Purple Dragons

The Purple Dragons, or Violet Dragons, or Squidsnakes, or one of fifty different names because they're just that famous, are the east-dwelling dragons corrupted by Shuliak into a new form. Due to their corruption, they bear traits held by many servants of Shuliak, but are ultimately still dragonkind. They have the ability to exhale a scalding cloud of steam, and the ability to survive indefinitely underwater (gills).

They are highly represented in marshy areas, in river basins, and across the entirety of Merovech. Purple Dragons are also known for their habits of entering into relationships with non-dragons, a quirk that seems to have no source. The strongest known Purple Dragon is M'nogash, the Bane of Kagina.

## History

After dragonkind were shaped from animals by the True Dragons, some of the lesser dragons spread eastwards to Merovech and Kagina. Those who went north, to Merovech, met Shuliak himself in the frosty swamps; Shuliak took them in hand and warped them into something... useful.

After their creation, the Purple Dragons quickly propagated themselves across Merovech, and the then-not-desert continent of Kagina, forming small city-states dedicated to their servitude; which, considering they aren't the lords and ladies and gender-non-descript monarchs of Kagina, were destroyed by the early Dahari. Due to their master's identity of Shuliak, the Purple Dragons were hunted by the Dahari (though, being fifty feet long and capable of steaming someone alive, it was more akin to shooting your gun into the darkness around you to try and scare off bears), meaning that in the modern day few Purple Dragons live in Kagina. Around this time, when the Purple Dragons were being driven from the more southerly continent, M'nogash was born in the steaming swamps of Kagina; this wyrm, now over 50 thousand years old, was nearly killed by Dahari dragonslayers — something that led the small dragon into a life of violence and bloodshed, the blood shed being that of Kagina.

For most of history, Purple Dragons were seen as creatures of the night, monsters that dwelt in the dark shadows of swamps and fens — predators that snatched children that played in and around these areas. Accurate, as most *would* eat children if given the chance, as swamps don't have much meat as they do plants. In Merovech, Purple Dragons were seen as divine messengers, which is accurate considering that Purple Dragons do have the ability to speak with Shuliak and his servants.

During the rise (and subsequent fall) of the Great Empire of Kagina, the Purple Dragons regularly raided colonies and ships from Kagina to protect Merovech and the Vault of Kings, while a few were slain, most survived these attacks; the raids were effective, considering that Kagina hadn't seen a (real) Purple Dragon in literal thousands of years, meaning they had no context for what the wyrms could do.

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## Traits

### Appearance

Despite the name, Purple Dragons do not have purple scales, rather they can shift the colour of their scales like a chameleon; the natural colour of their scales is purple, but because they require food, they change their scale colour to fit the vegetation and various such growths neaby. Their head is almost lacking in horns, only having a single pair that sweeps back from the back of their skull, however they have large tentacles that dangle from their head; these are fully prehensile and strong enough to drag prey into the water to be drowned. They have large dorsal and pectoral fins, and their tail is less reptilian and more eel-like, meaning that they are perfect predators when in the water. They have thick, but flat, limbs, which are used to propel the body; these end in articulated claws that have webs between the digits. Purple Dragons are effectively giant, hyperintelligent, magic-using, flighted, crocodiles that can exhale steam and change the colour of their scales. Their eyes are murky brown. Their wings are rubbery and appear to have membranes too large for their fingers, but when fully extended they are simply *massive*.

### Abilities

As mentioned before, Purple Dragons are capable of exhaling massive clouds of steam (a slow and horribly painful way to die, mind you), changing the colour of their scales, powered flight, and magic. They are strong enough to sheer through bone with a bite, snap a man's spine with a tail whip, and de-organ even the strongest beast with a single swipe of their claws; their hind legs are even stronger than their front, meaning that a kick against a grabbed animal will disembowel it and shatter the ribs. While capable of speaking, few choose to.

### Culture

As an isolated species, Purple Dragons rarely meet another member of their kind; this is compounded on by their habitat of swamps and floodplains, meaning that they are likely to only meet one or two other Purple Dragons during their entire life — this is the source of their strange quirk of actually enjoying non-dragons' presence (and the source of their high chance of entering into a relationship with non-dragons). Due to their lack of contact with others of their kind, Purple dragons have little to no culture.