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The Study of Water-Dragons
Dracology report from Berlian Point.
By Sentharn Phoenix
From the beginning of Time, Humans have been fascinated with the graceful beasts of the sky, the Fire-Dragons. Although this fire-breathing lizard is by far the most commonly spotted of the Dragon race, other species of Draco volans exist. And of all of the species of interest to Dracologists, the Water-Dragon has proved to be the most elusive...and fascinating. These timid, gentle creatures are rarely seen outside of their natural habitat in the icy Northern Seas, and so are quite difficult to study in detail.
There have, however, been two detailed case studies of these benevolent creatures*. The first, led by one Irviran Berling, is hailed as one of the earliest successes of the Dracological field. Brave, bearded Irviran traveled to the icy northern shores of the Nranigon sea (sometimes called the North Sea), a gaggle of highly trained do-nothings and bystanders in tow, in hopes of observing the mysterious water-dragons. He planned to lure the water-dragon near the shore with treats of kelp and little bits of Human hair (which, of course, all water-dragons love**, of which he had plenty), and then study it in close detail. His experiment was an instant success, but unfortunately, he passed away two months later. While luring a particularly stubborn dragon ashore, he slipped on a patch of ice, fell into the water, and was immediately eaten by the water-dragon, who thought that he was a divine offering of Human hair from the water-dragon gods above.***
The second case study is lesser-known, yet provided a plethora of information for those who study dragons. Dracologist Eukara, a seasoned expert in Draconic music theory****, successfully managed to observe no less than twenty-seven individual water-dragons in the southern Starred Sea, and on top of that, managed to keep all the hairs on her head. She lived there for eight months, studying and observing, living on fish and expensive tropical fruit that mysteriously spawned every sixty seconds nearby.***** The results of her findings: Water-Dragons are notoriously shy yet friendly, and one should never, ever, under any circumstances, let them munch on even a little bit of their hair (Vox, 140-45).
Irviran and Eukara collected much data from their studies, especially in the areas of behaviors and habits. Contrary to popular believe, water-dragons eat mostly fish and birds, which is quite a dampening discovery to the ancient legends that depict fierce, cannibalistic Dragons (Berling, 49-52). Their language is exceptionally complex, being based on higher-order harmonics that are added or removed from the fundamental pitch, while vibrato and tonal 'darkness' are used to convey feelings and emotion (Vox, 170-83). Neither scientist was able to discover much of the water-dragons' mating rituals, for they seemed to take place underwater; however, its initiation is heralded by a dragon-call described by Eukara as 'heartbreakingly haunting and tender'.******
The inherent coyness of water-dragons, unfortunately, makes them more difficult to observe than their fire-breathing, ice-throwing, dive-bombing, supposedly cannibalistic kin.******* But who knows? Perhaps, with the work of people such as Irviran and Eukara, we shall one day understand the shy and watery cousins of draco volans.
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Footnotes
* Here, I list only the successful studies that yielded useful data. Many others have been attempted, but have failed. For a complete list, see A Collection of Draconic Reports.
** This was actually discovered by Berlian after he discarded his beard shavings into the water.
*** Unfortunately, at the time he was attempting to coax the water-dragons closer by wearing a suit that looked like a giant hairball. He was still wearing the suit when he fell into the water. The peninsula was named "Berlian Point" in his honor.
**** For more information on Eukara's studies of Draconic music, see the article "A Chorus of Dragons", published by the Zardine information service.
***** The cause of this "mysterious spawning fruit" is unknown. As far as it is known, the fruit spawns precisely every sixty seconds, does not spawn if it is not taken, and seems only to spawn in a particular area. The fruit bounces up and down in a smooth motion, suspended in mid-air, and rotates slowly. When it spawns, the fruit's appearance is preceded by a low-resolution particle effect and a corny "Blip" noise.
****** I myself was lucky enough to hear a water-dragon mating call while traveling with a group of fledgling Dracologists at the North Sea (the site at which Berlian performed his studies). The shimmering, unworldly beauty of the sound, echoing throughout the icy landscape, took my breath away.
******* For more information regarding this myth, see Dancing with the Dragons.
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Works Cited:
^ Berlian, Irviran; Dancing with the Dragons (A Collection of Draconic Reports), Vilmshire Publishing, 2004c
^^ Vox, Eukara; "A Chorus of Dragons", The Zardine, 2008c
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