Dragon

Being paired with a **dragon** is regarded the ultimate reward in Arcaena. Note that information on this page is liable to change before release.

### Hatching

A dragon hatches from a  Dragon Egg item. This happens when a player holds a Dragon Egg, and the dragon inside chooses you as its rider. See the page on Dragon Eggs for hatching chances. The colour of the dragon that hatches from the egg is the same as the colour of the egg it hatched from. Dragons will have genders, but this will not affect their texture or model. When an egg hatches for you, the achievement ***Shur'tugal*** is unlocked.

### Growing

In the original Inheritance Cycle books, a dragon never stops growing. However, this will not happen in Arcaena because they would become unplayable after a while. The maxmimum size is likely to be similar to a vanilla Minecraft Ender Dragon. Dragons grow based on their accumulated XP, not on time alone.

The following table is purely speculative and may not accurately reflect the system in Arcaena. It shows different 'growth stages'. The dragon will have a different model depending on it's growth stage.

### Feeding

Dragons will have a hunger bar, similar to a player. Dragons will hunt any passive animal to eat. They can also eat fireweed bushes. The player can feed their dragon by right-clicking it with food in their hand.

### Thirst

Dragons will also have a thirst bar, similar to that of a player. They will have to drink from a pool of water to replenish it. The developers has expressed an interest in making animals only drink from fresh water sources. If implemented, this will include springs, lakes, and water drawn from the ground using the spell *Adurna*. It is also possible that the player could interact with a dragon while holding a Bottle of Water to replenish its thirst bar.

### Flying

A dragon can fly from the second growth stage, but cannot be ridden until the third growth stage. Riding works similar to that of a horse, except the player is able to steer up and down in addition to left and right.

A dragon can fly without a rider. It can be sent to a specific location, or find animals if told to hunt by its rider.

A Stage 6 Dragon can carry a second player. This player has no control over the dragon's movement.

### Storage

When right-clicking a dragon while holding a chest, the chest is equipped onto the dragon (Similar to llamas and donkeys in vanilla Minecraft). The 'Growth Stages' table displays the number of chests each stage of dragon can hold. If you open your inventory while on a dragon or shift-right-click it, the inventory is displayed.

### Armour

'Dragon Armour' can be placed into a Dragon's armour slot to provide additional protection. Dragon armour can be placed on any stage of dragon. It is possible that there may be some purely cosmetic 'armour' types as well, such as a Santa Hat at Christmas.

### Breathing Fire

A dragon can breathe fire from the third growth stage. The colour of the fire is the same as the colour of the dragon for Blue, Green, Red, and Purple Dragons, and is the standard fire colour for Black, Brown and Gold dragons. Any entities that are within the torrent of fire are set on fire and take 2 hearts of damage every half-second (TBC). The torrent of fire will be 15 blocks long (TBC), and will be able to be directed by the Rider.

### Weight

Dragons will have a similar weight system to that of a player. If the dragon's armour is too heavy or they are carrying too many items or players, they could receive debuffs.

### Chat AI

A rider will be able to open a GUI with a text input to talk to their Dragon. They will be able to talk to their dragon if they are within the specified distance (See Growth table) or holding the dragon's Eldunarí. The Dragon's personality will develop based on the experiences it has, and it's speech will change depending on how it's Rider talks to it. Through this connection, you will be able to give the dragon requests, shown in the table below (which is purely speculative).

If a Dragon has completed the required task, it will return to its Rider.

### Eldunarí

A dragon of stage 4 or above can disgorge their Eldunarí. This provided many benefits - see the page on Eldunarí for more information.

### Death

If your dragon dies or the rider dies, then the player will have to complete a yet-to-be-named quest to recover their dragon.

## Wild Dragons

Wild Dragons function the same as normal dragons, but they cannot be ridden or have anything equipped to them. Most Wild Dragons will only attack if they are being attacked, but there are some Dragons that are always hostile.

Wild Dragons are rare in Arcaena and will not willingly show themselves to others. It is unlikely that Wild Dragons will be included in the initial release.

## Development

In the MCAlagaësia MMO, dragons would have been retextured Silverfish, Bats and Ender Dragons (depending on growth stage). Below are some images related to the Development of Dragons in Arcaena.

1. ↑ Gender will not affect a dragon's texture or model. Link to Discord
2. ↑ Dragon growth will be logarithmic, with a maximum size. Link to Discord
3. ↑ Maximum dragon size will be similar to an Ender Dragon. Link to Discord
4. ↑ Dragons grow based on XP. Link to Discord
5. ↑ Dragons will have different models depending on age. Link to Discord
6. ↑ Dragons will be able to carry a passenger. Link to Discord
7. ↑ The dragon's rider can direct the direction of it's fire. Link to Discord
8. ↑ Dragons will be affected by weight. Link to Discord
9. ↑ The player will be able to converse with their dragon. Links to Discord: 1, 2
10. ↑ The Dragon's speech patterns change based on how the player talks to the dragon. Link to Discord
11. ↑ When the rider dies, they will have to complete a quest to recover their dragon. Link to Discord
12. ↑ There will be wild dragons in Arcaena. Link to Discord
13. ↑ It is unlikely that wild dragons will be in the initial release. Link to Discord