On a world separated from this by more than mere distance, there lives a race.
They have scales, six limbs, a long tail and neck. They do not breathe fire, but, in essence, fit the stereotype for the catch-all term 'Dragon'.
In its early epochs, this world decided, being sentient as all life bearing worlds are, that it wished to create children for itself.
It asked its sister worlds, including this one, what kind of life was best.
All gave a different reply, but it seemed that all agreed on one thing. Each world had a favorite species, above all the others. A species to whom all sins against the other life growing on its mother, and that mother world herself, would be forgiven.
So, this world made its notes, and began its millions year long work.
Slime, leading to microscopic animals, which became tiny swimmers and those in turn became fishlike critters.
Around this time, the first lifeforms with spines appeared. Vertebrae of course meant skeletons, and bony limbs, and after much thought, this world chose to give it's creations six of those.
For tens of thousands of generations, those were tiny fins, but of course evolution had its way, and those little fins became flippers, and the swimmers crawled onto the land.
A great boom of evolutionary exploration came then. Flippers became legs, scales became stronger, muscles bigger, tails elongating.
Across the world, scaly creatures walked, some feeding on the plant life that the world had given up on trying to make DO anything other than just grow lots. Others fed on those early herbivores.
Several species seemed promising at first. Each was intelligent, cunning, strong, fast, and utterly unafraid of anything else that walked or swam.
Of course that led to MOST of them becoming extinct.
One though, one species, smaller than average, and now living among the stupid overgrown plants that even the massive herbivores had given up trying to eat, made a leap. Literally. They spread the paws of their center limbs, and began to glide between tree branches in the pursuit of food.
More aeons pass, webbed paws becoming true wings. Bones shift place, bunching the foreshoulders together and extending the flap of flesh of the underarm, making a flight membrane. Senses grow stronger, changing the purpose of the bundle of nerves tangled inside their skulls. Self awareness dawns, beyond the simple requirements of the hindbrain, tucked as it was beside their stomachs.
This species was the one, the world decided. It poured its efforts into final improvements, making them faster, smarter and stronger over a million years.
This planet can be said to be high gravity, with a dense atmosphere. It also has a large amount of heavy metal elements present in its crust, leading to most life that evolves on it not only being adapted to, but requiring arsenic salts and radioactive materials in their diet.
The biology of the fauna (and flora for that matter) is highly focused on the adaptation of available resources into their biologies. Cells are designed to, in addition to all the usual matters cells attend to, also lay down metals, layering it in bone, weaving nano-strands of it through muscle and tendon, increasing structural and tensional strength beyond anything usually associated with 'organic' lifeforms.
Scales
The scales that cover the body of these creatures grow from follicle pits on the skin. The skin itself is grey in colour, thick, leathery, VERY durable and capable of stretching like organic elastic. Scales are chromatic, somewhat translucent, and can shift tone between white, black and a spectrum of shades along, usually, a single 'colour' channel. Under default conditions, this means 'black' or various shades of grey. However, due to the slightly random nature of the chemical integration during gestation, there is usually a random secondary colour available. This is locked just before hatching, allowing individuals to change their scale colours and patterns at will through a range of black and a single set colour tone, with any level of shading.
The underside of the scales is a brightly reflective layer, not dissmimilar to mother-of-pearl in colour, and helps to reflect and amplify the shifting colours of the upper side of the scales.
The scales tend to be dense, often metallic in nature. For more on this refer to the Digestive section.
Chest
The chest is deep and broad under double shoulders where massive flight muscles are anchored to the breastbone. Ribs are clearly defined under the skin, curving around to meet the spine. Interestingly, while able to lock together in a strong cage when exposed to even extreme external pressure, the ribs themselves are in fact floating, anchored by strong, tensile tendons. This is part of what allows these animals to ingest such large meals with relatively little effort or pain.
Belly
Despite its normally smooth, concave appearance, their gut is capable of stretching to a remarkable degree. Although there is a limit to its capacity, they have only moderate difficulty in containing prey up to two thirds of their own body mass. When very full the skin will stretch, and separate the scales. Only thick, powerful muscle keeps the prey enclosed, and with enough strength to shatter bone if necessary. After a very large meal, or even some more active smaller one, moving bulges may well be visible until the prey succumbs to the digestive tract, or suffocates.
