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NEWS: I haven't been able to do much with this, as my time is short. Sorry everyone who loves them! I'm forever pleased it's so many of you, though!
This thread has been ongoing since the posting of this thread in Feb 2014!
WARNING: Several large images! Right click and select View Image to see the full resolution. As you can see from the above, I drew these dragons in full profile, and the sketches don't fare too well with a 500 max width.
THE APPEAL:
- Stocky, low slung, long bodied, heavily armored lava swimmers.
- Fire Flight natives!
- More ornamental females (and perhaps larger?)
- The secondary color covers not only the wing underside, but their large lungfish-like tail as well!
- A unique baby stage
- Use of the darker colors as armor plating definition even in the most basic form
- Could be an uncommon or rare breed, considering their harsh specialty environment.
FIRST LIFE CYCLE AND BIOLOGY: Fire flight has some pretty hardcore eggs - they’re just hunks of ore dropped in lava, or so they seem. Imagine little larval lava swimmers hatching in the gentle lava pools of the Emberglow Hearth, lifting their tiny lightweight bodies on the intense thermals over the magma to snap up passing fireflies, steering crudely with their large “gills.” Their young are raised away from the shore, keeping them out of competition with nesting Coatl.
Eventually they grow in to hefty, heavily armored adults that can traverse even the Molten Scar, their wings becoming thick with muscle, borderline vestigial in this life stage. The fringes of their faces grow in to beautiful displays! They can’t ride thermals any more and were never capable of powered flight, but their tails have grown too powerful for that to matter. They can power through the loose volcanic sands of the Blacksand Annex, and even swim through lava.
ORIGINAL SOCIETY: Born under the Flamecaller, these are dragons that greatly value craft. They are singers, equipped with a wide range of amphibian chirps, trills and booms. They can speak the Coatl dialect, as well as Common Dragon, making them useful translators in trade. They are crafters, building elaborate homes in cliff sides and showing surprising metal working skill - females are especially crafty, able to use their facial fringes as fingers. They liven the doom of crashing rock and explosions of the Molten Scar with their songs as the go where other dragons can't to salvage precious ores. They are capable of handling any temperature, allowing them to work more closely with heated metal than other breeds, and have tenacious endurance to the heat.
OUTSIDE FIRE FLIGHT: Their natural crafting skills make them desirable clan members to all flights, and their tough hide weathers them to all climates, so it is possible for them to live among any clan. However, they do have tempers on them.. it is best to give them work and let them do it. Their patience for hiccups is little and they have no tolerance for poor craftsmanship (and are very opinionated on what defines good craftsmanship,) leaving them to often prefer to work alone. They are immensely patriotic and loyal to the Deity they serve. Some are more singers than crafters, and they tend to have a milder temper.
They still seek out thermal heavy areas in other flights to raise their young, like over fever-hot pools of contagion in Plague or sun baked flat stonecrops in Earth. Where heat can't be found, any air movement suffices - babies can drift freely in Wind, and are very adept at swimming in Water. Their young develop much the same, though in places like Ice and Plague where food isn't a-plenty, it takes more time (not that this would affect the aging mechanic in any way. It is suggested only as lore.)
LAIRS: Carved in to tough materials, these intricately decorated lairs are meant to show off the skills of the dragon that resides there. They take great pains in making it beautiful, scooping out the area carefully before carving intricate patterns in to the walls, covering their homes with colorful baubles and bits of things they find beautiful. It's an organized chaos, like a loosely kept hoard of color, a dragon bower. Sister species of the Coatl, they often cement friendships by trading sweet minded trinkets for colorful feathers. Many dragons have collections of things they hope to eventually use in a project, though if that will ever actually happen, who knows. They don't have the patience for careful storage or organization. It is a rare thing to see an uncovered surface in the bower of a Salamander.
TACTICS: These dragons rely heavily on overwhelming force, throwing their heavily armored bodies in to foes with a fury. They aren't much on clawing, but they can exert bone shattering force with their paddle-like tails, and they have a nasty bite. They also use breath attacks and infuse their smacks with magic, but these are usually used to assist in their craft and add little to nothing in battle. Nonetheless, they hit hard, and they have a stamina and toughness meant to outlast waves of magma beating them against hot rock. They are not the fastest, and they lose themselves in their anger and are rather undisciplined fighters. Clever and acrobatic fighters are apt to take advantage of this. Battle ready Salamanders denied foe or victory tend to wreak a bit of destruction before settling down, as they're prone to outbursts when their stubborn nature is snubbed.
Size: Medium - Large
Diet: Insects, Meat
Coliseum Default: Scratch, Shred
Home: Fire Flight
SUGGESTED, NOT SOLID:
Obtained: Treasure Marketplace
Rarity: Uncommon
ART (NOTE: THESE ARE NOT FINAL POSE SUGGESTIONS) -
The baby stage - rather larval, the hind legs have not come in yet, the wings can carry them on thermals and the "gills" are larger. Based on many salamander larval stages.
Sketch of the Female's Fringes - They are the more ornamental ones of the species. We have plenty ornamental males, we need more ornamental females!
Without Color - For clarity, here is the full res uncolored male. The fin should start at the mid-back. Heavy armor is apparent in the shape of large, squareish scales, made to look reminiscent of jagged rock faces.
Without Color 2 - Again for clarity, here is the full res uncolored Baby.
A Clown/Eyespots Fire/Lemon Baby.
A Freckle/Shimmer Female.
A Tiger/Stripes Male.
If there's anything you want to see or know about them, just let me know!
