[Music] [Music] [Music] chimere is a distant planet it is defined by waves of Life brought from Earth and set free to evolve independently in this new context the indigenous life of the planet swarms of microbes called mag Magic by the people who live there or would Harvest Earth organisms and make copies on chimere as the asteroid which concluded the mesic never struck chimere dinosaurs Remain the dominant terrestrial megap though the dynastic Extinction famously annihilated the giant Tyrannosaur predators of the Mainland continents leaving a vacancy for smaller bellasaurus dromeosaur and tons and eventually Mega raptoran to get large and assume the mantle in other regions the same Extinction wiped out other large Predators enabling the Ascension of new small clayes to the role of apex predator on an island chain in the northern hemisphere which has been long isolated from the mainland and therefore the great portal since before the dinosaurs arrived therapsids from the peran Dynasty made up a majority of the megaphon the giant codons died out at the end of the dynastic Extinction in the dense subtropical jungles to the southeast a giant terrestrial crocodile arose to become the top predator in the mountains of the West and open forests of the north a new CLA arose to rule the islands dragons dragons belong to a lineage of venomous theophan called abor felian which are for the most part endemic to the islands the evolution of dragons from more basil eore falan is actually fairly well understood thanks to relatives scattered throughout the islands at varying degrees of evolutionary development there is Sister Clay to the hopping rabbit analoges abundant in the more open territories several arboreal climbers are found to make up the clay dracona fores which especially has high diversity in the warm crocodile jungles these climbers are compared to monkeys and tree kangaroos by assembly naturalists with a range of herbivores omnivores and predators gliding appears to have evolved fairly early in the cla's evolution as early as 60 million years ago with several lineages independently using this trait to get them around in the dense forests from one lineage of gliding Predators came powered flight with wings supported by two fingers and two tarsal struts enabling them to retain three mobile fingers which they use to grab prey and climb about Venom is potent throughout this lineage of abore falan it appears to have initially evolved as an injected toxin to debilitate prey from the ancestor of all ior felian though while early draon forms took to the trees it appears they quickly developed the ability to project venom out of their fangs this Venom is particularly debilitating to therapsids most potent in mammals which has led to many assembly naturalists proposing opposing that it was repurposed as a defensive feature to ward off the codons which were the apex predators of the peran islands back during the Tyrant Dynasty mammals such as humans are not only blinded by the toxins it triggers an es fixating allergic reaction and has mild corrosive properties as the codon Predators were cast off of their throne in the gastic extinction the little draconi forms took their place seemed to have quickly repurposed their venom in prey capture the surviving codons were small and proved vulnerable prey based on the favor of this strategy as a venomous spray to weaken before a kill in the highlands a prey base of large abore ferian and signed on herbivores and lacking much in the way of significant competition appears to have been a sufficient incentive for these tiny dragons to get large and the genus draum evolved only a few million years after the dynastic Extinction it was not long before they reached a few hundred lbs and had a wingspan exceeding 30 ft at this size and without hollow bones for air saacks their flight was too inefficient to carry them far but it was used to sustain short bursts of powered flight that they could use to find and then incapacitate prey with a Venom before landing to make a kill this genus had several species that Rose and fell though in Broad Strokes they merely refined the same basic model they evolved early on and their success would see them firmly established as the dominant predator in these islands only in the densest regions of the crocodile dungle did dragon's void enabling the bear Crocs to hold on to their title it was in this context that humans first arrived around a million years ago as the assembly policy is to avoid contact many details of their history of these people remain unknown though review of ethnographies kept in the Great Library many entrances can be made at some point in the distant past between 5 and 3,000 years ago a civilization arose which led by a dynasty of witches they may have already been tamed Dragons by the time of their Ascension but either through conventional bonds between witch and familiar or perhaps even incorporating elements of first children genetic manipulation the dragons of this era rapidly increased inside witches could mentally bond with domesticated dragons they bred connected to their own strain of hereditary magic enabling the rider to communicate with the beasts with such a formidable weapon they United the islands in their Heyday this civilization and their witch Riders facilitated many breeds of dragon Engravings and records from The Great Library suggest breeds specialized for war sport travel and display even the most specialized breeds for distance flight could not cross to the peran continent or kyule but they could rapidly cover the length of the islands in a single flight based on an illustrated record of skull found in the sepanian ruins the mighty sport Bulls could have exceeded a wingspan of 100 ft and weight estimated at around 10 tons with such impressive mounts it is no surprise that this family of dragon ERS conquered the islands the length of their reign is unknown but after a substantial Dynasty they experienced collapse the treatises of The Great Library claim it was due to Revolution and famine leading to a civil war between Dragon Rider factions as the assembly is not permitted to investigate through communication or archaeological review such Claims can only be taken in their context as secondary and unverified sources it should be said that the records of The Great Library are quite rigorous and reputable so even if the information itself cannot be independently verified by the assembly it's hardly conjecture or hearsay while dragons became quite derived through their domestication once the Ryder Dynasty collapsed these dragons went