Gloon

6000t
most second-generation banescale are lightning or wind aligned, since they are the landmasses most closely bordering the fire flight. fewer banescale would have thought that flying out into the sea was an immediate good idea if they didn't already know the water flight was there, so there's significantly less second-generation banescale from water than from lightning and wind and the second-generations from water are mostly from parents who tried to fly across the sea and fell exhausted into the water only to find out there were clans down there, but still more than there tends to be of the other elements. banescale that flew across the stretch of ocean to the ice flight instead would mostly have been picked up and likely variously imprisoned and treated poorly by the natives, especially gaolers-not that anywhere on sornieth tends to react especially well to the sudden arrival of new species, especially ones never seen before and with traits not matching what current dragons are known for, especially with no apparent history of their own.

came unnamed, was named gloon on 10:09 AM Wednesday, January 20, 2021 (EST)
used to look like this , banescale, marble, and striation were applied on 4:14 pm 3/31/2021
wraith added on 11:27 am 4/2/2021

\breed changing mechanics:
breed change scrolsl work by morphing your body to as closely match as possible the shape of the dragon wh othe scroll was made from readign the shape of. this means it will give yo ua lesser version of any major physical differences they had as well as retainign lesser versions of your own existing mutations (ex: baldwin's fur.) making a breedchange scroll requires a model and most large scalep roduced "reputable" ones will use dragons who are as close to what is considerd the "breed standard" or "platonic ideal" as possible to ensure consistent and relatively safe and successful results, but more off-market or homemade scrolls have more variable models. it's a kidn of magic that's good at big changes, but no so much small ones, and egne scrolls run on a modified and weaker version of the same thing, tuned towards pickign out individual elements ratehr than copyign the whole thing. breed changes, surprisingly, were invented first-gene changes were a magical technology that had to be fine-tuned further from there.
breedchanging generally results in the original instincts fadign to be replaced iwht new ones, which can dramatically alter an entirep erosnality of it's storng enough. the newly changed has to take some time to learn to control their new body without knockign thigns over and stuff. it's easier the closer to their former anatomy their new body is.

guardians transforming into pearlcatchers have an easier time than most, when their guarding instincts start to fade and be replaced wiht protectiveness of their pearl, which feels similar and familiar. most guardians who transform into pearlcatchers will choose to begin their pearl by encasing the previous object of their charge instint-however this can take a dark turn depending on what exactly their original charge is.

guadians in general are loathe to change their brreed, worrying for what wil lahppe nwhen their charge protection instincts are lost-however their inability to operate ost machinery and devices including books and to do many josbs other than physical labor and resource hauling and the sterottypes htat come with it are a strong social incentice for them to change anyway. some may change specifically to ESCAPE their chargem if it's somethign that pains them to be so protective of, f it's somethign they hate. this leads to a skewed populaton of former guardian breedchangeds, with a disproportionae numebr of them beign those that hated their charge.

what happens if a gurdian breedchanges ot osmethign else and loses their chare ge instonct, then breedchages back? do they return to theo riginal charge or do their insticnts find a new one?

pearlcatchers culturally are loathe to become "lesser breeds", though how storng this is depends on how heavily the individual in question was socialized to view other breeds as lesser. attitudes of racial supremacy are not inborn, and are most concentrated in the light territories and less so beyond. even if not instilled with stereotypical attitudes of supremacy, many will stil lworr yfor what will ahppen to their bpnd with their pearl, in a way quite lik e but not identical in energ yto a guardian. a pearlcatycher that chooses to change theirb reed in a population with a high pearlcatcher density will likely be the subjecgt of gossip and catty wine mom social outrage whispering or how coudl someone willingly degrade themselves by becomign a lesser breed, provided the local culture has that sort of attitude. this won't happen in a palce where the pearlcatchers aren't influenced by that particular aspwct light pearlcatcher culture. breedchanging tO a pearlcatcher, aside from the whole learning to uise your new body and suddenly having to figure out how to carry this pearl around everywhere thing, can culturally go one of two ways in areas where the dominant culture of pearlcatchers leans towards the more sterotypical one-either it can be seen as a "lesseer" breed finalyl improving themselves and joining the real classy people, OR is can be seen as a mockable lesser creature thinking it can overcome it's inferior nature by pretendign to be osmethign it's not-or even as an insult to the pearlcatcher form itself. this again is only in areas where the dominant culture of the pearlcatchers is the breed superiority one, in areas where pearlcatcher culture doesn't have the supremacy element this isn't a thing and they just treat it like any other breedchange.

