#draipra

"The Underdark is home to a large amount of mystical wildlife, as a result it is rather common for some of the fauna of it to be somewhat fae-like, hence Fae Drakes, these dragons are amphibious and are visibly similar to that or Axolotls, specifically in the head fins when it comes to appearance, but on regenerative ability in terms of psychology. Pyras had actually never seen a Fae Drake before and to say she was mesmerized by their colors would be an understatement... she is cute when she's seeing something new to her."

Day 23: Kirin

"Kirin are a type of mystical dragon linked to fae creatures, these dragons are seen as a sign of nobility by the residents of the Underdark, as these dragons often appear to people they deem as trustworthy and those trusted by the majority of the Underdark are often put in leadership roles, some have attempted to lie and use saying a Kirin visited them to try and trick people into putting them in leadership roles, but the Kirin responded to those lies by firstly ending those who tried to abuse their presence, and secondly, by appearing to worthy individuals only when their is deemed a large enough audience, so that no one can lie about seeing it appear to them, they will indicate which individual they appeared for by bowing to that individual."

Day 24: Galaxy

"Gemstone Drakes are large stony-scaled dragons with crystals forming on them, people of the Underdark often deem these dragons as a sign of good fortune, however they moreso tend to appear in areas rich in gemstones, hence why this misconception exists, these dragons are also linked to the stars as at times they will leave the Underdark to fly in the moonlight, seemingly absorbing energy to use mystical attacks, my mother actually has an amethyst from one of these dragons shaped like a spear-head, she actually recommended I give it to Pyras so she could make some form of weapon using it since crystals from a Gemstone Drake can channel elemental energy extremely well and these crystals are also very durable."

25: Lacey

"Me and Pyras actually managed to encounter a dragonforged that through her little communication device to the Gilded Dragonforged, was once a dragon that one of the spirits that were combined to form the Gilded Dragonforged loved dearly, in fact the way the madman who made the Dragonforged managed to obtain said dragon soul was when it was looking for what was once this dragon. She was, and thankfully due to her still having her mind, still is known by the name Foamryr, she was once an ice dragon, but now is a pale dragonforged, even decorated like a wedding dress, almost as if the one that made the Dragonforged knew she was a dragon dear to another, she was happy to be reunited with her beloved."

Day 26: Egyptian

"Some dragons have towns and communities of their own, one of these types of dragons live in Arkeas, which compared to the colder, damper areas me and Pyras were used to being in, was hell to adjust to, especially for Pyras who almost had a heat stroke while we were traveling to a settlement of these dragons. Thankfully we were rather close and she got medical attention very quickly, the dragons of these communities are often less a type of dragon and moreso just many dragons under one unified banner, as many of the dragons were of varying species, but were able to be identified as part of the same community by their golden attire with some blue stripes on parts of it, as well as some wrappings around their throats, which they keep damp to help deal with the heat. Pyras has managed to recover thankfully, and the next location which these dragons were kind enough to take us to themselves is in a large oasis forest."

Day 27: Greek

"The two dragon communities of Arkeas, those of the desert, and those of the oasis, have had strained relations over the years, thankfully they have had a long time of peace currently due to a chieftess of the oasis dragons being much more diplomatic than her father before her. However though at a time of peace the dragons of the oasis, much like the Myrmexean people, pride themselves on being extremely combat-efficient, as most soldiers of the oasis dragons are clad in armor and shields, and due to evolution over the years, have developed spear like tails which they use as weapons."

Day 28: Artemis

"The current chieftess of the oasis dragons is named Artemis, and she is a very kind dragon, even lending me some books on her people's history as a sign of good faith. She much like her people, is a very proud warrior, though she uses arrow like ice breath as a weapon instead of a spearlike tail, she also wears much less armor, instead deeming leather and hide as all the armor she needs, she also worships the Draipran God of the Moon quite a bit, and her people have gotten plenty of boons since she started having rituals dedicated to said god inacted on a large level. She also for some reason seems to be very interested in lesbians though herself not caring for romance or any of the sort, as she was very curious about me and Pyras' relationship, Pyras did most of the talking since I had a bit of difficulty talking about it without getting flustered. I do hope to visit this oasis again in the future, but next time I am definitely making sure we take a less scenic route there as I do not want to be scared by Pyras getting overheated ever again."

