Planet & society
My species were primarily nocturnal hunters, but being warm-blooded will just as easily spend time in the sun. Our eyes were capable of giving us a clear vision in both day and night. A sleeping pattern wasn’t really a thing. I vaguely remember, or have the feeling that we divided the day and night into multiple pieces and spend a couple of hours sleeping between them.
Under the dark of the night and by using the color of our scales to blend in with the night sky, we would usually swoop in from above to catch prey. If the catching wouldn’t instantly kill the animal, biting the neck was the main action, we knew that was the quickest way to kill something. With smaller animals pinching at the right part with a claw would finish the job just fine. That was also part of our knowledge and growing up. We kill to survive, but we do not let them suffer.
Some of the animals on Earth remind me of those I hunted, but aside from vague descriptions such as “deer-like” or “boar-like”, I don’t have a clear image of what I actually ate.The climate was a lot like Central Europe. Summer would be hot and dry, winters would have snow and cold, and in between there was plenty of rain, sun, storms and other weather. There were no signs of any species having industrial technology, so the planet was thriving. Wildfires would sometimes happen, an earthquake can be remembered, but nothing that would point to the decline and destruction of the planet we live on.
Although the climate was temperate, I have memories of traveling further north to more permafrost areas, the exact reason of why I was going there is not clear to me right now. And equally traveling south and come across deserts, for yet unknown reasons.As the apex predator of that world, or at least of the continent, there was a thin line between solitary life and the suggested constructs of a tribe that I seem to remember. Despite some of the memories that I remember being heavily communicative and dealing with lots of interaction with my kin, there are just as many where I was alone, adrift in time and enjoying solitude as I lived my life.
The most active period of interaction was (of course) the mating season. Around that time, I would start to allow males to enter my territory and let them stay around, trying to win me over by courting or fighting each other.
My personal territory as an adult mainly existed of one grand valley that connected to a few smaller ones. The smaller ones I wouldn’t pay that much attention to, so I think those got used by fledglings. Through markings in stone and by using a special scent we left behind I could create invisible borders and make it clear that anyone crossing them could end up between my jaws. The mountain’s edges along the valley also helped in creating a visual barrier against other dragons, although encounters did still happen, both good and bad.
My main lair was a series of tunnels and caves into one of the mountains that formed my border. The caves definitely were nature made, but I do believe others lived in them before me. The main room that had the entrance was big enough to comfortably keep several of my species. Further back there was a smaller cave that would be used to create a nest. Other rooms and tunnels weren’t really used or were too small for an adult to fit.
When walking out of the main cave you would stand on a relative big plateau. On your right it would end in more mountain going upwards, but on the left and in front of you there was a sheer cliff, overlooking a lush, dark green valley surrounded by gray/blue mountains. Along the center of the valley would be a meandering river, ending in a slim but deep lake before continuing on. The lake would often be used to clean oneself or sometimes to hunt for fish.Eggs were made through fertilization. A female was not capable of laying eggs without a male. A nonfertilized egg could be laid, although that was not that common. When it happened though either the mother or the hatchlings that did come out would eat the egg so nothing would go to waste. When making a nest, one would gather enormous amounts of plants, rocks and branches to construct a circle in which to lay the eggs. The eggs were a gray with darker gray spots or streaks, unlike our complete black scales. I suspect the color of the eggs has something to do with taking in extra calcium during pregnancy and the mountains around us being quite dark of color. It would be possible that the calcium in the rocks or other things we ate helped with the coloring. The color of the eggs also helped blending in with the room they were laid, offering some kind of protection, although the first line of defense would always be the parents. Being warm-blooded we kept the eggs warm with our body, although the rotting of the plants in the smaller room would help in creating a greenhouse effect. During incubation, the parents would switch with daily tasks or taking care of the eggs.My species looked very alike but had 2 smalls differences between male and female dragons. Firstly the males were slightly smaller than the females of the species. And they each had their own sex. There was no mention of there being sequential hermaphrodites, so the size difference was the biggest give-away between male and female. Despite having similar designs, the horns were the most prominently used for courting and a male or female could definitely see the difference between another of their own sex. The length and design of the horns were used to impress the other. Most would look like the design of male Nyalas here on Earth, but there could be variations such as more curves/twists. Colors would differentiate between a gradient of black to ivory to darker browns and during the mating season some would even find substances that could color the ivory. Think of something simple as dragging it through blood after a difficult kill, to more elegant solutions as rubbing it against grass or flowers that would give off their color. The length, curves, color and how pristine they were would be used to impress a female, or to steal a male away from another. If a dragon or dragoness lost their horn(s), it would basically be impossible to find a mate. When any interaction would turn into a fight, one would often go for the horns. Damaged, partly broken off or just completely ripped clean from the skull would end a fight sooner than it would if the fight had to go on until one of them was dead. When together with a mate, touching each other’s horns was one of the most vulnerable things one could do. A loving nib of the horn meant more than a nuzzle along the throat, even if that was just as much of a weak spot as the horns. Aside from the horns I can’t remember if there was a special dance or ritual or the like to add to the courting. It could just be showing off the horns combined with a certain mating call, although I have a faint feeling there was more to it.
