Penddraig Chronicles

TINY SPRITE (Pygmy, M)

Tiny was very excited to be asked by Blue Mood Mac himself to mount a small expedition to the forests along the rim of the desert, in search of breeding experts willing to come to the city.

No one was more surprised than he, though, when he found such enthusiasm for the move among the Reds and Pinks of the forest regions. In the end, he returned from the Desert Rim Forests with four Red dragons (Broeden, Gestar, Ausbruten and Kweken), 2 Pinks (Pink Vanilla Coif and Drew Driver), Breakfast Burn (a Purple), and Immaculato, a White Healer.

A couple of Ridgewing stowaways also joined the group. Buzz By and Plum Dawn attached themselves to Tiny and nothing could discourage them.

With the success of this, his first totally independent mission, Tiny Sprite found his calling and was very much in demand for further expeditions.

PINK VANILLA COIF (Pink, F)

Pink Vanilla was one of the immigrants from the [b]Desert Rim Forests. Her skills as a birthing magic user soon became widely known, and she was much sought after. She and her mate, Drew Driver, settled in a small ruin at the outskirts of Spice City.

DREW DRIVER (Pink, M)

Drew and his mate, Pink Vanilla Coif, came with the other Desert Rim Forests immigrants from the forest regions between the homes of the Desert Dwellers and the Alpine Ridge.

For them, it was a chance for adventure and an exciting new beginning. Ironically, despite their expertise, the two midwives had no hatchlings of their own.

BROEDEN (Red, M)

Another of the Desert Rim Forests immigrants, Broeden was a fairly old dragon, as far as anyone knew, and said that the reason for the move was that he was getting on and he wanted to rest easy in Spice City where he would not need to compete for food. He did seem to possess a certain wisdom that comes from experience, and younger dragons would ask his advice on 'matters of the heart'.

GESTAR (Red, M)

Gestar was a solitary dragon, tending to keep his own counsel. When he did speak, though, others always listened, because his thoughts were usually wise and insightful.

Originally, another inhabitant of the Desert Rim Forests, his 'voting with his feet' was considered by his fellow travelers as reason enough to move on.

AUSBRUTEN (Red, M)

Ausbruten was a little more forthcoming than others from the Desert Rim Forests about the reasons for their enthusiasm for emigration.

It seemed there was a strange almost invisible dragon raiding the hunting areas of dragons in the forest. The more superstitious of the locals were convinced it was a visitation from one of the Ice Goddess's minions.  

While Ausbruten gave this explanation little credence, he did say he would be glad to get away from this apparition without incident, as he didn't fancy competing with it for food.

KWEKEN (Red, M)

The Desert Rim Forests became too contentious, with not just the depredations of the strange apparition, but also the arguments as to its origin, for Kweken, who liked nothing more than lying in a quiet stream in the heat of the day.

He thought a move to the more populous area was prudent in light of the threats of the Forests. But he didn't take into account his reaction to the loss of quiet streams. Of which there were exactly none in Spice City.

Kweken never felt at home in the city and eventually emigrated once again, to Coastedge Wood, where he found the kind of accommodation for peace and safety that was his heart's desire.

BUZZ BY (Ridgewing, M)

Buzz By knew better than any other dragon what the apparition that was haunting the  Desert Rim Forests actually was.

From his cave in the foothills leading up to the Alpine Ridge he could follow the path of the intruder back over the mountains. And what he discovered fascinated him. A Frostbite dragon, a breed rarely seen venturing this far down the slopes, because their size made movement in the tree-crowded forests difficult. Clearly, this was the dragon making off with their game, and even meat leftovers, but why? Surely things weren't so tight in the Alpine Ridge, that she needed to raid the lower slopes?

Finally she stopped and dropped her load of food to rest beside a stream, where she met another dragon. Buzz By couldn't quite see the new dragon, but it was clearly a smaller one than the Frostbite. He wondered what on earth they could be up to that would involve such large quantities of fresh meat!