Day 8: Volcano

"Volcanic magmadrakes are terrifying, like I don't know what possessed me to research one of these... THINGS, but they are incredibly dangerous and almost paradoxically strange, there bodies do not have blood but instead magma, which means technically they'd be closer to golems then dragons, but they speak dragon and act like dragons, I am aware of beings known as Dragonforged which are the result of a dragons soul being put into a mechanical vessel, so perhaps these are low tech versions of them? These dragons do however reproduce so it seems that however they were created they can somehow multiply. Also unlike most dragons, these dragons can fire a breath attack from their volcano-shaped and their mouth, AND EVEN DO IT SIMULTANEOUSLY."

Day 9: Smoke

"This is less so research on a specific dragon as it is research on a disease that effects primarily dragons. We call this illness the dark smoke, and it seems to be a sort of offshoot of an ailment which can effect deities, which is known as the corruption, this ailment can turn dragons extremely hostile, so far there is no cure, however research into making one is underway by a number a parties, ranging from Vante Tech to Pyras' village."

Day 10: Wizard

"Pyras is an incredible help with trying to research dragons, her village worships a golden Dragonforged which has a numerade of dragon souls in it, and it essentially bestows upon them magical abilities as thanks for it being welcome in their town. As a result of that dragon essentially being their towns personal deity, her village knows a lot about dragons, in part due to the amount of dragonforged that the Golden Dragonforged has been able to help come to terms with their new mechanical forms, they know all sorts of stuff about dragons and are an invaluable resource. Pyras herself has also helped me quite a bit with researching dragons, though she can be a bit of a handful at times, she has also helped me get through a lot of stuff, and I am forever grateful for her assistance, her village has also been like a second home for me as of late, other than Draconia College, I have never felt more at home than in this village as fond of dragons as I am.... hmm upon looking back on these notes I wonder if I might feel more for Pyras than I realize, I should contemplate on this when I have a chance."

Day 11: Beetle

"I will not attempt whatsoever to pretend I am not scared of bugs, they have too many limbs and they move way too quickly, this could be seen as ironic given how my people seem to normally be fascinated with bugs, but this dragon is one of the few buglike beings I am not scared of, these dragons, known by the very uncreative name of Beetledrakes, are far larger than normal bugs but are also far slower, so I am a bit more comforted by that, these dragons are omnivorous but mainly only feed on rotted wood and whatever remains they can find, these dragons surprisingly enough for their diet live in communities of up to 10, and often display altruism when it comes to protecting each other, even at risk of them dying themselves, I suppose they are like dragons in that regard, what is close to them they will guard with their lives."

Day 12: Forest

"If there was ever a time for me to be grateful for Pyras' assistance and fire magic, it was when researching these dragons. Firstly I will make it known I am not good with canines, canines are strong, fast, energetic, and smart, that on top of me having issues with the cold makes Lupindrakes very anxiety-inducing for me to research. Lupindrakes are very powerful ice dragons, to the extent that the fangs and claws of Lupindrakes are more durable than the claws and teeth of normal dragons despite being made of permafrost and not dragonbone. The reason why Pyras was an invaluable help during the researching of these dragons is because without her I am almost certain I might not be writing this, I had gotten hit by the breath attack of one of these dragons and had almost instantly started to suffer from hypothermia and my arm was almost lost to frostbite, thankfully Pyras managed to both warm me up and fend of the Lupindrakes. Y'know, she can be really caring sometimes, she even somehow managed to make me hot cocoa while I was recovering, I genuinely don't even know where she got the stuff to make hot cocoa. I don't know why but my face got kinda red when she offered me the cocoa, but I don't think I had a fever... I really need to start contemplating if I have feelings for Pyras."

Day 13: Storm

"Never in my entire life had I thought I'd get the honor of meeting Sildrantas herself, Sildrantas was one of the very first dragons to exist, and is one of the most powerful lightning dragons in all of Draipra. I hope I can talk to her again because she has so much knowledge about dragons that I could make entire libraries off of her knowledge of other dragons. Her manipulation of lightning is something to take note of as well, not only does she seem very knowledgeable about the conductivity of metals, but she also is very skilled at manipulating the voltage of her electrical attacks. Something to note about her lair is that the walls are intricately lined with copper and gold, both of which are EXTREMELY good conductors, this allows her to be able to easily defend her lair from most forms of attacks. She also seemed to keep trying to hint something to me about Pyras, something about her being a good choice of partner, which given how Sildrantas' partner is Vante and is partner in both a romantic, business, and all sorts of other ways I am very unsure of which way she meant, but I do agree, Pyras is a good partner."

