Post by Deleted on Apr 18, 2016 15:53:12 GMT -6
History
Dragons have been a part of Equestrian history since the beginning, and many Dragons will happily boast that Dragonkind has been on the continent since before even the ponies where, or even, since ponies ever existed. However many thousands of tomes this could fill, if it's true, none of those tomes exist, as Dragons tend to be highly territorial solitary, and sometimes, incredibly greedy. Therefore, Dragon history is very small as recorded by Equestrians.
Dragons have told that they came, very, very long ago, from across the ocean to the east, long ago. The reason for this was an exodus. The Dragons of that faraway land, the Elder Dragons, lorded over everything with terrifying ferocity and power, such that every last creature lived in fear of them ... including other Dragons who were younger and more willing to negotiate with the rise of civilization. Ultimately, those younger Dragons were forced to flee, and current-day Equestria is where they landed. Owing to their persecution in their native lands, they become solitary and distrustful of each other, and spread across the continent.
These were the circumstances that led to how Equestrians have experienced Dragons in the past ... as greedy nuisances. Equestrian Dragons would not become openly hostile to ponies, but made very difficult neighbors. A Dragon infamously stole the Crystal Heart in the early days of the Royal Sisters' reign, and was cowed into surrendering it to the recently-crowned Princess Celestia, whose angry command rattled the very mountain around its cave. In a similar incident more recently, the famous six heroes and friends of Ponyville also had to cow a Dragon that snored smoke and soot in the skies over the town.
Dragons have told that they came, very, very long ago, from across the ocean to the east, long ago. The reason for this was an exodus. The Dragons of that faraway land, the Elder Dragons, lorded over everything with terrifying ferocity and power, such that every last creature lived in fear of them ... including other Dragons who were younger and more willing to negotiate with the rise of civilization. Ultimately, those younger Dragons were forced to flee, and current-day Equestria is where they landed. Owing to their persecution in their native lands, they become solitary and distrustful of each other, and spread across the continent.
These were the circumstances that led to how Equestrians have experienced Dragons in the past ... as greedy nuisances. Equestrian Dragons would not become openly hostile to ponies, but made very difficult neighbors. A Dragon infamously stole the Crystal Heart in the early days of the Royal Sisters' reign, and was cowed into surrendering it to the recently-crowned Princess Celestia, whose angry command rattled the very mountain around its cave. In a similar incident more recently, the famous six heroes and friends of Ponyville also had to cow a Dragon that snored smoke and soot in the skies over the town.
Culture
This is a small portion of the Dragon experience as Dragons have relatively little culture, again owing to their tendency towards selfishness and isolation. However, when Dragons are in the same area, social tendencies become clearer. Dragons have a very simple and clear cultural hierarchy in which the continent's Dragons are ruled by the Dragon Lord, a position that reflects the Lord's truly great individual ability but also the ability to keep Dragonkind intact on the continent. The Dragon Lord, then, is really the only law of Dragonkind, and all other agreements in this culture are strictly informal and based on alpha and/or group mentality. However, in a strangely wise twist, the Dragon Lord is expected to pass the position to the Dragon of his or her choice when reaching middle age. Along with Dragons abstaining from hostility, this is the last legacy of the rule under the Elder Dragons, that a Dragon Lord must pass their power before they become become Elders so that an Elder will never have command over Equestria's Dragonkind.
Physical Traits and Abilities
The first thing to know is that Dragons, physically, have a far different relationship to time than any other creature in Equestria. Dragons begin in eggs about the size of an Equestrian hoofball, and here is where the numbers get very intimidating. The average incubation time for a Dragon Egg is 144,000 years! Perhaps thankfully, hatchlings are not dependent on parentage for very long, needing to be cared for only a relatively brief decade or so before the hatchling has enough intelligence to be self-sufficient. Baby Dragons are perhaps an odd sight because for their very modest (even cute) appearances, they carry increasingly mature intelligences. It is not uncommon for infant, adolescent, and "teen" dragons to be extremely experienced and intelligent despite their size, as it takes about 15 million years for a Dragon to become a physical adult!
At this point, the growth of a Dragon changes. They grow to incredible sizes and in a variety of fantastical reptilian shapes that are even influenced by their chosen settings. Dragons that live among volcanoes have very jagged, rocky appearances, can lay in a pool of lava as though it were a hot tub, and can breathe fire that can melt steel in seconds. Dragons that live in the frozen regions of Equestria are pale and softer-surfaced, their bodies barely above freezing and capable of breathing out winter itself. Dragons in forests and jungles camouflage and strike with lithe, flexible camouflaged bodies, their bites dripping with devastating venom. Most Dragons develop wings, though some do not, a condition known especially to Dragons that dwell in the the deepest stone, whose claws cut rock with ease.
Whatever a Dragon's power, they control it as easily as breathing, and yet, for while they are surely magical creatures, Dragons have no access to the arcane as the magical among ponies do. Still, that a Dragon can survive in any conditions save for the vacuum of space and eat nearly anything (more precious things tasting best, such as gems), they possess attributes that could easily make them the masters of the world ... so why aren't they?
