Crysanthium

(Breeding Notes: XXX Starthistle, Crystalized, Paired with Alvar)


"Have you ever heard of a shy species of dragons who live side by side with bees like no other dragon, taking care of them and making the absolute best honey in all of Sornieth? You haven't? They are called the Honeytummies, and they'll surely be one of the sweetest dragons you'll ever meet!"


ORIGIN

This originally elusive and secretive species came to be when a group of dragons had an exquisite taste for honey and specific plants. This very special taste of honey only grew stronger in each generation, and their very specific diet eventually altered the dragons appearance. This group originated in the Everbloom Gardens of the Viridian Labyrinth, and was later to be called "The First Hive". They lived a very happy and peaceful life in the shade of the lush trees and blooming flowers, enjoying their little paradise to the fullest. However, their peace was to be broken...

As The First Hive had grown in the safe of their own little paradise, they had no knowledge of dangers that might come from outside of their territory, and one faithful day, outsiders found a way to their sacred lands. As they didn't know how to react to them, they kindly and politely welcomed them with open arms and invited them to their home. Unfortunately, this species of dragons was all but kind, and they took advantage of the naive little dragons, and as soon as they were let inside the hive, they started their vicious attack, killing the queen and king of the hive and thus getting all other dragons in the hive in chaos and panick without their leaders. All of the remaining dragons who didn't get caught in the vicious attack regrouped in the borders of the Viridian Labyrinth, broken and afraid. They had to move from the Everbloom Gardens now that their territory was taken by the Hornets.

The First Hive divided into four groups who left to find new homes from different parts of Sornieth. Each group went through a lot before finding their new place in this new and strange world. Eventually every group found a home: One took home under the warm sun of the Sunbeam Ruins, one decided to stay in the favourable breezes in Windswept Plateau, one found peace of mind between the tall trees in Starfall Isles and one took on the challenge to settle down in Dragonhome. After time had passed and new generations of descendants of the First Hive had born, these younger generations were born with the strong longing to go back to where their ancestors left ages ago: Back to Everbloom Gardens. Back to the lush and fertile paradise called the Viridian Labyrinth. And it didn't take long when small groups of these younger dragons from each hive across the Sornieth took flight and headed to their long lost home.

These groups formed a new colony and settled down to their ancestors old hive, from where the Hornets had long ago left to find new prey. These younger generations weren't quite as secretive as their ancestors, even tho their past had thought them to be cautious towards strangers. Soon this species of dragons came to be known as Honeytummies.

Three currently biggest hives are located in Viridian Labyrinth, Sunbeam Ruins and Windswept Plateau, and they are all descendants of the First Hive, Viridan Labyrinth's hive being the biggest of them. The fourth and much smaller hive that consists of descendants of the First Hive is located in Dragonhome, but it's much more well-known than the other three due to them being used to more harsh environment than the other hives, and still managing to make a living with honey in those barren lands. Nearly all Honeytummies left the Starfall Isles to head back to the Viridian Labyrinth, and those who stayed live in much smaller groups or are scattered in new clans.

Honeytummies can nowadays be found in every corner of Sornieth, even tho these are most often one of a kind dragons who have had the exceptional courage to leave their hive and find their own path in life in some other clan.



BEHAVIOR

Because of their specie's past, Honeytummies can be quite shy and cautious when approached by a stranger. The queen and king will personally meet every guest their hive gets to estimate whether or not the guest is trustworthy enough to let them visit their hive. Once you gain their trust tho they are very chatty little dragons who will treat their guests like royalty and love telling stories about their past to anyone who's new to their species!
Their basic characteristics are friendlyness, kindness, helpfulness and happiness. All Honeytummies share the same positivity and joyful attitude towards life.

Honeytummies are peace loving dragons who try to avoid conflict of any kind in any way possible. They will flee from combat and avoid using violence. They fight only when there's absolutely no way to flee or if their loved ones are in life threatening danger they can't escape from. However, when this type of situation occurs, the whole hive will turn against the attacker with the lead of it's queen and king.

Despite them being very carefree, they are very hardworking dragons when it comes to making honey, tending their beloved bees and taking care of their gardens. Every Honeytummy knows their place and purpose in the hive similar to honeybees, and have a natural urge fill their role helping the hive to flourish. You never hear a Honeytummy complaining about his or hers role in the hive.

Every hive's community is very close-knit, and all Honeytummies treat each other like one big family even if they aren't related to each other. The queen and king of the hive considers all of the Honeytummies in their hive as their children, and sincirely care about them a lot, often visiting all parts of the hive to see how everybody's doing and occasionally helping in the daily chores and routines. Visiting Honeytummies from other hives are treated like they were part of the hive they are visiting in.



CULTURE

Bigger Honeytummy colonies are called "hives". A hive consists from at least one pair of royal jelly Honeytummies, who are considered to be the queen and king of the hive. This special pair is in charge of the hives order, overall well-being and protection. The second kind of Honeytummies required in a hive are so called "original" Honeytummies, who most closely resemble their ancestors. They act similarly to a worker bee, being responsible of making most of the hive's honey and taking care of the hive's bees and other possible familiars. In addition to these two kind of Honeytummies, a hive has to have also a few honeycomb Honeytummies to look after the young hatchlings of the hive.

Besides the core variants of a hive, in bigger hives there will also be pollinators who look after the gardens, and rare so called "crystallized" Honeytummies who are advisors and helpers of the queen and king. This makes these Honeytummies third in command after the queen and king, the queen being first in command and the king being second in command right after his queen. Any royal jelly Honeytummies that are born in the hive after the queen and king are born warriors and guards. Royal jellies are the only kind of Honeytummies that have a natural instinct to protect the hive and the power to grant courage to the whole hive to protect themselves if the fight is ineviable.

The actual hive is often build to be round in shape, closely resembling a beehive. It can either be one big round lair or consist of several smaller round lairs that are joined together. The hive can be build from many different kind of materials, often depending of which kind of area the hive will be build and what element are it's residents. For example, an Earth Honeytummy who builds a hive in Dragonhome, will most likely use sandstone, where a Nature Honeytummy could make their hive from trees in the Viridian Labyrinth. A hardened treesap similar to what faes make their nests from is also a popular choice as a building material amongst all Honeytummies. Hives built from treesap are surprisingly hard and sturdy, and they are very beautiful to look at too, as they look like the hive would be made of honey or amber!

The hive has one main entrance and one secret exit, that's built for emergencies. The entrance leads to a big entrance hall that's actually part of their inside garden, which serves for bee keeping, nectar gathering and festive purposes. Honeytummies grow more sensitive flowers and plants inside the hive to secure their well-being and prime nectar quality, since that nectar is mainly for the queen and king of the hive. The outside garden consists of more easier flowers and plants. Inside the hive there are many floors and chambers, and it's very easy to get lost into them if you're not a Honeytummy. Queen's and king's chambers are either in the very top of the hive or underground beneath the hive, and in some cases the hive might even be built in a way that there are more than one of these royal chambers.

As mentioned before, bees are very important to Honeytummies, and they live side by side with them. There are way too many honey bees and bumble bees in every hive for a regular dragon to count, but every Honeytummy knows exactly how many bees their hive has. These little fluffy helpers live in peace and symbiosis with their way bigger kin, and these species also protect each other. For example: an injured Honeytummy will quickly be swarmed by bees, who protect this precious dragon from any other than their own kin.