Mythical Creatures Guide

Dragons and Serpents

The definition of Dragon: A mythical beast usually represented as a huge, winged, fire-breathing reptile that is often cold-blooded. For centuries the dragon has been prominent in the folklore of most cultures. Thus, its physical characteristics vary greatly and include combinations of numerous animals. In European cultures, the dragon has often been associated with evil. In many legends a dragon had the ability to wreak havoc upon a land and therefore had to be either propitiated by a human sacrifice, or killed. It was also often the guardian of a treasure or a maiden. In other stories, The dragon is the protector of Nations, a heavenly being, or a wonderful and powerful creature. This sort of stories are prominent in Asian cultures in particular, though other cultures also view them in a positive light, like the cultures of Americas (the Native people's cultures) which often included a a Holy Dragon God.
Dragons often have different abilities and colors. Dragons often like to eat babies that are left unattended. They are beautiful creatures that had a 100 year war with an army of gnomes. They also leave their older children in forests to grow up and live by themselves.

Fire Dragon

The highest achievement of a hero in the Western medieval times was the slaying of a dragon, as in the story of St. George. King Arthur, son of Uther Pendragon (dragon's head), also killed a dragon. The giant red dragon of the Apocalypse gave rise to the use of the beast as symbolic of Satan in Christian art and literature. In ancient China the dragon was associated with fertility and prosperity. Many of the beliefs connected with the dragon are echoed in snake worship. Dragons deserve a category all their own because they are beasts found all over the world. But there are two distinct types of dragon: the dragon of the Western world and the dragon of the Eastern world.

European Dragons

Native Americans believed in snake dragons, supernatural wisdom.

These enormous, fire-breathing serpents have scaly bodies and huge bat like wings. Often depicted as Greedy creatures, they hoard gold treasure in dens under the earth. Fierce and always hungry, a Western dragon will eat anything but especially likes weak, young, human flesh. These Dragons live in caves, mountains, or lakes. They were particularly active in the Middle Ages, when brave knights challenged them to battle. Its worthy of note that many tales of said knights often ended in defeat for the knight, rather than the defeat of the dragon.

Asian Dragons

Asian Dragons are often revered as Holy Gods and bringers of fortune by the people of Asia and, compared to Western dragons, these beasts are quite docile and gentle. Their bodies are long, and they have two horns and ears that resemble the ears of a cow or bison. The classical Eastern Dragon has no wings, and their soft breath is said to form clouds. They are said to not roar; instead they make the sounds of beating gongs and jingling bells. Chinese dragons dine on sparrows, which, especially when roasted, are their favourite food. They also find small amounts of arsenic to be beneficial to their health. They live wherever there is water. Those that live in seas or oceans are often Dragon Kings, and look more humanoid. They are kind and wise friends of human beings. The western and eastern dragons are some of the most referred to of the dragon species. Many trans-breed dragons have derived from these two types. In a few instances, some Dragons will take livestock from nearby farms. Many times the missing will be sheep.

Ice/Arctic Dragons
Ice Dragons are normally white or a very light blue or pale pink. They migrate from the Arctic to Antarctic regions to ensure that they stay in darker, winter climates. The dragons' lair or nest is normally a cave facing the sea, normally a hollowed glacier or iceberg. These dragons eat polar bears, killer whales, giant squid, walrus, and leopard seal, though they will probably eat anything that moves if the need is large enough. They don't attack with fire or poison, but they attack with a strong icy blast of air and shards of ice, and their tail, claws, and horns. Adult ice dragons are around 40 feet long and 12-15 feet tall.

Basement Dragons

Basement dragons are the rarest form of dragon. They love darkness, so you often run into them in a basement. They are often purple in color when they're not busy being invisible. Grandmas find them easily when they turn on their ovens. Nothing entices a Basement dragon more than freshly baked gingerbread that are named Fred. They only enjoy the ones named Fred because when their new race of dragons started Fred taught them to dance. Basement dragons nest in the darkest corner of your couch so then they can hide their children from llamas named Julio. They easily find mates because they have magic perfume; even though it has been rumored they mate with themselves. They turn themselves on. They love to eat suicidal donkeys. They attack with fiery gumdrops and wet chickens. Their greatest rival is the Easter Bunny. Usually when they find a basement they stay there for their entire period, male or female. The only time they migrate is when the oompa loompas chase them!!! They are known to sing while hidden. If you are wondering why I know so much about Basement dragons it is because I AM ONE. We often take human forms. Don't try to find me... I'll find you (if you want).