breedchanging to a bogsneak is usally seen as a taboo. it's generally met wit ha colelctive "What? why?". bogsneaks are ornery, antisocial, solitary, bullyish, selfish, generally without much empathy, and worst of al lare artifical, makign them an affront to the gods in many other's eyes. it comes with no obviosu advantages over any other breed beyond anti-age, so if someone changes int oa bogsneak oen of three thigns is generally assumed-either they're an old eprson desperately tryign to stave off their ageing, they're a mad alchemist makign questionable testing on themselves, it's a signal that they were actualyl an antisocial loner that hates everyone all along, or (in more rleigiosu areas) it's osme bizarre conspiratoral admission/signal that they're actually evil god-hating heathens that want to rebel agaisnt the deities and become gods themselves by turnign themselves into a dragon-made abomination breed. in order of how likely they are to be true. some alchemists have also changed themselves to bogsneals to run form the cops, since theywould be morel iekey to be tracked if they buy a gene, btu it hasn't happenedo ften enough for there to be any training or particualr failsafe o n dealing with the subject. a dragon who breedchanges to a bogsneak will usually quickly become snappish and distant form their friends and family, often before didssPEAring into the wilderness entirely. they may factually remember much about how socializing worked, but the instinct to back it up is no longer there, or if it is it's not there as storngly as it once was. this can sometimes take a dark turn-though only a stereotypes nd not by any means a universal phenomenon, a bogsneak with ill intent reetaining knowledge about how socializing works withotu the social instinct to care could hypothetically use it to manipulagte other dragons for their own gains. hpwever so coudl any other dragon with the same knowledge, and the idea that breedchangedbogsneaks specifically are inehrenrtly liek this is a neative stereotype, in reality the average bogsneak, breedchanged or not, would rather just be left alone. some changed bogsneaks still retain some level of social instinct, but remain very introverted and distant-this is hellish if it's not enough insticnt ot support any actual social life, but good for them if it is strong enough to still keep any friends.

breedchanges FROM bogsneaks aren't very common. generally they don't see any advantage in it and balk at the idea of suddenly WANTIGN to be around other dragons. not to mention many natural-born bogsneaks carry a deep bitterness for being often considered walkign affronts to the gods and evil monsters even when not inherently blasphemous. the most often reason is curiosity, or becase they live in an environment that makes beign a bogsneak disadvantageous beyond tolerance. a rare few bogsneak also are born with some level of social isntinct, and may choose to change themselves to escape thesterotypes for a chance to satify them. bogsneaks that do breedchange to something else are in for a rough time ahead, both learnign to fly and having to learn the entireyty of how to socialize with other dragons almost fro mscratch, all the whiel with newly formign social instincts battering their midn and changign them wildly and withotu their prior knowledge or udnerstanding. it's am isnomer that bogsneaks necessarily HATE other dragons, they're msotly just territorial and don't like/know how to deal with being bothered, a bit like sot solitary predators in real life. regardless of breedchange they have some level of bond with their parents, children, and siblings, also a bit liek solitary predators in real life. some bogsneaks even actively like certain other people, they just don't liek beign aroudn them very much, naturally ver yintroverted. so beign breedchanged and suddely actively wantiggn to spend more time around certain peoiple and being draiendb y beign away fro mthem is weird and they might wonder if they're being clingy.

faes breedchangign to other dragosn have similar difficulties learning their new instinctive body language and rnage of voice. they will develop the instincts necessary to learn to interpret the tone of other dragons, they just need ot get used to it a bit. however it will take al ogn tieem for their owon intonation to become less flat. they also often have issues rememeberign how much bigger, stronger, and clumsier they are now. they will retain any factual knowledge about fae body language, and will simply o longer have thei nstincts to default to it backing them up. it is hypotheticall possible for a fae to use this to breedchange themselves so they can act as a body language translation interpreter. other dragons transofrmign into faes have all of the exact same problems, and same potential use, but in reverse. faes who breedchange int other dragons generally do it either for job opportunity reasons, because they're tired of beign seen as weak and smal land powerless, or because they feel liek social outcasts and are desperate for others to understand them. dragons breedchangign tO faes mainly do it for job opportunity reasons, and/or because they just wnat to be able to fit into smaller spaces without breakign things (including metaphorical fitting in with surrounding dragons if they live osmepalce where it's msotly faes)