feral and integrated with their wild relatives their greater size and enhanced attribut made some breeds quite successful and soon a feral mut became the standard Dragon throughout the islands some regions see more of a particular breed passing down traits such as distant flights of riders being quite successful in the southern prairies and the greater size of War dragons being favored in the colder North But ultimately they are all the same species while dragons are considered extinct though many feral dragons in especially their southern range have a wild pelt don't look tremendously different from Engravings of wild predecessors a persistent relic of domestication is coloration and especially in the north a Matel coat with red gold black white brown and gray are quite common there are some theories that the coat offers Advantage for example perhaps a black dragon would be more successful Hunters at night while white dragons camouflage in the clouds but this is probably negligible they lack good night vision so melanistic dragons wouldn't be able to put that coat to any good use and while white dragons hidden in the clouds might still be seen in the long distance down toward prey it seems that at the end of the day Dragon coloration neither helps nor hinders their success in bringing down prey so the dynamic coloration of domesticated dragons was not selected against and therefore remains widespread in these feral predators in the wild male Dragons Were noticeably larger than females and had larger horns these horns were primarily for display although males do sometimes interlock with them during aerial Duels for mating rights domestication through these transfer a loop and the size of males and females has a great degree of overlap and both sexes have horns that range in size and shape in the broadest terms the largest dragons with the largest horns are still male and males are often possessing a larger m yet it must be said that overlap still exists as mentioned before skeletal remains and abandoned temples show that the largest dragons presumably bred for sport would have reached as much as 10 tons and had a wingspan far exceeding 100 ft such Dimensions speak to a predator with nutritional demands which could only be satisfied by a sufficiently affluent civilization without throngs of worshippers feeding them it is almost certain that they could not hunt enough food to sustain themselves the largest dragons today rarely exceed 3 tons and a wingspan of 60 ft Black aain largest known dragon in the northern islands was estimated to weigh a staggering four tons and have a wingspan over 70 ft it still Falls far short of the great Lords of the Dragon Rider Dynasty their diet varies by location they are generalist carnivores and will readily adapt to any prey in Regional abundance their flight makes them faster than a terrestrial animal in their habitat so prefer cursorial game as navigating even open forests in the north is quite difficult there are herds of aore falan and codon megap throughout the islands and the next largest predator in open terrain is the saber-tooth Jackal that rarely exceeds 100 lb and humans that avoid Dragon country so dragons do enjoy exclusive access to many of these herds canabalism is well documented amongst dragons adult males in particular will readily kill and eat competitors it seems this may be a competitive pressure to keep them large even though their small wild dragons could get by on much less food another trait that domestic hits seems to have passed on with great success is variability in venom coloration amongst wild dragons their venom spray ranges from lime to a deep green the saturation appears to be somewhat controllable as attack spray is usually less saturated than deeper colors in courtship perhaps this reflects a for more coloration and less lethal display as part of their courtship display males and females project clouds and in domesticated dragons a wide spectrum of colors can be found usually ranging from Blue to Gold if not the ancestral yellowish green though some incorporate red to make a violet or orange the mechanism by which a Venom is died is unknown according to Great Library treatises The lethality and production rate of Venom is greatly increased compared to wild dragons although there's no way to test this given the extinction of wild dragons the many secondary Venom glands and swollen nature of these glands recorded in library treatises especially around the Mating Season certainly exceeds their needs in Hunt every few days the venom does have a degree of mild pre- digestive corrosive properties dealing damage to any organic compounds it connects with though therapsids and particularly codons and mammals experience a potent allergic reaction to it with a rash and well on skin contact and swelling of the whole respiratory system the extent of reaction can vary and indeed some people appear particularly allergic While others barely experience irritation it has been noted that shape shifters witches and chimeran of the assembly vessel that were attacked all experience less severe symptoms than the humans on board all of whom quickly perished considering the witch Riders would have wanted to enhance the Venom in such a way that they themselves were less vulnerable than the lower casts magic offering resistance makes a great deal of sense indeed the treatises explicitly state that the Riders were immune to Dragon Venom while this may be an overstatement or misunderstanding especially as they usually are shown wearing protective helmets while riding it certainly makes sense that they would be less affected than the commoners they kept under heel with these formidable beasts dragons are largely immune to the effects of their own Venom but as a highly regenerative nicating membrane covers their eyes when they spray and their faces produce a lot of oils that counteract the corrosive effects it seems at least some aspects of the assault can harm them adult dragons are not particularly social females each establish and defend their own territories often these females are related to each other and while they hunt on their own they readily socialize in the fringes of their territory and may even share dens males will establish a larger territory usually intersecting with the territory of several females there will of course be competition between the Sexes for prey but for the most part they cohabitate with known individuals as long as the herds remain in abundance perhaps as a result of domestication though it may be a result of a generally stable climate dragons do not have a