Day 14: Valentine

"Crimson Lovewings are a form of dragon almost synonymous with love, in fact it is said that the form the Draipran Goddess of Love sometimes takes is a gilded from of Crimson Lovewing, I hadn't really expected to have an easy time finding one, due to the fact they only willingly reveal themselves to couples, or those in love with each other, so I was surprised in more ways than one when on my count 15 revealed themselves to us in the Forest of Indica, this can only mean that I am in fact in love with Pyras but how do I even tell her? I am as blind when it comes to romantic gestures as a deaf bat! Pyras is just so... perfect! Like now I realize I want to be with her but I want to confess to her in the most perfect way possible but I don't know the first thing about dates! I did realize that on some of my fast-approaching dragons of research are around my home town, maybe I could ask my parents for advice?"

"These dragons scare me, we don't have a name for them but they seem to act similar to the dragons that seem to guard some form of information from people, except these ones are always able to be seen and have way more tentacles. One almost ate Pyras it turns out these dragons are surprisingly weak to fire."

Day 30: Dragon Turtle

"Dragon Turtles are very big and wise dragons, they often live so long that miniature islands form on their backs, and are capable of growing flora. These dragons are filter feeders as well."

Day 31: Adventurous Spirit

"Over this period of research me and Pyras have done a lot of good work together. She and I are very close and I have decided to move in with Pyras, I likely won't be teaching in person at Draconia College as often but I will still continue to go on research expeditions with the help of Pyras. This photo we took for the last day of my research was actually the photo where me and Pyras managed to blush the least, as you can see she did a better job of not blushing than me. Anyways, this is Meira signing out for now, talk to you all next time!"

And that is my Smaugust posts concluded, it was fun to do this, and I look forward to whatever next art month thing I do! I will see you guys whenever I make another post, but until then I hope you enjoyed!

"Over my time with Pyras I have come across a number of mechanical dragons known as Dragonforged, these creatures only consistent attribute is that they have the soul of some form of dragon forcefully placed within their metal body. The specific one for this entry was a dragonforged I can only describe as feral, it's attacks were beastlike, unlike how most dragons seem to have well thought out attacks, in fact when me and Pyras were fleeing from where we came across it, the mechanical dragon accidentally destroyed itself by causing the ceiling to collapse on it, at first it seemed like it was trying to get out but then it appeared to have used a sharp piece of rubble to... free itself in a different way... Pyras told me that the Gilded Dragonforged her people worship was one that escaped from some crazed artificer and necromancer, maybe this was just the result of being trapped in that state without any form of relief for too long."

Day 16: Loon

"I will first state that much of what I know about this specific dragon is based solely on observations and hypothesies, these dragons appear to be guards of knowledge that has been somehow marked by what I can only assume is the same beast the knowledge is about, they can only be seen by those normally called insane, however it is theorized that these may be more the cause than the effect, as those who have read the accursed information aren't usually insane in any way beforehand. Part of why I am particularly confused by these dragons is that despite me never reading the knowledge they guard, and me being sane and proven so a number of times, I can see them, I don't know how or why, but what I do know is that I have been seeing more appear as of late, and not in a way that suggests they are tormenting people, but in a way where they appear to be waiting for something. Perhaps their master soon arrives, I can only ponder."

Day 17: Mythology

"Vante Noir is known well by all to be one of the greatest minds in all Draipra, his inventions have helped countless people, and though not as commonly known, most are aware of Vante being a water elemental, however none are as familiar with his elemental form as my people, as Vante was created in our native homeland, in what was once a gigantic underground lake, it is thought that a sudden shift of numerous forces caused the entire lake to become sentient, forming Vante, and even more peculiar, giving him intellect surpassing anything that had been seen at the time, our people were the first to witness him, and also the first to welcome him, given how in his human facade he takes on the form of a male of our people it would seem he is fond of us, possibly for welcoming him to life with such open arms."

