(post is slightly out of date presently on genes and such, hub is more up to date as we are in the middle of a revamp)
SUBSPECIES REQUIREMENTS
FLIGHTS/EYE COLOR: Any.
Copper Cave Dragons inhabit every land in Sornieth. Visually, dragons with Lightning, Earth, Water, Wind, or Nature eyes tend to match very well with these dragons, but any eye color is fine.
BREEDS: Any.
Some clans may be formed of only a single dragon breed, others have a diverse mix of copper dragons. Bogsneaks, Ridgebacks, Nocturnes, and Snappers may be most naturally suited to cave life, but any clan will benefit from the addition of others, as well. Bigger dragons may be powerful excavators, while smaller species like Spirals and Faes are particularly adept at squeezing into narrow spaces and scouting areas where clans may want to expand their cave systems. Some clans live in high, arid stone caves, best suited to feathered and furred species like Coatls, Tundras, and Skydancers. These dragons can adapt to life in a variety of cave environments.
GENE & COLOR REQUIREMENTS
PRIMARY
Genes: Clown, Skink, Crystal, Tapir
Colors:
COPPER only
SECONDARY
Genes: Alloy, Basic, Bee, Butterfly, Current, Daub, Eye Spots, Facet, Freckle, Hex, Hypnotic, Peregrine, Rosette, Safari, Saturn, Seraph, Shimmer, Spinner, Striation, Stripes, Toxin
NOTE: High-contrast genes like Spinner and Toxin may produce bright clashing colors like pinks and purples that aren't very appropriate for this subspecies. These genes are allowed for all colors within the listed color range, for the sake of simplicity, but in general the idea is that secondary colors/genes shouldn't necessarily be so bright that they overpower the "glowing" qualities of the dragon's primaries.
Colors:
BLUE-GREEN RANGE: From IRIS to MOSS.
Quote:
(Colors included are Iris, Storm, Twilight, Indigo, Sapphire, Navy, Cobalt, Ultramarine, Blue, Periwinkle, Lapis, Splash, Cornflower, Sky, Stonewash, Overcast, Steel, Denim, Abyss, Phthalo, Deep Azure, Caribbean, Teal, Cerulean, Cyan, Robin, Aqua, Turquoise, Spruce, Pistachio, Seafoam, Mint, Jade, Spearmint, Thicket, Peacock, Emerald, Shamrock, Jungle, Hunter, Forest, Camo, Algae, Swamp, Avocado, Green, Fern, Mantis, Pear, Leaf, Radioactive, Honeydew, Peridot, Chartreuse, Spring, Crocodile, Olive, Murk, Moss)
COPPER RANGE: From CINNAMON to COPPER. Colors also allowed, but from outside that range, are BRONZE, TARNISH, BLOOD, AND BRICK. Also allowed, but only in Spinner or Toxin, is STRAWBERRY.
Quote:
(Colors included in the range are Cinnamon, Caramel, Sand, Tan, Beige, Stone, Taupe, Slate, Driftwood, Latte, Dirt, Clay, Sable, Umber, Soil, Hickory, Tarnish, Ginger, Brown, Chocolate, Auburn, Copper)
TERTIARY
Genes: Basic (any color), Capsule, Contour, Gembond, Ghost, Glimmer, Lace, Okapi, Opal, Runes, Scales, Smirch, Spines, Underbelly
Colors: If the tertiary gene is very visible or obtrusive (so pretty much anything but Basic or Spines), ideally it would also be one of the acceptable secondary colors listed above. Any color that doesn't really clash with the dragon's main colors is fine, though. Other genes that would heavily cover or distract from the primary gene/coloration, like Thylacine or Circuit, are not acceptable. With the Underbelly gene, any color complimentary to either the primary or secondary color is acceptable... for instance, sand or beige would match well enough with the primary copper, or tones in the blue-green range listed above for secondaries. White-range underbelly or "snowbelly" is also fine. Any tertiary color that isn't super bright, clashing, or distracting is okay, but colors in the listed secondary ranges above are definitely preferred.
SUBSPECIES LORE
Copper Cave Dragons who were born in high, arid, rocky caves in the cliffs and spires of lands like Dragonhome, the Sunbeam Ruins, and the Shifting Expanse, or the unforgiving landscapes of the Ashfall Waste and Scarred Wasteland, might have more muted colors that will help them blend in to bare stone and volcanic rock. These dragons may often be predominantly in the Copper range secondary and tertiary colors, with genes that only subtlely highlight them with color, or they may have adapted a single point of bright blue-green color, like a glimmering underbelly, that they can hide or expose as they choose.
Others are products of their environments in different ways. In the Sea of a Thousand Currents, the Southern Icefield, and Starfall Isles, where their cave systems are more likely to host many deep mineral-rich pools, lakes, or sea-caves, many clans have developed crystal-encrusted hides, and highlight colors in bright, rich tones of blues and greens that help them attract sea-dwelling prey when submerged in water, or break up or disguise their silhouette from creatures looking up at them from the water.
Similar colors are prevalent also in the Viridian Labyrinth, where Copper Cave Dragons in tones of green are particularly well-camouflaged both above ground in the verdant greenery or below in their caves. In the Tangled Wood, deep blues that help them blend in to the perpetual shadow, and particularly powerful bio-luminescence when they want to produce their light, are especially helpful qualities. Copper Cave Dragons with coloration that helps them blend in above ground as well as in their caves are much more likely to venture more frequently above ground, and are more likely also to wander further and potentially join other clans.
In the Windswept Plateau, these dragons are less reclusive and are particularly bold, and often brightly colored as well; their caves are often carved right into the sides of the cliffs, sometimes even layered one on top of another, with layers and layers of cave dragons burrowing horizontal "floors" of dwellings into the rock right down to the sea. They can often be seen out fishing over the waters that separate their lands from the Southern Icefield, and many of them enjoy luxurious hot springs inside their caves, heated by the magma running beneath their caves before it rises to the surface nearby in the Ashfall Waste. These dragons love to have fun, flying about like brightly colored kites, and are particularly likely to have bright, wild colors in tones of blue and green, which the cave dragons of the Windswept Plateau find particularly attractive. Of all the Copper Cave Dragons, theirs are often the most elaborate and colorful mating displays and ceremonial customs, and they tend to be highly social with others outside their own clans.
Though each region may have particularly prevalent features, and some isolated populations may display only certain adaptations, Copper Cave Dragons can be fairly intrepid explorers, and don't hesitate to venture to other areas of Sornieth, where they may intermingle with other Copper Cave Dragons, or other dragon populations entirely, to produce new variations. Dragons digging new tunnels may find themselves breaking suddenly into the tunnels of their neighbors, within their own regions or under the border into neighboring ones, which often results in friendly intermingling and eventually both clans joining into one. The Copper Cave Dragons of the Windswept Plateau, being particularly adventurous and prone to flying off to distant lands for the fun of it, can often be found scattered among Copper Cave clans all over Sornieth, contributing their brightly colored genes to future generations.
Only dragons with certain qualities are considered to be a part of the subspecies, but Copper Cave Dragons do not by any means only intermingle with their own kind, and many may breed with other dragons and produce offspring of wildly different colors. Some clans have even joined with other clans above ground, to create a single large clan that lives and hunts both in the world above and in the caves below, creating a sort of combined culture of their own.
For discussion on the subspecies itself, please visit the
Copper Cave Dragon Hub!
