The Chapter of Introductions
The name “Akir’Ischa” was received through mediation and astral travel. I managed to hear and remember a vocalization of the “sound” my name was back then and tried to convert it to Latin letters so I could make it pronounceable for human vocal chords. There is a file of me pronouncing it, but even then it does the name no real justice. The conversion to human letters most likely changed it in such a way that if I called for myself on my own planet, I wouldn’t respond at all. Regardless, I’ve been using that name for decades now and I’m happy with it. I do instantly react to it if you use it on this planet.
Counting from the lives I remember, Akir’Ischa as a dragon would be around 750-800 years old during this human life, estimates I figured out while meditating told me her draconic body died when she was around 550. The 200 or so odd years gap indicates she had another life before this one, before being born human. I suspect it’s a life in Ancient Persia as a reptile-like creature in the desert, although I am not sure if that was this Earth. Soul-wise she has let it shine through that it spans approximately 7000 years. Akir’Ischa is a classic western dragon (4 legs and 2 wings). The size of her body makes her species the apex predator on their planet. With almost 50ft (15,5m) from snout to tail tip, about half of that is tail. Height from talon to snout is 11.5ft (3.5m), while whither height is around 6.7ft (2,05m). Her wingspan reaches an -in comparison to her body- impressive 63ft (19m).
Flight was usually achieved by gaining speed on the land, opening the wings for lift and flap them a couple of times to gain height. Getting into the air from a standstill wasn’t the norm, although it could be done. The preferred method was diving off a rock-face of some sort. The winds around such places would create enough lift so as not to waste too much energy. Once in the air, the size of the wings and the rising currents would be enough to keep her in the air. A few flaps with the wing would be enough to gain speed to cover vast amounts of miles without wasting energy. Hanging still in the air is also possible, although the constant adjustments and having to keep her own body airborne does consume large amounts of energy, so a slow glide would usually be considered if covering distance isn’t the goal.
Despite being quite muscular around her shoulders and legs to fly, hunt and kill, most of her bones are a mix of regular and hollow ones to make flight possible. This also means that in the event of a fight, one could break their wings, or some other vital piece of their body and it would usually result in death. Not being able to fly would not mean the end of being able to hunt for food, but it would desperately lower the chances of survival, let alone defend a territory or find a mate. Overall her body is considered sleek. Nothing is out of proportion to the rest. The combination of how her body, muscles and bones are made makes her look elegant when running or flying, but it also gives her a deadly speed on both land and in the sky.
She has a slender head, clearly optimized for flight. Her snout is smooth and rounded, with no clearly visible nose holes. On top, near her eyes are two small ridges that protrude from the skull and redirect air to her horns while also serving as protection for her eyes and ears.
Her horns look like those of the male Nyala on Earth i.e. a loose S-curve towards the back, while twisting around and having slightly smooth, but still visible ridges. While in flight, the horns are used to sense the strength and changes in wind as it flows past the ridges along the horns when moving her head in flight. The two ridges on her head give an indication of temperature and maybe even humidity, although that is not certain.
She has a lightly curved neck that isn’t too long. Her breastplates start right at the throat and are two diamond shapes, tilted 45 degrees and meeting along one of the 4 sides and ending in a point at the bottom. The points that now lean outward at the top are rounded off. The line that meets in the middle is a slightly protruding ridge, as if each side of the breastplate has grown towards the middle. At the sides the breastplates end smooth and go over into scales.
Strong and muscular defined legs hold 4 digit talons with lightly curved claws. There is no opposing digit/thumb on the back of the talon. The outer digits are a bit smaller than the two in the middle.
Her tail is long and ends tapered, there are no ridges or any other things that interfere with the smoothness.Besides being huge, her wings also differ in that they are five fingered, instead of matching her talons. In a way they completely match those of bats on this world. The plagiopatagium starts right where the wings start at the shoulders and reaches all the way to the base of the tail, past the hips. Each digit has two “knuckles”.
In an attempt to visualize this body and its dimensions I tried to see if Akir’Ischa could survive on Earth. Given a calculated wing area of 1022ft2 (95m2) and an estimated total weight around 1100lbs (500kg) the wing load on Earth comes out to 1.078 lb/ft2 (5.263 kg/m2), since 25 kg/m2 is the maximum wing loading for a bird to fly, it would suggest that flight is very possible on this planet.Her scales and breastplates have the color and sheen of obsidian/black, the reflection of them making her shimmer whenever she moves in low light situations. it serves as a way of camouflage when hunting, confusing prey. In direct sunlight the scales seem to absorb some of the reflection, but they remain shiny. Although the bigger scales and breastplates are firm, rough and sharp at the edges to protect, the smaller scales are softer and can actually feel smooth to the touch. They could protect against a pointy rock or branch, but in no way are the scales tough enough against claw or teeth. The weight that would come with that would make flight impossible.
Her eyes are an amber mixed with browns, almost like liquid bronze or fire. Her pupils are reptilian. Her horns start off black at the base of the skull, as if the scales give off their color into the bone, but quickly gradient to a natural ivory color. Her claws are just ivory, no coloration in them.
The skin of her wings is a slight hue away from black. Not a true gray color, but not as deep black as her scales either. The wings have a very light fuzz, very comparable to the wings of a bat. An estimated guess is that it helps with temperature control of the wings.