Banescale: I see them as flying beautifully and walking a bit awkwardly, like an eagle or condor. It'd be funny if they bounced several times when landing, like condors.
(@
artemisaEternity I would like to point out that the idea of squatting for hours being painful is a specifically modern Western concept; many Asian and tribal cultures have very few chairs and squat instead of sitting to relax. Those people are capable of holding the position for hours because they've been accustomed to it ever since they learned to walk.)
Bogsneak: These guys are just like Komodo dragons. Slow, stolid, capable of sprinting. "Very dangerous over short distances." I don't really see them as being able to fly? Even given the fact that Sorneith's gravitational pull is lower than Earth's.
Coatl: In the air, definitely gliders more than flappers. On the ground, walking with small, mincing steps like a bushdog. Capable of bipedal stances but not really of walking bipedally--like a meerkat.
Fae: I usually have them flying constantly in my lore; they rarely land, and when they do it's only for a second or to sleep, like butterflies. If a Fae were grounded, I imagine they'd move like a squirrel or flying squirrel. I can see their wings getting in the way, though. They have a really big wing width:body
width ratio. Also capable of some bipedal stance/movement like a squirrel.
Gaoler: Walks somewhere between a bear, a Siberian Tiger, and a Cape Buffalo. Capable of charging. Not capable of flight. Good at climbing cliffs and glacier crevasses, using their wings as an extra set of hands.
Guardian: Since these are the most "typical Western" dragon breed, they would move rather like a panther. Due to the shape of the body I can't see them as being really good at running; however, the powerful hind legs would enable them to take off from a standstill with a mighty leap, unlike Mirrors or Coatls. Their flight would have to heavily involve flapping unless they got into a really good updraft.
Imperial: Since these are heavily based off of Eastern dragons, I imagine they walk in a very serpentine fashion, like a long, thin lizard, i.e. the front legs and back legs could be going in opposite directions for a brief moment in time. Unlike most Eastern dragons, however, they have wings. Barring the "magic, duh" explanation, I think they'd have to take off from a high vantage point, like a mountain or a balcony. Once airborne, however, I think they'd be very graceful, like an albatross or Auk. Or again, like a condor.
Mirror: Easy lope of the wolf when traveling; mad dash of the attacking cougar when going in for the kill. According to the official lore they do better at gliding than flapping, and I bet they'd have to flap quite hard to get airborne. Maybe they run really fast and do a kind of jump/glide combo, or if they're actually planning to take off, they run while flapping their wings like a swan does.
(@
ahzidal I agree that their art does make them look like good fliers, given their wingsize:body ratio! Perhaps it's a secret propaganda lie, that they spread to throw their enemies off-guard.)
Nocturne: These guys are very much like overgrown bats; they fly erratically, capable of instant changes of direction due to the narrow, sickle-shaped wings. They'd look like a bat or a swallow/swift. I think that, like a bat or chimney swift, they'd prefer vertical surfaces to flat ones when making a landing. They'd also be good climbers, like squirrels. They could run up and down trees or cliffs with ease, but they'd have to walk more like Coatls on the ground. Short little steps. Their bodies don't look long/flexible enough for them to do the "inchworm jump" like a squirrel or weasel.
Pearlcatcher: Hmm. I like the Maiasaurus/Plateosaurus explanation. They'd definitely be capable of bipedal stances with those long hind legs. I really think most Pearlies would have some kind of bag or case for their pearl, rather than actually trying to walk with it most of the time. Obviously their four-legged gait would be awkward if they were carrying it in a claw, but if not, I think they'd walk more like monkeys. Baboons or macaques specifically. In flight, they'd be slow and steady fliers, kind of like ducks. Like Guardians, they'd probably be able to take off from a standstill due to their long, strong hind legs.
Ridgeback: They would absolutely have to walk with some kind of a goose-stepping motion (where the legs are thrust forward rather than back when lifted) to avoid impaling themselves with those long sickle-claws! (kind of like a Hackney pony) In flight, they would use long, slow flaps and let their legs hang down, like a heron. Actually, given that they hate water yet eat fish, I can see them very like a heron in their hunting stances. Those sickle-claws of theirs would be perfect for stabbing fish with a minimum of splashing.
Skydancer: Everything about this dragon says "graceful". Deerlike in walking or running, falconlike in flight. They would definitely be capable of some bipedal motion as well. (At least, the female pose suggests that.)
Snapper: Galapagos tortoise! 'Nuf said. Pretty sure they can't fly. But, they also have some similarities to elephants as well.
Spiral: These are the only dragons for which I can't really come up with a good real-world reference. I really see them as somehow being suspended in the air, constantly in a circling motion, like one of those little drone toys for kids. The speed of their motion would vary based on how excited they were at the moment.
Oh! I have it. Search for a video of a sea snake shedding its skin underwater. That's more like what I see them doing, only somehow being able to suspend in air.
Tundra: These look a lot like lynxes to me. I can see them running and pouncing in the snow, just like a lynx or snow leopard. Flying would probably not be very frequent with them, but I bet they'd mostly flap slowly and remain close to the ground, like a quail or grouse.
Wildclaw: Since these are so much like Velociraptors/Deinonychus dinosaurs, that's obviously the mental image I have for them running. I honestly have a very difficult time imagining them flying, despite those big wings. I guess they'd fly something like we imagine an angel/winged humanoid? Holding their body vertically instead of horizontally for the most part.
, gerenuk (actually that's a pretty good reference for PCs! Look up gerenuk.)
