Species



Biological: Anthropomorphic Dragon (genetically engineered)

Lifespan: 300 years (unknown in game)

Age of Sexual Maturity: 20 (unknown in game)

Age of Adulthood: 30 (unknown in game)

Gestation Period: 6 months from conception to egg-laying, plus another month and a half until the eggs hatch (unknown in game)

Average Height: 5 ft. 6 in. to the shoulder, plus another ~1.5 ft. for the mobile neck and head (when fully raised; normal posture has head slightly lower)

Average Build: Higher muscle density than humans for slightly increased strength without additional size (still not as strong as a Mantrin). Large chest muscles for flight. Rather lean elsewhere to save weight. Bones are mostly hollow, kinda honeycomb-like structure to save weight.

Appearance: (Note: since only a very few individuals of this species exist, the only bits of this info an in-game character will have are what they've seen for themselves or heard from someone who has seen one)

Small, smooth scales everywhere except wing membrane. Scale color varies. Wing-arms connect to torso at what would be the center of the shoulder blades on a human. Wing membrane stretches from there to just above the hip, then out to the wing-fingers. When fully extended, each wing has a length slightly greater than the individual's overall height.

Eyes have a combined horizontal field of vision of ~200 degrees, ~45 of which is visible to both eyes. Eye color usually matches scales, although usually lighter or darker in shading. Snout/muzzle varies slightly in length. Most teeth are completely hidden, but the canines protrude slightly outside the lower jaw and lip.

Some individuals have hair (somewhat stiff, like bristles) starting at the back of the skull running varying distances down the spine. Hair length can vary.

With proportion to a human, the legs are slightly shorter, and the torso is slightly longer to accommodate the flight bladders (explained in next paragraph). The shoulder, collarbone, and rib structures are such that the shoulders can rotate forward, allowing for efficient quadrupedal locomotion, and greater range of movement for the wings when in flight. In this state, the chest cavity is narrower (side to side) and deeper (front to back).

The flight bladders are similar in funcion to a fish's swim bladder; bacteria in the gasrto-intestinal tract break down food and release hydrogen as a by-product. The hydrogen is transferred to the flight bladders. Since hydrogen is lighter than air, this reduces the individual's effective weight when under gravity, allowing for smaller wings than would otherwise be necessary.

This hydrogen also provides the ability to breathe fire. It can be channeled from the flight bladders and out through the mouth, where it reacts with platinum deposits on the molars (usually from chewing platinum-rich rocks) and ignites. However, the more hydrogen is used for fire, the harder it becomes to fly in Earth-normal gravity. (Note: when the hydrogen is not burned off for a significant length of time, the flight bladders can fill up, leaving no place for new hydrogen to go. The new gas will remain in the stomach until the flight bladders are drained, or it finds another way out. This can result in flaming belches)

Planetary: N/A

Cultural: Being genetically engineered beings, most of their culture is borrowed from their creators—in this case, humans. There are, of course, exceptions.

Religion: No religion to speak of.

Customs: Most of their customs are originally human customs, with a few borrowed from other species. Most, if not all, of the exceptions are due to leftover instinctual behavior, such as chewing on claws to trim and sharpen them (the claws grow in layers; when a claw gets too long or too dull, the outermost layer is chewed off), and their affinity for belching—particulary belching fire. This particular activity is a form of instictive bragging, a way of saying, “I'm so good at hunting, I've got more fire than I need.”

Languages: Since they are the results of genetic engineering and not natural evolution, they have no native language. They are generally capable of learning almost any language (given enough time), but they often have a peculiar accent due to their muzzles.

Historical: (Most of this info could be found by an in-game character through a great deal of research, but I doubt any of them would already have this info)

One of the first attempts at creating a new species entirely from scratch (unlike other anthropomorphics, which were based on existing animals), dragons took much longer to perfect. The concept was explored using genetic-simulation computers for many years before the first physical strain of DNA was synthesized, and it was another two years before it was placed in an actual embryo. The first twenty-nine experimental embryos either failed to develop at all, or were malformed or stillborn. None lived.

This is where the history books get a bit fuzzy. Some report that at this point, the designers went “back to the drawing board” and started completely over, not trying to design completely from scratch, but rather taking bits and pieces of genetic code from anywhere they could find something useful. Others say they simply went back and revised the genes they had. Some sources even hint at nonhuman assistance and ancient, natural dragon remains found on Earth shortly before its destruction at the hands of the Drej, but these last are almost universally regarded as false.

What the history books do agree on, however, is that it was the third set of physical tests that actually produced viable embryos. It's unknown just how many embryos were created, but we know that less than fifty were actually brought to term, and those not all at the same time. After being placed in artificial eggs, some were allowed to develop naturally—if the word can be applied to genetically enginnered beings—while others were placed in stasis for unknown reasons; still others seem to have vanished, spirited away, along with researchers who likewise vanished without a trace.

Those that were allowed to hatch were raised in a controlled laboratory environment by humans for the first five years, and studied. It was discovered that the dragons developed much slower than anticipated, and the researchers believed that this pointed to an exceptionally long lifespan. I wasn't until the fifth year that the first dragon hatchling began making sounds that were recognizeable as being attempts at speech. This caused much celebration among the researchers, although some were leery of the prospect of sentient dragons wandering around the galaxy. They protested, and tried to have the program suspended indefinitely, but they were overruled. The program was renewed for another five years.

The hatchlings were moved to a new facility with a simulated Earth-like environment, where they continued to be raised by humans. A few of the hatchlings died, reportedly from injuries sustained while exploring the simulated wilderness. Throughout this period, the hatchlings were kept separated from one another, for fear that if they were to meet, they might band together and attempt to escape.

At the end of the second five-year term, the dragons had developed distinctly different personalities and were about as physically developed as a six-year-old human child. All of them were physically and mentally healthy, and were fitting in with the humans on the station as well as could be expected under the circumstances. The program was deemed a success.

It was decided that although some of the hatchlings must be kept for long-term observation, a few of them could be released to adoptive families to be raised to adulthood as more-or-less normal members of the galactic community. Less than ten of the hatchlings were adopted. The whereabouts of only a few of these are currently known.

Technological: Dragons can use nearly any species' technology effectively, although some things need to be adapted to accommodate their unique physiology. Keys on a computer terminal, for example, will get very scratched after significant use by a dragon, unless properly protected. Naturally, custom-made space suits are essential, and must be designed with the owner's claws in mind, less the owner accidentally puncture his or her own suit.

However, dragons have little or no technology of their own creation, having not been around long enough to develop much.

Pros and Cons:
+ physically able to fly
+ can run up to 30mph (needs conversion to KPH) using quadrupedal locomotion
- must learn how to fly
- not able to run as fast as humans using bipedal locomotion
+ able to breathe fire
- must excersize caution with flame breath
- ignition requires a supply of platinum to chew every now-and-then
- DON'T BELCH WHILE IN YOUR SPACE SUIT!!!
+ can last for a week on one good-sized meal
- quite lethargic after eating
- excessive use of flame breath requires lots of eating to replenish hydrogen reserves
+ stronger than most humans
- weaker than most Mantrins (and probably most other species)
+ has claws (natural weapons, and very useful for climbing)





The pic is cropped from a screenshot of Furcadia.

The idea of the shifting-shoulder for quadurpedal locomotion is borrowed from Lisanne Norman, although I'm the one that thought of it helping with flight.

The flight-bladder concept is borrowed from the "Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real" pseudo-documentary produced by Animal Planet. The flaming belches were my idea.