Arturian Dragon

Weight: 900-1,300 lbs

Length: 14-18 ft

Tail: 3-6 ft

Social Unit: Individual

Status: Fluctuates

Native to: Arturia

Habitat: Forests, Grasslands

Known variants: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Death, Meteor, Blackfire, Whitefire

    The Arturian dragon is the smallest of the 4 known species of dragon in the galaxy, with the largest specimens measuring only about 18 feet in length and weighing about 1,300 pounds. Relative to other dragon species such as wyverns or rock drakes, they tend to have shorter tails, more compact overall builds, longer, almost serpentine necks, and larger heads (in proportion to body size). They also generally feature either one or two sets of long horns extending from the back of their heads, not unlike the antlers of a stag, albeit somewhat less branchy and complex. A long arc of sharp, backwards-facing spikes forms a straight line along their spines, running from the neck to the top half of the tail. Like almost every other species of dragon, their wings are enormous and batlike, erupting from their shoulder blades. The color scheme depends on the variant in question, but is always either dichromatic or trichromatic, with most of the body being one color, the underbelly and front of the neck, or "underside", being another, and a network of branching "veins" on the underside breaking that area's color up. Fire variants have a very "volcanic" appearance, with most of the body being a fiery orange, the underside being a dark mahogany, and the "veins" being a bright yellow. Ice variants are an arctic blue on most of their bodies, with darker navy blue on their undersides and snow white "veins". Lightning variants are dichromatic, missing the "veins" entirely, instead featuring simpler sea-green bodies and golden undersides. Death variants are generally a dark shade of violet on most of their bodies, a darker, redder burgundy on their undersides, and with sickly hot pink "veins". Meteor variants are dichromatic like lightning variants, missing the "veins" and instead featuring cobalt bodies and sickly sea-green undersides. Whitefire variants are dichromatic as well, featuring snow white bodies and darker gray undersides. Blackfire variants are the only entirely monochromatic variant of Arturian dragon, being black as night all over.

    Arturian dragons are the species of dragon that is the most aggressive towards sentients. Arturian dragons are the only species of dragon that actively hunts sentients, often burning down and eating entire villages. In addition to this, it will also attack livestock such as sheep, cows, goats and pigs, picking them up in its claws and taking them back to its nest to kill and consume. Livestock and sentients are so readily available and easy to obtain that Arturian dragons rarely prey on other wildlife. When they do, the victims are usually centicores, unicorns, and Arturian elk. They will occassionally kill and eat alphyn pups, but will almost never attack a fully grown alphyn. 

    These dragons nest exclusively in caves and abandoned buildings, which are often littered with the bones of their victims. Arturian dragons are unique in that they are the only species of dragon to reproduce asexually, vomiting up eggs at random intervals ranging from a few months to a few years. The eggs usually take about a month to hatch. When the hatchlings emerge, they are fed meat from the beginning of their lives, unlike their wyvern and fire drake relatives, who produce milk for the first few months of their offspring's lives. Arturian dragons grow extremely fast, reaching maturity at 3 years of age. Arturian dragons can potentially live for over 300 years, but the average life expectancy is 27 years because Arturian dragons are slain by knights extremely often in retaliation for attacks on villages. In fact, this happens so often that it causes drastic fluctuations in the Arturian dragon population: knights will usually come close to wiping out the entire species one year, and the next the population has rebounded due to the species' asexual reproduction.

    Like all other dragons, Arturian dragon hatchlings will imprint on the first living creature they see after they hatch, making it possible (but extremely difficult) to raise a tame Arturian dragon if an egg is stolen from a nest. However, like their Ryuan counterparts, Arturian dragons do not breed in captivity, making full-scale domestication impossible. Unlike other dragons, Arturian dragons possess a strong venom that makes their bites even more extremely dangerous than they already are. One drop of this venom will kill a sentient in about three hours. Until then, symptoms include extreme fatigue, swelling around the bite wound, nausea, vomiting, rapid internal bleeding, seizures, decreased heartbeat, decreased breathing, and loss of consciousness. As a result, Arturian alchemists have developed a working antivenom made from mixing the venom with garlic powder.