#widewing

Fandom: Dragon Orb Rating: Teen Genre: Angst/Friendship Characters: Segun, Widewing, Pell, Barnabas Adding more onto this story again, courtesy of the next @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt #311: True Colours! Skipping over to the other side of the conflict now with some Segun pov! <<Chapter 5

What does Barnabas think he’s doing? Segun wondered.  The host of day dragons with their nauseatingly bright blue scales had been impossible to miss as they’d arrived, only to land some way back, away from the Oracle’s cave.  Any chance they might’ve had at catching his enclave off guard and back-footed had gone with the loss of their momentum, leaving him to gaze out at the mass of blue at the end of the valley in puzzlement.

No doubt, the irritating young riders were to blame for this – of course they, with their naïve youth, thought the day dragons a match for the might of the night dragons, although Segun had thought that perhaps Pell and Shadow would have known better.  No doubt their success with the night orb had made them over-confident, although Segun still could not see the logic behind deeming half the number of day dragons a practical foe for the night dragon enclave.

Even if the youngsters had not realised its futility, Barnabas should have done.  The leader of the day dragon enclave was supposed to be counted as wise, from the stories Segun had heard, although when their paths had crossed in person, Segun had found him to be insufferable with his holier than thou attitude.  Despite his honeyed words, the day dragon enclave’s leader had always given off the impression that he thought himself better, if only for the colour of his dragon’s scales.

Smaugust day 15 - Designs, Hatchling Widewing

Smaugust Day 3 - Biology, Pinnae

the evolution of Dragon ear pinnae (the cartilage structures)! being dromaeosauroids, NVMR dragons do not have ear pinnae analogous to mammalian ears. instead, it came as a result of some display feathers lining behund the ear and on the cheek. over time, natural selection worked in favour for larger, more elaborate display feathers, and a cartilage structure supprting the feathers to allow larger ones began to evolve. despite being a prominent feature in stem-dragons, display feathering in the ears is uncommon amongst true dragons, with many having sharp sharp quills on the ear like structures or fur like fluff.

however, some drakoniforms did retain display feathering on the cheeks and ears, such as griffins and siren. in some dragons and drakoniforms, these cartilage structures even ended up secondarily doing the same thing as mammalian pinnae. this is true for Lung, Ryu, and Mouse Griffin as examples. although the cartilage is largely immobile in most dragonkin, it is somewhat mobile in thesr three species, though not as much as mammalian ears.

Smaugust day 1 - Hatchling

Week old Northern Widewing, stood with parent.

SMAUGUST IS ON. I'm so excited. I might not keep the quality/style consistent but I'll use this as another opportunity to do some lore flexing! I'll try and use the header everytime too, with a link to the prompt list I'm using.

the young's independence varies between species, however there is a trend in huge-bodied species having precocial young, which are able to see, walk, and care for themselves soon after hatching. Northern Widewings migrate closer to the equator for breeding, returning to the same partner year after year, and incubating eggs on a reused patch of burnt grass. the adults linger for two to three weeks and give their hatched clutches of half a dozen their first meal, before migrating back north to leave the young to fend for themselves. at around the size of a horse, Widewing chicks tend to walk bipedally, and climb through niches as they grow. like most dragons, they have a soft feathery down, but Widewings moult this by their 5th year.

Smaugust day 8 - Flying

A Marine Widewing crossing a broad sea, with some seagulls tagging along.

Most large dragons who are flighted rely more on passive flight for long distances - utilising air currents on broad wingspans. Combined with robust legs and a lightweight skeleton, they typically have no trouble taking off, though they use a running start similar to a swan on water. Lung dragons are the only non-winged dragon capable of flight, utilising air elemental magic to slither through the sky like a serpent.

Widewings are aptly named for their exceptionally long and narrow wingspan. These dragons are among the largest flighted species, and are adapted and known for their great seasonal migrations. Their prey of choice are typically other beasts, usually ignoring animals smaller than half their own size, and utilising their massive wings to dive from above and disorient their prey.

finished up a dragon skeletal as close to a 'base' as possible, bearing in mind this varies wildly by species, some missing a set of limbs or being specialised to distinct niches causing a completely different shape. I used a very "classic" species out of my phylogeny, as if I get this basis down with the how the mid-limbs work, it's much easier to adapt it to those without em! the dragons are theropod dinosaurs, descending from a dromaeosauroid cousin, with a little bit of magic to get those dope horns and hexapodal nature.