Dragons

This page serves as a source of information about Dragons as it is applicable to World 42 role-playing characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information.

Brief History
Dragons were created by the race known as the Dragonkin. The first having been known as the Queen Black Dragon, created by Kerapac. Another dragonkin followed his example; creating a lesser three headed beast known as the King Black Dragon. The two were then bred together, creating the dragons as we know them. It is not quite clear if other mates were used to create the strykewyrms and other variants seen, though it is very likely. The dragonkin had hoped the dragons would be more worthy as progeny, but were deemed failures and the project abandoned. The dragons then later became successful survivors on their own in the wilds of Gielinor.

Accepted Lore
This section addresses details about dragons that are widely accepted throughout the World 42 role-playing community.

Breeds
Dragons have many different breeds and have two distinct types: the chromatic and the metallic. There are other breeds but they are less distinct and it is unclear if they should fit in the the chromatic category or not.

Chromatic
The nearly extinct white dragons were once known for their unique ability: to travel between worlds, something that is impossible for most mortals, and they could do this as easily as they could fly through the sky provided that they knew where they were going; otherwise they could end up in empty space. The white dragons inherited this trait from their creators, the dragonkin, who have the same ability.
 * Green dragons
 * Brutal green dragons
 * Blue dragons
 * Red dragons
 * Black dragons
 * White dragons (only one surviving member)

Metallic

 * Bronze dragons
 * Iron dragons
 * Steel dragons
 * Mithril dragons

Besides these four, no other metallic dragons are mentioned in lore, but further metallic types have not been denied existence.

Other

 * Frost dragons
 * Celestial dragons

Similar Creatures
While physically similar to dragons, is is unknown the relationship several of these creatures have with the Dragonkin.

Wyverns
These unique dragons were once a breed that existed in Asgarnia, but were presumably brought to extinction. They were different from all other dragons for the fact they had no front legs. Their wings acted as the forelimbs in a similar manner to a bat when on the ground. All that is known of them comes from the bones in the Asgarnia Ice Dungeon. It is unknown if frost breath was their natural weapon in life, or simply a side affect of undeath.

Fairy Dragons
These creatures are very peaceful and intelligent. They are small and similar in characteristics to fairies, hovering in the air by beating their tiny wings like the way the fairies do. They can breathe fire and are on the verge of extinction. It is known these creatures are not a creation of the dragonkin, having been used by them as a mate to the Queen Black Dragon, in an attempt to make more intelligent dragons. The result, Mr. Mordaut, was viewed as too non-aggressive to be a real dragon.

Strykewyrms
Strykewyrms are odd, worm-like creatures which may or may not share relation to the dragons. Whether or not the strykewyrms are related to dragons, they do share some similarities; strykewyrms have some reptilian features alongside their worm-like appearances and one variant even has a breath attack. Strykewyrms are known to come in many variations which seem to be baised off of the environment they come from; desert, ice, jungle, and wildywyrms have all been seen. Among these, only the ice strykewyrm has the breath attack that some attribute as evidence to dragon relation, but may purely be a coincidence.

Wyrms
The creatures once known as wyrms were in a class all of their own; they were beasts so fearsome, so large and powerful, that just one alone could have decimated an entire city. Thankfully, these monstrosities are assumed to be extinct, wiped out in the First Gielinorian God wars and all but forgotten by most races and cultures. Due to the absolutely monstrous size and ferocity of these beasts, if one were still left alive it would definitely be known to the other residents of Gielinor. Since their apparent extinction, we know little about wyrms, but they were supposedly created by the dragonkin, whether or not they were the first to be born from the Queen Black Dragon is likewise unknown.

Wyrms were believed to be incredibly intelligent, much more so than modern dragons, but not enough to meet the standards the dragonkin wanted them to, and were also likely to have offset the intelligence of theirs with bestial tendencies as dragons seem to. We also know little of their appearance or if they came in any varieties, but were thought to be similar in appearance to the dragons of chinese culture with possible similarities to the Queen Black Dragon, and were also believed to be capable of flight but it this is debatable (as it is unknown if they had wings or not, but is likely). Some think the wyrms are the ancestors from which modern dragons descended from, and possibly the strykewyrms (which are also debated on whether or not they are related to dragons), but there is little to no evidence supporting this.

