Nichole's Turn

I don't know what to write. So I'll tell you about dragons.

(based off of Drake's Compendium of Dragonology)
So, first there is the Western (or European) Dragon. It is your typical dragon, 15-20 feet tall, four legs, fire-breathing. Fun fact, dragons who breathe fire do it through an inflammable venom and something to create sparks with, which is kept in the front of the bottom jaw in the "spark pouch." Frost dragon venom instead of flames has a highly corrosive effect similar to frostbite. Frost dragons are similar in looks to the Western, but usually are of blue-white color, and you find them in the Arctic or Antarctic. They migrate semiannually, so that is the easiest time to see them.

The Chinese lung is what we usually think of in terms of the eastern type of dragon. There are others, like the Japanese ryu, but I'll just cover the lung. This type of dragon is accredited for bringing the secret of writing to a Chinese emperor. The lung has four talons, and is about 30 feet long, but not very tall, only about 7 or 8 feet tall. It has no wings, but that doesn't keep it from soaring into the sky. In the mating season, males curl themselves up like a giant spring and launch themselves into the air in order to impress females. Sometimes they can even get as high as 100 feet!

The Wyvern is the largest of the dragons. I don't remember how big it is, but it is really big, much bigger than the Western. In Africa, it is fond of carrying off elephants and rhinos for dinner, so that can give you an idea. The roc is probably its biggest competition, as it likes many of the same things. Wyverns have only two legs in addition to their two wings, but they have a cool locking mechanism in their toes that helps them hold onto their large prey. The Hydra also has two legs and two vestigial wings. They have multiple heads, often three in number, and uniquely among dragons it prefers the cannibalistic practice of eating dragon eggs rather than any other prey. Rabbits are safe from this dragon. Hydras don't reproduce in the normal way. An ancient carving shows that when hydras want to reproduce one of their heads is cut off. From this head a new hydra will grow, if it isn't eaten. The adult hydra is supposed to guard the vulnerable head, but usually wanders off to do something else. It is very hard to sneak up on a hydra.

No one knows what the basilisk's true form looks like. It is a shapeshifter, able to transform into any dragon form. Its favorite guise is that of a European chick. The basilisk's one feature that stays on is the yellow eye, which instantly hypnotizes those that look into its gaze. This may be part of the myth that the gaze of the basilisk kills instantly, because once someone looks into its eyes it's usually too late to do anything to stop it attacking the poor soul. A second thing that helps to identify the basilisk is the poison that seeps out of the soles of its feet. This poison often kills the vegetation around it, which makes tracking a basilisk somewhat easier.

A Western (or European) dragon. Or maybe a basilisk. Can you tell?

The knucker is a fun dragon. It has four legs and two vestigial wings. It is a little dragon, but don't let that fool you. Its venom is among the most acidic of dragons, dissolving living substances in seconds. The knucker is strange because it will take any shiny bits of broken glass or bottle caps to add to its hoard where other dragons would collect gold coins and precious jewels. It just goes to show that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Speaking of fun dragons, I like the incognito. There are many accounts of this dragon, and most are contradictory. Everything about it is unknown and uncertain. This dragon was believed to be a psuedo-dragon until one account labeled it as "completely dragon-like." It is possible that the incognito is such a master at hypnosis that everyone who encounters it completely forgets doing so. It definitely exists though. It would be ridiculous if it didn't.

The ampithere is an American dragon, mostly Central and South America. These dragons have no legs and two wings, and often have a feathery crest. These dragons have been worshiped by a culture that I forget, and they prefer to spend all their time soaring through the skies. The gargouille is found on old buildings, often churches and things that have lots of statues on the roof. There are lots of them in France. When a gargouille is sitting still, as it usually does, it is nearly impossible to tell it from a gargoyle. The only way to tell is to blow on their eyes, which will make the gargouille blink, but often ends in the maiming or death of the offending party.

So there you have it. I told you about dragon species, and I didn't even tell you about tracking them in the field, or psuedo-dragons, or the extinct species. Or the riddles, or the artifacts, or their hoards, or how to safely meet a dragon. You'll have to wait, or find the book that I got all this information from. It's in the 700s in the Dewey Decimal system, I think. 741.something, but don't take my word for it. Find out yourself, because dragons are awesome.