territory: The Floating City

appearance: smallest dragon of all species, in both height and weight; smooth scales with oversized bumps/ridges along back and chest; slim bodies with long, winding tails and small wings; scales can vary across any pastel or pale color

abilities: mist breath (effects cause drowsiness and sleep); the only species with the ability to literally walk on clouds; nimble talons capable of handling small, delicate objects that others might struggle with

behavior: bouncy and lax, enjoy flying amongst the clouds all day; almost no duties or responsibilities, let alone worries or cares; amazingly skilled in creating from the smallest amount of tools and provisions (particularly in the culinary field); peaceful, and therefore able to get along with all other empires; though skilled artisans, usually uneducated and unlearned compared to dragons from other empires due to their isolation from the rest of the continent

diet: typically herbivores and vegetarians, though some will not refuse meat when offered; eat almost anything, but usually only after it has been blended with something else (normal berries and roots hold almost no taste or desire in Cloudwalkers); take advantage of the large amount of importations to receive a cut of all food items received, and make their own culinary pleasures

territory: Magma Mountain

appearance: thick, armored scales coat the outermost layer of the body; underbelly and wings glow softly; compact wings to fit in caves and tighter spaces; large ears with the capacity for echolocation; scales can be any shade of red, orange, or yellow with known variants like gray or white; wide-spread talons and toes for scaling rock walls and navigating through stone caves

abilities: red-hot liquid lava breath; inhaling smoke does not harm or impair extra tough lungs; internal organs burn just as fiery as a volcano, which stabilizes the body and allows it to endure unimaginable degrees of heat, to the point where it is questioned if there is even a limit; special pupils are for both withstanding bright lights and seeing in dim caves: extra nictitating eyelid closes to protect eyes when swimming and in vivid lights, while pupils enlarge to an incredible size when in the dark; bottoms of talons have pads lined with setae that can adhere to any surface: used for scaling rock walls of inner volcano, granting the ability to cling to vertical surfaces and even ceilings

behavior: enjoy swimming in pits of magma; only leave the safety and comfort of the volcano in times of business or emergency; sleep in dimly lit caves, and almost never use torches – prefer either the light of the magma, or no light at all, relying on echolocation to see through smoke and darkness; low metabolisms, as movement is limited and restricted; aggressive and easily agitated; greedy and self-serving by nature

diet: since they hate leaving the volcano, whatever is found inside: bats, cave fish, and rats; larger prey includes sheep and goats, sea lions, and deer; unlike the other races, are strictly carnivorous

territory: Heather Hills

appearance: black and white markings similar to that of a pronghorn; outward-facing twin horns on the end of snout; cranial horns that resemble pronghorn antlers; long spines trailing from head to tail; smooth body with ridged underbelly; scales can range from medium brown to pale yellow, and can include more exotic colors such as greens and purples

abilities: breath helps increase and expedite plant growth; plow ground with nasal horns; strong limbs for hard work; badger-like claws for digging; large ears for hearing over long distances

behavior: friendly and passive; focus heavily on growing their own crops (such as carrots, wheat, potatoes, etc.) and raising their own livestock (cows, sheep, pronghorns, bison, etc.); use animals to their benefit, such as camels from the southwest given to them by Sandclaws and badgers gifted by the Treewatchers; aren’t afraid of getting their claws dirty; all Prairiediggers mate for life, and have multiple eggs and hatchlings together; don’t ever hunt except to bring in more livestock for breeding and rearing

diet: a large portion of food is received from imports from the Cloudwalkers; raw foods include basic crops, bison, deer, pronghorn, and elk, which is supplemented by rabbits and hares, grouse, coyotes, and pheasants (but generally avoid hunting, and most stick to food grown on farms)

territory: Sallara Sands

appearance: long body and smooth underbelly like a snake; small but sharp ridges trail the spine, as well as guard each leg and wing; head is protected with helmet-like armor; jaw tipped with twin sets of horns, as well as four on top of skull; snout is tipped with two nasal horns; tail is green and spiked, like a cactus; scales can be dusky brown, beige, or sandy yellow

abilities: can breathe flames, called dragonfire; can withstand immense heat from the sun; bottoms of talons are covered in special pads to walk on blistering sand, with longer claws made for burrowing; cactus-like tail is a valuable natural weapon; able to go long periods of time without eating or drinking (extra fat is stored in tail, similar to a camel’s hump)