The actual size of the wyrms is debated, though they were known to be massive. It is possible they are in between the size of the King Black Dragon and the Queen Black Dragon.

Gurhs
These creatures from the Dragon Rider homeworld are morphologically similar to dragons. Major differences arose from their kind temperament and inability to breathe fire. They were intelligent enough to communicate with the Riders to the point that both races made a deal: the Riders would look after the Gurh's eggs while the Gurhs would allow the Riders to mount them and use them to help plow the fields. These creatures continue to exist today, even as their partner race begins to fade into extinction.

Breath
Most dragons have fire breathing capabilities, other breath attacks have been seen like a water spell and frost breath. The fire breath has been described as something similar to napalm and varies in intensity by the type of dragon. Almost all fighting encounters with a dragon require the use of fire repelling items such as an antifire potion or an anti-dragon shield. In the case of the Queen Black Dragon, her fire is so hot that not even methods that would give full protection against lesser dragonfire can fully block the heat. While some think frost dragons only breathe frost breath, they are capable of using both frost and fire.

Intelligence
All dragons are considered intelligent to a degree, but no accurate summary of their intelligence has been given. Despite being intelligent, the rage dragons possess leave them bestial in nature, behaving much as animals would. This may very well be the reason that the dragons have not emerged to be considered a sentient race. There are a few known dragons that do not fit this description, among them: Mr. Mordaut, The King Black Dragon (Seen in The Tail of Two Cats), and K'klik (being a fairy dragon means it does not have the rage that the dragonkin blood bestows upon the dragonkin's creations). Mr. Mordaut and the King Black Dragon are both capable of speaking common tongue, and both show human-level intelligence, the King, however, is still highly aggressive and attacks nearly everything that comes near.

White dragons are very intelligent, and do not possess the rage of their other colored siblings, while the celestial dragons, which are direct descendants of the white dragons, have been driven to insanity from the temporal displacement that made them what they are, and are only able to cope on a bestial level.

Debated Lore

 * Dragons are assumed to have their own language.
 * It is unknown how long it takes for a dragon to reach full adult age, but is assumed to be somewhere along twenty to thirty years.
 * Strykewyrms, which are different from dragons and their relations, share very few but some similarities. It is currently unknown how or even if the strykewyrms are related to the dragons and their relatives.
 * The "giant water lizards" whose eggs were infused with dragonkin blood could have possibly been dagannoth. Similarities being that the first dragon was a giant queen and the second dragon was a three headed king; Dagannoth having one queen and three kings, one on each side of the combat triangle. The Queen Black Dragon also has special abilities that are randomly activated that can help her resist magic or physical attacks, similar to the weapon resistances the Dagannoth Mother holds.