dragons breedchanging from wildclaws may continuosly try pickign thigns up with their forelimbs not realizing they aren't as bipedal anymore. they also might still do the kidnapping to grow the family thing (though that's kind of a negatve sterotype based on a worst-case scenario. wildclaws culturally do that sometimes, but it's not anywhere near as universal a thing as it's made out to be. it only happens osmetiems and is usually gossipworth ywhen it does.) those changing to wildclaws may be surprised by their increased instinctive aggression and deference to perceptions of strength or superiority. the most common reasons to become a wildclaw are wor opportunity related, or more generally to gain access to their mroe free and dextrous hands withotu sacrificing too much size and strength. soem also becoem wildclaws to fight betetr for religios reasons, to help expand the breed or as part of an adoption ritual int oa wildclaw clan or family, and on rare occassion desperate wildclaws have been known to breedchange stolen eggs of other breeds to grow thwir own family tree.

ridgebacks are usually the secodn chocie ofr dragons looking for job opportunities for larger breeds but not wantign to deal with the hassle that comes fro mthe instinct of having a charge. in addition to having to learn to deal with their new size, they also ave to contend with their unwieldy sharp nose and spines, knocking into and gettign caught on everything. ther first molt is also a fun tiem for all, lacking the experience of al fietime as a ridgeback to guide them throuhg dealing with it and grooming themselves properly. the sudden aversion to water is also somethign of an obstacle. and so is the stereotypical perception tha ridgebacks are untrustworthy shady clever thieves and annoying roommates that steal and burrow. ridgebacks were up until recently the common choice for those wishing to becom a large breed but avoid the hassle of a charge literally ONLY because the third option, imperials, does not have breed change scrolls, and obelisks didn't existuntil recently in time and their scrollls therefore aren't very common yet either, but they wil ldefinitely outpace ridgebacksi n second choicep opularity once their establishedp resecne on the world really gets going. dragons transform from ridgebacks for all the same reasons they woukld anyl arge breed-job pportunities, escapign stereotypes, be smaller andl ess destructive, crawl inside the wires and repair the spire, ect. espeically the stereotypes of being theives, which is so negative andp revalent that most of the world outside the expanse still turns ridgebacks away based on it.

imperials do not have breedchange scrolls, for whateve reaons. [ossible theories are that somethign in their make is irreplicatable by mortal dragon magic and even if it wasn't imperials are so ill-regardd by other breeds that few would want to anyway. imperials are less strong and shorter limbed than other large breeds depsiute being overall larger anyway, so they're nto as good for nmsot of the htigns larger breed's body shape is good for. the one thign imperials do ahve over other breeds is their umparalelled ability to soar long distances in a striahgt line, making them ideal for transportation services (and having a bonus of keepign them away from most people for logn periods of time, unfortunately). it's however very common to breedchange FROM an imperial-because their lives just kinda suck from every angle. thoigh usually those that make this choice keep it a secret, as the stigma of the emperor still follows them even oin their new form, with many superstitiously beleiving that thwey are somehow still tainted, and some mocking or fearing them as a monster trying to sneak in with and pretend to be "real" dragons. imperials are a dwindling breed, and ifthey have children it is often looked on with a quiet fearful sort of revulsion, as if they're doign a disservice by bringing moree dangeri nt othe world. it has not escaped the noticeo f hte religiosu that even the deities have openly forsaken them as a whole.

obelisks are a newly frormed breed and hae littel established about them, only sa generalized passion fortheir interests. they are not yet firmly establsihedi n the world and breed changes for them are only just recently entering circulation, but having no major downsides not shared by other large breeds and no inconvenient quirks of instinct or yet existign majr or stereotypes about them beyond a general sense of confusion and colelctive discomfort borne of unfamiliarity (since they're new man y have not heard of them yet, and will become extremely suspicious upon their arrival), they are quickly becoming a popular chocie for those who previously would have settled for ridgeback when seeking to become a large breed. especially popular among those looking ot become setnries or guards-previously employers woudl seek to hire newly-adult guardians under the be;leif that they could possibly get one to take their subject of guarding as a charge, but now obelisks are a popular chocie for their ability to hide as stone. some will favor those whos' stoneform is something particularly hard and sturdy. transforming FROM an obelisk so far nearly unheard of but the most common reasosn to do so are either work reasosn or seekign a sense of cultural identiy and conenction and flow that is not yet available ot obelisks as a newly born breed.