Bed Dragons:

Bed dragons can shapeshift into beds, but are very common. Before they shapeshift they eat your bed. They do this because they like the feeling of human bodies on theirs. They tend to eat small children's hair, and people's dreams. They also eat lamppost light when they cannot find a bed to shapeshift into. There one true enimy is the monster that lives under your bed, but if you have one they will defend you against the moster stealling your saliva. They also dislike Justin Bieber, One Direction, Lady Gaga, and Madona music, so if you are playing it they will beat you up in yor sleep. They will stay in the form of a bed as long as they are not chaced away by the Demon Socks. When this happens they will barf up your oringonal bed before they leave. to tell that you have a bed dragon at our house: your pillow will be wet, because they tend to lick poeples faces while asleep. during mating season your bed dragon will move off the boxspring constently, so they can attrak the dragons thay are not shapeshifted into beds. They hate shiny objects, and love to role over and play tricks with the wet towels on your bedroom floor. To aviod getting one, you must hang stinky, smelly, socks on your walls. you must also were a red shoe on your left foot, and a purple shoe on your rights foot. They hate the color red, and mismatched shoe. The stinky socks remind them about of the Demon Sock. I know this because I have caught one, and he has told me everything, because they have too. If you have one stay calm, and fallow the rules to prevent them to get rid of them.

Wyvern

A dragon, except with only two legs instead of four.

Dragons: Real or Myth?
Dragons are one of man's greatest achievements of fiction....Right? WRONG. Dragons are real. Think about this: Many people believe dinosaurs didn't die out, they evolved. Some people even say that T-Rex evolved into chickens! What if in-between this evolution was a reptile bird? A flying lizard? A dragon?! But that would mean that humans were alive during an evolution: right? What if a handful of dinosaurs survived? Nessie: The Last Plesiosaur. Mokèlé-mbèmbé. Are all these dinosaur sightings ironic.....NO! Dinosaurs are among us! We must find them! Before they find us... No dragons are much too different from dinosaurs, some dragons who don't have wings use air ripples, similar to lungs, to fly and are more aerodynamic than most dragons and dinosaurs, for they glide in a air space without need to catch air with their wings. This is caused by their special scales in which they can catch air ripples, then release them.

Rather than thinking about IF they're real, we need to talk about how they would hide. Because, seriously, I don't think anyone will ever go into a cave and be like, "Oh, I found a beautiful dragon hiding in a damp ugly cave, trying to hide from humans who try to pierce it with nasty little pellets, but guess what? It's now my friend." Be realistic. A real dragon might be living on some deserted island full of wild game, and with a huge natural deposit of magnetic ores (the only way an island would be able to hide itself from satellites) it would also need huge acreage in which to roam and fly. The island might also have to be terribly isolated, otherwise people would have found it or, obviously, the dragon would have flown away in search of a better place.
They might be even invisible to most people. Infact there is a myth that states that dragons can become invisible to all but some humans, others that say they become rocks or clouds, and so on. Other dragons (more western than eastern) have been known to take human form. To tell if someone is a dragon they will be abnormally greedy, they will isolate them selves to few or no friends, (usually female) and most important they will look well, gorgeous. They will have rare, natural hair colors (Red, whiteetc. Blonde does not count so stop asking!) their eyes will will sparkle and not when they look at you guys (or girls I don't judge) plus they will have very rich voices, perfect for singing.

*Please understand that this information comes from the views and perspectives ofdifferentpeople. Please remember that it is not you right to judge people on the way they see things.*

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Dragons: Theories, Ideas, Stuff, etc.