particular regular mating season when a female is receptive she will make a nest and sing a lowf frequency song that can travel for Miles if her territory intersects with a established dominant male he is usually the first to arrive and they mate sometimes numerous males assemble especially if the female doesn't live near a dominant male the male shows off with acrobatic Maneuvers in the sky and if this is not sufficient they will duel as these engagement involve wrestling in the sky while they plummet to the ground below it is extremely dangerous for both involved weight is a tremendous Advantage so larger males usually win and if the size disparity is great they rarely come to an engagement to begin with larger dragons lack endurance and Agility compared to their smaller counterparts but they are often faster and certainly more powerful so male dragons usually don't respond to a female's mating call unless they are large enough to reliably chase away competitors the fact that male dragons in particularly practice cannibalism on smaller males they encounter especially if they hear a female in heat nearby female dragons of adult size are dramatically more abundant after mating female dragons lay a clutch of eggs between 3 and N depending on health and hunting success that year incubation takes 6 weeks dominant males usually remain until hatching and help feed the Cubs regurgitated meat for the first few months having this protection of another adult Dragon dramatically increases the chances of the hatchling surviving once they can fly which is usually accomplished by their second or third month the male leaves a subordinate males are afraid of being attacked by the larger bull they rarely stick around long after mating and the these clutches of subordinate males have higher mortality as the mother must leave to hunt leaving her young vulnerable clutches with subordinate fathers often have several different fathers within the same clutch while dominant males are far more reliably the father of the whole clutch another advantage to these larger males while there are large parasaurs and Nimble abor felian predators that can attack the nest the greatest threat to B dragons are juvenile dragons while they cannot fly Cubs are extremely vulnerable they may possess Venom but it is not yet potent or in great quantity and indeed there's not much use for the Venom against the juvenile Dragon Cubs hatch at around 3 lbs and rapidly grow throughout the month of protection and regular food once they reach a year of age when they are proficient Flyers the mother will chase them off most remained together or for a small clutch will join packs of juveniles of around the same age throughout their lives their greatest threats will always be dragons of a larger size they won't reach skeletal maturity and slow growth until their late teens and throughout this adolescence they are often quite socially complex living in highly Dynamic groups of dragons generally around the same age the violent conflict with other members of the pack are rare in these years they become increasingly intolerant of each other with age finally once they undergo puberty the group will fracture males are particularly intolerant of each other after adolescence though females will often share neighboring territories in adulthood sometimes even working together to take over a region from Resident adults and defending it from strangers even if these female coalitions aren't all related individuals dragons today are are all descended from domesticated ancestors yet aside from varied coloration and a few minor anatomical traits they regard people as prey not companions back in the First Assembly expedition of the island an assembly witch named Maria Aris meni initiated a potential bond with a Dun Dragon named tamale when the dragon was amiable at first and they lived with the agents and naturalists for a few weeks and provided a lot of information on their behavior and Anatomy tamale was denied a piece of ration jerky and attacked Dr Lance Jones Adis M's adviser was killed by a blast of Venom as he tackled Maria to the ground and several other witches and naturalists were severely injured by the young dragon's venom bite or kicks from her clawed feet tamale was driven off by the agents armed with a few rifles and while no shots were confirmed kills the dragon did not return while the assembly cannot interact with peoples of cimier a historian from The Great Library named R Lon Crush has studied the peoples of the island and helped the assembly with their own aspect of understanding the Islanders there are several human civilizations each with their own connections and opinions of dragon which Rush studied and explained to the assembly dragons are generally regarded with distant reverence or outright contempt the Dragon Riders are spoken of by some as being mighty rulers that controlled the dangerous dragons and when their civilization fell the dragons turned on the people yet others despised the memory of the riders calling them great oppressors who deserved their violent demise and were more monstrous than the beasts they rode upon it is fair to say that wild dragons were formidable yet ultimately conventional Predators it was only after the Riders bred them into war beasts that they were able to cause such Devastation on a small island north of sepia rrush accounts of rumors that a lone Dragon Rider mounted on an Infamous Maneater named black m has begun a conflict with local Warlords few details are known though The Great Library has sent an expedition to investigate further the assembly has been advised to avoid this region as an accordance with their permissions by the free states to even be in kair no support would be available in the case of capture or attack further details of the situation will be disclosed in Cries From Beyond the known world next Anthology in the tales of chimer series cheers to Ash Hawk for sponsoring this episode I covered a lot of Dragon natural history in the perian islands episode which I encourage you to watch if you want to know more about their environment as a whole but this was a great opportunity to really give them their due and lots of new art to help showcase the diverse appearances as feral domestics thanks again to Ash Hawk for the sponsorship to my patreon patrons for making it possible for me to work on kir as a full-time job and thank you for watching Happy Dragon day and toast to the Year of the Dragon beginning next month see you all next week cheers [Music] folks [Music] ch [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music]