The answer to this is a very significant limitation with having young. Dragons are not able to have young for the first 15 million years of their lifetimes, and as solitary as a Dragon can be by that time, many have no interest in managing young or getting close enough to another Dragon to pursue having young, and so Dragons tend not to reproduce by choice, specified because Dragons will still reproduce asexually at the onset of middle age, laying a single egg at that time. By then, the very ancient Dragon will accept the obligations of raising the hatchling, if only for the sake of their race, but young and parent alike quickly seek their own territories and separate, rarely meeting throughout time. For all these limitations, Dragons are very few in number, even few in number than a single pony's extended family. For the Dragons of Equestria, many of which still remember the Elder Dragons, this is wholly acceptable since, after all, a Dragon can expect to live about 66 million years.
Dragons are independent by nature, and if they engage with civilization, such as ponies, they will tend to do so for a specific want and a prestige associated with that want to some degree. What that want is can be a wide variety of things, from material things like gems and books to abstract things like memorized stories or a clear and great proficiency; just about anything can be selfishly-attractive to a Dragon, but they want to seek to be the best or have the most or the greatest of whatever it is. An exception to all of this can lie with Dragons that are raised by ponies, such as Spike, who is the first Dragon in the land to be regarded as a hero by ponies, particularly those of the Crystal Empire. If a Dragon is raised by ponies, they may be much different, but are still subject to instinctual factors such as the summons of the Dragon Lord and magical mutation if their greed gets the better of them. Equestrian Dragons tend to have simple names: Spike, Garble, Ember, etc. Dragons from other continents have appropriate names, though the names that will be alarming to informed Dragons will be names that follow the conventions of the Elder Dragons, multisyllabic and complex names that tend to feature the ending of "ax" our "zius" for males and "axis" or "zia" for females.
At this point, the growth of a Dragon changes. They grow to incredible sizes and in a variety of fantastical reptilian shapes that are even influenced by their chosen settings. Dragons that live among volcanoes have very jagged, rocky appearances, can lay in a pool of lava as though it were a hot tub, and can breathe fire that can melt steel in seconds. Dragons that live in the frozen regions of Equestria are pale and softer-surfaced, their bodies barely above freezing and capable of breathing out winter itself. Dragons in forests and jungles camouflage and strike with lithe, flexible camouflaged bodies, their bites dripping with devastating venom. Most Dragons develop wings, though some do not, a condition known especially to Dragons that dwell in the the deepest stone, whose claws cut rock with ease.
Whatever a Dragon's power, they control it as easily as breathing, and yet, for while they are surely magical creatures, Dragons have no access to the arcane as the magical among ponies do. Still, that a Dragon can survive in any conditions save for the vacuum of space and eat nearly anything (more precious things tasting best, such as gems), they possess attributes that could easily make them the masters of the world ... so why aren't they?
The answer to this is a very significant limitation with having young. Dragons are not able to have young for the first 15 million years of their lifetimes, and as solitary as a Dragon can be by that time, many have no interest in managing young or getting close enough to another Dragon to pursue having young, and so Dragons tend not to reproduce by choice, specified because Dragons will still reproduce asexually at the onset of middle age, laying a single egg at that time. By then, the very ancient Dragon will accept the obligations of raising the hatchling, if only for the sake of their race, but young and parent alike quickly seek their own territories and separate, rarely meeting throughout time. For all these limitations, Dragons are very few in number, even few in number than a single pony's extended family. For the Dragons of Equestria, many of which still remember the Elder Dragons, this is wholly acceptable since, after all, a Dragon can expect to live about 66 million years.
Guidelines for Potential Dragon Characters
Dragons are independent by nature, and if they engage with civilization, such as ponies, they will tend to do so for a specific want and a prestige associated with that want to some degree. What that want is can be a wide variety of things, from material things like gems and books to abstract things like memorized stories or a clear and great proficiency; just about anything can be selfishly-attractive to a Dragon, but they want to seek to be the best or have the most or the greatest of whatever it is. An exception to all of this can lie with Dragons that are raised by ponies, such as Spike, who is the first Dragon in the land to be regarded as a hero by ponies, particularly those of the Crystal Empire. If a Dragon is raised by ponies, they may be much different, but are still subject to instinctual factors such as the summons of the Dragon Lord and magical mutation if their greed gets the better of them. Equestrian Dragons tend to have simple names: Spike, Garble, Ember, etc. Dragons from other continents have appropriate names, though the names that will be alarming to informed Dragons will be names that follow the conventions of the Elder Dragons, multisyllabic and complex names that tend to feature the ending of "ax" our "zius" for males and "axis" or "zia" for females.
Additional Information
- Lone Dragon eggs are enormously rare. The circumstances behind Spike's egg being used as a test at Celestia's School for Magically Gifted Unicorns was strictly a unique circumstance, the details of which will be discussed between Celestia's and Spike's players.