→Class #1

Before I properly start I want to apologize in advance if any of this of which I have written you find offensive (although I doubt it). Further more, I write this just out of information, not as a thesis or essay of any kind. So the language will, therefore, be mostly informal. Additionally, This is an attempt to condense information from many different dragon myths and legends and boil it down to information that seems to be a common theme for dragons around the world. -freedragon10022

How to start... Lets see... well, there are many dragons, and many are their forms. Dragons can be divided into many different categories, but every dragon has his or her own PERSONALITY much like humans (you realize this as you read of the myths of dragons, particularly Eastern Dragons and some of the most venerable of the very, very old Western Dragon myths too), so I can't really generalize and assure you 100% what they are like, but I can help.

Lets begin by taking note on a Dragon's classification from the perspective of biology (Lets assume that dragons exist or existed, whichever your rather think). As you may or may not know Dragons in general do not "fit" exactly into the hierarchy of the biological classification method, (Life,Kingdom, phylum, class, orders, families, genus, and species), that's because the system is incomplete. New species are discovered often and some times the hierarchy has to be updated to fit them in. Same goes for Dragons.

Lets start now. First the term/word "Dragon" is a big one. This is because this word used to be applied to a variety of creatures that were or are unusual, for example a gigantic snake could have potentially be placed under the category of a dragon in the middle ages or before that time. People tend to think now a days of big fire breathing western dragons, but before the 1800's, a dragon could summon a variety of images, as it can be observed in a variety of literary works.

Now lets talk about some of the common characteristics of Dragons. The main ones are: Intelligence, Strength, Large life span (which can be associated with wisdom), tough hides, and highly developed senses. Additionally, they are believed to be attune with nature, and are attributed to having magical properties and power, some consider them to even be a representation of nature and wild magic in its animal form.

Going more in depth with the attributes of the Dragon, lets talk about the big three common attributes (Strength, Long life, and Intelligence).

Intelligence: A particular characteristic of true dragons is how smart they are. A "True" or "Pure" Dragon is smart. Really smart. This feature is depicted in many myths, and is particularly prominent in Asia, Central America, North America, and South American mythologies, where dragons were often seen as divine beings or even gods.

Strength: Strength is a feature that all dragons have, and its quite common to have a single dragon able to storm an entire castle or fortress in a story, particularly in Western and European stories. Considering that a castle has walls made of hard stone that are easily over a foot in thickness (some times several feet in thickness actually) and that a dragon is able to crush said massive amount of hard resistant rock with a single swipe of his hand while fighting off the entire army of the castle and their weapons is nothing short of a testament to their monstrous physical strength.

Long life: Its extremely common to read about dragons that have lived for centuries or many millenniums, some are even immortal or gods in different cultures and religions. Not surprisingly, there are extremely few records of a dragon dieing due to old age.

Now, for the sake of a simple classification, the term that I will be using for describing dragon that cover all three of the big three atributes completely, plus the other three important attributes (tough hides, highly developed senses, connection with nature/magic) is True Dragons.

Let us note that, just like humans are the smartest species in the family of the primates, and gorillas are intellectually inferior to us, the same thing applies to dragons. There are "dragons" that are only as smart a human child of 7 years of age at best. They are also not generally as strong as True dragons. We shall refer to these as Minor Dragons or Lesser Dragons. These dragons are distantly related to true dragons. A perfect example of a Minor Dragon dragon would be the Wyvern, which although it looks like a dragon, it is noticeably less intelligent and somewhat smaller.

There are also what we could call Sub-Dragons which are sub-species of dragons which are inferior to even Minor Dragons, that is to say that they are barely more than animals or can barely think more than an animal. They are they still smarter than say dogs, elephants, or little monkeys but are not at the human level. They are only distantly related to even Lesser dragons.

