Beaked Dragon

Beaked Dragons, a reptilian race also known as *Lacerta America Meridionalis* is a breed of a dragon-like lizards that can grow infinetely if fed regularly. It is rumored that the race is able to spit acid and breathe fire but since the last account of a beaked dragon doing so has been over 400 years ago it is just that. One of these dragons is encountered in the Antique Shop in Stonecreek by Hille, who succesfully bought and bonded with the creature, naming him Merten.

## Description

The Beaked Dragon is characterized by a long serpentine scaly body, mostly resembling the chinese dragons with a beak. The sizes and shapes of the beaks differ from species to species, but the most common beak is a strong curved bill much like those of parrots and a narrow slit tongue often encountered in other reptilian races. The tongue is slightly acidic, which probably caused the whole spitting acid rumour but it isn't acidic enough to actually harm humans. They have birds claws but have been seen with feline like paws too, this is considered to be very rare in the species however. Their size varies from being able to fit in your handpalm to being as big as houses, it is said that they can grow infinetely but so far no one has tried this limit and in nature it hasn't been seen before. Beaked Dragons are able to grow so big because their metabolism is very slow, they can go years without food and when they are fed often this results in their growth since the dragons have no fat and thus are unable to receive overweight. There are people that claim that the dragons are able to size-shift but this has never been proven.

They are often brightly colored when young/small to ward off predators and have a line of fur going down their backs ending in a fluffy plume at the end. Their eyes are often brightly colored too and appear to glow in the dark. The patterns in their eyes also differ between species, going from feline like eyes to really abstract forms.

According to Miranda they grow poisonous barbs when fed lemons.

Hille her dragon is a lavender colored beaked dragon with purple fur and silvery slitted eyes with the standard curved bill and parrot claws.

## Behaviour and Ecology

All Beaked Dragons have their own personalities but some behavioral patterns have been noticed. For one, beaked dragons, especially when young/small have lightning fast speed and reaction. They are also very intelligent and have shown signs of empathy, sensing when their human is angry, sad, happy, hurt or other. This is a trait not often encountered in reptilian races. Beaked dragons are also known to be very intelligent having their intelligence bordering between crows and dolphins.

Beaked Dragons rarely need to feed, but if they do get hungry they can be really agitated and there are cases of these creatures becoming very aggressive. Despite their beaks most beaked dragons are able to eat anything since they have tiny rows of teeth behind their beaks to chew food if necessary. Their most favoured food however is raw meat, nuts and fruit.

Because Beaked dragons are able to adapt to pretty much every environment they are excellent pets, but all beaked dragons come originally from the continent of South America and this is the only place where they can be encountered in the wild.

### Bonding

Before bonding beaked dragons might act hostile toward humans but when they successfully bond with someone they are in it for the long haul. The bonding experience is often a short one but sometimes can last for days where the dragon is judging if you are a compatible human worthy of it's presence. The bonding between Hille and Merten was a short one, where Hille carefully stretched out her hand waiting for Merten to sniff it with his tongue. He was quick to approve of her and now he can be often seen perched on her shoulder.

Bonding for a beaked dragon means full assimilation, the dragons almost completely copy the lives of their humans forming a dynamic duo, the dragon sleeps when the human sleeps and goes where the human goes, they also grow very protective which has caused some trouble for humans in the past.