Monster Essays: Dragons

Dragons technically exist in my world. You just might not know it because they're shapeshifters, magic, rare, wealthy and chill.  I had plans to have one working at the Haunted Rose Brothel out of boredom for the real freaky customers, but never got that far into it. I considered writing the vampire essay for this given the recent vampire commission,  one but I do my best to stick to my (arbitrary) timeline of what races showed up in what order.

Technically that leaves witches, mermaids, vampires, and yetis... with a few maybes on the list.

Dylan Eywind

History of Interspecies Relations II

The Silent Kings. History of Dragons.

**A-. The historical references were appreciated, though more specific dates would be better. A difficult topic you handled well. **

Among the later races to join the public spotlight, dragons have had an inescapable influence on cultures in the past. They were invariably associated with kings, gods, power and heroes. This ultimately proved to be founded on the fact that dragons have lived among humans for thousands of years, using their power and long lives to establish influential roles in the world while avoiding attention. With the lowering of the veil around monsters in society, dragons felt comfortable in revealing themselves after realizing that humans would still leave them be to more or less do as they pleased.

Dragons are varied in their appearance but tend to be around the size of a double-decker bus not counting the wings and tail. They have reptilian features such as horns and scales and laying eggs but are not cold-blooded. They are incredibly powerful, with scales like iron and the ability to generate fire from their mouths. What remains their most influential asset is their shapeshifting abilities; dragons have infiltrated many cultures throughout history, with them remaining hard to identify. They were a relatively scarce and widespread culture that tended to be very territorial and possessive. With their wary and initially aggressive stance on the world, it was said to be rare for a dragon to be within 100 miles of another.

Dragons are known to value comfort and control above all else, so they tended to fall under two categories. Benjamin Locke identifies them in Emperor’s Scales as hoarders and masters. Hoarders would gather items of interest and live in isolation, normally somewhere high up and difficult to reach. Masters would hide themselves in plain sight, often relying on their strength or long-lived cunning to earn some amount of wealth. They would gather more by investment or continued efforts before reaching a point where they could live securely, relocating or changing form every generation or so to avoid suspicion. Should they be discovered, they would normally flee or lash out at the locals to start again elsewhere.

Their long lives, impressive powers and security found in wealth tends to leave dragons as tactical and confident creatures. While they have little to fear from common threats, the small uprising in Europe of Dorezian’s Flame proved several exceptions. The lead figure of Dorezian attempted to overthrow the local government, but even at his full size and power he was killed by a swift military action.

Apart from these few troublemakers, dragons have prove to be extremely peaceful creatures. Most live their lives in humanoid forms out of convenience, lacking the need for massive destructive power in this economic world. There remains some prejudice in certain circles concerning their shapeshifting and conspiratorial implications, but the confidence of dragons seems to outshine and truly shady operations. With the modern applications of magic (both for scanning and illegal means) there are few things that dragons can do that a well-trained mage could not.

Many dragons remain public figures, and some even register for internal tracking chips to put their business partners at ease. Viewtuber Fuerika is even a world-famous vlogger, using bodycams to film her flights, thoughts, feats of strength and a more sexual side of her many forms. The main tell that most specialists agree on is that dragons require massive amounts of food, regardless of their shape. Their shape changing appears to be a combination of magical and muscular focus, making even small forms slightly draining to maintain. Any suspicions of their true form can be quickly proven or disproven with some simple stakeouts.

Dragons have made a great effort to be more outgoing since their revelation. Their confidence and influence makes them quick to start conversations or seek out interested partners. Despite their own shapeshifting making them versatile partners (taking on any gender, age, species etc. they choose), they tend to find a charming simplicity and innocence in the more short-lived species (humans, dwarves, etc). The internet trend of wanting a “scale mommy/daddy” to use their influence, changing, power and intensely mature perspectives to dominate over or spoil them. It is almost unheard of to engage in sex with non-dragons while in their natural, fully grown state.

The simple fact remains that apart from some points when their raw power is beneficial, life with the dragons has always been just that. Little has changed beyond some shifts in relief and paranoia, but dragons are a minority that seems content to let things continue as they have been. Given the largely positive direction society has taken in the last few decades, it is hard to disagree.