Now lets talk about their physical strength in a little more detail. As it is obvious, Dragons are pretty much at the apex of power, not in small part due to their large bodies. Let it be noted that to most, the word dragon is, in the human mind, often directly related to words like huge, gargantuan, gigantic, massive, etc. Well, guess what? They are . But not to the popular dramatic extent. Dragons are usually anywhere from 1 feet tall (those are the VERY smallest) to more than 40 feet tall (Note: 1 foot =0.3048 meters) when standing in all fours, depending on their age, type, and parentage (the dragons' parents). However, a FEW dragons can surpass the 60 foot mark. Truth be told, the most common size range for dragons is likely a light weight class dragon, which generally ranges between 7 and 15 feet in height. Most dragons grow very quickly just like most animals that are wild, and lead long lives (unless "in-eventualities" occur. Ex: knight kills the dragon, though highly unlikely). A simple way of picturing the sheer amount of brute force these creatures have lets put it this way: Lets say we have a great white shark, a human, a T-Rex, a lion, and a large dragon lined up. Each bites into a device designed to measure their biting strength. Here is what we would get:

Human- 0.07 to 0.09 metric tons (average of 0.08 metric tons)
African Lion- 0.5 to 0.6 metric tons (average of 0.560 metric tons)
Great White shark- 1.8 to 2 metric tons
T-Rex- (roughly) 3.1 metric tons (That's enough for a T-Rex to chew steel!)
Dragon: 13.0 to 18.0 metric tons
*note: a metric tone is equivalent to 1,000kg or 2,204.62lb

Now, back on the subject of long life span. It should be noted that there seems to be some correlation between size and age of a dragon. Usually those that have the shortest life span are the smallest, and those still live more than 100 years. Some are even immortal (at least from what the books say or point at).

Sub-dragons are usually small, anywhere from 1 foot tall to 5 or 6, maybe 7 feet tall at most. Though they are considerably smaller than other dragons and about two thirds of their breeds are wingless. However they still are surprisingly fast and strong for their size.

Branch dragons are usually smaller, and less powerful than Main Dragons. They never reach more than 20-23 feet, and they can think reasonably well, so while they may not be as downright impressive as main dragons, they are still formidable. Some Branch dragons don't have wings, but they are still strong since just their body weight and sheer amount of muscle represent a significant threat to any poor creature that may find its self on its menu. They can be worthy companions too, but above a regular pet. Breath weapons are also variable....like fire, acid, poison, ice, petrifying gas, sleeping gas, lightning, corrosive liquids (sometimes even corrosive and blinding gases but those are rare) and so forth.

Main Dragons are abso-bloody-lutly amazing. They have Intelligence that is at a minimum of human level or higher (usually much higher), and their strength (physically and magically) are stunning to say the least. Main Dragons have are usually the largest of the three categories ranging from 16 to 40+ feet tall. However there a couple of breeds that are considered Main dragons that are smaller, one of them been the Fairy Dragon who is in between 2.5 to 5.5 feet tall. They are truly beautiful creatures.

Now lets talk a bit about their hides, bones, and magic.

Dragons can also use magic, and are VERY good at it usually. They are often seen as a solidification of Earth's Wild Magic and nature given form in flesh and bone, which would explain many things, such as why dragon's blood (when diluted) can heal almost any ailment or injury and in some cases even stop (temporarily) or (slightly) reverse aging, a feat comparable to the famed ambrosia of the Greek Gods. It could also explain other tales, such as eating a dragon's tongue and you can win nearly any argument, bathe in dragon's blood and you become immune to mortal wounds of the flesh (nothing can hurt you where the blood has touched your skin), or eating a dragon's heart giving yo some of its powers, or the fact that dragon scale armor is virtually indestructible and impossibly light, and many other such things.
It's also worthy of note that Dragons have amazingly strong scales that resist most physical attacks; these scales cover most of the creatures body, though they tend to soften and be smaller at the breast/chest and right below the jaw were the neck and head connect making the most vulnerable parts, and bigger and stronger at the head. NOTE that this is not always the case, as there have been recorded cases in which swords and other weapons have broke attempting to pierce these places with some of the creatures. The scales also contain some special magical properties. The scales are strong enough to withstand arrows, swords, hand guns, large guns, and even some cannon bullets/missiles. Dragon teeth and claws are amazingly sturdy, strong, and light, they are second only to diamond in strength and are more resistant than diamond (that is to say they can take more hits with out scaring or breaking). The claws are made of a material similar to that of our nails, but much more concentrated and fortified.