behavior: burrow under the sand to sleep at night (sand stays warm from the heat of the day), and also to escape the blaze of the sun during the day (some even choose to be nocturnal); tend to be loners and wanderers; most do not mate for life; nomadic and restless, often found exploring the desert for something new; not easily intimidated

diet: large prey includes elephants, rhinoceroses, buffalo, hippopotamuses, and crocodiles; camels, zebras, gazelles, and lions are also subject to becoming prey; smaller appetizers include snakes, lizards, hares, foxes, hyenas, and wild dogs; prickly pears and other rare fruits are delicacies; some will gnaw on a cactus if desperate

territories: Lavinu (The Greater Empire), Vibralt Peninsula (The Lesser Empire)

appearance: body made up of unyielding and sharp scales; extra thick, armor-like scales found on top of head, shoulders, and legs; strong underbelly scales for sliding across snow and ice; sets of three horns protrude from both sides of the jaw; ears grow out of large cranial horns; thick ridges trail down spine; heavily wedged tail tip; palms of talons are serrated to better grip the ice; scales can be pale shades of white, blue, purple, or gray

abilities: snowflake (Lavinuit) or ice-shard (Vibraltian) breath (breath power depends on regional species); can withstand sub-zero temperatures; hold breath for long periods of time to dive underwater for prey; strong wings for flying through blizzards; armor-like scales protect skin from being pierced by hail and shards of ice; blubbery black skin underneath scales keep body heat trapped for long periods of time and can store energy gained from food; wedged tail can be used to break ice to create fishing holes, dens, or plow a path (may also be used to kill prey); can easily camouflage into the arctic environment; warm-blooded, so as to withstand the extreme frigid temperatures

behavior: those uninvolved in cities or societal rankings are solitary and remain independent; tend to be active from before the sun rises, and retire to rest before sundown; thick blubbery skin can easily lead to overheating, so a Snowscale leaving the cold could potentially be hazardous; take pride in their appearance, and also rely on it to hunt and hide (rarely found dirty)

diet: seals/sea lions, orcas, whales, foxes, penguins, fish, sea birds, etc.;  certain hardy roots found growing in the tundra

territory: Golden Shores

appearance: small talons capable of handling fragile items; scales can be any possible color, though tend to lean on the brighter and more vibrant side, or be black or gray with lighter highlights; long, lithe bodies decorated by frills on the spine and tail; wide wings that fan out from the wing-arm down past the hind legs, and not fingered like all other races; star-shaped scale platings protect the arms, legs, wings, skull, and spine; cranial horns curve in toward each other like an ellipse; unique skull structure is pronged, with two characteristic growths on the bottom of chin; lacking a proper nasal horn, but a small growth similar in appearance adorns the top of snout

abilities: molten gold breath; able to see in almost pure blackness; can hold breath for over an hour, and store oxygen in pouches behind the jawline; endurance fliers; keen minds; delicate talons for handling fragile items

behavior: scavenge for food, and are not great hunters, despite preference for meat; knack for finding edible mushrooms, berries, roots, and certain leaves; can go about two days or so without food, so able to spread and ration out feedings comfortably

diet: anything and everything the Gatherers can find and bring back to eat; any kind of meat, fruits, plants and roots, cooked and baked goods stolen or bargained from other races, etc.; however, most prefer their food raw and “unspoiled” by other races, and typically will choose meat if given the opportunity; not afraid to try new things, and are great harvesters and scavengers

territory: Forsaken Mountains

appearance: sleek bodies to repel the rain during storms; small spines for more aerodynamic shape; horns are shaped like bolts of lightning; small, narrow snouts for reaching into small crevices to catch prey; scales range from shades of gray, blue, and black and can be known to have yellow or tan markings

abilities: electric breath; able to fly through the thickest and choppiest of storms with impossibly strong wings; tough scales and muscles are able to absorb shocks from lightning; roars can be heard from miles away and resemble thunder; able to scale mountain walls with tough talons and claws; nictitating eyelids for flying in the rain; piercing eyesight akin to an eagle’s to see prey far away and in bad weather; the strongest fliers of all races, with the largest wingspan

behavior: fierce and wild, very unpredictable; tend to be known more as aggressors rather than not; hunt prey found on the mountainside, and are adept at catching small animals; can get extremely restless and easily agitated when on the ground for too long