Limbs
- - Fore
Long and thin, smoothly muscled forelimbs end in three toed paws. Each toe is tipped with a long hooked claw. The claws are bone-like, black in colour. The tip is narrow and needle-like, but widens at the base, ensuring that anything they slice into will be laid open like a gutted fish.
- - Hind
Much more powerfully muscled than the forelegs, but no less long and sleek, they are built primarily for running, but their sleek power is ideal for propelling their huge frame into the air.
The toes, of which there are three and one heavy dew-claw, are tipped by claws similar to those on the fore-paws, but bigger.
- - Claws
The claws themselves reside in sheaths in the toes. When the claws are extended the sheath is empty, and its soft, silky-pink lining might be an inviting hiding place for some small creatures. It is not uncommon for rodents and birds to try and get into there to clean out stale blood and whatever insect life may also be trying to eke out a living on the scraps of flesh or blood snagged within.
- - Wings
The wings of this species are huge, and quite capable of supporting them in the air with arrogant grace. Folded, the wings become deadly spears, the long bones and heavy 'thumb' forming the shaft, powerful flight muscles allow them to thrust forwards with sufficient force to punch through an oak tree. The wings are scaly, but the individual scales are tiny in comparison to the body scales, and are almost hair-like to look at. To the touch they are soft, and slightly fuzzy. They function in exactly the same as the larger ones in terms of colouration.
- - Tail
Long, densely muscled and flexible, this appendage is important for hunting, health and happiness.
The vertebrae are hooked together with dense tendon and muscle, able to swing freely without requiring energy to hold aloft, but retaining an easy flexibility and moderate prehensility.
Within the base of the tail however, in addition to the strong muscles and dense bone, are several pockets of fatty tissues. After a large meal or sustained feeding period, when food is plentiful, these will swell with fat, protection against the ever feared lean times.
- - Tail Blade
Common to all sub-breeds of this species, the massive deadly blade is an evolved scale, and continually grows. If the individual animal�s diet includes metallic compounds, the tailblade will be one of the first indications of this, as like fingernails on humans, it grows from the cuticle out.
It is not uncommon for the blade to have been shaped and sharpened, usually into a harpoon shape, if not for hunting, then for status indication.
- -Venom
Growing under the blade, hidden from view, is another modified scale. While not universal across the entire species, this scale is shaped like a large hypodermic, and loaded with a powerful neurotoxin. This weapon may also be common among many of the other species of this world, having been a common element to the primordial swimmers.
Head
- - Eyes
Eyes are forward facing, giving decent binocular vision over the muzzle, and change colour occasionally. The only constant is that, when angered or about to kill, they go black, as the inner eyelids close to protect the delicate eyes.
- - Hearing
There are no external ears. Small scales protect the auditory passage.
- - Horns
From the back of the skull two long horns sweep back, slightly s shaped. The length of the horn has a direct correlation to ones desirability as a mate, long sweeping horns indicating a very attractive and sexually healthy individual.
- - Jaws
The lower jaw is hooked together in a manner reminiscent of terrestrial snakes, with quadrate bones allowing a 'double hinge' machanism, while the flesh of the throat is tough and very flexible, to allow passage of large prey.
The teeth are positioned in the maw much like a cats, small gripping teeth in front, large piercing fangs in the middle and heavy crushing and slicing carnissals in the back.
The strength in those jaw muscles is sufficient to slice through flesh, bone, and steel. With allowances for the metal content present in this species skeletal structure, there is very little that they cannot chew through if given sufficient incentive.
- - Tongue
The tongue of this species is another throwback to ancient times. Once it would have been utilized to snare small prey from distant tree branches where they would have been unable to stalk with sufficient stealth or fly to within striking range in time.
Its size reflects this old habit. While relaxed, it tightens itself to half its full length, and folds down into a deep pouch inside the neck, inside the esophagus. It is anchored at the top of the esophagus, prior to the gullet entrance, with the pouch holding the double girth of the appendage. When extended, its length is almost a third of her own overall body length, although some flexibility is to be expected in measurements.
Saliva and associated fauna
Partly due to their diet, which includes decomposing meat (for the rich flavour), as well as fresh, their mouth and gut are host to several species of Streptococcus virii, (Including: Vibrio vulnificus, Clostridium perfringens, and Bacteroides fragilis) as well as several other flesh eating diseases. They also carry a number of common blood and saliva transmitted diseases. (HIV, smallpox, hepatitis, tetanus, and a number of others you don't want to catch) These are present in their blood, and mucus. A bite, even if the victim escapes, is almost inevitably lethal. This is primarily a weapon intended to weaken and kill prey much larger than themselves without risking the effect of true venom or combat. - This can be considered parallel to this world's Komodo Dragon, if somewhat more virulent.