We had a very simple construct and vague set of laws that I guess could be called a tribe-like sense of community to maintain order, but everyone had their own territory. Outside of ‘debating’ certain events on neutral grounds and during the mating season, everyone pretty much lived solitary, alone or as a family. Of course those lives didn’t really include things we see in a more advanced society, despite a developed brain and capable of deeper thoughts, our way of life was very feral and close to that of a regular animal.
As such, the tribe had no distinct gendered roles or tasks. Parents would do everything together and often stay together until the hatchlings could fend for themselves. As soon as I could fly, hunt and had the general knowledge that was expected of each member, I was send off to take care of myself. Without having a territory of my own, and still being too young to challenge any that do hold a territory, newly cast out fledglings are tolerated within the territory of others.
I have one very foggy memory of my parents, but can’t remember having a real connection with them because of said way of life. After the last fledgling left the nest the parents could decide to spend their lives together, or leave each other and find a new mate in the next mating season. My species was monogamous, though bisexuality did exist in some way. When in heat outside of the mating season and without a partner, one would try to get their needs by any means necessary.I am not sure how many of there were of us. I remember being among a dozen or so adults of my kin and having to discuss certain things, but it was common knowledge that we were with many more. There were more neutral meeting grounds of commune and one would become part of the tribe of the ground closest to their territory. I am not sure if you could visit other ones and be accepted into them, since they were basically designed to be in the middle of all the territories. New territories could be added, though it was not uncommon for young adults to bond together and find a piece of land that was not claimed and start their own “circle” or tribe.
During those communal moments things that harmed the territories or the bond between us all could be discussed and an action could be taken through votes. For example, some would be send out to defend the outer edge of one’s territory, whether it be against other animals or even other dragons.
If a dragon within the tribe did something bad (i.e. destroy eggs, kill a fledgling) they could be cast out or executed on the spot. This, along with the law that fledglings were allowed to survive in existing territories, in some way protected fledglings against older and bigger ones of their kind within the circle of territories before they were old and strong enough to actually get their own land.The neutral grounds were considered a “spiritually important” place. I guess something alike to a temple. The one closest to my territory was a huge boulder in the clearing of the forest. All over the boulder there were significant moments etched into the rock by claw. Think of the beginning of the tribe, important deaths, expansions, years that have passed and other moments in time that were deemed important.
To keep track of those moments was a job given to one dragon in each tribe. Usually the oldest of the tribe would fulfill this task up to their death, which then the now oldest one would pick it up. This could be deviated from, but was uncommon.These Chroniclers, as they were called have given the task to look after those grounds. Keep them clean, make sure no other dragon claims the grounds, rewrite parts that were eroding, add things that happened and were deemed important enough to scratch into the rock. And maybe the most interesting is that these Chroniclers kept track of years by certain constellations or galaxies being visible or moving along a certain point. The smallest scale of time was the passing of the seasons, as certain stars moved by or disappeared, but longer periods were noted by the movement of galaxies that could be seen in the sky. Something akin to a Saros Cycle of Eclipses would happen and that would indicate a “century”. I think that is how my age was defined and passed on to me in this life. It’s not 500 Earthen years, but 500 galactical centuries from my home planet. Since I can’t figure out how long a year there was, let alone how long a “galactic circle” was, I have no hope on how to figure out my true age or anything else that is tied to the passage of time.Language was done through growls, deep rumblings, snarls and chitters, I can also remember a certain deep rumbling or purr, hisses and there was definitely a variation in everything depending on the meaning or mood. Like a growl could go from very low to a higher pitch. Or a roar could cover more distance when given in a certain voice depth to alarm/warn others. I can’t say for sure, but I always felt like some form of clicking was present. Maybe something we did with our maws in combination with the chittering is what caused a clicking sound.