Dragons usually have Especial attributes or specialties. So, as you are now aware of, dragons can use magic, and breath weapons. However some dragons are born with the ability to breathe fire, others with poison or Ice or maybe shadows or maybe even sound. Dragons can control Fire, Ice, Water, Lightning, Earth, Wind, Metal, Poison, wood, light, shadows, acid, and sound (to name a few). It all depends on the dragon of course. Impressive right? Well it gets better; they are not limited to just one power/attribute/specialty. Dragons can have many abilities and powers and a legion of magics. Be it that the Dragon attained the other powers through training or magic or sheer will power they can learn new abilities. A dragon that breaths fire naturally might not very easily use water but he can certainly learn to manipulated to a certain extent with enough practice and time.

Just remember the saying, "you can't teach an old dog new tricks" does not apply to Dragons in general. After all they keep developing until the final stage of their life. This is one of the resons which makes them truly dangerous, because they never stop learning, and therefore, their intelligence keeps expanding.

Dragon bones are one of the dragons' most amazing features, they are superbly light, and yet strong enough to hold a creature of several tons in weight. A sword made out of dragon bone was said to be a warriors dream, as it was stronger than all other swords of metal, much less heavy, able to cut through steel as if it was wood, resistant to heat and cold in extremes, resistant to magic, and even (in some cases) loyal to the owner, and had some magic of their own, which manifested itself in different ways to the owner of the sword. There were some rumors and legends that Excalibur was made of dragon bone.

Dragons also like to hoard treasure and know were everything is and how much its worth. Stealing even one grain of gold from a dragon is not recommended, since A) the dragon will notice B) the dragon will be VEEERRRRYYY irritated (if you are VERY,VERY,VERY LUCKY, he will JUST be VEEEERRRYYY Irritated. Worst case scenario you are dead. enough said) and C) he will hunt you down to the ends of the earth if catches even a hint of your smell, breath, voice, or anything which can lead it towards you. Dragons have Amazing eye sight, sense of smell, superb hearing, excellent sense of taste and movement, and a Truly magnificent knack/gift to feel if magical items or spells/curses/charms/incantations or traps or trinkets are around (or underground!).

All dragons can swim (as far as I know anyways and I know a good lot about them), but not all can breathe under water; only some. They all can swim at very fast velocities, and those who can fly can also fly at amazingly fast velocities. Dragons are also amazingly flexible and agile in water, air, or on land, and very quick moving on all of them too.

I am guessing some of you wonder how can a Dragon, a creature of such large size fly or even glide on the air. Well even though I haven't had the pleasure to study to a length the body of a live specimen, I believe that they have (like birds) air sacks which not only make their body more suitable for flying but also gives them some natural buoyancy too. The wings do not end like many people believe in their shoulders, the membrane of the wings extends from the start of the wing to near the thigh, sometimes they even extend asfar as to near their tail. This allows them to have a larger area upon which the air can exert the force of lift. The bones are also superbly light and strong, and they have very powerful muscles that work the wings.

Lastly (because my fingers are rapidly getting tired) I salute any who have met or will meet any dragons in their life time. And bow to any dragon who might read this. Any dragon person I salute also. I wish I could talk with a dragon once more, they are simply fascinating. Truly amazing creatures they are. Though if anyone reading this does come into contact with one I would suggest not getting on its bad side. Not even if you are a warlock, wizard, witch, or mighty warrior. There is a reason why until now defeating even a Leaf Dragon was considered a great deed, or the greatest act of strength and bravery for knights.

And as you may have (or not) noticed, the knights/person that survive a mortal encounter or a fight with a dragon (it matters not if Leaf, Branch, or Main Dragon) very,very,very rarely survives, and those who do survive was because A) they had a trick or two (or more) under their sleeve (usually) B) they are usually fighting Leaf and Branch dragons, C) they catch the creature unaware or distracted, and D) there's usually more than one person involved helping the other. And many times they just survive because they got lucky and ran away, or convinced the creature to go away and go home telling tall tales of how they "killed a dragon". I've given you all the warning and help I can for now. Good luck.