Day 18: Dragonsteel

"I had not really taken Pyras to be the type to give gifts, however the one she gave me is rather incredible, she seemed to give them to me as a way to ask me out on a date, which I said yes to with probably the most relief in my entire life, as I told her, I had been stressing for a while on how and when to ask her out, she seemed to get a chuckle out of that, heh. Oh right I was writing this entry due to what the weapon itself is made of, dragonsteel is a powerful metallic alloy forged using a mixture of dragonblood, iron, and the breath of a dragon. This material is very sought after, however most dragons won't give it to anyone, luckily enough for Pyras, the Gilded Dragonforged does reward it's followers for a job well done, and it gave her quite possibly one of the most concentrated instances of dragonsteel out there at the moment of writing this, she even managed to find two elemental eyes of electricity and put them in the hilts of the blades, like most of her people's weapons these are trick weapons and they combine to form a standard sort of blade, I however prefer them separated because every time I use it put together I end up cutting myself somehow, and when they are charged with electricity that makes it even worse."

Day 19: Corvid:

"Crowdrakes are small dragons native primarily to entrances to the Underdark, they tend to snatch loose change they find from trade caravans coming to and from the Underdark to add to their hordes, these dragons are usually friendly, however if someone hurts one Crowdrake, all the nearby ones will often come to its aid, and being pecked to death by these dragons is not a quick way to go. One of my first memories of dragons was when I was little and I had gotten lost, some of these dragons actually found me and took good care of me until my parents eventually found me, ever since I've always seen these dragons as more wise and caring then many give them the credit for, many people actually call them beggar drakes due to their humble hoards, and many say giving a spare coin to one will bring you good fortune, personally when I find one I always make sure to give them as much as I can afford to, as a token of my appreciation to these dragons for helping me back then."

Day 20: Nightjar

"Me and Pyras decided to visit my home for our date, the Underdark is home to many mystical things, however one of the few without some sort of majestic properties are the simple Nightdrake, these dragons, about the size of a hawk, are nocturnal and prey mainly on small birds and bugs, and given the Underdark's abundance of bugs it has no problem finding food. My people actually see these dragons as a sign of good fortune, who knows maybe if I'm lucky I might get to see a Dragon of Paradise with Pyras, that would surely make a date to remember."

Day 21: Birds of Paradise

"WHEN I SAID MAYBE I'LL SEE A DRAGON OF PARADISE I WAS JOKING BUT MY LUCK TURNED OUT VERY GOOD. Um today when me and Pyras were strolling through a crystal forest here in the Underdark, we heard one and immediately came to see if our ears were telling the truth, ONLY FOR US TO FIND 6! I didn't even believe my own eyes at first, on a bright side though my people say finding a pair of Dragons of Paradise is a sign of undying love for couples so when I told Pyras about it I actually managed to get her to blush, her face almost turned more red than her own suit!"

Here's two of my characters from Draipra being gay

Aftermath

Myrmexean Sentinels

Myrmexean Sentinels are essentially the police/military of the colonies, they protect the colony they live in from threats and have a strict honor code similarly to the real-world bushido code that the Japanese samurai followed. A Myrmexean Sentinel can easily be identified by their long scorpion-like stinger, which they use alongside a glaive made from impulselace, a metal found exclusively in Arkeas, which can channel elemental powers. Myrmexean Sentinels are often equipped with an Eye of Elements, and will often make their attire match the color scheme of the element they have. When a Myrmexean Sentinel fails to protect their colony, they go into a self-imposed exile and often go into the profession of bounty-hunting or being a bodyguard.

Myrmexean Guards

Myrmexean Guards serve as hunters and royal guards, they can easily be identified by the 4 spider-like arms on their backs. They often hunt prey for the colony by spinning a web that is easily able to entangle animals, if a Myrmexean Guard is unable to spin a web in time to catch a prey, they will use a bolo in order to entangle the prey's legs. The Myrmexean Guards carry on their person an Impulselace mace which channels the power of the Eye of Elements when/if they are given one. The Myrmexean Guards despite the fact they are the guards of the royalty of the colony are often much more laid-back then the Myrmexean Sentinels.

Myrmexean Workers/Scouts