Therian

The **Earth** **Dragon**, more commonly known as the **Therian** (IPA: θɪɚiən, θɛəɹiən from "therianthrope") is a type of Dragon, along with Fire, Frost, and Wind. Due to its differences from the other 3 types, it is sometimes regarded as the 13th species.

All therians come from dragon eggs. They are not seen as dragons by other animals, but are believed to be created by extreme releases of mana, such as those that occur naturally far underground, in the 4th and 5th layers.

## Appearance

A Therian is similar to a human, but different in many aspects. It has no fur or hair, 5 fingers, and has plantigrade feet. It has elastic silicone-like skin, and has no reproductive organs.

All Therians have complex black-and-white patterns. Each pattern is unique and vertically symmetrical. They are monochromatic: a Therian is either white with black patterns, or black with white patterns.

Some Therians augment their appearance with things like wigs and makeup, but others accept their appearance, or simply disregard it entirely.

After hatching, a baby Therian is very small, but is not like a human baby. It has the exact same proportions as an adult, but is egg-sized. When young, It instinctively transforms into a wild animal in order to find food.

## Creation

In legend, Therian eggs are created through an unknown process that likely originates in the 4th and 5th layers.

In reality, Therians are one of the four Dragon types, along with Wind, Fire, and Frost. When two different types of dragons mate, the egg's variant is usually the father's variant, but there is a small chance that a Therian egg will be laid. A dragon who destroys their 13th core aspect cannot lay a Therian egg. A Therian egg is usually either destroyed, or abandoned and placed underground.

Therians cannot reproduce. They are not male, female, or hermaphrodite, they are just Therians.

## Abilities

### Magic and Physics

Therians cannot practice magic unless they are transformed. They have an extremely high strength when not transformed, but are vulnerable to even the most basic magic attacks.

### Transformation

All Therians can effortlessly transform into a wild animal of their choice, excluding wild dragons. This makes them indistinguishable from any other wild animal. Upon being attacked, they will instantly transform back into their base form.

#### Harvest and Special Transformation

Like a Dragon, a Therian has the ability of the Harvest: to take all of an animal's lifeforce, killing it. The appearance of the harvested animal will be permanently added to the Therian's "collection". A Therian needs to collect 1 animal every year to survive, but can collect as many as they wish.

A Therian can transform into any of the animals in their library, for up to 8 hours at a time, requiring an 16-hour rest period where they are stuck in their base form. After this 16-hour period is done, they may transform again.

A therian can use their strength when transformed, but going over a certain threshold will cause their transformation to break, and their base appearance to reappear.

## Society

Therians are given numbers as names, based on their hatching order. A therian hatched after therian #81 would be known as "#82" (pronounced "(number) eighty-two"). Though it is seen as strange by other species, it is accepted among them, as they can often have multiple transformations with different names, and require one identifying number.

## Trivia

In real life, there is a group of otherkin (humans who want to be animals, or believe they have the spirits of animals) called "Therians". Both words come from "therianthrope", but are not related, as in-universe Therians are not human, only humanoid.