Dragons and Reasoned Fantasy - Part 2

 

Dracontology part 2 – The illumination of Dragon habits

 

Dragon-flight – An enduring anatomical mystery…solved

 

Anatomists and folklorists have puzzled over the skeleton and wings of the flying varieties of dragon. From comparing body-weight and wing surface, flight seemed improbable, and yet this is what they were often observed doing.

 

One feature that surely helps them fly is most kinds of flying dragon have a system of air-sacks and hollows within their bones and next to some organs, working much like those of a bird. These make the animal much lighter for its size, and because they are connected to the lungs and airways, make respiration much more efficient. In this way, they have a physique for flying, very much so.

 

But the problem remains; the largest noble dragons that can fly reach up to 1.5 tons, and have a wingspan of only 15-17 meters at most. This ratio of weight to wing-surface should be insufficient for flight, even with their skeletal adaptations and high metabolism. Numerous flying serpents, though smaller, also have a body that appears somewhat too large for their wings, despite having hollow bones too.

 

The answer came when the first noble dragons and flying serpents were systematically dissected. Connected to the intestine and hind part of the stomach, were large sac-like organs that lay flush against the roof of the ribcage, connected by tubing and a system of valves. During digestion, these tubes actively take in the methane bubbles that accumulate in the dorsal reaches of the gut. When the animal is well-fed, this serves to give the animal considerable lift, as methane is lighter than air. As opposed to initial speculation, these sacs do not aid in breathing fire, which is purely a glandular process.

 

When this methane bladder system is working properly, the dragon can alter the amount of gas by shunting it back and forth along the gut, or back into the sacs. If too much lift is produced, the dragon voids its bowels or releases flatus, sometimes loudly.

 

In most dragon species which can fly, this set of organs is well developed, and produces lift proportionally to counter the drag and weight of the dragon. This allows noble dragons as heavy as a bison or rhino, to fly with wings that, though powerful, would not lift an animal of that weight which lacked this adaptation. Flying serpents use this to great effect, seeming to swim of slide through the air as they flap their wings for thrust and to steer.

 

Dragon Reproduction – varied but with some commonalities

 

The mating and breeding habits of dragons took the longest to observe and explain. Many more fierce kinds of dragon are so protective and secretive with their young, that field observation was too dangerous.

 

Nevertheless, modern technology has allowed us to view these habits remotely from places of safety. Most noble dragons, and wyverns too, behave somewhat like birds, a mating ritual is performed, mating is brief and consists of several mountings, and between 1 and 4 large eggs are laid.

 

Mating rituals sometimes involve the more lightweight male first tempting and approaching the female with gifts of food, or shiny objects such as items made of precious metal or steel, occasionally even gemstones. This is ultimately where dragons get their notoriety as hoarders of treasure, from males raiding and stealing precious items for the female. The fact is that large older females keep any and all gifts given to her from previous suitors. In the largest noble dragons, lifespan can surpass 120 years, and the hoard of an elder female may be considerable. In some species, different males are courted every year, or one female may meet the same pair-bonded suitor each and every year. Some smaller kinds will court multiple males within one season, and these lay clutches of up to 4, in which each egg may be from a separate sire. No large dragon remains with its mate all year, as resources within any one territory are invariably too sparse.

 

After the initial courtship, in flying species a nuptial flight usually ensues. This can involve displays flashing the bright undersides of their wings, or daring chases and stunts, coupled with expenditure of valuable flame as a show of vigour. Then occurs the coupling, convergent to crocodiles and waterfowl, the male has a large pseudopenis with which he inseminates the female. However, as with birds, each mounting is brief and there may be many in the course of the coupling. In most species, the male stays during incubation and even helps care for the drakeling (the word for a baby dragon), but some species such as cockatrice and most kinds of limbless dragon leave all the incubation and care to the female.

 

Serpentine dragons, including those that live in water, have courtships more closely resembling snakes or crocodiles. A large male will attract and defend her female, they will intertwine their bodies to mate, and after that the female will retreat to find a private spot in order to produce young. Wurms and orms are the exception to most kinds of dragon, in that a larger clutch of eggs are laid, up to 20, hatching into miniature, independent young. Some aquatic dragons, like Gargoille, Lung and Persean Ketos, retain one or two large eggs inside the body, giving live birth after it hatches inside.

 

Dragons that incubate eggs will usually make a mound of vegetable matter or sand, in which the large eggs are kept warm, and the temperature monitored by the female. Noble dragons are unique in blowing a small amount of flame on their mounds to either produce an optimal temperature, or warm it if it gets too cold. The substrate that the egg is buried in insulates it from the full brunt of the flame, which regardless is cooler than the kind of flame used in defence or hunting. Wurms and Orms tend to coil around their clutches of egg defensively, like a snake, and make muscular agitations to generate the heat used in incubation. All dragon parents are universally, fiercely defensive of eggs and young, and can easily kill interloping egg thieves or dragon-slayers.

