.[tabs: Fertilization of Eggs]
When a female dragon reaches puberty her body goes through several changes which creates a large but set number of eggs. A Dragon can mate for love or birth or both, but unlike humans, birth is a choice, not an accident. As long as there are no health problems concerning the fertility of a female dragon, which while rare, is possible; a female dragon upon mating can choose to fertilize one or more of her eggs. Once fertilized, an egg is able to be kept inside the female and remain viable for up to five years. This allows a female a certain length of time to find a suitable location that is safe and dry in which to lay her eggs. Laying eggs is a great strain on a female dragons body which is why clutches of eggs are typically six at the most. This strain on their bodies, though subtle, takes them between fifty and one hundred years to fully overcome.
Traditionally, eggs were not produced except by lifemates after waiting at least ten years after their binding ceremony, as this was the only way to ensure purity of bloodlines. For additional information on the Bloodlines, See Hierarchy.
Addendum:
1. The Role of Father Dragons was defending and feeding their mates while they in turn protected and connected with their children.
[tabs: Hierarchy]
Long ago, DragonKind developed a system of Hierarchy that placed you somewhere within as long as you were of legitimate birth. (Meaning your parents were lifemates and had waited the proper time of 10 years before having any children). Thus it became, that children born legitimately, were known to be of a pure bloodline, in that they could trace their path back to one of the Seven. Bastards, were those children born either out of "wedlock" or prior to the 10 year mark. These children were either put to death or banished; their very existence was frowned upon, for fear that they would destroy otherwise pure bloodlines.
The closer one was with the Seven, the higher they were within the chain of command. This led many dragons to die at the hands of other dragons due to their desire for more power, because Dragons within this chain of command, were given rulership over over dragons.
[tabs:The Eighth]
Although the story/legend of the Seven is not untrue, it is not complete as there was an eighth egg. This egg did not hatch when the others did and was thus abandoned only to be saved later by a DarkBorn who had been looking for trophies in that particular cave system. It was then, rather a surprise that the egg hatched and a young black dragon found himself among a Darkborn village. Believed to have been abandoned by his parents, Zart gained a deep hatred for his parents and siblings which was fed by a priestess in the tribe. It was also she who gave him a taste for the darker magics which he used to make himself very powerful. Many centuries later when humans crawled into existence, he took the stance of ruling over the remnant that remained after he enticed them to make war with themselves. Little is known about the entire life of Zart and he has reseded to the realm of things to tell your children to scare them into obedience.
[tabs:Artifacts]
It is unknown how the artifacts and relics that exist today came into existence.
[tabs:The Kataki]
A secretive organization consisting of many of the Elder races. Their name means "The Keepers", and it is believed that they formed soon after the first Great War as an organization dedicated in keeping artifacts and Relics out of the hands of humans. It was because of these Relics/Artifacts that the Great Wars were fought in the first place. Any time a human rises to power due to an object of power, that human and that object tend to disappear in a relatively short time. Where these relics are kept and what is done with them is not known. *This would probably not be talked about during your training, but may be talked about during Pantera's lessons, as it is relevant to the Great Wars, which is Human History.*
[tabs: Life Mates]
The Birth of humanity was something of a wild-card among the seven major races. The ones who sought to do evil, befriended or enslaved humans to better accomplish their vile plans. The ones who sought to do good, saw it as a chance to spread goodness to every corner of the world. Though now a thing of myth, it's known among Dragon-Kind that is was they who taught humanity of the importance of a committed relationship.
Dragons have three names, the first two they are born with is their "True-Name plus their Heart-Name". The other name they give to themselves. True-Name and heart names are impressed upon the minds of hatchlings whilst still in the egg by their mothers, this is why mother dragons have such a deep connection with their children. Sharing your True-Name with another dragon (and even humans) grants an increased mental connection, enabling one to whisper their thoughts across many miles. Sharing your True-Name and Heart-Name with another dragon creates a magical unity between them that is very intense and deeply connected. The connection enables the sharing of feelings and thoughts more so than just True name as well as bonding the two for life. The height of this connection enforces the bonds of commitment by causing sickness should one dare try to have a dalliance with another dragon.
That being said, Dragon's are able to have children outside of being Heart-Name Connected to another dragon, though the offspring are typically looked down upon as bastards.
To break it down even further, flirting and love-making is common among young dragons as they explore the world, themselves and others. But becoming LifeMates is an honorable and Magical tradition that is not to be entered into lightly.
