Dragons

Dragons in the world of Faeyrellun are not rare, especially on the continent of Risalt. Dragons are revered as magical and intelligent creatures, revered among some circles as closest to the Eternals. Legends of the long lives that some dragons live are told as faerie tales to children, outwitting knights and thieves trying to get at their treasures of gleaming gold and shimmering gems.

Biology
The life of a dragon begins as an egg. Appearing as a small grey stone at the beginning stages, the egg slowly gains size and mass, like how a baby grows in the womb. Color and patterns appear on the surface of the egg, the aesthetics dependant on the breed of dragon that it will spawn. Over the course of several months, the egg will continue to grow and give off a heat comparable to steel left out in the Spring sun. The dragon's egg will typically continue to grow to the size of an adult man. As it hatches from its egg, the ground around the dragon changes to the nature of its element. Nests of metal dragons are valuable mining spots as a result.

The wyrmling begins life searching for its mother. When it finds the first living creature, it imprints the identity of the creature as its mother. The next several living creatures it sees, it recognizes as his fellow broodmates. A wyrmling will defend its fellow broodmates to the point of endangering itself by trying to use its breath before it is able. As a result, many broods of dragons die before reaching maturity when faced against natural predators or poachers.

As the dragon reaches later stages of its life, it develops greater intelligence and magical power. It also grows to the size of a small house and the spines and horns grow more pronounced. The traits that mark the breed of the dragon also become more evident, such as brighter colors and thicker webbings. The dragon in its earlier years of sapience observes other Life and often recognizes the importance that they place on shiny objects. As a result, young dragon starts accumulating a horde of treasure. This, of course, doesn't mean that every dragon has a horde, but those who have interacted with other Life in the past often do.

As a dragon matures into an adult, reaching the size of castle often times, it marks the land around it as its territory and views trespassers as a danger to its land, wealth, brood, and itself. Most breeds will watch with wariness and, unless provoked, will often not attack unless they has their own ulterior motives for doing so. Upon reaching the full maturity of a wyrm, a dragon is secure enough in its own power, both physical and magical, and will let trespassers go unabated in their territory unless they feel that they have been insulted or sufficiently threatened. The size of their body appears to be a small mountain when lying down. The full size of the ancient wyrm is impossible to accurately measure. This stage of life is typically reached after several thousand years, often being called False Eternals.

Legends
Dragons of the Line:

It was during the Walking of the Eternals, when the gods roamed the lands, when Tarad the Lines of Eternum. The mountains shook and seas boiled from the might that pured from the pure power that were the Lines. All those who tried to determine why these calamities were happening were taken or destroyed, either in mind or in body. To quell the powers Tarad had accidentally called forth from lay beyond the veils of the Lines, Tarad took the pebbles form the bottom of the Helion Sea and breathed life into them by throwing them into each of the Eternum Lines. The stones passed through harmlessly, but quickly began to grow in size, each becoming the size of a man. From these stones now boulders, stone winged lizards burst forth like a bird from an egg. Each of the monsters drew forth power form the Lines. The lizards skins shed from their body, their colg and grey stone exterior giving way to colorful, vibrant stones that lay beneath. As the creatures drew from the Lines, all the calamities of the world began to subside. The creatures, with their purpose fulfilled, moved away from the Lines and now call various parts of the world home. Many names for these stone saviours have merged, giving way to title of "Dragon."