Enclosed herein are the notes of Sir Grace Lawcrest regarding the creatures that she has faced. These entries reflect the most recent iteration of her notes; as more creatures are revealed in the story, details about them will be updated here.
Dragon (pl. Dragons). Large-sized monsters classified as draconids. Dragons are the most common form of draconid, having become relatively populous almost everywhere humans live, and having been integrated into a number of mutualistic roles alongside them. Dragons’ appearance can vary immensely, but most have these characteristics in common: they are four to eight feet at the shoulder and eight to twenty feet in length; they are covered in tough scales, though they may also have feathers or fur on certain parts of their body; they are quadrupedal, with long necks, wings, and long tails; and, they have vesica ignifera (“fire sacs”) that enable them to exhale flaming gasses or liquid.
Individuals can have any number of unique, heritable characteristics, including but not limited to: snouts of various lengths and shapes, horns of various shapes, sizes, and quantities, antennae, avian or insectoid wings, stingers or spurs, venom, spikes or frills, fins, gills, manes, thagomizers, hooves, and fleshy tendrils (also called “whiskers” if present on the face). The vast majority of true dragons have developed forelimbs with opposable thumbs, albeit not as dexterous as humans’.
Dragons are intelligent creatures, generally considered to be similar to humans in that way. Dragons are incapable of replicating human speech verbally, but are known to have their own languages within insular culture groups, consisting of barks, chirps, trills, and growls that humans can learn but not replicate. Communication between dragons and humans is facilitated either by writing, learning to understand each others’ spoken language, or “dragonspeech”, a technique I haven’t yet unravelled.
Dragons that live outside of human civilisation generally form small, loosely connected communities made up of a number of family units. They are known to build simple homes of wood and stone, often in caves or other hollows. Dragons that haven’t been raised among humans tend to be aggressive and territorial, though they are capable of reason enough to perform simple nonverbal negotiations. Most dragons don’t attack without warning, but as intelligent beings, they are capable of evil and callous behaviour.
A number of dragons are raised by and/or live among humans, although they are somewhat rare. In the lifetime of the Lundenian Empire, dragons were the companions of the Imperial Cuirassiers, and the other orders of knighthood that preceded them. Knights and their dragons are a well-known cultural staple and literary trope in the empire. Treatment of cavalry dragons has varied between knightly groups. Some, such as the Cuirassiers, regarded them as servants; not as low as animals, but equivalent to the lowborn who made their swords and fitted their armour, and not especially worthy of respect. Others, such as the reformed Dragoon Corps, treat them as partners and equals, or at least try to.
Outside the knightly orders, dragons have found their way into human society due to surplus eggs among knights’ hatcheries, abandoned eggs, pups, and juveniles that make their way towards cities or are taken in by human families or businesses, and a few that make the decision to move into human-dominated areas for their own reasons. These dragons fill a number of roles within their settlements that are impossible to comprehensively list, but which often make use of dragons’ size and strength, ability to fly, or natural fire. In the towns and cities of Lundenia, one can expect to find between one and ten dragons to every ten thousand humans.
Elsewhere, dragons have other places in human culture. In the clans of Kreath, for example, they are considered symbols of might, and intermingle with the kreathar in contests and ritual combat, with some dragon clans and human clans developing generations-long rivalries. Historically, they have also been known to accompany kreathar raids against other clans and other nations as champions in return for a large portion of the plunder, a practise that has given some dragon clans considerable hoards of wealth. In Tascarria, meanwhile, dragons are considered direct descendants of the gods, and are the subjects of worship. In that kingdom, they are highly integrated with humans, and make up the highest social class, serving as both religious leaders and nobility.
Kratodon (pl. Kratodons). Large-sized monsters classified as herbivores. They are quadrupedal reptiles with leathery, green-to-brown scaled hides. They have long heads with rear-facing horns, and heavy tails that hang low to the ground. They can rear up on their hind legs and lean on objects to reach plants higher than their normal height would allow them to. Males’ horns are significantly longer than females’, and have a more pronounced curve.
Kratodons are grazing animals that use their extremely tough teeth and powerful jaws to eat woody shrubs and entire tree limbs. They are typically docile, and generally prefer to run from threats rather than defend themselves. Males, however, may use their horns to ram attackers if their herd is threatened. Kratodons normally live in thin forests and open fields in a range of climates.
Roc (pl. Rocs). Colossal-sized monsters classified as feathered wyverns. Unlike most feathered wyverns, rocs are almost completely covered in feathers, which are typically dark brown with cream undersides and blue streaks along their back and wings. They otherwise resemble colossal eagles, with hooked beaks, scaled talons, and broad, feathered tails.
Rocs nest exclusively in mountainous regions, building their homes out of whole trees to house themselves, their mate (if any), and between one and three huge eggs, which females lay only once every decade or so. Rocs are large enough to prey on cattle, horses, and other large herd animals. If they are alone, they tear prey apart with their beaks. If they have young to feed, however, they will kill their prey by dropping it from thousands of feet in the air, then collecting the shattered corpse to bring back to their nest.
Adult rocs have few natural predators other than dragons and humans. Hatchlings and eggs are hunted by a variety of mountain predators, however, keeping total roc numbers fairly low. Rarely, humans have managed to steal roc eggs and raise the monsters from hatching. Similarly to crows, falcons, pigeons, and other trained birds, rocs can be trained to follow certain orders, and even to bear riders. The process is difficult, dangerous, and expensive, but roc mounts possess greater raw power than any other mount. Famously, roc cavalry was employed by the Veskite rebellion to great effect, resulting in rocs becoming a symbol of the new Lundenian Confederation, and roc cavalry continuing use among the new Confederation Guard.
Toarbec (pl. Toarbecs). Medium-sized monsters classified as feathered wyverns. They are in black scales except around the feet talons and frilled head crests, which are white or pale blue, and possess hooked beaks and feathered wings and tails. Individuals of both sexes have broad head crests, with those of the females being significantly more vibrantly coloured, as well as larger.
Toarbecs are aerial predators that hunt in flocks. They are normally active at night and during thunderstorms, the latter of which they use to replenish the static charge of small metallic crystals in their feathers. When hunting or defending themselves, toarbecs will scatter these crystals from their wings as dust, creating a cloud of high static electricity that can discharge into creatures within the cloud multiple times.
Toarbecs typically inhabit plains and moorland, where there is little tree cover, making nests amid rock outcroppings. A subspecies known as jewelled toarbecs also live in dense, wet forests. This subspecies has much more vibrant seams of colours along their bodies, and fills its absorbent feathers with water droplets that it uses to conduct electricity, rather than metallic dust.