[tabs: Mental Communication]
Dragons communicate mentally, and they can do so in varying degrees. Whether by ÔÇ£WhisperingÔÇØ (Whispering is accomplished with the knowledge of another dragons True-Name, which are not given out lightly) to one specific person or ÔÇ£talkingÔÇØ to a group or ÔÇ£shoutingÔÇØ to anyone that can hear. Distance that is allowed is based on Personal Proximity and Visual. Personal Proximity contains persons that you have a close bond with. (Parents, siblings, friends). This Proximity grows with Age and learning. Legends tell of ancient dragons that could ÔÇ£WhisperÔÇØ with one another across the great ocean. Proximity not only allows you to speak without seeing one another, it also allows you to ÔÇ£senseÔÇØ one another which may, depending on depth of relationship, expand to knowing if they are in danger or are injured. Visual Range is anything within line of sight, unless they are actively blocking communication. (purposely not listening)
Addendum:
1. True/Heart names, being magical in nature, can only be given by the owner of the name. Thus, someone would be unable to tell person A, person B's true-name to person C.
[tabs: The Raising of Dragons]
Hatchlings are typically raised from a distance until they are able to surmount their current obstacles in life. This means making sure that they have adequate food and water and making sure that a mental presence is with them constantly. Otherwise, the young dragons are left to their own devices, to explore and play. While this is often-times heart-breaking to a mother dragon when some of her offspring die before truly being able to live, it is believed to be a necessary step for nature to select the best and brightest among those born. Due to this, Dragons will carefully choose or even create a hatching cave that has a natural spring of water as well as dangers to avoid or overcome.
Addendum:
1. Orphaned Dragons - If the parents die after the hatchling has been imprinted but before the hatchling has been raised to become a proper adult dragon, it is possible that this hatchling might be taken in by a mother Dragonet who had just lost her own hatchlings. Sadly, this is typically not the case and most orphaned dragons either die or are forced to raise themselves. Those dragons that survive typically grow up to become formidable Dragons in their own right, though they are also mostly uneducated about much of Dragon-Kind.
2. Hatching to Imprinting - A young Dragon/Dragonet, prior to being imprinted is only semi-intelligent and has not gained true sentience. They live by their most basic instincts, food, water, safety. When any of these are threatened, they will not hesitate to kill or defend themselves. The moment of being Imprinted, they attain a higher level of sentience which is something of a "coming to age" ritual. Their memories of their time up until this point are vague and unable to be recalled as easily. It is the mothers, who are ever watchful and ever present who must live with the memories of what happened during this stage of their lives.
3. Sizes of Dragons - A hatchling is roughly 2' long when first hatched; but over several weeks, assuming adequate amounts of food is provided, rabidly grow in size. Due to this Rapid size changing, their scales are not as hardened as an adult dragon and are able to be killed with relative ease. As long as they have a steady diet of fresh meat, hatchlings are about 5' by the end of the first month after hatching. Some time after the first month, growing slows, and their scales harden somewhat in order to provide increased defenses against a hostile environment. At this point, young dragons still grow much faster than adults, but at a slower scale than before. By the end of the first year a dragon is about 10' long. A dragon's body continues to grow around 1 foot per year until they reach 50 years (~50' long from tip of snout to tail tip). At this point their bodies growth rate slows to until they turn 100 (~65' long), after which their growth rate slows to a crawl. A dragon's tail is almost twice as long as it's body.
[tabs: The Seven]
The Seven who have become legends in their own right were the first seven male dragons through which all dragons can be traced back to.
The Seven were: Piros (Red - The Dying Light), Turun (Orange), Altin (Yellow - The Golden Sun), Verdin (Green - The Hunter), Kamidra (Blue - Winters Fury), Cham (Indigo), Unga (Violet).
[tabs: The Unknown]
If the parents die before a hatchling has been imprinted, the hatchling is typically left to die or survive on its own, this is because it does not have a true name. Though rare that such a thing would happen, these dragons are known as "The Unknown". These dragons are not something that dragon-kind likes to talk about and there existence would not be readily known about. What is known about "the Unknown" is that these dragons, if they are able to survive, are nothing more than semi-intelligent animals due to their lack of a true name. These dragons are incredibly dangerous and will kill anything and everything, they live only by the desire to fill their basic needs of sleeping, drinking and eating.
[tabs: ][/tabs]
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