M U C C E G A I

1: a Riven- not a dragon. these rarely seen beings are roughly described as a mix between selkies, mammalian mermaids, and water spirits. deep in the supernatural category of mythological sea creatures, but not quite incomprehensible horror tier. like, they're spooky, but fully comprehensible.

2: a Fairy Wring- actually a dragon. these smaller dragons resemble either haphazard mushroom clusters or jellyfish depending on who you ask, but they're closer to cephalopods. they freely show other sapient creatures their hoards because they don't care about bits getting stolen. you probably won't be able to get away from wherever they spirit you away to without their help, and besides, everything ends up back in the sea eventually. even you. they just have to wait :)

3: a Silky Hydra- not a dragon. it's contested on whether it's even a true hydra. when a head is severed from the main body it seemingly awakens from death with its own fresh consciousness and sprouts a new body, which is closer to reproduction than a splitting limb. heads still attached to the main body think and move as one creature, but the "hatched" heads clearly act like separate individuals and are carried back to the Silky Hydra's nest to grow until their new bodies are big enough to set out on their own. the damaged neck stumps close quickly, and new head buds develop within a few weeks.

4: a Dryvern- actually a dragon. much like Rivens, they're rare and more on the supernatural side. despite having no wings and an abstract body plan, they are commonly found in places they should only be able to get to by flying, surrounded by vegetation thriving in strange, unsuitable conditions.

5: a Lapidrairy- unknown. often found in the abandoned hoards of dead dragons looking for...something. other dragons stay away from them, looking away and going still if one comes near. they will not say why.

6: a Fulgrace- actually a dragon. these flying serpents appear during storms, causing strange lightning phenomena. they relish in being struck by lightning because it removes harmful parasites, and the excess energy is stored in their ever growing antler-like sensory organs for future use. they communicate through crackles, pops, and deep electrical hums that are clearly understood by other sapient beings no matter their language. the sound doesn't actually matter, it's just the audio result of them messing with the electric signals in your brain to make you perceive whatever they mean.

7: a Queendrake- depends on who you ask. these are the adult forms of a specific kind of mandrake root that emerges from the ground every hundred years in one large haunting chorus. researchers fight over whether these mysterious entities are dragons, dryads, or the result of cicadas evolving really really weirdly. no one has a solid answer because Queendrake are far more concerned with carrying out whatever business they have to attend to before they burrow back into the earth than explaining their biological quirks. dwarven and dwarven adjacent communities see them as minor deities, referring to them as Goddess Veins.