Hungarian Horntails: A Social Hierarchy

The Hungarian Horntail makes its home in the foothills and mid-size peaks of Austria, Hungary, and Romania. The males, which are larger, darker, and thicker of neck and limb than their female counterparts, have no permanent roost. Instead, they each have a territory, diligently guarded and fiercely defended. Females roost and rear their young in these territories, and the larger the territory the more females that will be living in it. This is, obviously, a very desirable position for a male Horntail to hold, and several are killed or badly wounded every year after challenging/being challenged for one of these territories. A male entering another’s territory is begging for a fight.

Similarly, the females roosting in the males’ territories have the territories they inhabit divided up into sub-territories, with a similar imperative: A female entering another female’s territory is begging for a fight. It’s less strictly enforced, however, and the fighting is usually nothing more than a few warning gouts of flame. Females are much more tolerant towards each other than males are, unless, of course, they are nesting.

However, should one of the females purposefully attack and/or harm another dragoness or her clutch, she runs the risk of incurring the wrath of some, or all, of the other dragonesses within the territory.

Every territory has an ‘alpha dragoness’, who is allocated an especially large territory, as well afforded special treatment, by the male. She is in a position to, if you will, ‘lord it over’ the rest of the dragonesses without fear of retaliation. Both she and the male must take care to not overstep themselves, though, for reasons which will become clear later on.

When a male purposefully enters another’s territory, it is a challenge. They will fight, often to the death, and the winner will become the new proprietor of that territory. This is the prerogative of a young, territory-less male. Rarely, it is the gambit of an established male to expand upon already-existing territories. These battles are almost always fought one-on-one. Almost.

Occasionally, one or many dragonesses may join in with the invading male. This is what can happen when the alpha male or female oversteps their boundaries. The females risk death or mortal injury no less than do the challenging males, but such an act will make them a frontrunner as the new alpha female—but only if the male they have chosen to support manages to win. Should he loose, the female’s life will be forfeit.

Night Furies

                At a point in time, Night Furies were a great enigma of the North Atlantic. Nothing was known about them; neither their size, nor their diet; not even what they looked like. During that period they were legendary: for their stealth, for their speed, and most of all for their ferocious attack.

Night Furies are the elite of their species, even if they are ‘small’ for a dragon (usually no more than five meters from snout to fin). Large wings, sleek bodies, and snake-like skin make for near-silent flight, and their aerodynamic physique allows them to fly at speeds which nearly rival supersonic jets. As in, they can fly nearly the speed of sound.  They range in colour from navy blue to black, and in the dead of night appear to be little more than shadow.  Two extra sets of two fins are located on its tail, and all four are instrumental to the Night Fury. If they become damaged or are otherwise rendered inoperable, the dragon is unable to fly for any distance.

Original image here.

                A Night Fury has a very distinctive head. It is very broad, and triangular in shape. Unique to this particular breed of dragon are the tentacle-like appendages (brynches) at the base of its skull. There are two main ones, four secondaries, and two significantly less sensitive tertiaries. All eight are covered in scales on their posterior surfaces, and satellite-like organs on their anterior sides. These ‘satellites’ are called seisilla (pl. seisillum) and collect sensory information via minute vibrations in the air. They serve the same purpose ears do in other animals. (as they are not in fact possessed of external ears) The main brynches are quite dextrous, and are often indicative of the dragon’s mood. Night Furies also have retractable teeth, a most unusual feature to be sure, and a wide, forked tongue.

                As if speed, stealth, and looks were not enough, they are also capable of coughing out fireballs which are so fast and so hot they vaporise everything from wood to metal on contact, creating a purple-blue cloud of particulate residue, a sonic boom, and a mild shockwave.

                In addition to all of that, Night Furies are highly intelligent creatures. They have been known to mimic the behavior of other creatures, especially that of humans. They are able to express a wide range of emotions through body language and an extensive vocabulary of chirps, growls, grunts, and roars, as well as purring and crooning. They appear to mate for life, and both the parents will raise their young together, until such time as the draclets are able to care for themselves. (some family groups remain a unit for upwards of 25 years.)

                There is no certainty about the lifespan of a Night Fury, although experts speculate they may live to be up to five hundred years old. A female Night Fury will only lay once clutch of 3-4 perfectly round, glossy black eggs in her lifetime, and these take about three months to hatch. This type of dragon likes to have its roost high up on rocky, costal cliffs, providing it with an ample supply of its favourite food: fish, of any and all kinds. (Except for eel, nobody likes eel.) If fish is not available, however, a Night Fury will happily snap up an unfortunate sheep or pig, should the opportunity present itself.

