Plumpkin Dragon

Fire
 **DDLA Rank:** | 1

*"**Plumpkin dragons** usually stick together, but one baby became enchanted by the Vale's horticultural expert, Gardenia. One evening while taking a sip from a nearby stream, it watched the witch cast spell after spell, moving plants, soil, and rocks in all directions. The baby was so hypnotized by the display that it forgot it was drinking. The plumpkin baby feverishly flapped its wings to get a closer look, but instead it just rolled forward, too engorged with water."*
    —Nogard's description of the **plumpkin dragon** in The Book of Dragons
The **Plumpkin Dragon** is a rare triple hybrid of the Plant, Fire, and Earth elements. It's main element is Plant.

## Appearance

The plumpkin dragon is a rotund dragon with orange, scaleless skin. It's torso is covered in wavy, cream-colored stripes, flecked with the occasional cream-colored dot. It's legs and tail are made entirely of wood, with there even being a few leaves sprouting out of it's tail. It's wings are similarly small and made of intricately curled wood, with it's wing membranes being made of leaves. It has a ruff of leaves around it's almost non-existent neck. The plumpkin dragon has a large beak, the lower section of which is cream-colored. Unlike most dragons, the plumpkin dragon has prominent ears that resemble a cross between a deer's ears and a bat's ears. It also has small tufts of leaves growing right below it's ears. The plumpkin dragon has small eyes with round, black pupils. The plumpkin dragon has a pair of curly, leafy vines growing from it's head, which resemble horns. Notably, the plumpkin dragon's internal composition is very similar to that of a plant's, and even it's cells are an odd mix of plant cells and animal cells.

Notably, depending on a mix of factors including how much sunlight and water the plumpkin dragon has received in it's lifetime, how much natural Magic is in the environment where the plumpkin dragon lives, and just plain old genetics, the size of a plumpkin dragon, as well as the length and size of it's legs, wings, and vine "horns" can very wildly between individuals. Some plumpkin dragons are only slightly larger then a bear, a very small size by adult dragon standards, and have short legs, small wings, medium length vines, and a short tail. Other plumpkin dragons, on the other head, are bigger then a house, have long legs, massive wings, vines that stretch on for miles, and a long tail. The largest recorded plumpkin dragon, Chubbs, was only slightly smaller then your average Island. That being said, ever since "the Chubbs incident", most plumpkin dragons sold and bred in parks are genetically altered so they don't get too big.

## Abilities

### Weapons

Plumpkin dragons aren't really built for fighting, but if pushed into a corner, they can roll onto their opponent, attack them using their hard, wood legs and tail, and attempt to strangle them with their vines. The effectiveness of this tends to vary depending on the size of the plumpkin dragon and the length of it's vines.

### Defenses

Plumpkin dragons have extremely good camouflage and can easily disguise themselves as a pumpkin or Pumpermelon. Plumpkin dragons appear to possess a healing factor and can regrow parts of their body that have been ripped off, although this process is very slow and it can take months for a plumpkin dragon to fully regrow a limb.

### Other Abilities

Plumpkin dragons can move their vines and use them to grip onto things. They can also stick their vines into the ground or into a body of water to serve as roots, absorbing water and nutrients. This, combined with the fact that plumpkin dragons are photosynthetics, means a plumpkin dragon can live it's entire life standing completely still, gaining nourishment from the sunlight and water from either the ground or a nearby river. Much like lava dragons, plumpkin dragons appear to use magic to keep aloft in the air.

### Weaknesses

Plumpkin dragons are extremely slow while walking or running on the ground, and only somewhat faster while rolling or flying, meaning they have a hard time escaping from predators. Ironically for a Fire element dragon, plumpkin dragons are extremely weak to fire and Pyromancy, as every inch of their body is flammable; even a simple Heating Spell can spell doom for a plumpkin dragon. Plumpkin dragons cannot regrow their head and will die instantly if their head is cut off.

## Lifestyle

### Behavior and Personality

**Plumpkin Dragons** are pacifistic, friendly and playful creatures when in a peaceful environment, but can become mildly aggressive when placed in an extremely stressful situation. The DDLA has given them one of the lowest aggression ratings of all dragons due to their nature. They are very easy to tame and befriend but also quite lacking in intelligence, so more specialised training may be needed in some occasions.

### Social Order

**Plumpkin Dragons** live in large groups with no notable hierarchy. All of the **Plumpkin Dragons** in the pack selflessly provide food for each other and have very close bonds. If a pack of **Plumpkin Dragons** encounters an orphaned hatchling of the species, they will take it in and raise it as their own.

### Relationship to Wizards

The **Plumpkin Dragon** has a generally good reputation among wizards and especially those who specialize in Chloromancy or Cibumancy. Wizards who own farms often keep one or two of them around to take care of weeds or other parasitic plants. Its kind and playful nature has also made it popular amongst children. In the past, wizards would farm **Plumpkin Dragons** for their meat, which has the texture and taste of a pumpkin.

## Life Cycle

### Mating

Mating Season for the **Plumpkin Dragon** is in late Autumn. During this period, females will grow small flowers on their vines which emit clouds of pheromones to attract males. Of the males that arrive, the female will choose the largest one or the one with the healthiest-looking vines.

### Birth

Just a few hours after mating, the female will lay a group of egg-like seeds which will take root and sprout into the baby **Plumpkin Dragons**.

### Infancy

Baby **Plumpkin Dragons** spend their infant lives rooted on the ground, absorbing nutrients to grow via their vines. All adult **Plumpkin Dragons** in the group will feed and take care of all hatchlings, no matter if they are theirs or not.

### Adolescence

After a baby **Plumpkin Dragon** reaches a certain age, it will dig itself out of the ground and begin acting as a functional member of the group. It will go foraging for food with the pack's older members and take care of the younger hatchlings. During this period, it will experience a large increase in size.

### Adulthood

When a **Plumpkin Dragon** reaches adulthood, it has two possible choices. It will either stay with the pack that raised it or branch out and form a pack of its own with other **Plumpkin Dragons** that have chosen to become solitary.

### Life Span

The natural lifespan of the Plumpkin Dragon is not very large when compared to other dragons. The average Plumpkin Dragon lives for 20 years but much older specimens have been observed. Chubbs, the largest Plumpkin Dragon ever was estimated to be over 65 years old at the time of his death.

## Magic

Plumpkin dragons possess chloromancy, pyromancy, and terramancy. They also possess herbomancy, cibumancy and, surprisingly enough, very weak capsicomancy.