Common Mistakes

 * All but a select few known dragons are feral and would sooner attack a human than serve, assist, or ever tolerate riders. The only known individuals who were able to mount dragons were the Dragon Riders, who were a race all to their own, now nearing extinction. This race is called the Ilujanka.
 * Also note that it is presumed not even gods are able to control the dragons; evidence shown in the journal of the last rider.
 * Many players, when roleplaying as or around dragons, confuse "taming" with "domesticating."
 * A tame beast will recognize his tamer as his alpha, will obey boundaries and tolerate normally offensive behavior from his superior. This relationship can exist for many reasons, including but not limited to: the beast recognizes alpha-like body language, the beast fears for his wellbeing, or the beast depends on the trainer for food. He may even be taught to submit to commands. However, a tame beast has no affection for its tamer and will easily attack the tamer if it suspects for any reason that the authority of its tamer has lessened. It is possible (albeit overwhelmingly difficult) to take a feral beast from the wild and to tame it to a degree. Should a player make the controversial choice of roleplaying a humanoid in a cooperative relationship with a feral dragon, this is the relationship they would have.
 * Remember, dragons may be bestial in nature and nearly always behave as animals would, but they are still intelligent, which makes them excedingly dangerous. If it suspects for even but one moment that you are vulnerable; it would likely try to kill you, regardless of the possible consequences to follow.
 * Those skilled in the art of animal care, namely summoners, are able to raise dragons from eggs. A dragon raised from an egg would view the handler as a parent figure until it is old enough to care for itself. Once it reaches that age it will no longer need the handler and could thus turn on said person and kill at will. Despite the risk, this is the most probable way to ensure a dragon sees another race as its superior; raising it from an egg so that it already depends on the handler from birth, thus being familiar with the handler and having imprinted on him or her; when it comes of age the hander should be ready and able to show dominance constantly to maintain superiority and thus monitary safety around the dragon they raised, proving they are strong enough to kill the dragon at all times.
 * A domesticated beast is friendly or even affectionate with its master, can recognize its master as a non-threatening companion, and can be trusted to behave without the constant presence of boundaries or social hierarchies. Domestication is achieved only through tens or even hundreds of generations of selectively breeding only beasts of a species to have docile, non-humanoid-aggressive, and often juvenile traits. It is not possible to pluck a feral beast from the wild and then domesticate it, or to train domestic traits into it. A humanoid and dragon could only have this relationship as the result of a generations-long domestication process.
 * Due to the inherent rage the dragons recieve from the blood of the race that created them in the first place; domestication would likely prove impossible, even after hundreds upon hundreds of generations being put into selective breeding: the docile trait just is not in a dragon's nature.
 * If a dragon were to be kept as an adult and an instrument of war, it would turn on those who imprisoned it and would be a blight to both warring sides, and would also escape at any time the opportunity presented itself, making them impractical to own.
 * Chromatic dragons shown in game only have yellow eyes, not red. The only dragons shown to have red eyes are the Metallic.

Other Information

 * As revealed by Mr. Mordaut; dragons are extremely long-lived, most only succumbing to death through injury.
 * Dragons likely have nimble fingers, as Mr. Mordaut can easily use his fingers to read pages of books and delicately hold his glasses.
 * Many dragons are unable to cast magic besides their breath attacks.
 * This is likely caused by their bestial body shapes. It was revealed through the dragonkin Kerapac's journals that the Queen Black Dragon was inhibited from casting magic due to her immense size; and so special artefacts were constructed by the dragonkin to aid her in getting past this barrier; focusing her energies so she could correctly use magic.
 * Frost dragons are capable of creating a magical orb that is blue in appearance and circles around their bodies; this blue orb recoils all damage back onto an attacker.
 * Dragons seem to incubate their eggs in bowl-like nests dug into the ground, in which the parent melts rock with its fiery breath, onto which the egg rests. The egg, obviously since it is incubated upon molten rock, seems more than able to withstand such high temperatures (which would likely make a dragon egg an incredibly hard thing to cook and eat).
 * A black chromatic dragon's scales are considered as strong as iron.
 * Dragon bones are known to be very hard, just how hard is unknown, but are weaker than most metals.
 * Most dragons stand at 12 feet tall.
 * Runite is considered a delicacy by dragons.
 * Dragons often make their homes on the sites of old battles.
 * The scientific name that the Varrock Museum has given the dragons is: Draconis Rex.
 * Some dragons have been known to have more than one head; the most that has been reported is three, though this is extremely rare. The process for this is likely very similar to what creates two-headed snakes and other reptiles: in mammals this process creates twins or triplets etc, but when a reptile has "twins" it is a screw up in embryonic cell division; where there are suppose to be two eggs instead there is only one, two offspring merging into the same egg, this creates one body but more than one head.
 * The blood of dragons is red.

Trivia

 * Amusingly, the in-game combat levels of the chromatic dragons follow the color variations of karate belts.

Gallery
Images provided by the Runscape Wiki.