                Some young dragons may not be able to find a suitable home in cliffs. If this is the case, they will usually opt to nest somewhere further inland. Their tails are somewhat prehensile, enabling them to hang, bat-like, from a tree branch. In especially cold times, many different dragons (especially, but not solely Night Furies) will send a steady jet of fire over a spot of earth, warming it up nicely for a quick nap. Sites that have been used thusly can be identified long after the dragon has moved on, as any sand in the top layers of the soil will have melted into little blobs of glass.

                In summary, Night Furies are a highly intelligent, fast, and rather scary sort of dragon. It’s very fortunate that they are nothing worse than ambivalent towards humankind, and not overly populous, either. (There are currently thought to be 143 Night Furies living throughout the North Atlantic.) They are beautiful to look at, and a sight rarer than a blue moon. Should you ever come across one, consider yourself a very, very fortunate person.

A Note to Readers

The idea of dragons has fascinated human kind for a very, very long time. They have been the subject of myth and fable for thousands of years, they are the heroes and the villains of stories from every corner of the globe, they are an embodiment of power, fear, and magic. They have taken up residence in the Orient and in Americas, from the horn of Africa to the very northernmost reaches of Scandinavia. Some are wise, some are cunning. None of them are creatures to be trifled with.

Information on dragons can be hard to come by, and that's what this blag is here for I guess. I've done (and will be doing) my utmost to provide a comprehensive, interesting compendium of dragon lore and physiology, in an effort to make what is esoteric a bit less so.

Also the chance to exercise my fairly large vocabulary in unnecessarily pretentious prose is just too good an opportunity to allow to pass me by. Especially if I get to create art to accompany it.

Amphithere

Mexican Amphithere

Draco americanus mex

The Amphithere [am-fuh-thee-ur) is a family of dragons which inhabits the Americas. There are two main species, Draco americanus mex, the Mexican Amphithere, and Draco americanus tex, the American amphithere. While this piece will only go into specifics on the Mexican Amphithere, if sufficient interest is demonstrated I will probably offer up a more in-depth examination of it's northern relative at a later date.

A dragon must meet four criteria in order to be classified as an amphithere. It must have a serpentine body, two wings, a feathered tail-tip, and be legless. One in ten amphitheres have two or four vestigial limbs, but these are almost always too small and malformed to be of any use to the dragon. 

The Mexican Amphithere has long been ordered among the most beautiful of dragons, and ranges in colour from red all the way through to indigo (although hues of yellow and green are most common) They may reach up to twelve meters in length (almost as long as a school bus!) with wingspans of ten to eleven meters. Their  necks, wings, the ends of their tails, and their backs,are covered in iridescent plumage, which gives way to small, v-shaped scales. Their underbellies are made of thick, supple skin, which isn't as resistant to magic or weapons and the gem-encrusted undersides of European dragons. It is, however, much more suited to aerodynamic ability, agility and speed. Everything about the amphithere, from it's sleek wings, to it's light scales, to the stablising feather on it's tail, is as it is for a reason; to make this dragon fast, stealthy, and deadly.

Visual aide for the illiterate and those with a fear of textwalls

Full image here

The Mexican Amphithere is found throughout South- and Central America. It prefers to make it's nest in ruined temples, but as these become scarcer they have begun opting for nests in other abandoned, but more modern structures. A female Mexican Amphithere's clutch will consist of between two and four eggs, but it seems that three eggs are the norm.

The Mexican Amphithere has a gestation period of 13 months. The eggs are normally about 30cm tall, and 17cm in diameter. They are a mottled brown colour, with striking, somewhat luminous orange markings. it takes about three weeks for the eggs to hatch, and the chicks which emerge are usually 45cm long.

These babies will be unable to fly until they are three, and their mothers continue to care for them for another two years after that. They won't reach full maturity until they are about 20 years of age, and will continue growing all their lives (About 210 years.)

Amphitheres are not very sociable beasts. Aside from females and their young, They only time they gather is in early spring (late Febuary/early March) over and around the Gulf of Mexico. All amphitheres, (save those unable to fly, and brooding females) of all species congregate there to search for a mate. When the day is up, the entire cohort disperses back to to their nests.

Amphitheres need quite a lot of food to sustain themselves. A fully mature Mexican Amphithere can eat about 800kg of meat in one sitting (and still have room for dessert!). That's about the equivalent of a smart car, or a very large horse.

Draco americanus mex will eat any kind of large animal, but their diet usually consists of cattle, pigs, very large snakes and birds, tapirs, caiman, jaguars, and the occasional human. Keen eyes and agility let it spot it's next meal and weave through the trees with ease. Lacking legs, their main weapons are their tails, teeth, and the element of surprise. An amphithere's tail is prehensile, almost like that of a monkey, and exceptionally strong. They use it the same way a boa constrictor does, squeezing their prey until it expires. Additionally, amphitheres in flight are almost silent, which enables them to sneak up and catch their quarry unawares.

The Mexican Amphithere is a highly intelligent, deadly predator. It is at the top of the food chain in it's respective environment, and has little to fear but high winds and other dragons.