Thicket Dragon

* Juvenile
* Baby
* Egg

File:Juvenile.png

*Baby **thicket dragons** learn quickly that their little dangling vines aren't toys - or food, for that matter. One nibble is all it takes to teach them that those vines are attached! Gardenia has a theory about why these dragons grow vines, but the rest of the Vale is content to appreciate the aesthetic value of "total cuteness."*
    —Nogard's description of the **thicket dragon** in The Book of Dragons

The **Thicket Dragon** is a rare triple hybrid of the Earth, Cold, and Plant elements. It's main element is Earth. It is also categorized under the Spooky element as well.

## Appearance

Thicket dragons have rough, brown scales, with each thicket dragon having it's own unique pattern on it's scales. The scale patterning is rarely seen though, as most of their scales are covered by tan fur. They have antlers instead of horns, and their body grows vines with blue flowers.

## Abilities

### Weapons

A thicket's dragons antlers are excellent for ramming into enemies. The spikes on their face and their claws also make good weapons.

### Defenses

Their scales are annoying to cut through or dent, making it hard to injure them without magic.

### Other Abilities

Thicket dragons are highly observant, and often notice things that other species' ignore, like the exact patterning on a tree.

### Breath Weapon

Thicket dragons breathe out a barrage of thorny vines and blue flowers. The blue flowers don't do much, but the thorny vines can cut into their foes.

### Weaknesses

Their vines and face are softer then the rest of their bodies, making them weak points. Fire can also kill a thicket dragon easily, as it burns through their vines, fur, scales, and skin.

## Habitat

### Regions

Thicket dragons can be found in both the Great Forest and Wyrmwood, but they are more common in Wyrmwood.

### Preferred Home

Thicket dragons generally prefer confusing areas of the forest, where there is lots of trees and plants, yet very little light. They remember their way back home by recognizing the patterns on trees, what plants live near their home, and where the plants grow.

### Sheltering/Nesting

Thicket dragons tend to make their homes in thorn bushes, but as they get bigger they move into logs or dead trees.

## Diet

Thicket dragons mostly eat large rodents, but will also eat Beasts and species of deer and elk if they get the chance.

## Lifestyle

### Behavior and Personality

Thicket dragons are highly docile and calm, and generally don't care if birds perch on their horns, if squirrels crawl on their vines, or if insects hide in their fur. Thicket dragons aren't very social with other species of dragon, but if they find a dragon that's lost, they'll try to lead the dragon out of their neck of the woods. While thicket dragons can easily distinguish individuals of a species, distinguishing the species of non-thicket dragons isn't their strong suit. This often leads to them mistaking pseudo-dragons for dragons.

### Social Order

Thicket dragons are a bit weird; they don't live in groups, but will still become rather close with other thicket dragons in the area. They can talk with members of their own species for hours. They will also try to warn their fellow species members if they find out about an upcoming disaster.

### Relationship to Wizards

Young thicket dragons more playful and mischievous then older thicket dragons, and may try to lead wizards astray with phantasmancy illusions. Once they mature, however, thicket dragons become quite mellow and more cautious around humans, although once a human has shown themselves to be harmless, they will become more trusting. They are one of the easiest rare dragons to tame.

The DDLA has ranked thicket dragons at 1.

## When in a park

### Breeding

Thicket dragons can be bred with any two dragons containing the Earth, Plant, and Cold elements.

### Habitats

Thicket dragons can be put in Earth, Plant, Spooky, or Omnitats safely, but be careful when putting them into Cold habitats. While adults will be fine, baby thicket dragons can be harmed by the freezing temperature in the Cold habitat so check up on them daily and if they're too cold, move them to an Earth habitat with either an obsidian or lava dragon.

### How to care for

If your thicket dragon's antlers have come off, don't worry; it's normal for thicket dragons to shed their antlers, and they'll grow back eventually. If your thicket dragon's vines and flowers look shriveled, their fur and scales feel dry and oddly warm, or their scales are coming off, this means that your thicket dragon is either sick or dehydrated. Make sure to give them lots of water, and try to sneak medicine in with their dragon treats.

### Favorite Treat

Thicket dragons like the earthy flavor of Dragon Root and Talontaters.

## Life Cycle

### Mating

Thicket dragons will mate any time of the year, but usually mate during fall, and especially during October. Thicket dragons don't have any specific ritual to attract a mate, and instead mate with thicket dragons they've known for a long time. Thicket dragons are monogamous.

### Birth

Once the egg has been laid, the mother thicket dragon will leave their deeper ends of the forest into the brighter parts, after which they'll leave the egg out in the open. It's unknown why they do this, but it's believed that exposure to sunlight can help promote the growth of the developing thicket dragon's vines and flowers. Every three days, the mother thicket dragon will check on the egg, to see if it hatched, was stolen, or was eaten.

### Infancy

Once the mother thicket dragon finds that their egg has hatched, they take it back to their mate. They will then teach the young thicket dragon all they know, like to not bother humans, how to navigate the forest, how to hunt, and to not bite their vines.

### Adolescence

A month after they reach adolescence, a thicket dragon will set off on their own. Once they find a thorn bush, they grow more docile, but also shy around most creatures.

### Adulthood

Thicket dragons become more social as they reach adulthood, and begin setting off to talk to other thicket dragons. They also might outgrow their thorn bush, after which they'll move into a log or a dead tree.

### Life Span

The average life span of a thicket dragon is 95, but the oldest known thicket dragon managed to reach 101. According to legends, some thicket dragons can live up to a century, but this is likely not true.

## History

### Discovery

While it's unknown which culture or wizard discovered the first thicket dragon, the oldest known recorded scroll mentioning thicket dragons, "Silva Spiritibus," may be over five thousand years old.

### Origin of Name

Surprisingly, thicket dragons aren't named because they look like they're wrapped up in a thicket. Actually, the word "thicket" likely comes from thicket dragons. The origin of the thicket dragon's name comes from an ancient word, "phykit," which roughly translates to "navigator." Overtime, "phykit" became "thicket."

## Magic

Thicket dragons have the most control over chloromancy, arboromancy, phantasmancy, and geomancy. They have minor control over cryomancy and terramancy.