Reply to Class #1
I was very intrigued by your article and how much you know about us dragons. I believe I am quite baffled you know so much. Is the human race really getting this far advanced? I acknowledge the fact that you have reaserched our kind so long, and I salute you for that, my friend. I thank you for pointing out that every dragon has his/her own personality, because whenever I encounter a human, the whole screaming, begging on the knees thing gets tiresome. I'm not going to eat them! Thank you for telling people we are the most amazing living thing on this world. What I'm wondering is how you know so much about us. I understand there are many stories, but not all of those are real, as I see you mentioned in Class #2. Are you sure you haven't met a dragon? I know one of my friends just sat down and had a conversation with a human one day...But that is besides the point. It's unbelieveable a dragon hasnt come to see you yet. I might have to myself! Maybe I'll see you in the future. One day my friend, whether in this life or another, I'll be sure to encounter you. Farewell.

Class # 2
-By freedragon10022

Its been a while since I last checked into the Dragon section (One of the most extensive pages in the site I believe). And, by popular demand, I am back to expand a bit on the summary of Class #1 (above).

Quick review:

Dragons are the most amazing living thing on this world. Period. Meant to be extraordinarily wise and intelligent, as well as undeniably strong and sometimes ferocious, Dragons are known to often have very large amounts of treasure, which they have collected over the endless centuries that fill up their lives. They are reptilian in appearance and often have wings and a head adorned with a pair of long horns. Many used to believe that all dragons were immortal, however not all of them were truly immortal and could be killed by a sword to their heart, or a spear to the area right below their heads where the neck and the head meet. BUT Some of the dragons ARE immortal, like the celestial lungs, and the endless dragons, and the Dragon of balance, and The Universe Dragon, and the Dragons of the elements, and so on. However, being the heartless sadists that a lot of the human race is, there aren't many of a really old age to tell us much (which they could). And out of the ones that there are, I would wager several bars of gold that even though most of them are good, there would be a few of them who would prefer to eat us for revenge and/or self-defense.

Now, if you still don't know what a Dragon is by now, then you obviously haven't been paying attention, which offends me most entirely and completely and it is suggested that you run away. . .Now. and hide. Or reread everything on this page until it is burned in your memory.

Let us begin:

Let us start by expanding on the very basics of Dragons and busting a few myths about them. (I will explain why later why they are true or false)

1. "It has been said that Dragons are all cold blooded (literally). Is this true?" This is FALSE! Dragons are NOT cold blooded. They are Warm blooded.
2. "A lot of people say that dragons are easy to fool and steal from. Is it true?" NO! They are NOT. In fact they are very clever and notice if anything is missing.
3. "They say Its impossible for all Dragons to fly." LIES! Dragons ARE able to fly.
4. "Dragons only eat people." ABSOLUTELY FALSE! Depending on the Dragon it will eat a variety of things. Dragon's can eat (again, depending on their type) Anything from Plants, to fish, to cows, to crows, to octopus, to sharks, to even elephants and wales.
5. "All dragons are evil." WRONG! NOT all Dragons are evil.
6. "Dragons live for a hundred years." Okay, this is a tricky one. DEPENDING on the type of dragon, size, and conditions upon which the dragon is and the condition in which its environment is it could live for a hundred years, or less, or more unless it is a basement dragon. Then it lives forever.
7. "Dragon eyes glow in the dark" WRONG! No, Dragon eyes do not glow in the dark. But they can see very well in the dark (much better than humans).
8. "Dragon hide is very heavy" WRONG! Its actually very light.

Okay, so, now that those myths are done and away with, lets continue with some basic anatomy of Dragons.

In general, Dragons are light weight, well light relative to their size and mass. Most of them are still several tons. Their bones are very light and strong, their muscles are very powerful, and their scales and hide (contrary to popular belief) is very light. It has been suggested that Dragons, like birds, Have air sacs to aid their flight. I think it is very possible that they do, indeed, have air sacs, which would make them lighter and more balanced in flight.

Its hard to demonstrate or create a verbal picture of how strong, how light, and how powerful Dragons and their bodies are, but I will try to explain. Lets begin by their bones.
For example, If I was to make a dagger out of the tooth of a Dragon it would not weight more than 2-7 pounds (depending on the size of the tooth), and it would cut probably better than your average steel dagger.
If I was to make a bow out of a rib or bone from a dragon, it would be strong enough, and flexible enough to match (and probably out do) those of top make, since it has a stronger resistance, and is very flexible. It would also not weight as much as one made out of metal.

