Dragon

Dragons

Drakenwald is famous the world over for its dragons and their riders, and are much sought after for military campaigns despite the high prices for their services.

Hierarchy

The Drakenwald dragons all roughly form one family group, with a Patriarchal Drake as the undisputed head of them all. The Patriarch will typically choose a companion who will become the Matriarch of the family. Beneath him come the Great Drakes, both male and female, then the Lesser Drakes and then finally Hatchlings (which refers to all dragons less than 30 years old). Only the Patriarch and Matriarch form a couple, all the lesser dragons remain independent but reverent to the couple. When a Patriarch dies a number of male Great Drakes take to the air and fight for leadership in a giant aerial brawl. At first the fight is low stakes, with any dragon able to retire at any time, however the battle between the final two is a fight to the death (the new Patriarch-to-be doesn't want any close rivals about). Once the battle is over the new Patriarch goes into the old Patriarchs home and disposes of everything inside (including the body of the old Patriarch, if it is there).

Biology

Dragon biology is special, even taking into account the mythological bearings of other species. Dragons can live for hundreds of years but as they age they typically become sluggish and reclusive, rarely taking to the air or even finding food. It is only the caring attendance of the citizens of Drakenwald that the Patriarch has survived so long. The genealogy of a new offspring can bear little relationship to it's parents capabilities, two firebreathing dragons may birth a icebreather for example.

Reproduction

The dragons reproductive cycle is genetic constant, with every female becoming fertile at the same time approximately every 70 years. It is this time that the dragons begin to pair up, the males putting on displays and dueling each other for the attention of the most attractive females. Duels are rarely vicious as neither fighter wishes to deal or suffer serious harm, lest they attract the attention of the Patriarch or find themselves unable to mate at all. Once the dragons have paired up mating begins but with a poor chance of fertilisation (except in the ruling couple, which always produce a clutch of eggs). Once the couple have mated the male stays with the female for the 4 months that it takes her to lay the eggs and then returns to his solitary existance. The mother keeps the eggs close to her body and if she has capacity to make flame heats the eggs (although this often kills the hatchling inside and so it becomes the responsibility of the nursary wardens to take some of the eggs away and to care for them separately. After birth the mother will typically look over the young dragons for about a day before she too casts off parenthood and shoos her young out of her chamber (although most dragons can already walk and fly at that point, and are nearly self sufficient).

Dragons and Drakenwald

Dragons are exploited as great weapons of war by the citizens of Drakenwald, although it is a caring relationship between them and their riders.

Living Space

Dragons need large living spaces and so Drakenwald has hollowed out several of the nearby mountains into a series of tunnels and caves for the dragons to roost in, freeing up the flatter space below for humans.

Initial selection

The fifty fourth year after the last hatching is known as the 'Bud year' and is a great time of celebration and fornication amongst the people of Drakenwald. Women eagerly try their hardest to get pregnant throughout the year and eagerly register the date of birth of their children with the official census. These 'Bud children' grow up in preparation for when the dragons give birth, for then they may well be chosen to ride one. When an egg hatches a list is taken of all the children born on the same day fifteen years ago and a lottery is held and the winner is chosen to be that dragons rider. The child is taken from their homes into the nesting chambers, most likely the closest they would ever have been to a dragon and shown to the newborn dragon. When the mother tires of its young the child leads the dragon out and their training begins.

Training

Early training is taught to the riders mostly in the form of caring for the young dragon and basic weapons training until the dragon is big enough to ride (typically in it's second to third year). From them on they are taught the ways of aerial combat, and how to exploit their mounts natural talents.

Service

When new riders first ride their dragons they are grouped together into Wings and are sent on missions together until they all have enough battle experience to survive on their own. This can take many years and so Wings can form very close connections to one another (including each others mounts).

Old riders

Dragons live far past their riders and so all dragons have to take on new riders at different points in their life. Usually there isn't a problem (as the old rider introduces the new one to the dragon before the riders death) but the bond between the later riders and dragons are never as strong as the first ones.

Old Dragons

As a dragon ages it becomes more powerful, but also more lethargic. It loses its killer instinct and starts to lose its edge in battle. When this happens the rider returns to Drakenwald and lets the dragon retire to its home while the rider usually takes a place amongst the Dragoons. In times of need the old Great Drakes could be called out to battle, although it has never happened.