Wood Dragons

WOOD DRAGONS

SCIENTIFIC NAME- Dracos Ligna

DIET -SUNLIGHT

HABITAT-Large Forests

APPEARANCE

These are one of the largest dragons around with a wyvern build, about 35 feet long with a 40 foot wingspan. Their entire body is made of wood, with small leaves scattered around. They have three bladed horns on the back of their head. They have long snouts that end with a sharp beak-like structure, but only on the top jaw. They have teeth made of pure wood, like the rest of the creature, but have no throat or stomach, the mouth is purely there for defense.

They also have three very long scorpion-like tails that they use to jab deep into the ground for the nutrients they need to survive. The eyes are often gray or colorless, but younger individuals have been seen with more greenish eyes. These dragons do not have genders.

The offspring looks just like a regular sapling at first. But as time goes on, you’ll start to notice the sapling growing into three different parts, this is the tails beginning to form. The rest of the dragon is growing underground. After about 5-6 years, they will use those fully formed tails to pull themselves out of the ground. There’s not many differences between adults and young, just a major size difference.

BEHAVIOR

These dragons are one of the first ever found in Draelvary. Living up to 400 years old, Most of the dragons are ancient. Although they may seem terrifying, they are more than likely not going to attack you. They rarely move, it costs so much energy for them. They have to spend the time sunbathing, creating food and energy. They’ll also dig their three tails as deep as they can into the ground to get all of the nutrients they need.

The only time they will awaken is when they, or their offspring, is threatened. They can move extremely fast and without warning, snapping with their wooden jaws in a split second. And with a bite force of 4,000 psi, almost anything will be snapped in half.

They reproduce by releasing seeds every few years, spreading them around themselves. They’ll all sprout into small saplings, and the adult will protect them from any harm. Once they are out of the ground, the adult will still watch over them for another couple years before they are big enough to start spreading their own seeds. Wood dragons also tend to live in groups of 3-4, so the helpless saplings can have even more protection.

Sometimes, if an area gets a bit crowded, some individuals will fight for the space. They’ll use their tails as whips, smacking and stabbing at each other as roars erupt from their chests, not  their mouths. If this sparring isn’t enough to scare one off, they start to headbutt and smash the ground beneath them, causing roots and rock to fly out of the ground. Usually the fight ends here, but again, if not, they will start to bite parts of each other off until one gives in.

They have powerful wings, though they are not used often. They often use them as shields for the young. They can fly really well, and fast, but it takes up so much energy so they only do it if necessary. Most only fly when looking for a new seeding location when the one they had used before is drained.

People, for once, really had no power over these dragons. Ancient people saw them as gods, and treated them like royalty. Even those against dragons had some respect for them back then. Believing they were gods, they cared for them and even began to train them in Greek, the language thought to be of the gods. Some are so ancient, you can still command them using Greek. Many leaders of the dragonbloods, including Maddie’s mother, rode on the back of one as a sign of wisdom and strength.

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COMPETITION

Literally nothing will attack a full grown wood dragon. Not even night dragons. As for fire dragons, not only would they provide little substance to them due to them having no real meat, they have large pores in the wooden scales. These pours are used to keep the otherwise flammable scales wet, making it much harder for fires to start.

They live in both Draelvary and Jioveros, but are more successful in Draelvary. Though the soil is rich and water is plentiful in Jioveros, the towering trees and immense foliage makes it hard for them to get enough sunlight to survive.

KNOWN WOOD DRAGONS

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