As for their jaw muscles...:
Well, let me put it this way: If you placed a thick bar of steel in between the teeth of a fully grown, average sized dragon and the dragon bites down on the bar of steel, as soon as he opens his mouth you will find that the bar of steel has been cut through. In other words, their bite is the equivalent of a few cars/vans that have been soldered to rows of pointy swords and dropped down on whatever it is that the dragon is biting. its that bad.

Their Blood - Warm or cold?
They are also Warm blooded, because they require to be so to be able to fly and stay alive, since cold blooded animals can't produce their own body heat and they don't have as good circulation as warm blooded animals. Also being coldblooded would mean they would be dependant on the sun to warm them up, which for a creature that size would consume very large amounts of time, which comes with indirect and direct consequences, like reduced hunting time, and the possibility that winter would kill them.

Their Circulatory System- The Key to Flight
A dragon's circulatory system is not like that of a human, a horse, a lizard, or basically that of any other vertebrate. It is the key to their ability to fly, due to the high requirements of oxygen and nutrients to lift such a heavy animal into the air, and as you all might know, the ciculatory system is responsible for oxygen supply and nutrients supply amongst other things. Their circulatory system is extremely efficient, which combined with a very powerful heart and huge lung capacity, increase the supply of oxygen and nutrients to all body parts with incredible speed and in sufficient quantities.

And their Scales:
The scales of a dragon range from size from 2 inches (5 cm) long to sometimes as much as a foot long (30 cm), they fit perfectly with each other, allowing the dragon perfect free range for movement. They tend to be sort of pentagonal shaped with one short side, two long sides, and two medium sides (this two sides connect, and attached to the other end of each one of the medium sided is are the long sides, which are connected together by the short side). Dragons do not shed their skin, their scales grow with them and are replaced automatically, like human nails or hair. They always grow back, unless the dragon is sick by an specific illness of a few specific diseases. one of them is known as Scale Corrosion, and though it is said to be temporary, lack of scales at the wrong time could cause damage to the dragon, and maybe even death.

As for their strength, well, the best way to explain the hardness of their scales this: I could shoot arrows at the scales from a dragon's back all day, and I would not even scratch it, even if I was at pointblank range. I could shoot it with a gun or revolver and I would only scratch it. Hell, I could bring down a claymore sword down on that thing as hard as I could and I still wouldn't be able to break it. However, in most dragons, their scales are somewhat softer and smaller in their belies, and are the softest and smallest in their armpits, the tip of their snout, and in the neck were their head and their throat meet. But there are exceptions to this rule, There have being stories and reports that state that even the dragons armor was perfect, to the point that only their eyes might be penetrable by anything. Basically attacking a dragon is attacking a tank that can fly, bite, slash, cut, use (a) breath weapon(s), throw boulders and sweep entire ranks of men with a single flick of their tail.

Their Eyes...The eyes!
All right, I have actually received a lot of questions and comments about this one. So, Lets start by the basics of a Dragon's eyes. Firstly, The very vast majority have AMAZINGLY EXCELLENT eye sight in night or day. Now I will address the most popular question "how come they have such good eye sight?", Well the first and most obvious reason is their size. Their eyes are pretty big compared to ours. Even the small grown dragons (which are about as big as a VERY big horse usually) have eyes that are 2 to 5 times bigger than ours easy and the larger ones can have eyes bigger than a large horse.
The second reason is that they can adjust their eyes by very tiny degrees, and they can easily adjust how much light they let in their eyes, and how much they want to Zoom in or out. Like an eagle's eyes, which are very big and they are very good for zooming in and scanning and finding things because they can adjust their eyes so well and they are so big. And like a snowy owl, Dragons are also sensitive to light, so they can see very well in night or day. This is one of the reasons why you should never attack a dragon in its home, at night (moonless or not), or any time were its dark, because the dragon won't be affected very much by the darkness, but you will be, and the dragon will see you long before you see him, in fact it will see you AGES before you even know that there is any dragon or if it saw you.
Secondly, the shape of the pupil. So now I will address the second most popular question, "Do dragons have cat like eyes (slitted), human like eyes (rounded), or "alien" eyes (no pupil)?". Well, this is a harder question than the last. And the answer is dragons can have any or all of them.
The rounded eyes are good for zooming in, slitted great for light control, and no pupil are great for definition (due to the fact the would have photo-receptive cells in their eyes, which would let them see every thing within their eye range with perfect HD quality). Now some of you are asking your selves "How in blazes does a dragon have slitted eyes, rounded eyes, and alien eyes?" Well, there is a couple of ways. one of them is that the dragon has multiple heads. And other is that there are dragons with 3 eyes, or with multiple pairs of eyes.
And the other question that is very popular question is "do dragon's eyes glow in the dark naturally?" the answer is no. Why? Because if they did they wouldn't be able to see very well. It would be like when you are watching T.V and there is a window open and the sun is out. If the light of the sun hits the T.V at an angle it makes it hard to see what the T.V is showing right? Same thing would happen with glowing eyes. But their eyes SEEM to glow because, like a cat or a dog or a wolf or an owl, their eyes have a special lining that gathers and reflects light to see better in the dark. It allows them to also send some of the light back to be able to detect their prey.