newly changed snappers usually forget they have to sleep, and have quite confusing and sometimes distrubing experience with their first one. they also haveto learn to fly, and are usually terrified when they realize their previosuly perfect ememory si failing them. thsiu goes even more intensely for those who become tundras, somethign they rarely do if they have any other choice at all (really the only thing i can think of is if it was the only way to survive the cold, and even in that situation a snapper would be far FAR more liekly to pick a gaoler since gaolers are also cold-resistant, flightless like snappers but with decently mobile grasping limbs instead of wings, and don't come with the downside of having NO LONG TERM MEMORY AT ALL). usually snappers that breedchange themselves do it because they want to learn to fly, or because they want to do some specific job that takes having little, dextrous fae hands. snappers have plenty of opportunity for work that isn't delicate or requiring articulate digits, since employers are attracted to the idea of a big strong sturdy worker that doesn't need sleep, as exploitative as that is. changing TO a snapper is not usually done unless it's osmehow a situation that makes desert life easier that way because most are too oattached to their access to the sky, but some desperate tundras sometimes make the decision to sacrifice their flight for the ability to remember.

changing to a tundra is also rarely done, for the above stated memory reasons. it's just not something someone is going to settle for when there's so many similar options that don't have the problem of forgetting their loved one's entire existence after only a year. those that do change are of course appropriately horrified by this-and also usually have a difficult time learnign how to groo mthemselves properly and hwo to deal with when their winter coat comes in. they are also usualyl overwhelmed at first by the sudden intense sense of smell and sometimes go aroudn madly cleanign their lairs that suddenly stink to them. one reason someone may chose to become a tundra, is if there is osmethign they WANT to forget. of the few who choose this breed, it is possible that many came to it from a place of pain and darkness.

changign FROM a tundra is very common as far as breed changing goes, also for the memory reasons. the changed often feel odd and naked without their fur and feel liek they've lost a part of themselves with their dulled sense of smell. they also tend to overestimate their abiloity to tolerate cold and feel unreasonably nervous aroudn wanter before getting used to not having thick fur. those that change form it to carnivorous breeds also contend with the awkward and sometimes traumatic process that is learning to hunt.

incredibly strong and possessing an entire extra set of surprisingly useful manipulating lonbs in place of wings, gaolers woudl be a popular choice for those looking to become a large breed who value dexterity and aility to do hands-on work over flight-IF they weren't so godsdamned hairy and collectivist. they overheat easily in warmer environments, their fur gets in everything, and when they show up in the eyeso f other dragons it's usually as stuck-up seekers looking for sources of shade, so that stereotype bogs it down in their minds. still, gaolers are uniquely capable of more dextrous large-scale work that other large breeds aren't-they can even hold and wield polearms with their wings. employers generally dismiss the idea of even botherign to try to ge ta gaoler sicne they;re usualyl seen as too busyiy with whatever the wardens are doign and to ostuck-up to bother wasting time with the lesser breeds of dragon and their inferior causes, howver if this wasn't the popular stereotype employers wouldp robably be all over trying to hire them for their psoession of pseudo-hands. however msot still would be loathe to give up the sky, only snappers would be likely to see it more often as a worthwhile trade. those who change to gaolers in the current times are typically those who wish to devote themselves to the gaoler's cause.

gaolers who change themselves to other breeds are almost always tryign to escape the oppressive hyper-collectivist mindset of gaoler culture that allows for absolutely no deviation from the norm (to the point where personal decoration of one's own quarters is seen as a wasteful frivolity and very likely to get you reprimanded and put on thin ice even if it doesn't impact your work whatsoever at all), and so breedchanging is usually sneered on as a sign of treason or deviant thoughts or the like by other gaolers, who often spit on it and refer to it as "rejecting the icewarden's blessing", and sicne gaolers view themselves as less wild and more civilized for having the clearly superior dextrous, tool-using handwings needed for a being to build and operate a civilization instead of the wild, primitive flightwingsl iek an unintelligent animal would need to flee form danger that other dragosn have, also often see willingly becomign one of these "more savage" "wild" breeds as a sort of willful reversion to a primitive animal state. they have difficulty adapting to not having hands for wings anymore and dealing with the significantly less strict singleminded militaristic cultural norms of dragons outside, and also learning to fly, and not being able to smell lies.

banescales are still fairly rare and isolated across the world, with the ones who didn' t end up formign an isolated clan somewhere ni the wild clan with a cluster of other banescale hatchlings notuncommonly beign able to go their entire lives without meetign another. this state will most likely fade a few generations down the line once the initial generation of isolated survivors dies wout withotu gettign an opportunity to breed and leaves only those isolated banescale clans out in the wilds to continue their legacy. those who do change themselves to banescales often do it in solidarity-to be able to have children with their banescale mate, or as a sort of gesture to help preserve their near-extinct breed. losing the front limbs is always a massive shock to the transofrmed, and osmethig nthat is very difficult ot learn to live without, eve n with the help of a fellow bane.