But he was not planning on sticking around to find out. He did consider reporting what he had seen to the other dragons in the Desert Rim Forests, but decided it would only create trouble for him. And he was ever against anything that made life trickier.

So he and his mate, Plum Dawn 'hitched' a ride to Spice City.

PLUM DAWN (Ridgewing, F)

Plum Dawn was a quiet retiring kind of dragon, deferring to her mate Buzz By for most decisions. So she asked no questions about his sudden urge to go to Spice City. She assumed he knew what he was doing, and happily played with their new-found friend Tiny Sprite to while away the time on the trip to the city.

IMMACULATO (White, M)

Like many White dragons, Immaculato traveled throughout Penddraig, earning his way as a healer and carer. He joined the little caravan of hopeful migrants as they reached the desert proper.

He was a gentle, calm and rational dragon, always looking for the best resolution to a crisis or altercation. He was relaxed and sociable, preferring to be in the company of a few other dragons than on his own.

In return for food and water, the other dragons knew they could safely leave their hatchlings with Immaculato while they went hunting or exploring.

BREAKFAST BURN (Purple, M)

With his elixirs, potions and poultices, Breakfast Burn was one of the most laden dragons on the trip from the Desert Rim Forests to Spice City.

His skills at curing infertility were astonishing, and dragons treated him with awe. After food, nothing occupies a dragon's mind as much as the duty to produce progeny, so Breakfast Burn's services were as much in demand as those of the incubating Red dragons.

AUGUSTINE HARVEST (Harvest, F)
(Updated 3rd October)
Augustine was in hiding. She needed to get away from the anger and threats from her family after a little indiscretion went wrong. Obviously she had not planned on mating for life with the dishy Gold N Harvest, but a hatchling from such a dalliance as theirs could not be tolerated in the family. She was the heir to a Bronze/Harvest lineage that went back generations. 

Happily, her wise and resourceful Brimstone Nanny, as always, had a solution. There was known to be a group of sadly childless Brimstones, exiled on another continent with the famously gentle Freaky Little Hobbit Lover, where many lost and abandoned dragons found a home. Nanny said these Brimstones were lonely and excluded from most dragon societies, and would welcome a youngster to care for. And so she immediately took the egg where she knew it would be wanted.

So it was that Augustine was in self-appointed exile. 

So when she came out of her cave to peer around blearily and get a little sun, she didn't expect company. Most of the other inhabitants of the Desert Rim Forests had moved on to where the atmosphere was less tense, and that is what had made this region so tempting for her sojourn 'in the wilderness'. And, of course, the promixity of a certain dishy dragon.  

Yet, here this creature was, an apparition of such size and majesty, such power and beauty, she was almost compelled to her knees in awe. But Augustine could never get a genuinely clear image of her, it was as if the dragon were made of the frost and snow itself.

Augustine knew immediately who this strange dragon was; it had to be the much-feared Ice Goddess, who had been prowling these woods for some time, and had driven off many lesser dragons. But what did she want of Augustine?

HORRY VIT (Black, M)

Used to be, Spice City was known for its pleasures of the flesh. A little nettle wine, a few oaths, and a good hard brawl could be started with just about any other breed, Horry and his friends never cared.

But the rise in the fortunes of 'respectable folks' led to increased policing needs, and Horry Vit found himself in the unlikely position of Chief Constable. He was, however, very good at it. "You need a thief, to catch a thief", the older dragons would say, nodding slowly and trying to look wise.

TERO TAKEO (Black, M)

Tero, like his boss, Chief Constable Horry Vit, was once the sort of drinking, brawling and whoring kind of roughneck that a police force was appointed to control.

All things considered, though, he liked his job. The pay was low but regular, and if he had fewer brawls, he lost none at all, with his prized police prod stick at hand.

SHELL SAND (Black, F)

Spice City offered a new life for Shell. She was tired of her high adrenalin ways. She had put a little away during her fighting years, and now she settled down to the serious business of choosing a mate with whom to hatch a  few little Shells.