* A not about Dragon's eyes due to popular demand: Some people complained to me that eyes of dragons glow just like a cat's eyes. And they are PARTIALLy right. You see, a cat's eyes do NOT GLOW and give off light they REFLECT light. If their eyes glowed they would be blind due to the light entering their eye and not allowing them to see anything but their own light, which would damage their eyes. Therefore, a dragon's (and a cat's, and a dog's and any other animal like that) eyes REFLECT light, not glow.

That is the very basics of their anatomy : Strong muscles, Warm blooded, Very light body structure, and Very hard and strong scales. That's all most of you need to know. And chances are, that if you will get a chance to take a closer look to the insides of a dragon it will be because you will likely be inside the dragon and will have no use of this or any knowledge soon after.

I might wright more about the anatomy subject in the future. Hoped you enjoyed it.

(To be continued)

CLASS # 3
-By freedragon10022

Before we begin.....

After some research, I have found some interesting theories of and about dragons, such as the popular believe that Dragons can talk to others by using telepathy. Therefore, I have decided it might be worth while to spend some time to describe this theories and believes that surround them. Some of them might be thoroughly ridiculous with a hint of possibility, others might be thoroughly scientifical and completely possible.
- - -

The Theories of the Flying (Asian) Dragons.

1. Celestial / Heavenly theories:
-The first theory, and one of the most prevailing ones, is that the Chinese dragons, which are seen as angels or gods (often as gods of water and fertility of the earth in Asia), have the ability to fly due to their divine powers.
-Others say that its because they are heavenly beings, they are pure in heart, and therefore do not have the weight of sins on them (which some say is the reason for why people can't fly), which allows them to fly.
-And yet others say the because God (depending on the religion the story changes to God as the one-and-only-and-All-Powerful-God, or The-God-and-ruler-of-all-other-deities-both-minor-and-great) saw beauty and good in them as they roamed the seas and land, and favored them, this feeling grew when the dragons all revered him and loved him, and then he saw their heart was pure and rewarded them with flight and made them gods to be in the heavens with him.

2. Scientific theories:
-Dragons from Asia can fly because, even though they don't have wings, they can stretch out their skin like a kite. Due to their long body, this allows them to "swim" throught the wind currents through wave-like movements that travel the whole length of the body. This would also explain why dragons are depicted as thought their bodies are arched as waves in their way to heaven.
-Dragons can magnetize their bodies so that they repel the surface of the earth exactly, allowing them to fly.

3.Dragon Anatomy

Dragon have often portrayed with legs like dogs or cats rather than lizard despite their reptile aperance. Although dragons are mainly painted with dog, horse or lizard legs.
(To be continued.......)

DRAGONS - A FANTASY MADE REAL

With the help of stonepony83 I was able to locate this interesting program on Animal Planet. Sadly I cannot embed them here, however here are the links for each part:

PART 1 PART 2 PART 3 PART 4 PART 5 PART 6 PART 7 PART 8 PART 9 PART 10

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