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The Dragons of Kaomagion

Dragons. Everyone knows what a dragon is. A giant lizard with leathern wings that breathes fire. A beast that rules the skies and kills without reason or remorse. Right? Wrong. Dragons. Four-legged reptilians with bat-like wings. Covered in powerful, protective scales with the ability to breathe different elements and sub-elements.

Now a quick tangent for I know that none of the people I've spoken with up to this point in my life understand this. There are only four elements. Earth, air, fire and water. Metal is a sub-element of earth. Everything used in the creation of metal comes directly from the earth. Blood is a sub-element of water, earth and air for it is composed of water, metal (earth) and oxygen and carbon dioxide (air). The list can go on, but I think that's good enough for now. Let's get back to our beloved dragons.

Dragons have a wide range of weapons to work with. They have their sharp claws, teeth and, depending on subspecies, varying horns and other spikes covering their bodies and even their tails in many cases. They can easily use their strong tails like whips. Their weight alone could kill a human. Dragons also tend to have decently long and flexible necks, which allow for a few variations of head related attacks that do not include biting.

Now, that is all pretty basic knowledge, but there is more. Much more to the name of Dragon. Dragons have many variations, from having four legs and a set of wings to just having the wings or just having the legs. In the following areas I shall go over these subspecies of dragons, for they all proudly have dragon's blood running through their veins.

From the purebred dragons came the wyverns, the amphitheres, the drakes, the lindwyrms, the wyrms and the dragon elves. From these six main subspecies of dragons came the hydras, the lungs, the sea serpents, the quetzalcoatls, the cockatrices, the kirins and the six-legged salamanders. But those are more like titles because there are so many different types of dragons under each of these basic categories. Let's begin this bestiary with how to tell the difference between each subspecies of dragon. We have already gone over the purebred dragons, so we will start with the six main subspecies.

Wyverns. Many without prior knowledge would easily assume this ferocious beast as a descendant of the dragons, but they were slightly different. Many say that wyverns have one pair of hind legs and a set of wings, but if you pay close attention to the structure of the wyverns, you can see that they have four legs and two wings just like a dragon, however the wyverns' wings are attached to their front legs. For each subspecies of wyvern, this can look different, but their wings are indeed attached to their front legs.

Drakes. The only difference between a dragon and a drake is that a dragon has wings and a drake does not. They are not easily confused with lizards, as drakes are much larger, typically standing at least twice the size of an average human.

Amphitheres. Much like the drakes, they were easily distinguished from the purebred dragons. Amphitheres have a long snake-like body with at least one set of wings. Some subspecies of amphitheres can have six or more sets of wings. However, amphitheres do not have any legs. They also range in size from the size of a human's palm to a size able to swallow an adult dragon.

Lindwyrms. Such a rare sight that many people do not even know that this subspecies of dragon exists in this world. They are similar to the amphitheres in body shape. However, instead of a pair of wings, they have a single pair of legs.

Wyrms. With their mouth closed, the wyrms are sometimes thought of as gigantic snakes or earthworms for they have a scaled snake-like body, but their head looks more like that of a regular worms'... Except with more teeth. They mostly live under the desert sands. Typically, it's easier to find a lindwyrm than the elusive wyrms.

Hydras. A subspecies of the drake. At least typically. Hydras have four legs, a reptilian body and two or more heads. On extremely rare occasions, typically with magical or godly influences, hydras can be born with, grow, or be given wings.

Lungs. These dragons are typically considered a cross species between the wyrms and drakes. They have four legs and no wings like a drake, but their body is more serpentine in nature. Like hydras, on extremely rare occasions they may also be blessed with wings, but those that have been blessed with them typically only use them for rituals or on special occasions because they don't actually need those wings to fly due to being born with the ability to fly without them.

Quetzalcoatls. They are a subspecies of wyrm. Basically, it looks like a fairly normal snake but is covered with feathers as well as scales, however it has no wings.

Cockatrices. They are typically about the size of a normal chicken to the size of an adult collie. Some people have mistaken them for exotic or rare chickens and this has ended up in many deaths. The cockatrice is a very skittish and shy dragon whose breath is fatal. The difference is hard to spot right away and varies from subspecies to subspecies of cockatrice but typically, instead of feathers, they will have scales on their backs and chests. Their tail feathers are typically longer than a normal chicken, or they will have a lizard-like tail. They also usually have two or three long skinny fingers with sharp talons on the elbows of their wings.

Kirins. Now, there's a lot of speculation on kirins and a lot of arguing about whether they are a subspecies of dragons or unicorns and here is where you find the answer. They are a cross species of dragon, specifically drake, and unicorn. Their body is like that of a horse with varying patterns, colorations and mixes of scales and fur. They typically have a single horn like a unicorn, but split like that of a dragon's horn or even a deer's antler. Their tails also vary between that of a normal horse or that of a dragon.

Six-legged salamanders. It's debatable about whether they are a subspecies of lindwyrms or drakes, but truth be told, they are a cross between drake and lindwyrm. They are wingless and have a salamander-like body but have six legs. They are only found where you can find lava because they live in and thrive on lava.

Sea serpents. The dragons of deep waters. Sea serpent is just a general title for the dragonic species that live in the waters of Kaomagion. Every species previously mentioned have versions of themselves that dwell underwater. Some water species have large fins they use instead of legs, while some have both. Some have wings that they can use, while others have large spikes or fins to put on display instead. For every species of dragon you can find on land, typically there is a species of dragon similar that lives underwater.

Dragon elves. I saved dragon elves for last because there are a variety of elves with dragon's blood. Most take on a "humanoid" shape, being elves with scales covering certain parts of their bodies, sometimes even wings. Most dragon elves can also transform into a full dragon form whose size depends on both species and the elf's age, in comparison to the dragon species' blood that runs through their veins. Some dragon elf species also have different colored skin that matches or compliments the colors of their scales. Some have tails while some don't. All of them are easily identifiable as elves because of their tall, thin bodies, pointy ears and long well-kept hair.

Alright, now that you can tell the differences between the dragons much better, most people would think we'd go over their magic abilities next. Well, we are, but we aren't. Each dragon species and subspecies has varying degrees of magical powers that do not just vary from species to species but also within the species. So the question stands. How can one have a single, not oversized bestiary while explaining how each dragon's powers work?

The answer is rather simple. We will start at the beginning...