 

Development of the drakeling varies across species, most aquatic dragons stay with their mothers until they reach half of adult size, but can feed themselves from birth. Orms and Drakon have a greater number of small, independent babies that are not cared for by the parent after incubation. Flying serpents will carry their baby on the back until it learns to fly on its own, which takes up to 3 months. Noble dragons, as well as wyverns, have small, somewhat altricial young that are brought food until they are mobile enough to follow their parents. During the first 3 months, pre-digested food is regurgitated in a nutritious slurry, and after that, larger and coarser pieces of meat are given for the baby to chew. After becoming mobile and growing to a fraction of their parents size, all dragons quickly learn to hunt on their own, and after that will leave to seek their own territory.

 

Dragons and Man as enemies – how much is true?

 

The stories and legends woven by man paint most dragons as evil, vengeful creatures that decimate local land, abduct humans, and consume livestock, this is only partially true. Larger dragons have big individual territories and invariable feed often on larger animals to sustain themselves, including livestock. After the dawn of agriculture, and even more during the spread of cities and towns, this has brought them into conflict with man. In this scenario, a dragon-slayer will set out to eliminate the dragon in order to free resources for the local human populace of farmers, lorded gentry etc.

 

Actual kidnappings are/were rare. This usually occurs when a large noble dragon has developed a taste for human flesh, and become a man-eater. Invariably, less well-armoured youth or women are preferentially taken, as a well-defended knight or lord will doubtless retaliate and be too much fuss. Beyond all others, this is what started the campaign of dragon-slaying, in order to rescue people who were snatched as food by individual rogue dragons. Soon it became fashionable, and many methods of dragon-hunting were invented, from weapons, to poisoned bait to special armour. Any shiny metal object will attract a male dragon, and mirrors captivate them even more, these were regularly used to distract and entice dragons for slaughter.

 

Serpentine and aquatic dragons have a slightly different history, because their preferred home is invariably a lake, pond, well or swamp. Upon hearing of a dragon monopolizing a valuable water-source, people often sought to eliminate these dragons too, despite the fact that only the Gargoille ever tries to consume people.

 

The lung or long of Asia are different again, inhabiting sheltered bays, lagoons, deep lakes or sea-caves. Though generally harmless they would be easily provoked into violence, and the early inhabitants of South Asia found that making offerings of food, usually fish, would placate the dragon and make it less territorial. Over the centuries, an amicable affinity arose between man and the eastern dragons, they were taken as symbols of empires, revered as rain-bringing nature spirts, and only began to decline somewhat as the industrial revolution brought about loss of habitat. Lung are the most intelligent of all dragons, and though they do not speak or solve problems, their bird-like intelligence has allowed them to bond with certain humans, and have even been observed assisting drowning humans, or emerging when human activity was high, such as during festivals. Such an attraction to humans has never arisen among western dragons, despite the noble species of dragons also being moderately intelligent.

 

One exception to this rule of the east, and elsewhere, is that some dragons were hunted for body-parts to use in traditional folk medicine. Bones, teeth, scales, liver, blood, fat, and the dense bone from the forehead were used in special herbal potions touted to cure and alleviate a whole variety of illnesses. While some aspects of this had veracity, the corresponding parts of other animals usually work just as well, including those of crocodiles, bulls and cats. Some of this practise was simple snake-oil, which either contain very little dragon material, or none at all, and besides this some notable dragon parts would only have a negligible effect. This practise of hunting dragons for medicinal purposes was generally undertaken by outdoorsmen or mercenaries working under the tutelage of an apothecary. Though it did have some effect in the West, it was one of the few historical threats to dragons in the east, and religious groups famously forbade or condemned such affronts against otherwise well-like noble beasts.

 

In the modern age, dragons have become rarer and rarer with the spread of cities and towns, loss of habitat, and certain kinds of pollution. Conservation efforts are beginning in earnest in the west, but the first dragon conservancies existed in Asia as early as the 18^th century. Noble dragons are in the most danger by far, driven from fertile feeding grounds since the middle-ages, this situation only gets worse. Most noble European species take refuge in the mountains, feeding on things like goats, grouse, salmon etc, but this method of hunting is in contrast to their traditional methods, where they would cross open country for large distances, in those days mountains were only preferred for nesting and shelter.

With the advent of climate change, and man’s impact becoming more severe, the uneasy relationship between man and dragon may escalate. It will require careful concerted effort to make sure that they themselves remain, not just as myths passed down among human societies.

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