Drake

Drakes were created by the dragons as they indirectly warred with each other. For thousands of years these intelligent, but not sentient, creatures spread across the world. Now they can be found in any environment from the frozen ice sheets, to the deepest oceans, to the heart of an active volcano. Voracious carnivores they can ravage a land then sleep for years or stay active for decades at a time. No matter how they are typically the apex predator in their area.

Drakes are carnivorous animals that have an outward appearance similar to dragons, meaning that they have scales like serpents or reptiles with an extended snout. They are highly intelligent animals, but are not sentient or developed enough to to use any tools beyond throwing or dropping rocks.

Any other characteristics are dissimilar between the various races; although all drakes are of the same species as they can produce viable offspring. The fact that drakes freely interbreed between various races means that any complete taxonomy attempt is doomed to failure. The list of different drake races is simply the largest races by percentage.

Only a small number of drakes ever develop any connection to the draconic power that is the center of their creators. A drake must be very powerful or very old to manifest even a small fraction of that power. Given that most powerful drakes die before they become old it is possible that no drake will ever gain full access to this power. Instead, those few that have the gift it often manifests its power as a small thing that is always with them.

While drakes are capable of living for several hundreds years, their cannibalistic nature means that the first sign of weakness is a sign that they have gone from hunter to prey. The most likely lifespan of a drake is about 200 years.

Female drakes lay a clutch of eggs within a few weeks of mating. Unlike other animals the mating cycle is not dependent upon the seasons - but instead seems to happen in cycles uncontrolled by the drakes themselves. Many scholars believe that in fact the drakes will mate when the dragons need them to mate. Thus when the dragons no longer need them the drakes will simply die out.

Drakes are egg layers and do not protect the clutch of eggs. Instead, drakes are born full ready to feed and defend themselves. Most drakes lay eggs about 30 cm in diameter, so a hatchling drake is already the size of a small dog when they hatch. As drakes are cannibalistic the first feeding for a newly hatched drake is most likely its cluch-mates. The weakest of the hatchlings ensures that the strongest survive.

Drakes live individually meeting only to fight for dominance or mate. After laying her eggs a female drake will not guard the nest opting instead to simply hide the eggs.

As all drakes are capable of producing viable offspring there is only a single species.

These drakes are called Storm Drakes because they are often found in the vicinity of violent storms. Although legends say they cause the storms the exact opposite is true. Storm Drakes are drawn to the violent storms for mating. Both sexes will use their claws to defend against unwanted advances and grasp those they are mating. Storm Drakes are always extremely violent, but when “dancing” in the storms they will kill anything that presents itself as weaker. A large storm may leave behind dozens of dead storm drakes in its wake.

Storm Drakes have long and thin bodies with four limbs and long claws. Their wings are large, but well-protected by layers of scale. When fighting they can tuck most of their wing into a small “pouch” of heavier scale alongside their body. This has given rise to the legend that storm drakes are the Serpents of the Storms.

Sea Drakes spend the majority of their time under or on the surface of water. In addition to lungs, sea drakes have simple gills that allow them to stay underwater for hours at a time; although they must still surface to breathe. Instead of true legs, sea drakes have developed shorter limbs with powerful clawed flippers. Their tail has a long fin on the top that propels them at great speed. This speed plus the maneuverability makes them one of these most deadly hunters in the ocean.

They are large enough to eat Great White Sharks often growing 10-15 meters in length. Most sea drakes are encountered sleeping on the surface of the water, diving only to hunt. They can use their clawed flippers to pull themselves along on the surface, but they are slow and cumbersome.

Showing remarkable adaptability, fire drakes live inside and along the ridges of volcanoes. They spend time inside the hot lava as other serpents spend time in the water. Given how tightly they gather near active volcanoes fire drakes would seem to form bonds, but instead each scrap of land and even the time they spend inside the lava is fiercely contested.

The scales of fire drakes are highly prized by blacksmiths for their hardness and resistance to heat and fire.

Originally thought to only be enormous snakes, brown drakes are strictly land-dwelling having no wings or legs. Typically only found in land with loose soil or sand, brown drakes are ambush hunters that burrow themselves into the ground and await their prey. Like snakes, brown drakes have large fangs and capable of delivering a powerful poison capable of paralyzing even large prey like elephants and bison. Brown drakes have been know to enter a torpor state while waiting for their prey and have been known to live nearly a year without food.

This drake is names such because while many drakes have on vestigial or small limbs, the limbed drake has powerful limbs with sharp claws capable of rending steel with little effort. Additionally these drakes often have 6 or 8 limbs. While they have wings they are not capable of true flight, but instead use them to increase their apparent size, distract their opponents, and allow them to jump longer distances. Limbed drakes tend to live in the hard steepe or mountainous regions where the open spaces give them additional room for their large bodies.