Dragons

*This article is about the dragons made by the Twins. For the primordial dark dragon, see Void Dragon. For the Paladin-associated light dragon, see Lady of the Paladins.*

**Dragons** are found all across the planet, and while they are all one single species, they are extremely varied in size, shape, coloring, abilities, and physical features. They have the unique ability to absorb ambient elemental energy as they develop in their eggs, altering the growing dragon to be suited to its future environment. Various types of elemental influences will create different types of dragons, and a dragon egg can be influenced by more than one element, resulting in a myriad of draconic subspecies. Dragons typically have breath weapons related to the element they are augmented by.

## The Basics

Dragons are a unique species in the world of Aurora. They are found all over the world and are the only known creature besides the Elder Races to possess elemental magic; while other animals can be manipulated by magic, only the dragons can directly control the elemental energies. They were created by the Twins directly after the Elder Races were perfected, possibly as a form of flattery or mockery towards the Void Dragon.

Dragons are extremely diverse in shape, size, and physical features, but they are all still one species. They reproduce parthenogenically, laying one or more viable eggs per litter without the need of a mate. These eggs then absorb the ambient elemental energy from their surroundings, altering the growing dragon to be suited to its future environment. A dragon parent's appearance or elemental adaptations have no influence on its offspring; a fire dragon's egg can be thrown into the ocean and hatch a sea serpent, for example. Since the specific makeup of ambient energy varies from place to place, this means that no two dragons are perfectly alike; two identical eggs laid in two different places may produce dragons of disparate patterning, coloring, and/or scale texture, for example. However, there are still large trends that are largely dependent on the environment where the egg was placed, which can be classified into subspecies. Most dragons possess breath weapons, which varies depending on their elemental adaptation.

Solitary, largely unintelligent, and highly territorial, dragons are not generally receptive to contact by others. They are fairly uncommon, since too many in one place will usually result in conflict. There have been attempts to weaponize or tame them, but most of these attempts have failed; however, some small dragons are occasionally found as pets. Some dragons, however, have been documented as sentient and capable of speech. It is unclear what separates them from the more common, animalistic dragons, but some of them have described experiencing a form of "awakening," before which they were just normal dragons. These dragons are sometimes befriended by mortals or gods, but generally prefer to be left alone.

## Subspecies

### Burrower Wyrms

Also called stone dragons, these are huge, flightless, stone-adapted dragons. They have four eyes and six legs, and tend to burrow underground and are generally slow-moving and calm, with the exception of when they fiercely defend their territories. They usually arise from eggs that have been buried underground. A burrower wyrm's breath weapon is uniquely deadly, as it disintegrates any stone that it touches into dust. While it won't directly dissolve flesh, it will still affect a person's skeleton.

### Crystal Drakes

Snakelike stone-influenced dragons with no legs and three eyes. Its two wings are set on its smooth, crystalline body. They live deep underground, with their breath weapon provoking rapid crystal growth in any stone it touches, which they use to build underground nests.

### Fire Dragons

Fire-influenced dragons with a typical draconic appearance: two batlike wings on a quadrupedal body. Their breath weapon is a jet of flame, which they use to hunt; they eat the physical matter of fire, which they can harvest by burning things with their breath weapon, and thus they are omnivores and will readily eat plants. They are extremely temperamental and dangerous, especially when annoyed.

### Jungle Drakes

Massive, feathered serpentine dragons that are produced when life energy is applied. They are multicolored and extremely long, with several sets of legs and wings.

### Prismatic Dragons

An extinct subspecies of dragon historically created and revered by the Paladins. The conditions required to hatch one are unclear, and presumably one that the Paladins could create, but they stopped creating them centuries ago. They had opalescent white scales with a radiant breath weapon, and were attested to becoming sentient more frequently than other kinds of dragons.

### Pseudodragons

Also known as spelleaters, pseudodragons are dragons that, instead of absorbing elemental energy before hatching, consume energy after they hatch in order to slowly adapt their bodies to the environment. They sometimes even develop a proto-breath-weapon, if enough energy is available. They typically don't grow much larger than a hand and the energy that one of them consumes is usually too small to notice, but in large numbers they can drain an area of elemental energy very quickly. They typically eat insects.

### Sandwyrms

Also known as volcanic Dragons or salamanders, sandwyrms are commonly found in volcanic desert regions and are fire- and stone-adapted. They are reddish, four-legged dragons with small scales and insect-like wings that allow them to swim through sand as easily as water. Their breath weapon can reshape stone and sand into a silk called wyrmsilk, which is a strong, fireproof fiber that can be woven into fine textiles. They use this wyrmsilk to form cocoons, both for protecting their eggs and to ensnare prey or predators. Wyrmsilk is typically harvested from abandoned nests.

