Dragon

The Dragon is the symbol of the Kingdom of Long. It appears on the kingdom's coat of arms, banners and seals. The kingship of Long is referred as the Dragon Throne or the Draconian Throne.

The mythical dragon is considered the King of Snakes and of reptiles in general including lizards and ferocious reptiles such as alligators all being associated with dragons and with the Long national spirit.

Dragons and tigers are natural enemies.

Iconography

Dragon iconography varies throughout the kingdom and throughout its history. Most famously, the Naja Dynasty depicted the national dragon as a hooded cobra--a symbol of the ruling clan.

One mystical iteration of the dragon is the Ouroboros--the serpent or dragon biting its own tail which in doing so creates a circle evocative of the cyclical or the infinite.

Dragons in Legends

Characterization of Dragons in myths is likewise varied but two common elements can be seen across the spectrum: dragons are wise and dragons are enigmatic and capricious.

There are graceful "serpentine" dragons who fly in the skies or swim through the seas--often conceived of as embodiment or protectors of natural places. And then there are heavy, sedentary dragons who inhabit high mountain caves and lie dormant for centuries. Some of the latter dragons are simply man-eating monsters while others make sly deals with men, offering them coveted objects (or offering to spare the man's life) in exchange for a promise or the performance of a difficult task.

The Dragon figure is important for the Kingdom of Long but stories of dragons or "dragon-like" creatures independently developed in ancient Hu.

In Hu, stories of heroes slaying monstrous dragons are celebrated. One of the highest honors in the Hu military is induction into the Order of the Mongoose, with that mammal being glorified due to the fact it hunts snakes. The title of Dragon-slayer is bestowed on warriors who distinguish themselves in campaigns against Long (sometime due to their personal death count).

Paleontology and Drakonology Many philosophers believed dragons were entirely mythical until ancient remnants were uncovered in the central Keelback Mountains. Towards the end of the Warring Dukes period, in what was then the State of Atractus, the first fossilized dragon bones were discovered by a nobleman named Krysopeleus. Krysopeleus was a wilderness explorer, mountaineer, spelunker, and natural philosopher.

The fossil was found in a subterranean cave complex that had been carved out by a prehistoric river. It consisted of two-thirds of a skull, largely intact, partially exposed and partially buried in the limestone.

Word of this discovery quickly spread throughout Long and captured the popular imagination.

Today, excavation continues at several sites in the region and many more fossils have been unearthed. Most are smaller and less remarkable than the skull of Krysopeleus (prior to that discovery it is unlikely they would have garnered attention) but hundreds of fossil fragments have been catalogued and have allowed paleo-philosophers to mentally reconstruct the bodies of these ancient creatures which allow for artistic representations. In some cases, fossils fragments have been pieced together to recreate larger sections of the dragon's body.

Hassiophis, a reknown drakonologist of the modern era, writes that these fossils “are the true sleeping dragons, buried in rock, speaking to us across the centuries.”

Prehistoric Dragons

The dragons who left behind the recently uncovered fossilized remains are sometimes referred to as “prehistoric dragons” or “paleo-dragons” to distinguish them from the dragons of myths and from the dragons that some believe to exist today as either spirits or physical creatures. There are some mountain tops and other areas that are the supposed home to modern dragons which are held sacrosanct.

Prehistoric dragons have the sharp teeth of a carnivore together with sharp claws. They could grow to be over 5 meters in length with a three meter tail. Their hind legs were larger and more powerful than their forearms. Some fossils suggest dragon forelimbs may have had wing-like features but the creatures’ body weight would have been too large to allow for flight.

Like most reptiles, dragons laid eggs. Some Drakonologists theorize that the creatures were solitary given the large amount of food an adult would need to consume. Drakonologists debate what other characteristics the creatures may have had: e.g., hibernation, parthenogenesis, intelligence.