From the article archive
Walking With Dragons (Part One)
Introduction
Walking With Dragons was inspired (so to speak) by AEG's Dragons. I read through the book and said to myself, "I can do better than this."
Walking With Dragons is a look at the great beasts from a natural history point of view, covering their history, physiology, and psychology among other things. Walking With Dragons is also a tribute to and parody of Walking With Dinosaurs, the series, and National Geographic specials. And, yes it does cover the classic DnD® dragons.
But enough of this babble, on to Walking With Dragons
Interlude One
He is a white dragon, we'll call him Michael. Still wet from the egg, he measures some 15" in length and weighs about 5 pounds. His wings are still crumpled and weak, they won't be able to bear him in flight for some time.
His mother, a mature adult, is around 20' in length and masses 8 tons. She has watched over her clutch of eggs for some 6 weeks since laying them in her frozen lair. Of the ten she laid, eight have hatched. The remaining two lay quiet and still. She will eat them before they have time to rot, the smell drawing in predators to feed upon her young. Or steal her great treasure.
But that does not matter to Michael who, with his siblings, tears into the meat his mother has deposited oh so carefully into the creche. Though his movements are clumsy, he still possesses sharp teeth and claws, and a breath weapon that could freeze a man. Under the onslaught of eight ravenous dragon hatchlings the meat quickly disappears. Sated, Michael fades off into sleep, his belly distended, giving him the appearance of a pregnant cashew.
His mother watches her new brood as they squirm, wiggle, and then drift off into slumber. Looking like so many draconic puppies. In time their bright diamond like gleam will fade into white, but for now they shine like icy stars brought down to earth. Her lair is quiet now. With a grateful sigh she arranges herself for sleep. Mindful that things won't always be this peaceful in the days to come.
Dragons as Reptiles
A common belief is that dragons are reptiles, based on their appearance. It is a true belief, so far as it goes, but there is more to it.
Dragons are members of the Diapsid family of reptiles, a group that includes lizards and snakes, the crocodiles, dinosaurs, and the long extinct thecodonts and pterosaurs. By means of specialized divinations it has been learned that dragons are most closely related to crocodiles, and thus to dinosaurs and birds.
Many aspects of their skeletal anatomy points strongly to the reptilian, but others point away. For one thing, the Dragon has an erect stance, with the legs held beneath the body. A feature shared with the dinosaurs. The possession of a brain equivalent in size to that of the later dinosaurs, or the typical mammal, plus their prodigious intellects, is a strong argument against accounting them reptiles. An endothermic metabolism, apparently necessary for an active life style and great intelligence, is another.
Then there is the matter of flight. Flight requires an active metabolism, an endothermic one. A cold blooded vertebrate flier has yet to be discovered.
So are dragons reptiles? Provisionally. Despite the feathers and warm blood of most dinosaurs they have been classified as reptiles thanks to the preponderance of reptilian features. The same holds true of dragons, and so they are placed among the reptiles. But they are not lizards or snakes, or even crocodiles, and so should not be judged by those standards. The dragon is a unique beast in many ways, and should be considered accordingly.
Next
Dragon evolution and physiology. Plus more on the life of the white dragon Michael and the lives of dragons of other races. It should be up in a few days.
Alan Kellogg
Walking With Dragons was inspired (so to speak) by AEG's Dragons. I read through the book and said to myself, "I can do better than this."
Walking With Dragons is a look at the great beasts from a natural history point of view, covering their history, physiology, and psychology among other things. Walking With Dragons is also a tribute to and parody of Walking With Dinosaurs, the series, and National Geographic specials. And, yes it does cover the classic DnD® dragons.
But enough of this babble, on to Walking With Dragons
Interlude One
He is a white dragon, we'll call him Michael. Still wet from the egg, he measures some 15" in length and weighs about 5 pounds. His wings are still crumpled and weak, they won't be able to bear him in flight for some time.
His mother, a mature adult, is around 20' in length and masses 8 tons. She has watched over her clutch of eggs for some 6 weeks since laying them in her frozen lair. Of the ten she laid, eight have hatched. The remaining two lay quiet and still. She will eat them before they have time to rot, the smell drawing in predators to feed upon her young. Or steal her great treasure.
But that does not matter to Michael who, with his siblings, tears into the meat his mother has deposited oh so carefully into the creche. Though his movements are clumsy, he still possesses sharp teeth and claws, and a breath weapon that could freeze a man. Under the onslaught of eight ravenous dragon hatchlings the meat quickly disappears. Sated, Michael fades off into sleep, his belly distended, giving him the appearance of a pregnant cashew.
His mother watches her new brood as they squirm, wiggle, and then drift off into slumber. Looking like so many draconic puppies. In time their bright diamond like gleam will fade into white, but for now they shine like icy stars brought down to earth. Her lair is quiet now. With a grateful sigh she arranges herself for sleep. Mindful that things won't always be this peaceful in the days to come.
Dragons as Reptiles
A common belief is that dragons are reptiles, based on their appearance. It is a true belief, so far as it goes, but there is more to it.
Dragons are members of the Diapsid family of reptiles, a group that includes lizards and snakes, the crocodiles, dinosaurs, and the long extinct thecodonts and pterosaurs. By means of specialized divinations it has been learned that dragons are most closely related to crocodiles, and thus to dinosaurs and birds.
Many aspects of their skeletal anatomy points strongly to the reptilian, but others point away. For one thing, the Dragon has an erect stance, with the legs held beneath the body. A feature shared with the dinosaurs. The possession of a brain equivalent in size to that of the later dinosaurs, or the typical mammal, plus their prodigious intellects, is a strong argument against accounting them reptiles. An endothermic metabolism, apparently necessary for an active life style and great intelligence, is another.
Then there is the matter of flight. Flight requires an active metabolism, an endothermic one. A cold blooded vertebrate flier has yet to be discovered.
So are dragons reptiles? Provisionally. Despite the feathers and warm blood of most dinosaurs they have been classified as reptiles thanks to the preponderance of reptilian features. The same holds true of dragons, and so they are placed among the reptiles. But they are not lizards or snakes, or even crocodiles, and so should not be judged by those standards. The dragon is a unique beast in many ways, and should be considered accordingly.
Next
Dragon evolution and physiology. Plus more on the life of the white dragon Michael and the lives of dragons of other races. It should be up in a few days.
Alan Kellogg
Recovered from the Gaming Outpost database backup. Original wording is preserved; damaged punctuation and presentation markup have been repaired. Historical links without a local match point to the Internet Archive.