Dragon

Disclaimer: Dragons are fictional animals from Keenan Taylor's Tales of Kaimere.

## Description and Biology

Dragons are large, volant synapsids. They are one of the largest animals on the permian islands and are distinguished by said size, as well as their 5 strutted wings, sail like skin on the end of the tail, and large facial protrusions. They are generalist carnivores with preference for cursorial game.

A Dragon stalks its' prey- Keenan Taylor
### Flight

Dragons, at least wild leaning morphs, while proficient flyers, are unable to stay airborne for extended periods due to a lack of air sacks, and use their flight in short bursts to find and incapacitate prey. Even those which were modified for travel by the riders could not fly the gap from the islands to other mainland.

### Venom

Like other Ebolfeltherians, dragons possess venom, and like their smaller relatives, they are able to project this venom from holes in their fangs, this venom is potent to therapsids, and most deadly to humans, with some believing this trait came from defense against the large cynodonts which ruled the islands prior to the dynastic extinction. Mammals, such as humans, are not only blinded by the toxins, it triggers an asphyxiating allergic reaction.

A trait from their domesticated ancestors, dragons have a wide range of venom coloration. In more wild dragons, the range was from a lime to a deep green. This saturation of venom is somewhat controllable, as attack spray is usually lighter than the deeper colors in courtship displays. As part of their courtship display, both the male and female project clouds of venom. In feral and domesticated dragons, their is a wide spectrum of colors can be found, usually ranging from blue to gold, if not the ancestral yellowish-green, though some incorporate red to make violet or orange. The method in which these newer colors arose is as of yet unknown.

According to the Great Library treatises, the lethality and production rate of venom is greatly increased compared to their wild ancestors. Although there is no way to test this as all wild dragons are long extinct, the presence of many secondary and bloated glands, which are especially pronounced during mating season, certainly exceeds their needs in a hunt every few days.

The venom of dragons has a degree of mildly pre-digestive corrosive properties, dealing damage to any organic compounds it interacts with, though is especially pronounced in therapsids, cynodonts, and mammals, which experience a potent allergic reaction, which causes rashes and welts on contact, and swelling of the entire respiratory system. There is variation in the affects on humans, with some having particularly bad reactions, while others, primarily those magically inclined, such as shifters, witches, and kaimerans of the Assembly vessel that was attacked, all experiencing less severe symptoms than the humans on board, which all quickly perished.

Dragons are largely immune to their own venom, having a quickly regenerating nictitating membrane covering their eyes when they spray, and their faces produce a lot of oils which counteract the corrosive affects, however, their spray still has the ability to harm them.

A study of the venom glands in feral dragons- Keenan TaylorA dragon spits venom- Keenan TaylorBlackmane, a particularly nasty dragon, spitting on a troupe passing through his territory- Keenan TaylorDragon venom also possesses slightly corrosive properties

### Wild and Feral Dragons

After the collapse of the Dragon riders, domesticated dragons became feral, interbreeding with their wild counterparts, their greater size and enhanced attributes made some breeds quite successful, and soon a feral mutt became the standard dragon on the islands. Some regions see more of a particular breed passing down traits, such as the travel and distance bred dragons being quite successful in the southern prairies and the greater size of war dragons being better suited for the cold north, but ultimately they are all the same species. Wild dragons are considered extinct, though many feral dragons, especially in their southern range possess a wild pelt and body type.

In the north, a mottled coat of red, gold, black, white, brown, and grey are quite common. Some believe the coloration of these coats to offer some benefit to the animal, such as black dragons being better night suited or white dragons blending in with the clouds, however, these claims are unfounded, and the it seems coloration offers little to no benefit or deficit. As magic users were the ones who domesticated dragons, it would make sense that having magic would lessen or even immunize the magic wielder to venom.

During the age of Dragon riders, Gargantuan dragons were worshipped by the peoples of the islands, however, these leviathans are now extinct, as they could not adequately support their bulk. Today, dragons rarely exceed weights of 3 tons and wingspans of 60 feet.

Different dragon morphs- Keenan Taylor
### Sexual Dimorphism

In the wild, male dragons were notably larger than females and had longer horns and more lush manes, however, due to introduction of feral populations, sexual dimorphism is fairly minimal, and dragons of both sexes come with bodies and horns of all shapes and sizes.