Most of the time, the saliva produced in large quantities is simple water, with a few harmless impurities, and is the primary method used to dispose of excess water.
The disease laden bite is common to all members of the species, however, certain specialized evolutionary traits have produced a directed variant. This is in the form of a mucus string, generated in the salivary glands on the bottom jaw. The mucus compound is somewhat akin to the type produced by the Hagfish, however it is used as a transfer medium for a string of bacteria and viruses coiled in a black helical shape, designed to release a flood of lethal fluids upon the mucus being broken or smeared on the flesh of a victim. The mucus is sticky, stringy, and near impossible to scrape off, ensuring a wide coverage of the terrible compounds within.
Certain members of this species, having moved beyond the purely physical realm, have developed more powerful forms of the breath weapon. While the original diseases are still present, they are largely inert, unless 'spat' or breathed, much as traditional dragons utilize fire, these individuals may breathe 'disease', a literal living rot, which causes the victim/s caught in it's effect to decompose, while still living. Flesh, bone, metal, plastic, stone, even energy, breaks down, fails, ceases to be in the face of this form of attack. This would make them fairly effective soul devourers, if they choose to be, given time and sufficient reason, they could snuff out stars.
But this is an extreme, something rarely, if ever, exhibited. Most of the time, if the breath weapon is used at all, it is to rot living people alive.
Their bite, on the other hand, has become more specialized. And far more horrible. While a slow rotting process will still occur, it takes much longer, even for smaller victims, perhaps up to several days. But the immediate effect is actually to preserve life. At any extreme. A victim of such a bite may be dismembered, drained of blood, torn apart, and remain conscious throughout the ordeal, able to feel and experience everything. Final death will not occur until the victim's brain is destroyed.
In extreme cases, they may choose to use this to enthrall victims, even sending them on as agents, spreading plague and horror, so they may follow and devour the suppurating masses as the bodies pile in the streets.
In the grander scheme, Obsidian and Sideromelane are near embodiments of the force of Entropy. Not beholden to any deity or being, Entropy by it's nature precludes any such thing. Seen by most as a form of 'evil' it in fact is the manner by which the Universe is renewed, and reborn. Stable matter is broken down by Entropy, energy running out and itself breaking down into Chaos, from which Order inevitably arises.
They are the death of Order, and give birth to Chaos, devourers and destroyers, decayers, sowing the seeds of the future.
- - Male
This species follows the standard form of sexual dimorphism, with some slight deviations in the case of hermaphroditism, which is more common than in most species. However, it has been discovered that the standard labels dictating male/female genders have been misapplied. The 'Male' of this species, is in fact the biological female. 'He' sports not a penis, but a very long ovipositor, which places a batch of infertile eggs in the 'womb' of the 'female' who then gestates the now fertilized eggs.
In essence this means the genders of this species are 'flipped' although they should be referred to as what they appear to be. Although 'he' sports an ovipositor instead of a penis, a 'male' will still be mightily offended should you refer to him with a female pronoun.
His reproductive system is positioned between his hind legs as one would expect. A horizontal slit hides his parts, externally appearing as no more than a faint break in his scales. Within, his penis (in fact an ovipositor) rests, normally quite compressed when flaccid. The walls of his slit are flexible, and usually coated in a clear, slimy substance. Its scent can vary, going from pleasantly spicy to stinking of rotten meat, depending on his diet and some external factors. His penis, when erect, extends to a solid length proportionate to his bodymass, and the opening in the tip is flexible enough to allow the passage of unfertilized eggs (Or indeed, a willing sexual partner of suitable size). The tube inside it leads inside his body, and to his reproductive sac. Within that chamber, eggs are produced and stored until ready to be implanted. This chamber is inside his body, tucked between his slit and anus. As should be expected this part of his body is highly sensitive, and stimulation of the inside of the shaft is much desired.
- - Female
Although technically the male, the biological structures of this species mean they take the role of the female in terms of gestating new life, and should therefore be referred to as female.
