Wraithian

Wraithians are a species of dragon that live almost exclusively in caves across the three kingdoms.

Appearance
While most Wraithians are on the whole larger than Astorians when fully grown, they are one of the smaller and leaner species of dragon.

As is standard with most dragon species in Astoria, Wrathians have 4 legs, 2 wings and a tail.

Their body is covered in many razor sharp scales, the only exceptions being their under belly where larger smooth scale plates can be found. The sharp scales can vary in shape depending on the subspecies however.

The scales in select areas on the Wraithian’s body can be pulled upwards for multiple reasons, such as a threat display. Commonly the back of the head, neck and across their back are able to stand up.

Their wings are membrane based with 4 main wing fingers, and a single wing tip hook for gripping rocky terrain.

Colouration of Wraithians can vary, though often they are similar dark colours, the only exception being on their wings which may change colour if blood is pumped to their wing membranes or being exposed to a set heat threshold.

Wraithians have front paws with anatomy similar to hands, with 4 main clawed fingers and an opposable thumb on the inner part of their paw. The claws on the front legs are initially short and blunt, however a sharper set of retractable claws hide underneath the blunt claws. Whereas their back legs have four large blunt claws for digging into rock.

The bone structure of Wraithians involve sizable amounts of cartilage to allow themselves to squeeze into smaller locations and making them less susceptible to breaking bones via falling. A majority of Wraithians are unable to build large amounts of body fat and consequently have lean builds.

Their eye sight is ordinated forward and are powerful enough to allow them to see as far as 200 feet away even in low light. When in low light their irises will dilate to the width of almost their whole eye, where as in normal light they contract into a line like shape.

Most of the teeth found on a Wraithian are canines, used both for tearing and piercing prey, however a small row of molars sit at the back of the jaw. Additionally they have a specialised set of hollow fangs used to inject a paralytic venom, which also holds addictive properties. There are four of these fangs, two on the upper jaw and two on the bottom, with the bottom fangs being the shortest of the pair.

This venom can also be spit by two glands poised either side of the base of the tongue. The tongue itself is relatively long and thin with slight serrations for lapping up water from tough to reach spots.

Protruding back from the base of the skull of Wraithians usually are two horns, these horns while hardened bones have some sensitivity to them to aid in hearing vibrations, if a horn breaks it will break off at the base and regrow over time. Most horn shapes for Wraithians grow outwards then double back inwards to cover more area around the top of their head, this is also marks whether a gap can be traversed.

Wraithians do not have set back spines or a tail clubs.

Behavior
Wraithians are solitary stealth based predators, they avoid open conflict and prefer to surprise prey with lighting fast strikes. When hunting, it is often at night allowing their dark complexion to aid in keeping prey unaware of their presence either when flying above or stalking on the ground.

While on the ground they will pounce at the prey if close enough and inject their venom before letting go, if the prey is a potential threat the Wraithian will attempt to create a large enough wound to spit the venom into it instead. This minimalizes the energy required to chase and avoids potential injury to themselves.

When flying they will try similar techniques while swooping on prey, but if the prey struggles too much they will purposefully drop them once and catch them, using the adrenaline from the fall to speed up the venom’s effects.

Facing off against creatures larger than themselves will cause the Wraithian to pull up their threat display scales in an attempt to make themselves look bigger and discourage the attacker. They will also push their wings forward to flush them with blood, this triggers the wing membranes to turn different colours and depending on the attacker the Wraithian can trigger different patterns, such as two large eyes, or just a confusing mess of colours.

Most Wraithians are solitary and often territorial regarding their own species, but they have been known to socialise with other dragon species during the day. However they remain relatively aggressive to unaddicted creatures entering their cave as Wraithians are acutely aware of who they have bitten.

Habitats
As a species, Wraithians live in caves almost exclusively, some sightings have been seen in deep ravines raising suggesting that it is dark locations and access to the sky which attracts their attention.

They have been observed carving their own cave systems from scratch in the side of a mountain, though most seem to find their own small cave and expand them over time.

Wraithians keep multiple tunnels between certain chambers, the tunnels are used to disorientate captured prey or invaders, the quickest routes between them are marked with an almost untraceable pheromone by the owner.

Chambers are often made for specific purposes, such as storage for prey, water, horde precious items, or a place to sleep.

Diet
Wraithians live primarily off of meat, usually this ranges from small mammals or lizards to medium sized mammals, however some Wraithians have been known to steal other dragon’s eggs if they are laid in their territory.

As their venom paralyzes prey they keep stores of food available throughout the seasons. Should the venom wear off before the prey is eaten a lingering addiction will manifest in the prey, making them more likely to stay nearby or actively look to be paralyzed again.

This behaviour results in a symbiotic relationship with the Wraithian and their prey. An example being a Wraithian protecting a herd of sheep claimed as their own from other predators, or smaller dragon species grooming them.

This species of dragon also eats rocks and gemstones to harden their scales, teeth and horns using their hard back molars.

Life Cycle
Most Wraithans spend their lives away from others of their species however once every 2 years they will enter a heat cycle, where females of the species will let off pheromones to indicate they are ready. These pheromones travel large distances, and are potent enough to occasionally attract dragons of other species.

This cycle can last up to a month, and the female Wraithian will often stay in their cave and be hyper aggressive to anything that tries to enter.

Should a male Wraithian pick up the trail they will actively seek out the female’s cave via what usually would be territorial warnings. Once outside the cave they will attempt to appease the female with a gift, which can be a number of things; such as live prey, gems, precious metals, etc.

If the female does not approve she will attempt to spit venom at them, however if she approves she will flick her tail rhythmically. The male will match this gesture at the correct tempo while he slowly enters the cave, otherwise the female may strike at them. Once inside the male is safe to couple with the female.

After coupling the male will pull off a part of their own chest scale and place it near the cave entrance before leaving, this will catch any light to gleam to any other flyers in an attempt to warn off other males. Eventually the female will eat this scale as additional nutrients.

Wraithians like other dragon species lay eggs, with a maximum of three in a clutch. These eggs take half a year to develop before being laid, after which Wraithian chicks take three weeks to hatch. This allows the chicks to have a high survival rate, with an average of 2 out of 3 surviving into adulthood.

Chicks when born are unable to see, have no scales and their wings are protected by an additional membrane sheath. Their eyes begin to open after a week, and their wing sheath sheds after two weeks. Scales however will develop when they shed for the first time, usually after four to six weeks.

During their first year they are allowed to stay in their mother’s cave, where she will show them basic skills, such as digging, climbing and hunting. Usually the cave systems hold a variety of insects and small lizards for the chicks to prey upon but after the first month the mother will bring back, or kill one of their prey stock for them to eat.

Around the time the chicks are able to eat meat they will begin experimenting with gliding and eventually attempting to fly. On average it takes a month a chick to master the basics of flight, after which they are allowed to accompany their mother on a hunt.

By the time the chicks become a year old the mother pushes them out of her cave for them to go out into the world by themselves.

Very rarely the children will visit their mother with small gifts.

Cultural References
Wraithians appear frequently in Sun Kingdom texts, quoted as the ultimate warrior’s challenge due to their abilities and their illusive nature.

Some mentions in the Moon Kingdom compare Wraithians as spiritual judges, Eria DeepStone was said to befriend a Wraithian after being injured atop the Dawn’s Reach Mountain.

Trivia
An intact Wraithian scale is worth around 100,000 and was most commonly used to fashion daggers.