diet: smaller prey includes marmots, pikas, ground squirrels, lynxes, and civets; when looking for larger animals, can hunt down mountain lions, bears, leopards, ibexes, and mountain goats and sheep; typically don’t cook their food other than to occasionally scorch it with lightning breath; empire previously received crops from the Prairiediggers, and these were reserved as delicacies limited to those of high birth and status or those working for the government

territory: Daiyla Woods, Fengr Jungle

appearance: head is covered in feathers down to end of neck; can have any shape of horns; large ears for hearing through dense flora; long claws for digging and scaling trees; scales and feathers can be any coloring, and each individual has a unique pattern

abilities: healing/restoring breath (can help promote plant growth, heal almost any animal wound or plant breakage; can help mend smaller and less serious dragon wounds, depending on age and expertise of user); body only needs bare minimum of nutrients/food to sustain itself (can survive on roots and plant shoots); incredible sense of smell and hearing;  long, nimble limbs used for climbing and navigating through thick trees; smaller torso and wings, so as to fit through tight spaces and not get caught on branches

behavior: adept at climbing trees for travel, to reach food, or to get to certain animals; each may choose a spot in the woods to hole up and call home; avoid conflict at almost all costs, but aren’t afraid to protect the forest or other empires; generally soft-spoken and utilize body language over speech

diet: tend to stick to plants, fruits, and roots; will occasionally prey on deer, birds, and fish

territory: The Sea Scales

appearance: large dorsal fin on spine, fins on stomach, and two more on tail; tail is large and shaped like a marlin’s; small, bony spines trail down back and sides; bioluminescent antenna hangs from skull; small ears that can seal underwater; gills just behind the jawline; hooked claws for snatching small, slippery prey; scales can be any color, as ranging as the fish of the sea

abilities: breathe out boiling water; two sets of lungs: one for nostril intake, one for gill intake; webbed talons, wings, and tail are used to make them adept and powerful swimmers; see-through nictitating eyelid for swimming underwater; antennae on the top of skull uses bioluminescence to glow; can smell blood up to a mile away with nares in snout and gills

behavior: extremely celebratory; playful and energetic, with joyous and spritely attitudes; masters of the ocean, able to hunt and kill any creature, no matter size or depth; for deep divers, use bioluminescent bulb to catch prey – also used for seeing in darker waters and at night; eggs are hatched on land in carefully prepared nests, though hatchlings are introduced to the water within days

diet: very wide and ranging, typically any sea creature large enough to sustain as food, or even a small snack; the largest and most diverse palette and diet of any of the species; variety of fish, squids and octopi, sharks, whales, etc; can even hunt and gather things such as shrimp, lobster and crab, sea cucumbers, kelp

territory: Whistle Cliffs

appearance: small, lithe, aerodynamic bodies with large chests; short, sharp wings for cutting and gliding through the air, with only four fingers instead of five; rather than one thumb-claw on wings, have two claws with a palm for better gripping cliffsides; thin fins trail down spine, accompanied by two large fins on the sides of the tail; retractable dewlap beneath chin; short cranial horns; large nostrils

abilities: exhale a forceful blast of air from lungs, powerful enough to send another dragon flying; can glide for long periods of time without needing to rest or flap their wings; extremely strong muscles built for endurance; massive lungs and large nasal cavities for living at extreme, barren altitudes; thick scales over entire body for protection against wind and cold temperatures; high metabolic rates for regulating body temperature

behavior: build their homes directly into the cliff-face, using clay and minerals from the territory to construct their architecture; if not found in the air, they spend most of their time hanging vertically from the walls of the cliffs, and society is structured around such; with high metabolisms, spend a large portion of time hunting and stocking up on food, as they require vast amounts of energy to thrive, regulate body temperatures, and even fly; given unique wing-shape, liftoff from the ground is nearly impossible, and they require leaping off cliffs and bluffs to get airborne; adept climbers, beating out even Stormfliers and Fireteeth with their agility and strength to scale steep precipices; when the sun is up, nearly every dragon is found outside to make use of the warmth

diet: food found in the Whistle Cliffs mostly consists of seabirds like puffins, gulls, gannets, and albatross; other prey can be found in the nearby bay, such as hardier fish and whales, or seals and walruses; however, the vast majority of their diet relies on imports from the Prairidiggers, who supply them with much bigger game and variety of foods concocted by the Cloudwalkers