changing FROM a banescale is something that is simply not done in the banescale clans, takign numebrs away form their already dying breed, but isolated single or small hanfuls of them adopted by other dragosn may choose to change their breed to fit in, to escape the feelign of isolation and alone. they may also change for the work opportunities presented by having actual hands. the banescales that entered the icefield wre initially almsot all hunted and shot down-the few that survived as anyhtign other than prisoners ando bejcts of horror did so by formign isolated secretive bands in the wilds, or by somehow managign to be changed to other breeds, whenther by somehwo as an infant managign to steal a scroll themselves or by being transofrmed to hide them by a sympathetic adopter.

there's almost nothing useful in the lore right now about veilspun, so i assume they're basically jsut trickstery faes without the head fin monotone thing and with a wider diet, so i guess a lot of faes that want to be udnerstood by other dragosn and/or try mroe fodos but not lose their small delicate size might change themselves to veilspuns. there's also no lore really on exactly how the veilspun coming otu of hiding and spreadign across the world went so i don't know hwo that woudl affect thigns either. maybe some people like their unseelie fae vibe and want to go live in the woods and put curses on passing medeival fairytale chidlren with them or osmething. probably mpost peopel that change to them just want the size advantages without the head fin language thing. faes are almsot physically incapable of makign facial expressions. more than likely spomeoen that specifically chose to be a veilspun for non-small but not fae reasons would be looking for the hypnosis power, which could definitely be a bad thign in nefarious hands, and might lead to some stereotypes about veilspun breedchangeds if i had any idea whatsoevr where to even begin with how the veilspun's integration into and relationship on both sides with regular dragon society woudl go. liek basically all we know is that they liek to hang out in the forest creepily whispering andp ranking peopel andthat they're mad at "younger breeds" for opening "the portal", and maybe have been silently watching the world and history go on withotu them in secret for ages and only ome out because of "the portal" beign reopened or something. though i feel liek the main reason a veilspun would become another breed is to spy on them or something, liek some fae glamor tyoe thign except they actualyl turn into another dragon rather than just castign a spell to look liek one, and of ccourse then ahve to dealwith all the weirdness that comes from suddenly being a hudnred tiems your previosu size and having flappy bat or bird wings with completely different flight mechanics form yoru buzzy insect ones instead of hypnosis hair powers.veils seem t liek to slink creepily around in the shadows so it would be hard for them to do that as any other breed, and you might be able to recognize them by how they act weird and not liek a "normal" guardian or whatevr. thsi is probably where changeling mythologies come form if dragons have those. they woudl totally send out spies in the for of breedchanged veilspun. maybe that's what they do with dragosn who wander int otheir domain. they make breedchange scrolsl usign them as am odel whiel they're hypnotized and send out spies. and then just leave the hypnotized dragon back at the edge of he woods wheree they foudn them but cursed to have a moustache or something for the lulz.

with thwir middlign size, bonus wings, decently articulate hands and feet, generlal ack of too many negative stereotypes about them beyodn the annoying humming, and whole extra prehensilve limb, coatls are a VERY popular choic for dragosn looking to open up the widest range possible of profession opportunities in more delicate hands-on crafting-related fields of work without sacrificing their size-which si precisely why they're so expensive. supply and demand and all that. however becomign a coatl comes with some very specific snags that aren't exacrtly advertised-the first si that getting used to life without actual ears is weird, and that's before you realize you're now physically incapable of understanding anythign your coworker says because he's a fae. the second is that havign their sense of hearing so drastically changed can be maddening for some, and requires al ogn time to figure out what certai nsounds MEAN again, and makes them very very dependant on face, body language, and more importantly tone reading to udnerstand other dragons-coatls naturally hear tone better than other parts of sounds, and their brains are hard-wired to interpet everything based on it. they hear andthink in terms of tone. this is a difficult thought process to get used to for a being who's brain previous did not process everythign in a songlike tone-based way. thirdly, having an entire extra set of wigns is almsot as shocking asl osing an entire set of arms when becoming a banescale, and it's very ifficult to learn to fly again when you noww do all your steering with buttwings you didn't have a week ago instead of your tail which is now basically a tentacle-hand. coatls also have a very specialized diet and inconveniently strong instincts to go to the ashfall waste in breeding season- changign form a coatl is the same problems in reverse, plus not beign able to use their tail to hold thigns anymore and finding coatl language suddenly annoyign



The answer to your quandary awaits in the Forbidden Portal.
3