Dragon

Dragon is a genus of reptilian creatures that often grow to gargantuan sizes and possess formidable physical power. Most dragons possess wings and tremendously dangerous breaths, which vary from species to species. Known dragon-breaths include fire, ice and a type of corrosive acid. Despite their bestial appearances, dragons are sapient and profoundly intelligent. Some are even capable of magical feats. Dragons are staggeringly diverse creatures, and each subspecies may differ drastically from another.

Dragons can live to incredible ages. As a dragon nears the end of its life, various afflictions befall its body. Its scales begin to rot and fall off, its fangs are ground to nubs, and its fire-gouts are no more threatening than wet matchsticks.

Species

Faerie Dragons

The faerie dragon Puck plays with its Illusory Orb.

Faerie dragons are small, bright blue dragons with colorful butterfly-like wings. Their wings exist in a realm slightly offset from the rest of their bodies, and are subject to unsynchronized molts and unpredictable form fluctuations. Despite calling themselves dragons, they possess virtually nothing in common with the other members of the genus. While the native dimension of faerie dragons is unknown, a hatching place is located on the fronds of the Undertree.

The lifespan of faerie dragons is incalculable. Their appetites are voracious; when a larva hatches, it devours the leaves, stalks and roots of the Undertree, along with all of its siblings, and yet its hunger returns only halfway through the eon. They spend countless millennia in their juvenile form, and still remain juvenile when all the cities of their age are reduced to dust. They undergo several metamorphoses over their lives, and may spend ages pupating in chrysalises. When they die, they may be reborn a million years from their death.

Faerie dragons are mischievous creatures, at least in their juvenile form. They delight in confusing others, vanishing and reappearing where unexpected with their Illusory Orbs. In combat, they can release enchanted powder to disrupt the flow of magic around them, and force enemies to vividly dream about their mortality by trapping them in a Dream Coil. Faerie dragons appear to be natural planewalkers, able to shift from one dimension to the next with ease. Combined with their longevity, this means that faerie dragons are some of the most knowledgeable creatures in the universe. Due to the sheer power possessed by a single faerie dragon, it is likely that they are astronomically rare.

• Puck is an androgynous juvenile faerie dragon, and the only known one in existence. It is the only being who can understand the Wisp and the Spectre, and had traveled to Claszureme at some point. Its motives are inscrutable, and no one is certain as to whether its plays mask a darker purpose or simply serve its endless fondness for mischief.

An Iron Dragon hovers in the air.

Iron Dragons

Iron Dragons are the oldest ancestral strain of conventional dragons, hailing from a forgotten age. They were eyeless and wore massive iron platings on their bodies as they waged war across the countryside and terrorized entire kingdoms. They may be extinct in the modern age. The Dragon Knight may take the form of an Iron Dragon thanks the blood of the Eldwurm Slyrak in his body.

Eldwurms

Eldwurms are incredibly long-lived and some of the most powerful dragons in existence. They are telepaths and magic wielders, and their blood grants tremendous transformative power. They are massive and highly muscular, with four legs, a pair of bat-like wings and a combat-capable tail.

The reborn Eldwurm Slyrak takes flight over the Radiant base.

• Slyrak is a legendary male Eldwurm. In ages long past, angered by the Frozen Witch Yulsaria's southward expansion, he obliterated both her and her ice golem army with his endless flames. In the modern age, Slyrak had grown ancient and frail, to the point where his old foe, the dragon-slayer Davion, almost refused to finish him when the latter finally tracked him down. However, Slyrak begged to be granted a death in combat. As Davion sank his sword into Slyrak's breast, the dragon sank his claw into Davion's chest, and transferred all of his power and wisdom into the knight along the blood route, in gratitude for his act of mercy. The dragon now sleeps within the knight, waiting for his true form to be unleashed. The magic contained in Slyrak's blood is unusually strong, and even grants Davion the power to transform into one of the ancient Iron Dragons.

Pyrexae Dragons

The bicephalous Pyrexae Jakiro lays waste to the battlefield with its fire head.

Pyrexae dragons are a highly diverse and powerful dragon subspecies whose breaths range from fire to ice. Pyrexae dragons are massive, with four legs, a pair of bat-like wings and a long sinuous tail. The ice subspecies has blue, glacier-like skin, and its icy breath can glaze the earth with blistering cold. The fire subspecies has charred skin aglow with molten cracks, and can transform any battlefield into a pyre of liquid fire within seconds. Pyraxae clutches always contain two fledglings, and newly hatched Pyrexae will try to kill their siblings while still in the nest. This ensures that only the strongest survive and the strength of the Pyrexae line is preserved.

• Jakiro is a bicephalous male Pyrexae dragon, an accident of nature wherein an ice and a fire Pyrexae hatched from a single egg. The resultant mutant possesses twin heads, one that breathes ice and the other fire, thus combining the full range of abilities found within the Pyrexae species in a single individual.

Time Dragons

Very little is known about time dragons. It is unclear whether or not the name refers to time-bending powers possessed by the creatures.

• Uldorak was a time dragon who terrorized the kingdom of Candoness for many generations. Each time the Candonite crown was passed, Uldorak appeared and demanded tribute in gold and magic trinkets. On the coronation of King Tansis XIII, his mother, the Dowager Queen Tansis XII, called for a brave dragon slayer to ambush Uldorak. Davion answered, and Uldorak, unsuspecting of any plots from the cowed Candonites, was slain by him. The newly crowned and much relieved Tansis XIII ordered a set of armor forged for Davion, adorned with the crest horns of the slain beast.

Undead Dragons

Undead dragons are dead dragons animated by necromantic magic. They retain their species' legendary territorial instincts even in undeath.

• Ambinderath was an undead dragon who opposed Ostarion's eastern expansion. The then Skeleton King slew Ambinderath and had a sword made from the beast's severed jaw.