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Gray dragons
(Verusdraco sapiens griseus)
Origins
Gray dragons are a fairly ancient race, so much so that they're supposed to have been the first race to write down the extremely complex and guttural sounds of ancient draconic, transforming and creating some grammar rules for it. We owe to a gray dragoness, Andoraaal, the writing of the oldest Draconic literary work, The Myth of the Dragonixius (Tihodohor dok Draconi Graxius), transposition of one of the oral myths created by the now extinct race of the marble dragons.
Some primitive findings of gray dragons remains occurred on the Andes, in particular the remains of two camps similar to proto-cities were found in the Patagonian Andes, one in Chile and the other in Argentina.
Anyway, the appearance of gray dragons on Earth precedes that of the Homo sapiens sapiens and is considered by many experts vital to the forging of the relationship of dragonery.
It's not known with certainty which races contributed to the creation of gray dragons; it's supposed that it could be the convergence of four or five ancient races that are now completely fused and extinct, if not for this form.
Appearance
Gray dragons ara average-sized, which, how the name suggest, appear gray in color. Their scales, rhomboid in shape but tiny and compact, have an opaque coloration, and the resulting effect of this is that their lean and muscular physique look covered in stone. When they stay completely still, especially if balled up, their resemblance to rocks is impressive; an ability that allows them to perfectly blend in the rocky plateaus, even hiding to human eyes
Gray dragons ara average-sized, which, how the name suggest, appear gray in color. Their scales, rhomboid in shape but tiny and compact, have an opaque coloration, and the resulting effect of this is that their lean and muscular physique look covered in stone. When they stay completely still, especially if balled up, their resemblance to rocks is impressive; an ability that allows them to perfectly blend in the rocky plateaus, even hiding to human eyes
Gray dragons rarely have the typical flat and wide scales on the
belly, also known as "ventral armor", which distinguish many dragon
races, but more often they exhibit a homogeneous surface of small scales
on both the dorsal and the ventral part
They have no horns to ornate their head, althought they present a small conic horn at the end of their nasal bridge, slightly over the nostrils, and these characteristics combined (the gray skin, the absence of horns on their head, the nasal horn) make them resemble, even if not closely, rhinos.
There's a single row of black keratin horns on their back, not particularly big.
Their skin, if deprived of scales, is gray, sometimes decorated by dark blue spots.
The eyes, small but expressive, always have light-colored irises, among which the most common are green and gray. Gray dragons have visible, mobile auricles, with a pointy tip, that got them also the nickname "wolf dragons". Some individuals have two tiny meaty whiskers, similar to those of carps, on their upper lip, but the use of this decorations is unknown.
The maximum height ever reached by a gray dragon is of four meters and seventeen centimeters (thirteen comma seven feet), with a wingspan of ten meters and forty-one centimeters (a little over thirty-four feet). They're good fliers.
Their tail is willowy and muscular, with the ending part that gets thinner and always culminates in a dark gray or black keratin arrow, which gray dragons often sharpen and use to cut meat or cut down trees.
Their fire is orange-red. These dragons have the habit of spitting small amounts of fire inside their own mouth and warm up their saliva, which is dense, much more so than other dragons', and if it makes contact with fire for a couple minutes it will become incandescent and similar to fluid magma. When a gray dragon is angry, it can happen that they unknowingly start warming great quantities of saliva and drooling, giving the impression of pouring lava from their mouth, and it's best not to get too close to avoid being burnt.
Behavior
Gray dragons are considered by many a "basic" dragon regarding to behavior: nor religious fanatics nor completely godless, nor detached and cold nor completely feral or ruthless, clever and curious without being prey to a knowledge craving. Even the gold greed, which makes other dragons go crazy and unapproachable, only has a bland effect on them.
They often seek the company of white dragons, with which they share an important sense of justice, altough not as extreme, other than the love for mountain environments.
There's a single row of black keratin horns on their back, not particularly big.
Their skin, if deprived of scales, is gray, sometimes decorated by dark blue spots.
The eyes, small but expressive, always have light-colored irises, among which the most common are green and gray. Gray dragons have visible, mobile auricles, with a pointy tip, that got them also the nickname "wolf dragons". Some individuals have two tiny meaty whiskers, similar to those of carps, on their upper lip, but the use of this decorations is unknown.
The maximum height ever reached by a gray dragon is of four meters and seventeen centimeters (thirteen comma seven feet), with a wingspan of ten meters and forty-one centimeters (a little over thirty-four feet). They're good fliers.
Their tail is willowy and muscular, with the ending part that gets thinner and always culminates in a dark gray or black keratin arrow, which gray dragons often sharpen and use to cut meat or cut down trees.
Their fire is orange-red. These dragons have the habit of spitting small amounts of fire inside their own mouth and warm up their saliva, which is dense, much more so than other dragons', and if it makes contact with fire for a couple minutes it will become incandescent and similar to fluid magma. When a gray dragon is angry, it can happen that they unknowingly start warming great quantities of saliva and drooling, giving the impression of pouring lava from their mouth, and it's best not to get too close to avoid being burnt.
