Draconic
From Guiltypleasures
The dragon is a mythical creature typically depicted as a gigantic and powerful serpent or other reptile with magical or spiritual qualities.
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[edit] General
- The Dragon brings upon the essence of life, in the form of its celestial breath, known to many as sheng chi. He yields life and bestows its power in the form of the seasons, bringing water from rain, warmth from the sunshine, wind from the seas and soil from the Earth.
- Oriental Dragons fear: iron (it binds them), beeswax, centipedes, tigers, and 5-coloured silk. Also, wang plant and lien tree leaves
- One of the 4 benevolent Spiritual Beings (Others are Phoenix, Unicorn, and Tortoise)
- Chief of all scaly beings
- Ordinary Elemental Dragons represent physical and not spiritual power.
While male dragons are described as having undulating steep, concave horns, female dragons are said to have straight noses, round manes, thin scales (81 in number) and a strong tail. They lay their eggs near water and they can take 1000 years to hatch. When fluid runs from the eggs as they begin to hatch, it is said that the parents cry out. The sounds of father and mother differ and they dramatically affect the weather in different ways causing darkness, torrential rain, and the essential thunder and lightning that induces the dragon eggs to crack.
The different forms of the dragon are attributed to its stage of development. At 500 years they are considered Kiao (scaled dragons,) at 1000 years they are mature Lung. It takes another 500 years for the horns to develop fully- Kioh-lung- and another millennium for the dragon to fully develop into the Ying-lung or winged dragon capable of flight. They are believed to have shape-changing abilities except when being born, sleeping, lustful or angry.
[edit] Types of Dragons
[edit] Elemental
- Fire
- Water
- Wood
- Air
- Metal
[edit] Oriental
Oriental dragons are able to make themselves as large as the universe or as small as a silkworm
Oriental dragons are snake-like with four short legs. Unlike other dragons of legend they do not have wings. The five toed dragons are a symbol of power. The Chinese term for the dragon is “Lung”. There are four major categories of Lung.
- Tien-Lung, The Celestial Dragon, who protects the palace of Gods.
- Shen-Lung, The spiritual Dragon, who controls wind and rain.
- Ti-Lung, The Earth Dragon, which controls rivers, and water on the earth.
- Fut’s-Lung, The Underworld Dragon, which guards precious metals and gems.
The nine major characteristics of a lung type dragon include a head like a camel's, horns like a deer's, eyes like a hare's, ears like a bull's, a neck like an iguana's, a belly like a frog's, scales like a carp's, paws like a tiger's, and claws like an eagle's. It has a pair of large canine teeth in its upper jaw. The long, tendril-like whiskers extending from either side of its mouth are probably used for feeling its way along the bottom of muddy ponds.