Finding an appropriate mate was partly her reason for buying the tavern ruins right in the middle of the market place. Here she got to look over the male population at their worst and, with a nod and a wink from the Constable Tero Takeo, and the occasional misplaced bottle of nettle wine, she also managed to make a small profit.

GLITTER GAZE (Lumina, M)

Gaze arrived back in Spice City with one of the exploratory expeditions to the northwest. He presented the Emperor Jien Shen Zhong with maps and charts pinpointing likely mineral deposits, and with the Emperor's wives some of the most exquisite gemstones ever seen.

From that time on, Alisheba, 2nd wife to the Emperor, refused to let him out of her sight, and he became something of a pet, to the amusement of all the court.

NG SWEE KIM (Brute, F)

Kim and her mate, Ling An Xiang lived above the desert plains near Spice City, in the wastelands stretching back to the Volcanic Regions.

Neither can remember how long they have been there, or where they may have come from. They do know they have never had hatchlings and so now have come into the city to seek the help of the many breeding experts there.

LING AN XIANG (Brute, M)

Xiang was old. Older than the mountains, he sometimes thought. And not getting any younger. But his mate, Ng Swee Kim, wanted hatchlings. Now. At this time in their lives!

Still it was what she wanted, and he made a point of seeing she always got everything she wanted. So they went to Spice City, a place he had always loathed, but where the recently arrived cadre of healers and midwives had just set up shop.

BLUE OSCAR (Nilia, M)

Oscar loved to fly. More than eating and mating, he just loved soaring through the clouds surrounding the mountains behind Spice City. He and the other young dragons of the Blue Nilia Flock would spend hours and hours a day practising the formations for traditional mating rituals.

So it was not surprising that it was a Nilia dragon that first spotted the strange dragon on the move along the Alpine Ridge towards Volcanic Regions.

However, though his curiosity was piqued, his caution overruled it, and he made no effort to leave the safety of his companions and follow the strange creature he had spotted.

ENCRYPTED NOTES (found buried in Justie's cave)

Conversation overheard, deep in the caverns beneath the Temple of the Moon.

Sees The Moon: What nonsense is this? Lived less than 100 years? That's ridiculous!

Sees The Moon: Now, hush, Sees, you know she's telling the truth!

Sees The Moon: Oh do I now? I can't even see if she's got a scroll in her hand, let alone read it!

Sees The Moon: SeizeTheMoon, look at the Troll and...

Human The Chronicler: Human... I am a human!!!

SeizeTheMoon: Whatever. I can't read this, Sees The Moon, it's nothing but Human gibberish!

Human The Chronicler: I don't need to read it! We were all short-lived humans once! Until.. until...

SeizeTheMoon: Yes, yes, we know all about the holocaust, seems like there's one every century or two. And it is always going to be the end of the world... but, what do you know, we're all still here... living a damn sight longer than 100 years!

Sees The Moon: Oh, back on topic, wonderful! Troll, aka Human, we didn't get our first set of scales completed in less than a hundred years.

Sees The Moon: About 150 years, I think it was...

Sees The Moon: Don't interrupt. We can't possibly be expected to remember what we were doing back then. I certainly have no recollection of being a human! And I know I'm not dead.

Sees The Moon: The very thought is making me nauseous - barely a hatchling raised to adulthood, and it's all over?! How tragic, if true!

SeizeTheMoon: Ahem...

Sees The Moon: Yes, Abbott, you have something to contribute?

SeizeTheMoon: I, uh, I remember humans when I was very very young. Possibly younger than 100 years... Some of them I remember were quite distinctly wizened, as a very old dragon might come to resemble. I remember, I asked if they were sick.

Human The Chronicler: See, we existed back then!

Sees The Moon:   WE existed back then. Perhaps, Human, you did not? Hmm? If you are Human, and all the humans either died or became dragons eons ago, which are you - dead? Or the Bright-Breasted Wyvern you so closely resemble? Hmm?