Behavior
Gray dragons are considered by many a "basic" dragon regarding to behavior: nor religious fanatics nor completely godless, nor detached and cold nor completely feral or ruthless, clever and curious without being prey to a knowledge craving. Even the gold greed, which makes other dragons go crazy and unapproachable, only has a bland effect on them.
They often seek the company of white dragons, with which they share an important sense of justice, altough not as extreme, other than the love for mountain environments.
What is unknown to many of these dragons, instead, is the destructive intensity of their ire: incredibly hard as it is to be witness to it, since gray dragons have a great patience, when their endurance ends they transform into terrifying war machines barely able to control themselves. During a typical rage episode, it happens that steam cloud, caused by the evaporation of a part of the liquid in their saliva, lift from their mouths, the air trembles around their nostrils reddened by fire, and the rest of their saliva, dense, viscous and now incandescent falls from their open jaws, passing through their displayed teeth and sizzling when it touches the ground, the breathing becomes hoarse and hissing, the voice deeper, the muscle efficiency increases as it does the possibility of accidental realease of destructive magic.
Paradoxically, it seems that human have been acknowledging this altered state of gray dragons more than other dragons: in several written documents it's narrated of the leggendary destructive fury that these creatures are able to unleas, destroying entire cities.
Birth and growth
Gray dragon hatchlings are born from eggs that are incubated inside stone nests, lined inside with animal pelts, that get heated with fire untile they're incandescent and can slowly release heat. Gray dragon eggs are robust, incredibly hard to break, and have an irregual look that can remind of a big gray pebble, often mottled in irregular cream and black patterns. In a cold environment they can remain dormant for one or two hundred years, but if exposed to heat they hatch (if temperatures are over forty Celsius degrees) or tend to mould (at temperature between twenty and thirty-nince Celsius degrees), killing the hatchling. The transport of gray dragon eggs isn't recommended for those who are not experts.
A particularity tipical of gray dragon is that the size of the eggs or the newborn dragon aren't linked at all to the size of the mother; instead, they're standard: nine hundred grams. Bigger females lay more eggs (to a maximum of seven), but all of the same size, once every nine-ten years.
Mothers tend to care little or none at all for their offspring, limiting themselves to protecting the territory in which the baby dragons grow up and inviting them to get out and search for their own independence when they're ready to hunt on their own. Babies learn everything that will be useful for their survival through the observation of their mothers, but it can happen that some of them will be adopted instead by white dragons and formally educated to the use of magic, an art in which they're especially well-versed.
Gray dragons are fairly slow to grow, and reach the ability to reproduce once they have thirty years, but the complete maturation of their body, with strong muscles and the full definitive dentition, will only come at one hundred years.
Social life and courtship
Gray dragons aren't among the most social of dragons, and they live in small territories of around forty-sixty square kilometers, which they call "houses", and from which they tend not to go out too much, being one of the few dragon races that farm cattles, other than being, of course, hunters and gatherers. A series of houses close to each other creates a camp, which the maximum of sociality for them: it's moving inside it, through the territory of other gray dragons that are friendly with them, that they find their reproductive partners.
Gray dragons are fairly slow to grow, and reach the ability to reproduce once they have thirty years, but the complete maturation of their body, with strong muscles and the full definitive dentition, will only come at one hundred years.
Social life and courtship
Gray dragons aren't among the most social of dragons, and they live in small territories of around forty-sixty square kilometers, which they call "houses", and from which they tend not to go out too much, being one of the few dragon races that farm cattles, other than being, of course, hunters and gatherers. A series of houses close to each other creates a camp, which the maximum of sociality for them: it's moving inside it, through the territory of other gray dragons that are friendly with them, that they find their reproductive partners.
Males don't actively court females, but they take care to always be handsome and well-groomed: strong muscles, a lean and fit body, ornaments and patterns make them more noticeable. Oratory and personal pleasantness are two other characteristics that strongly incide on the choice of a
partner.
Sexual dimorphism, on the contrary of what happens in many other races, isn't particularly definite: females are only slightly bigger than males, and they don't have different colors.
They don't really have a reproductive period.
They don't really have a reproductive period.
It rarely happens that these dragons mate with specimens of other races, giving birth to hybrid dragons that almost always look like gray dragons, which genetics is surprisingly dominant.
Habitat and diet
Gray dragons can live a bit anywhere, from plains to deserts, but their places of choise are without a doubt the plateaus, especially those hidden and surrounded by other mountains, like the one of Tibet.
They're omnivores and feed on livestock
(especially goats) that they farm themselves, other than deers, ibex, chamois, roe deers, eggs, wild fruit of many kinds (in particular, despite the exiguous size compared to that of their body, they really love blackberries), roots, and leaves. Worth noting their habit of chewing on moss to clean their teeth and perfume their breath.
It isn't considered a social taboo for gray dragons to feed on humans, although it is to kill them with a hunting purpose, so they often don't put off the idea of feeding on human corpses, if they happen to casually find them.
Famous gray dragons
Artenair
Trivia
Trivia
- Numerically, gray dragons are among those more frequently chosen as rulers by other dragons, second only to white dragons.
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