## Habitat

Dragons are found exclusively on the Permian Islands

## Social Dynamics and Development

### Combat and Territory

Adult Dragons are not particularly social, females each establish and defend their own territories, often these females are related to each other, and while they do hunt alone, they readily socialize on the fringes of their territories, and may even share dens. Males will establish a larger territory, often intersecting with several females'. There are squabbles over prey but for the most part they cohabitate with known individuals as long the herds they prey on are in abundance. Males often fight when passing through each others territories and these battles often become fatal.

### Mating

Perhaps as a result of domestication, dragons do not have a regular mating season. when a female is receptive, she will make a nest and sing a low frequency song that can travel for miles. If her territory intersects with an established dominant male, he will usually be the first to arrive, and they mate. Sometimes, numerous males assemble, the males shows off with acrobatic maneuvers in the sky, and if this is not sufficient, they will duel in fatal aerial combat.

### Nesting/Ontogeny

Post mating, female dragons will lay 3 to 9 eggs, a number which depends on the health and hunting success of the individual during that year. Incubation of dragon eggs takes around 6 weeks. Dominant Males will remains with their mate until hatching and help feed the cubs by regurgitating meat for the first few months after hatching. The assistance of males in raising hatchlings dramatically increases the chance of the hatchlings surviving. Once hatchlings become volant, around 2 to 3 months after hatching, the male leaves. Subordinate males often leave after mating for fear of being killed by the dominant male. Clutches with subordinate fathers often have several different fathers within the same clutch, while dominant males are far more reliably the father of the whole clutch.

While there are large pterosaurs and nimble ebolfeltherians predators that can attack the nests, the greatest threat to baby dragons is juvenile dragons. While not being able to fly, cubs are extremely vulnerable, and though they may possess venom, it is not yet potent or in great enough abundance too be a threat to any nest raiders.

Cubs hatch at around 3 lbs and rapidly grow during their months of protection and regular food. Once they reach a year of age, when they are proficient fliers with a wingspan of twelve feet and weight of sixty pounds, the mother chases them off. Most remain together or, if from a small clutch, will join packs of juveniles of the same size. Throughout their lives, their greatest threats will always be other dragons of larger size. They won’t reach skeletal maturity and slowed growth until their late teens, and throughout this adolescence they are often quite socially complex, living in highly dynamic groups of dragons generally around the same age. Though violent conflict with other members of the pack are rare in these years, they become increasingly intolerant with age. Finally, once they undergo puberty, the groups fracture.

Males are particularly intolerant of each other, though females will often share neighboring territories into adulthood, sometimes even working together to take over a region from resident adults and defending them from strangers, even if these female coalitions aren’t related individuals.

Dragon parents looking over the first hatchling of their clutch- Shiny GanderDragon Ontogeny- Keenan TaylorA pack of dragons, likely juveniles or females- Keenan Taylor
### Cannibalism

Cannibalism is well documented amongst dragons, adult males in particular will readily kill and eat competitors.

A Dominant male chases another subordinant which dared to cross his territory- ShinyGander
## Phylogeny

Dragons belong to a unique order of synapsid known as Ebolfeltheria, distinguished by having external ears, venom glands, rapid metabolisms, and highly neuron-dense brains. Within this clade dragons belong to a group known as the draconiiformes, an arboreal clade of ebolfeltherian, which, over time, developed gliding and even powered flight. To add stability in their wings, members of the family draconoidea developed a pair of carpal bones which grew long as support struts. Some invested in powered flight, opening their range dramatically. Some competed with aneurognathids and newly-arrived bats for the bounty of insects, but the most successful were those who went after the tiny pterosaurs and mammals themselves, such as the fox dragon. When the Dynastic Extinction cleared out the large pterosaurs, these tiny dragons swiftly became massive. Within a million years, dragons of the genus *Dracotherium* went from three pound predators with five foot wingspans to weighing fifty pounds and having wings over fifteen feet across. With the arrival of large tapejarids like the banshee gull, the dragons kept getting larger. While their venom was most effective against their fellow therapsids, it did inflict damage upon these giant pterosaurs, especially when aimed for the eyes. By ten million years ago, dragons had reached their greatest potential, weighing up to two hundred pounds and having a wingspan of thirty feet. These were apex predators, dominating the skies and open territory. Though they tended to make their homes in the mountains, they could reach speeds of a hundred miles per hour in the air, so most hunting territory was within a fairly short flight from mountains or prairie mesas.