Her reproductive system is positioned between her hind legs as one would expect. A horizontal slit in her scales shows where the entrance to her sex is. Usually this slit will be tightly closed. However, during arousal, muscles under her skin pull the slit open, revealing her soft, pink and grey inner flesh. These soft folds form a tunnel, going in and forwards. Most of her vaginal passage is tight, flexible and strong. During arousal it opens slightly, making passage into it easier. Close to the top, just under her cervix, is a small open area, a loose ring of muscle below it, and the tighter ring of her cervix making it a small cave inside her.
When mating occurs, eggs will be stored here, to be drawn through her upper cervix to bathe in her seed, which is produced and stored within the womb. It can also be purged from here quite easily.
Her cervix, as with most creatures, guards the entrance to her womb. It naturally is quite slimy, and is normally small, closed down into a compact shape. However, during mating, it will expand, and if she is in season, it will be receptive to eggs from a male of her species. Her own seed, formed in her tested deeper inside her body, travels into her womb to meet the unfertilized eggs delivered by the male's ovipositor. Within that chamber they are fertilized and allowed to gestate for some time before laying. Her womb is surprisingly hostile, at least to invasive substances.
- - Herm
In rare cases, in-egg mutations, often caused by a slight fluctuation in temperature during gestation causing 'confusion' to set in during development, can cause hermaphroditism. However, this is usually resolved before hatching and the individual has all the appearance of either a male or female, albeit infertile. In extremely rare circumstances however, a further, little understood mutation, will cause the development of BOTH male and female sexes within the same individual. The mechanic is not known, the exact internal structures may vary from individual to individual, with entirely separate reproductive systems, each operating 'normally' for the respective sex (as with SillyBuggers), or linked, with the testes chamber and womb being the same functional organ (as in Idocrase).
The basic nature of the digestive tract of this species is little different to that of most others. There are however, a number of variations from the standard 'design'.
Firstly, the esophagus doesn't cross the windpipe, it is on the outside. The gullet is closed off by a fold of muscular tissue normally. During a swallowing action, this stretches and spans open, and muscles in the upper section of the esophagus tighten, forming a deep funnel at the moment of swallowing.
Further down, peristaltic motion takes over in turn, pulling downwards firmly. The gullet passes through the arched span of the complicated double shoulder blades. During the consumption of a large meal, these bones will spread apart, held together by long, powerful ligaments. In addition, lungs and upper heart are able to shut down and compress nearly flat to allow food to pass through without damaging them.
Notably, the ribcage can also spread apart in a similar way to the collarbones, although at this point a meal should be considered 'too big' and thought given to breaking it apart into more manageable chunks.
Deeper still, just below the last ribs but directly before the stomach, is a large sac. In earlier stages of evolution, this was partly a gizzard, partly a place to carry meat back to a den for offspring. By this point in the evolution however, this space has become a purpose made prison, perfect for carrying living prey for days at a time. There is a capability to 'inhale' air into this chamber, and for belching stale air without releasing any contained prey.
It is common for this sac to be host to a large amount of intestinal flora, normally of a form that thrives on partly digested meat seeping back up from the stomach. It is capable of producing a dim, natural light.
Next to this sac, separated by a tightly clenched sphincter, is the stomach. While active, this stomach works like any other, producing acids and enzyme laden mucus to break down the flesh of a meal.
Some important notes however. There is a secondary blood supply linked to the lower heart, and a direct connection to the lung blood supply - not dissimilar to this world's crocodilians. This allows the production of far more powerful acidic compounds than would usually be possible. A cross connection to the vast and complex liver system enables the use of other, more powerful chemicals as well. Ultimately, there is almost nothing this species cannot digest.
It is not uncommon for this species to consume inorganic materials, including metal ores. This is the mechanic that allows this species to have strong metallic bones and scales. And while most individuals rarely find anything denser than iron oxide to process into a form of strong organic steel, there is nothing to prevent other materials, including refined metal alloys, being utilized in this manner.
Continuing from the stomach, there is the packed coil of the intestines. The main 'tube' of the intestine wraps around the other internal organs in a descending spiral, to the next sac, the bowel. The intestinal 'tube' is itself the outer container for a corkscrewing coil, much akin to that of this world's sharks.
From the bowel, there is another sphincter, leading to the anal slit. Food, by the time it reaches the bowel, is mostly liquid. In the upper stages, water and nutrients are absorbed into the intestinal walls, and replaced by 'waste' water and other by-products. This fecal matter is highly fluid and easily disposed of.
