12 KiB
Dragon
"If it's nigh impossible to slay a dragon, it must be inconcievable to kill its soul..." - Lytheon the Prophet
Etymology and definition
Dragons (Binomial nomenclature?) are a species of unknown cladistical Domain or Kingdom, the only extant species of their kind. They are presumed to be native to [planet name], a planet in [system] and are, presumably, the only extant member of their species. They are the apex predator of their planet, and possibly, all of creation. They are immortal, but can be killed artificially.
Not much is known of their origin, but Draconian scientific literature suggests that their biological development began as single-celled Eukaryotes. Developing at a seemingly parabolic rate, they eventually becoming multicellular organisms that, despite possessing individuality, still maintain a network of cellular communication that effecively functions as somewhat of a morphological hive mind. They maintain a tribal morphology, but many of their biological capabilities change with time and extended contact with other individuals.
Their species is largely endomorphic, squamate, quadrapedal, and hexapodal, with some [**gonian] tribes exhibiting primarily bipedal behavior and morphology. The only exception to this rule is the [] tribe. Despite their tribal differences, there is a prepondorance to their morphology. Their batlike wings originate around a proximal socket directly behind the shoulder, with Plagiopatagium[?] that extend from the back to the distal phalange of the fifth digit. Membranes encompass the entire wing. Their wings have no opposable thumbs, but the claws are seldom neglected to be used as additional appendages to assist the hands. Their hands are often mistakenly referred to as talons; the squamatic nature of the appendage's flesh makes them seem birdlike. But given that they have opposable thumbs, they are considered anatomically indistinguishable from hands.
Dragons are a sexually dimorphic species and exhibit matriarchal behavior. Their reproductive systems began with an array of 32 barbs and terminals, but this polyphallic system was eventually supplanted with a monophallic one. Intercourse under the original system was so potently ecstatic that [the EGs] recall losing consciousness for an unknown amount of time, every time they participated in it. They concluded that they must stop breeding so much, so they somehow eventually agreed to adopt a less efficient, less potent system, and that cut fertility rates and mortality by a significant margin. The species has now decreased their carrying capacity to 1-3 per batch, which has caused each new generation to become increasingly more individualistic.
Evolution
Their morphology shares striking features to that of many creatures that, by all available evidence, share no cladistical commonality with them on the cellular or genetic level. This impasse is called the [***ean Conundrum.]. There are several schools of thought as to how this came to be. Darwinian Mammalists believe that they evolved from something like the Mesozoic egg-laying common ancestor of all mammals. Darwinian Iguanomorphists believe that their ancestor was an ancient Iguanomorph-like creature. Their total endothermism significantly complicates this debate, some theorize this suggests convergence. Preukaryotic Determinists believe they diverged from all other known life as Prokaryotes, and began to imbibe the morphology of other species before or after they became multicellular. This is largely supported by the scientific literature, especially considering the evidence that the Pre-Legendarian reproductive system was supplanted for a phallic system. They posit that the ethereal network exchanges information on what is the objectively most suitable morphology, and each node "votes" on which morphology to adopt to build upon their proximal locus. It's theorized that the brain, or a functional, sovereign prototype to it, came first, and other organs were either adopted or assimilated into their multicellular system. Whether this is via phisiological observation or ethereal mimicry, or why certain morphology seems to be postnatally non-negotiable, is unknown. []ian Creationists believe the Legends created them, and the universe at large. The [elder Gods] disagree, but have no irrefutable insights on their origin.
History
This is largely discredited by the fact that the most ancient Legends, the [elder gods?] recall their first conscious moments dreaming, hunting and breeding, but only developed linguistic sentience within what must have been several million years of survival, during which there were only five known prehistoric [elder gods], who discovered each other post-sentience. There is no known fossil record to point to where they came from; if they hatched from eggs, they're long gone by now, and if there were more, they were possibly killed by each other pre-sentience without leaving behind evidence of their existence. One Legend, []iam, believes she recalls being mortally wounded, breaking all bones, and having a family with two parents and an indeterminate amount of siblings. The others deny having memory of this, but all of them are in agreement that they mutually decided, at a young psychological age, that if they were to continue breeding, they would have to do so sparingly, given the fact that their Batches delivered in sizes of 32, and their offspring was immortal. The fossil evidence is conclusive in demonstrating that there was no short order of homicide, infanticide, and familicide during this time. Eggsquashing originated here; though the females objected, the males convinced them on at least one occasion to use infanticide as a contraceptive. Eventually the females exiled the males in an event they refer to as [], and only reunited after negotiating their Willed Transfiguration. Keep in mind they were still only semi-sentient at this point, so they recall the events as you would a dream.
Their first memories were of hunting, and eventually breeding. The first emotion any of them could remember was loneliness, hence all the breeding. They originally believed religiously, and now only speculate, that the five of them were originally of a singular entity that was split due to some major predatory event. They believe their Gold hue was chosen, likely because they yearned to be united again. They believe that sex was binary because the fracture of this singular being was down the middle, then fractalizing out. Each individual piece of the being, having vastly the same psychobiological axiomatic structure, all seperately came to the conclusion that they must keep their fundamental features intact, which is why they eventually evolved into the same morphology. Some say this begs the question as to why there were only two males to three females, and that a sixth [EG], a male, could exist or once existed. The [EGs] insist that if this were true, he would likely have died not long after the First Predation. [The males] lovingly speculate that their third brother must have been the smallest and thus "youngest" and that he must have sacrificed himself to save the whole. [The females] counter that he fled like a coward and karma soon caught up to him. So they call this theoretical Sixth brother Karma for different reasons. None of them believe, in earnest, that he ever existed, especially given the fact that if he ever achieved anatomical pre-sentience, i.e. became post-eukaryotic without sentience, that it's likely they would have interbred with him, and no fossil nor genetic evidence suggests a sixth genome having made it into the Draconian pool.
Perhaps there were some morphological differences that ironed themselves back out post-sentience and post-reunion. Either way, they remembered their sexual dimorphism, even though [] and [] met first, meeting the rest one by one later, neither of them attempted to change morphology to mimic the other, which implies they each individually knew they were one half of a whole, and that they needed each other. It's very likely they were incapable of re-merging into one entity after they became self-sufficient and subsequently individualized.
Habitat and population
Biology
Psychology
Culture
Their governmental structure were largely tyrannies until...
Religion and Spirituality
Written and oral traditions