Avian Link AU

The Avian Link AU is an alternate universe created by Chipper the Crow, named for the link between birds and dragons, and made for my own OCs. It is not canon-compliant, but mostly aligns with the story of the canon books.
The main year of the Avian Link AU is 5013-5014 A.S., though stories/individual OC pages may be set earlier or later. Most events occur in the canonical years.
Technology varies, but is mostly based around the Victorian era as a general rule.
== Dragon Years to Human Years (approximately) ==
Dragons are usually considered around adults at 7 dy, but only completely considered Truly Adults everywhere at 10 dy.
After 120 years, dragons are definitely considered especially old like 100+ year old humans, and 150 years is usually the limit.
(Note: This is more so 'around the equivalent of this' than 'definitely the same as this'. Generally speaking, though, dragons mature faster than scavengers, and live longer.)
Dragon Years	Human (Scavenger) Years
2 	6
4 	10
6 	14
8 	18
10 	21
15 	25
20 	30
25 	32
30 	35
40 	40
50 	50
60 	55
70 	65
80 	70
90 	80
100 	90
120 	100
== Biology ==
Listed in alphabetical order.
=== Dragonspark ===
The most notable part of draconic biology is, arguably, after the wings, the firebreath. Or, rather, icebreath, venom, etc. Assume, for the purposes of this writing, that there exists a perfectly average tribe of dragon. Perhaps a sort of ur-dragon, one at once encompassing every shared feature of dragons as a whole. This average dragon would posess a sort of venom gland, though in this case it produces not poison, but dragonspark, making it a 'spark gland'. Dragonspark is well-known for being highly flammable, volatile, and toxic, biologically produced only by dragons. Arguably the most amazing part of draconic anatomy is that a firebreather's spark gland can contain dragonspark so well, though dragonspark poisoning is a known cause of death in older dragons. Dragonspark can vary immensely between tribes, with only NightWings and MudWings sharing what appears to be the same kind of dragonspark.
Going back to this average dragon, upon looking into their open mouth, one would notice a pair of slits towards the back, the openings of the spark ducts, alongside the small 'sparkteeth' (not real teeth), used for producing, well, the spark. In firebreathing dragons, such as this average dragon, the process of firebreathing is perhaps best compared to using a biological flamethrower in results, though the sparkteeth are used for lighting it. The dragonspark comes out in firebreathers as a sort of gas, but this is not the state most dragonspark is seen in.
Though it is generally accepted that all dragonspark contains some form of magic, and this is what makes it so safe to use, what made it develop so conveniently, and what sets dragons apart from other creatures, it is perhaps most noticeably magical in the case of IceWings. Icebreath defies known laws and any attempts at containment, and there exist rumours that it actually originally came from an intentional animus enchantment.
In RainWings, their dragonspark is fundamentally different, coming in the form of actual (flesh-eating!) 'venom' (the draconic term used for venom includes this substance, even if the english term would not), the venom ducts positioned in such a way that the RainWing can spit or spray their venom out. During this, the RainWing's fangs move forwards out of the way, which leads to a common misconception that the venom comes out of the fangs, perhaps also due to the fact that this is how it works in other animals. Despite being so 'normal' compared to other tribes' breath weapons, RainWings are just more derived than their relatives.
SeaWings, posessing atrophied spark glands, do not produce dragonspark. Pantalans' spark glands are either even more atrophied than SeaWings' or non-existent.
It is entirely possible that this entire explanation is nonsense. Not only do scavengers not understand the mechanics of firebreath, even dragons don't understand it. The theory of 'natural anima' is controversial, but many who can agree on the subject do agree that this may be the one case where it is fully true. Meaning that firebreath could also be purely magic, dragonspark itself possessing its own natural magic. There are arguments that dragonspark is simply the manifestation of a dragon's own 'soul', most of which have very notably come from non-SeaWings. Dragonspark, when harvested (which is, for clear reasons, far more deadly than harvesting dragonflame cacti), does not appear to possess any particular magic attributes, further than quickly being set on fire along with its handlers.
=== Firescales ===
SkyWings produce more dragonspark than most dragons, so it follows that firescales SkyWings produce the most known dragonspark of any dragon. This tends to seep out, in particular (in liquid form) through the SkyWing's scales, feathers, and out through their footpads. One spark, and the fire spreads all over the dragon very quickly. This tends to come with a strange resistance to burns, a trait sometimes seen in non-firescales SkyWings and blood-egg MudWings, though it's also possible that it's simply only the firescales SkyWings with a resistance to burns that survive past hatching.
For obvious reasons, firescales are deadly. Dragonspark footprints are safe if care is taken around them, but almost no dragon could safely touch their scales - especially as a simple scrape with another dragon's scales would be enough to spark the fire. Firescales dragons tend to have vivid, blue eyes. This is less so a representation of their 'intense inner fire', and (probably) more so another effect of the genetics that make a firescales a firescales.
No other tribe has been known to have living firescales.
=== 'Pyrrhiantala'? ===
The draconic planet has no one name. Pyrrhians have always assumed that Pyrrhia is the main, important continent, and thus call the planet Pyrrhia. The pantalans, in turn, have always assumed that Pantala is the important one, calling the planet Eupantala. Modern scavengers tend to do similarly in their own languages. Thus, there is no current one name for the draconic planet, further than epithets.
For the purposes of this page, the planet shall be known as Pyrrhiantala.
=== Sizes ===
Dragons are very, very noticeable as the apex predators of Pyrrhia and Pantala. A 7-year-old pyrrhian is 20ft tall at average, from the feet to the head, and dragons can grow even bigger. For the most part, the sizes of other Pyrrhiantalan fauna and flora match, the planet generally being better at supporting larger life than on Earth. This makes scavengers quite the outlier, and communication between the two species much more difficult.
The pyrrhian tribes have some variation between their sizes. SandWings are the smallest of all, followed by RainWings and NightWings, MudWings being considered the average 'medium size', IceWings being larger than the others, with not as much difference in size between them and the SkyWings and SeaWings, which share the position of 'largest tribe' in body size. Proportions and individual dragon sizes mean that these rankings will not always be accurate.
Interestingly, in the few cases of Pyrrhia and Pantala interacting, pyrrhians have seemingly always expected pantalans to be smaller, perhaps because of their insectine appearances. However, the only pantalan tribe known to be notably small is also known to be notably extinct[citation needed]. HiveWings are about equal to IceWings in size, with SilkWings being closer in size to SeaWings or SkyWings. At the same time, there are plenty that surpass these average sizes, so perhaps it's better for the ecosystem (and scavengers) that there are fewer individual dragons overall on Pantala than on Pyrrhia. LeafWings were in between SandWings and RainWings in size.
[WIP]
== Technology Notes ==
*Guns and other Things That Explode are less common on Pyrrhia, there being less need for them and a greater risk to everyone. On Pantala, however, they are more common.
**Weapons using dragonspark are rare, due to its volatile, biological nature.
*Scrolls are still fairly common on Pyrrhia, but books are becoming more common. They are more practical.
*Trains connect the Hives, though trams are used within and around the Hives themselves.
*Though certain forms of animus magic and 'animus spots' could do a great deal for Pyrrhians if harnessed, in many cases these are so rare as to be inefficient, and forcing animus dragons to use their powers purely on technology for long periods of time doesn't tend to go well.
Category:Work in Progress
Category:Content (Chipper the Crow)
Category:Alternate Universes