Human The Chronicler: (gazing at her reflection in a shiny sheet of crystal) Do you think I do? Resemble a Bright, I mean? Yes, I do have a certain colourful style, wouldn't you say? Certainly a brilliant shade of green for my wings, but what a unique Bright-Breasted dragon I'd be, the only one with wings and arms, so very useful hands are, you know... if I just had a more spectacular display of red-breast! Yes, very attractive...

Sees The Moon: Now, look what you've done! We'll get no sense out of her now!

Sees The Moon: Oh? Was there a time when we could have gotten sense out of her?

Attached to the back of the ENCRYPTED NOTES in Justie's cave is a torn page, from some encyclopedia perhaps, underlined in places, and comments scrawled on it.

• In personality, Bright-Breasted Wyverns are a very human-like breed; however, they would argue that it’s the other way around. They can have a very wide range of personality traits, differing greatly with each individual.

However, they are characterized by two things - their arrogance and intelligence. These dragons are very clever, and use strategy to help them survive in the wild cave.

Their small feet and dexterous tails can often be used like hands for delicate procedures. This, along with their bright, flamboyant colours, makes them very vain and prideful. or perceived that way

In battle, Bright-Breasted Wyverns are usually defeated when they become too cocky, allowing their opponents to take them by surprise fool me once...etc.

(from "spriters notes")

This explains a lot! No wonder they were my first favourite, and still dear to my heart.

Made a sketch

DESERT RIM FORESTS REGION

This temperate and verdant region was comfortable home of many dragons, all living in relative harmony. Until strange events began to divide the loosely connected bands into two opposing camps.

These strange events consisted mostly of lightning raids on the usual prey of the locals - everything from a missing goat to the entire herd. A dimly perceived apparition was seen by many in the general area, and it was this creature's identity that became such a contentious issue.

One group were convinced the creature was the Ice Goddess herself, or perhaps even, just a minion, come to punish the dragons for their extensive intrusion into the more mountainous regions of the forests. It had been a lean winter so far, and the move upwards had been largely an increase in hunting activity in these areas. This group advocated a sacrifice to the Ice Goddess as the correct method of appeasement. But no one could agree on what would be considered a suitable offering.

The other group looked solely for real life solutions for, to them, a real life problem. The emergence of a new and dangerous rival for their food supply. For these dragons, the first priority was to identify the apparition's true form, find its lair, and find its weaknesses. They felt that their survival justified attacking this other creature, and fully intended to make war upon it.

Great acrimony arose between the two groups, because one wished to appease the intruder, while the other wished to destroy it. A third, much smaller, group decided the atmosphere was becoming a little too tense in their comfortable forest regions, and when Tiny Sprite arrived looking for emigrants to the Spice City, this group, individually and collectively, chose to leave the forests.

SANAA ICE (Frostbite, F)

Sanaa Ice is having a wickedly good time! When the strange and aloof Albino dragon first travelled all the way from her home in the Volcanic Regions, to meet her, Sanaa, she really did not know what to think.

The Albino suggested a little trick could be fun if Sanaa were to steal down into the forests and create a myth for herself as some kind of Ice Goddess. It did seem a fun idea, but why would she want Sanaa Ice to do such a thing?

She had orphaned hatchlings to feed, she'd said. And could not herself capture enough food to take back to the youngsters. Maybe, if Sanaa brought back food from her little adventure, she'd become a legend, and all the hatchlings could be fed.

Sanaa saw immediately that that would become a problem. How will Trans Lucia Materna get the food across the Alpine Ridge and back to her own lair? Trans Lucia had thought of that as well, and beckoned at someone hidden behind a boulder.

It was two young but strong Blue-Banded dragons, Splish & Splash Puddle Jumper, barely able to control their fear at the sight of the massive Frostbite dragon. Trans Lucia motioned to them, and explained that they had agreed to take the food across to the Volcanic Regions. Sanaa could meet them here every few nights, with a supply of fresh meat for Trans Lucia's hatchlings.

It would be a bit of a lark, Sanaa decided, and so the four of them agreed on the details and the game of creating her own legend began - and worked all too well!