dragon's flight mechanisms.

To-Do List:

• Flight
  
• Behaviour
  
• Diet and Feeding
  
• Water and Drinking
  
• Migration
  
• Communication
  
• Flocking
  
• Resting
  
• Breeding
  
• Myths

[Sven & Hermes]

Forest Keeper

A Custom Dragon made by Redkitebait - Unavailable for Roleplay
Category: Western

Distribution/Habitat:

Forest Keepers have been seen on all continents except for Antartica. They are mostly found in places of dense vegetation, forests being very popular, though in some instances, they have been seen on grasslands and savannahs.

Anatomy and Physiology

These dragons are small, but their size is variable between individuals. On average, they range from the size of a chicken, to the size of a Labrador Retriever. They have the physique of the classic European dragon, often greenish in colour. Their 'spines' are broad and round, always coloured brown, as well as their beak and tail piece. They have a pair of curved horns on their head.

Because of their thick and powerful beak, their nose is placed on their forehead, square between their golden-yellow eyes, and possess only one nostril. The beak and this abnormal nostril positioning makes a familiarity with the extinct dinosaurs. Their tail is as long as their body and neck, which is primarily used for balance. It also uses the tail as extra grip by being able to wrap it around branches and similar objects.

Since they are designed to live in woodland, their wings are quite short compared to other dragons, but it is a great asset when navigating the woodlands, and overcoming the dangers flying through a forest possesses. Because of this, they are quite agile. Their feet have long toes and sharp curved claws for gripping as they climb around the canopy. The hind limbs also possess a sort of 'thumb' for extra grip. They also have a sort of 'hook' thumb on their wings. This makes the Forest Keeper a sort of 4x4 dragon.

To-Do:

• Dimorphism
  
• Flight
  
• Behaviour
  
• Diet and Feeding
  
• Water and Drinking
  
• Migration
  
• Communication
  
• Flocking
  
• Resting
  
• Breeding

[Sven & Hermes]

Dragon Sub-species

I thought I would write a little chapter on the main subspecies of dragon that can be found all over our world. Though each dragon is different in their own right, and there are always lots of exceptions, most of them will fall into these categories:

(Examples will be from strictly from the HTTYD universe, no customs or 'real' dragon species)


Western:



Western dragons, or European dragons, are your stereotype of dragon depending on your cultural influences. They are for the most part quadrupedal with a pair of bat-like wings. Their heads tend to be long and sort of oblong in shape, and nearly always have horns somewhere on their heads. These dragons are stereotyped as nasty dragons that will burn villages, hoard gold and rare items, and kidnap princesses. Though some actually do hoard valuable metals and stones, it is always for a reason - some dragons have soft bellies, and use the rare minerals to protect their weak spots. Some dragons absorb necessary oligio-elements into their bodies by laying on gold. Most Western Dragons will be able to produce fire and are able to use it as a formidable weapon.

Western Dragon examples: Night Fury, Terrible Terror, Gronckle.

Knucker:

Knuckers are a lot like Western Dragons in appearance, but what sets them apart are the incredibly long, snaky bodies, short legs and don't breath fire. Most Western dragons use flammable venom to create fire, Knucker's venom doesn't ignite. Knuckers are also recognisable by their very short, vestigial wings. They have been known to share a trait with Eastern dragons, by the fact a lot of them like to reside near water, often creating havoc with waterwheels and wells.

Knucker Examples: Snaptrapper, Hideous Zippleback (though it can fly, I think they made it fly just for the film's sake, because those wings are TINY compared to the dragon's body, and it doesnt' fly like a Gronckle.) Besides, they say in the official desciprtion that they are mostly ground-dwelling anyway, and they don't produce fire

Wyverns



These Dragons are also like the Western Dragons in appearance, except these ones are usually one of the biggest types of Dragon. They are very bird-like: they only posses one pair of legs and one pair of wings. Their form of locomotion is either like those of a bird, where it's wings are folded and walks on two legs, or has the locomotion like those of a pterosaur, where it uses it's wings like forelimbs to move on the ground.

Wyvern Examples: Monstrous Nightmare, Skrill, Deadly Nadder and BoneKnapper.

Amphithere:



Amphithere are a sort of mix between Eastern dragons and Western dragons. Unlike their previous three categories of subspecies, this time it is scales and leathery wings which aren't common, and instead Amphitheres are mostly found feathered or furry. They are very long and snake like, possessing only a pair of wings, and no legs. Amphitheres are mostly found on the South American continent.

Amphithere Example: Whispering Death

Lindwyrm:

Lindwyrms are a scaly, Western version of the Amphithere, but instead of wings, they only possess a pair of limbs and cannot fly. They mostly use strangulation as their first choice of attack, and tend to live around middle-asia.

No Example in HTTYD universe (correct me if i'm wrong)

Eastern:

Eastern Dragons, are your stereotypical 'Chinese Dragons'. They possess four limbs and no wings, are very long and serpent-like. They are water-dwellers. Unlike the Western culture, Dragons are seen as benevolent and bringers of rain, and are mostly celebrated instead of slain. This species is separated into even further categories, all depending on the number of toes they possess: Chinese Lung (5 toes), Korean Yong, (4 toes) and Japanese Ryu (3 Toes). These dragons possess antler-like horns, and fur-like manes, that surround their head and line their backs, all the way to a fan-like tail made of the same mane.