### Sea Serpents

Large, exclusively aquatic water-adapted dragons with six legs and six eyes. Their breath weapon freezes water into ice, which they use for both hunting and gliding for short distances across the ocean's surface. They are extremely dangerous to aquatic species, but they mostly keep to themselves. Sea serpents typically hatch from eggs in oceans, seas, or other large bodies of water, where the egg can absorb water energy.

### Stormdrakes

Four-legged, four-eyed metallic dragons with extremely sharp feathers. They are lightning-adapted, and their breath weapon produces bolts or balls of lighting. They generally stay in the air at all times when awake, and sleep hanging upside down from cliffs.

### Whispdragons

Cat-sized, wind-adapted dragons with beautifully iridescent butterfly wings. Their breath weapon is a high-pitched sonic attack, which they activate when distressed.

### Wyverns

Fire-adapted dragons with metallic scales, four legs, and four wings, with one main pair and a smaller pair of hindwings. They have a fire breath weapon, but they have much more precise control over the temperature than typical fire dragons. They have a pronounced hoarding instinct and love shiny objects, usually stockpiling precious metals, which they eat. They also use their hoards as a form of camouflage and armor while they sleep.

### Unnamed Subspecies

There are some draconic subspecies that are mentioned as being possible to create but never named. The names listed here are for convenience only, and are not the true names of these draconic species.

##### Cave Dragon

There are dragons in the Singing Caves, presumably with void-influence. They are dangerous, but primarily stay underground.

##### Six-Element Dragon

If the amount of all six elements an egg is exposed to is exactly the same, it will produce a six-element dragon that is similar to an uninfluenced dragon, with no one adaptation taking hold. It doesn't have a breath weapon.

##### Uninfluenced Dragon

If a dragon egg was placed in a soulcrystal cleanroom, it would produce a fully functional uninfluenced dragon, with no breath weapon.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 This is a first for me, but I'm pretty much just a proxy. Someone in the Aurora server was wondering how dragons reproduce... (tumblr.com)
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 What are some other subspecies of dragons? (tumblr.com)
3. ↑ Hi! Such a huge fan of your YouTube channel and comic, you’re such an inspiring creator to me... (tumblr.com)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Can you elaborate on the “volcano-dwelling dragons” mentioned in your answer to the ask about Vash? (tumblr.com)
5. ↑ The Twins (comicaurora.com)
6. ↑ So did the Twins make so many dragons because their creator, the Void Dragon, is a huge narcissist? (tumblr.com)
7. ↑ "*fire dragon's eggs..."* to "*you'll probably just get a sea serpent*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Hey Red! I'm trying to gather more info about the dragons and I'm having a hard time understanding the differences between some of the dragons. (tumblr.com)
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 how often do people tame or befriend dragons, and which term is more generally appropriate to the successful methods and intelligence of dragons in your world? (tumblr.com)
10. ↑ *"The Dragon was presumably..."* to "*if there’s too many in one place"*: messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
11. ↑ *"Sometimes people try to weaponize dragons..."*: message in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
12. ↑ So if it isn’t a spoiler or anything, what kind of dragon has Falst just encountered? (tumblr.com)
13. ↑ Can you explain how the fire dragons use their breath weapon to eat? In a previous post you mentioned that the stuff they burn with their breath weapon sustains them physically, so how does that work? (tumblr.com)
14. ↑ What happens if I pump a dragon egg full of life energy? And what happens if I did that to an already hatched dragon? Asking for a friend (tumblr.com)
15. ↑ Are prismatic dragons an actual type of dragon? Or are they just part of the maybe-real-maybe-not-real paladin cosmology? (tumblr.com)
16. ↑ And what conditions are required to hatch a prismatic dragon? (tumblr.com)
17. ↑ What were the prismatic dragons like? (tumblr.com)
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 So what else do spelleaters eat? I don’t imagine magic is very nutritious, and if they’re normally as small as Jolon mentioned, they wouldn’t exactly be predators. How did something like this even come to be, anyway? (tumblr.com)
19. ↑ Page 1.10.14 (comicaurora.com)
20. ↑ "*good question!"* to "*they're pretty dangerous but mostly stay underground*": messages in #aurora-discussion in the OSP discord server (discord.com)
21. ↑ On the subject of Dragon eggs, this might be a bit of a stretch, but has anyone tried to make a... for lack of a better term Adamantine Dragon?... (tumblr.com)
22. ↑ You said how dragon eggs absorb elemental energy from their surroundings as the develop, I'm wondering what happens in two scenarios... (tumblr.com)