Lunar Herald Dragon

Lunar Herald Dragons were released on August 29, 2015, with their release of all variations spanning across a month. They occur in four color variants, which are determined by the phases of Valkemare's moons, Aurax and Cirion. This is the first dragon to have variations dependent on moon phases. Each Lunar Herald color appears in-cave or through breeding on certain moon phase combinations.
== Official descriptions ==
=== Egg ===
This metallic egg shows faint iridescence in moonlight.
=== Hatchling ===
Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. When it basks in moonlight, it is surrounded by a faintly glowing aura.
=== Mature hatchling ===
Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. When it basks in moonlight, it is surrounded by a faintly glowing aura.
And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.
=== Adult ===
Lunar Heralds are deeply attuned to the two moons of Valkemare, Aurax and Cirion. Strictly nocturnal, they draw energy from moonlight and will only hunt when the moons have waned. When breeding, the amount of moonlight the parents receive from each moon will determine the color of the egg produced. When a Lunar Herald is struck by direct moonlight, an illusion of multiple wings may appear. Witnessing a Lunar Herald’s illusory wings is commonly believed to be a sign of good fortune.
== Credits ==
*LadyLyzar (All sprites, descriptions)
== Sprites ==
Gold variant 				
Silver variant				
Bronze variant				
Indigo variant				
=== Egg sequence ===
=== Retired sprites ===
Temporary event sprites 	Temporary event sprites	Temporary event sprites	Temporary event sprites	Temporary event sprites
Halloween 2015Gold variant 	– 	– 	– 	
April Fools' Day 2018 	– 	– 	– 	
April Fools' Day 2022Gold 	– 	– 	– 	
April Fools' Day 2022Silver	– 	– 	– 	
April Fools' Day 2022Bronze	– 	– 	– 	
April Fools' Day 2022Indigo	– 	– 	– 	
=== Transparency ===
Lunar Herald adults are semi-transparent, and will appear slightly different depending on the color of their background.
Lunar Herald adult transparency.png
== Variant determination ==
The following table demonstrates how Valkemarian moon phases affect Lunar Herald variants. The colors will appear in-cave and during breeding. Dragon Cave's official moon clock can be found on the Time Reference page.
Aurax phase 	Cirion phase 	Variant	Variant	Duration
Waning gibbous 	Waning crescent	 	Gold 	4 days
Waning crescent	New 	 	Bronze 	4 days
Waning crescent	Waxing crescent	 	Bronze 	4 days
Waning crescent	Waxing gibbous 	 	Indigo 	8 days
New 	Full 	 	Indigo 	8 days
Waxing crescent	Waning gibbous 	 	Indigo 	8 days
Waxing crescent	Waning crescent	 	Bronze 	4 days
Waxing gibbous 	New 	 	Gold 	4 days
Waxing gibbous 	Waxing crescent	 	Gold 	4 days
Waxing gibbous 	Waxing gibbous 	 	Silver 	8 days
Full 	Full 	 	Silver 	8 days
Waning gibbous 	Waning gibbous 	 	Silver 	8 days
== Encyclopedia entry ==
== Trivia ==
*The description of the Lunar heralds was updated a few hours after TJ's dragons grew up. The original description was:
"Lunar Heralds are deeply attuned to the two moons of Valkemare, Aurax and Cirion. Strictly nocturnal, they draw energy from moonlight and will only hunt when the moons have waned. When breeding, the amount of moonlight the parents receive from each moon will determine the color of the egg produced."
*After 2 of the 4 colors were released, TJ09 realized that the incorrect moon phases were being displayed on the website. This has since been corrected, and a phase tracking post was given to show the correct moon phases up until that point.
*LadyLyzar responded to a user on the forums who mentioned that Lunar Heralds would have made great Prize dragons, suggesting that the species were originally designed to be Prize dragons themselves before revealing that this was the intention later on.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/59/?tab=comments#comment-8923291 She also later revealed that they were created around the same time as the Shimmer-scale Dragons.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/62/?tab=comments#comment-8923515
*LadyLyzar clarified to users that the name "Indigos" for the blue variant is not an official name and that she did not have an official name for the variant. When they were being made as prize dragons she referred to them as "Gold Lunar, Silver Lunar, Bronze Lunar, and Alt Lunar" dragons.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/165/?tab=comments#comment-8931619
*This dragon only has one pair of wings. The other wings are illusory.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/60/?tab=comments#comment-8923343 It was further elaborated on that it is not achieved via an illusion of motion, as per the updated adult description.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/63/?tab=comments#comment-8923595
*LadyLyzar commented that the Lunar Heralds' colors happen to have "worked out nicely for the moon phases" of Valkemare's moons, rather than the dragon's or the moon's colors made to suit one or the other. Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/191/?tab=comments#comment-8936132
*While the description includes the term "metallic", they are not to be considered as part of the same metallic group as Gold or Silver Dragons. Their description is meant to specify that their scales are metallic, a concept that remained with the dragon when it was originally intended to be a prize.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/131/?tab=comments#comment-8928896
*During the release, speculation was raised as to what elemental affinity these dragons would have. While it was not yet added to the site officially, LadyLyzar would have put the Lunar Heralds' elemental affinity as Light.Forum post by artist LadyLyzar; https://forums.dragcave.net/topic/170560-2015-08-29-august-release/page/171/?tab=comments#comment-8932596
== Additional information ==
== References ==
Category:2015-08-29 August 2015 release
Category:Alpine
Category:Alternates
Category:Change aligned dragons
Category:Creation aligned dragons
Category:Desert
Category:Dragon breeds
Category:Encyclopedia Entry
Category:LadyLyzar
Category:Light Element Dragons
Category:Primary Affinity: Light
Category:Rare dragons
Category:Standard dragons
Category:Striped breeding: Blue
Category:Striped breeding: Red
Category:Striped breeding: White
Category:Time Element Dragons
Category:Time-based alternates
Category:Volcano
Category:Western dragons