A now extinct Wild Dragon- Keenan TaylorOther members of the Draconiiformes clade- Keenan Taylor
## Human Relations

While the Assembly cannot interact with peoples in Kaimere, a historian from the Great Library named Ra Lon Krush has studied the peoples of the islands and helped the Assembly with this aspect of understanding the islanders. There are several human civilizations, each with their own connections and opinions of dragons which Ra Krush studied and explained to the Assembly. Dragons are generally regarded with distant reverence or outright contempt.

### Age of Dragon Riders, Dragon Lords, and Domestication

At some point in the distant past, between 3-5 thousand years ago, a civilization arose and was lead by a dynasty of Witches. Their may have already been tame dragons by the time of their ascension, but either through conventional bonds between witch and familiar, or perhaps even incorporating elements of First Children genetic manipulation, the dragons of this era grew rapidly in size.

Witches could mentally bond with dragons they bred connected to their own strain of hereditary magic, enabling the rider to communicate with the beasts. With such a formidable weapon, they united the islands. In their hayday, this civilization and their witch-riders facilitated many breeds of dragon. Engravings and records from the Great Library suggest breeds specialized for war, sport, travel, and display. Based on an illustrated record of a skull found within septenian ruins, the mightiest sport bulls could exceed wingspans of over 100 feet and weighing over 10 tons. These 'dragon lords', being exceedingly large and as a result needing an exorbitant amount of nutritional demands, could only be satisfied by a sufficiently affluent civilization. Without throngs of worshipers feeding them, it is almost certain they could not hunt enough to support their bulk.

The length of the reign of dragon riders is unknown, but after a substantial dynasty, they experienced a collapse. The treatises of the great library claim it was due to revolution and famine leading to a civil war between dragon rider factions.

In modern times, the dragon riders are spoken of by some as being mighty rulers that controlled the dangerous dragons, and when their civilization fell the dragons turned on the people, yet others despise the memory of the riders, calling them great oppressors who deserved their violent demise and were more monstrous than the beasts they rode upon.

Specialized dragon breeds during the age of dragon riders- Keenan Taylor
### Predation and Hunting

Dragons today are all descended from domesticated ancestors, yet aside from varied coloration and a few minor anatomical traits, they regard people as prey, not companions. Back in the first expedition of the islands, an Assembly witch named Maria Arizmendi initiated a potential bond with a dun dragon named Tamale. While the dragon was amiable at first, and lived with the agents and naturalists for a few weeks and provided a lot of information on their behavior and anatomy, Tamale was denied a piece of ration jerky and attacked. Dr. Lance Jones, Arizmendi’s advisor, was killed by a blast of venom as he tackled Maria to the ground, and several other witches and naturalists were severely injured by the young dragon’s venom, bite, or kicks from her clawed feet. Tamale was driven off by agents armed with their few rifles, and while no shots were confirmed kills, the dragon did not return.

### The ARS Atlantis Incident

In the first expedition to the Permian Islands around the \_\_\_, a ship known as the ARS Atlantis and it's crew of both Assembly and Great Library researchers and guardians, were all attacked at sea from a draconic assault, many casualties ensued, including the deaths of Dr. Darren Foster, Dr. Lance Jones, Mr. Hans Juhl, Dr. Oye Nakamura, Captain Gerard DuPont, among others.

A Depiction of Tamale- Keenan Taylor
### Blackmane

On the small island north of Septenia, Ra Krush accounts of rumor that a lone dragon rider mounted on an infamous man-eater called Blackmane has begun a conflict with local warlords. Few details are known, though the Great Library has sent an expedition to investigate further. Further details of this situation will be disclosed in Cries from Beyond the Known World, next anthology in the Tales of Kaimere series.

Blackmane sprays a troupe of humans, his preferred prey- Keenan TaylorBlackman with his rider- Keenan TaylorBlackmane and his rider observe a large pliosaur mimic and his shark enterouge- Keenan Taylor

## Redesigns

Dragons have been a concept for Kaimere for quite some time, with many clades being though of for this animal before synapsid ancestors, such as a 2016 Scansoriopterygid and 2015 Dsungaripterus relatives. Synapsids then became the concept for dragons, with their original design lacking the more mammalian traits of their modern counterpart, such as external ears and fur.