Excerpted from Cuthbert's book of dragon lore (with further notes by Scythia of Dunvegan)
We do not know whence came the dragons. Their birth has been placed in the area in which humans originated, but there is also evidence that they came from the west[1]. While mankind began slowly making its way out of the land of the Tigris and Euphrates[2], dragonkind spread across the world.
In the beginning, dragons and men co-existed peacefully, but when men fell the peace began to erode until there was utter enmity between humans and dragons. From time to time, some small group of people would make truce with a few dragons for up to a few decades.
Every so often, dragons have disappeared from human history for anywhere from one hundred to a thousand years. No one seems to know why. Their reappearance has often proved brutal for everyone.
While dragons have their own language which perhaps a dozen humans have been able to speak, dragons can speak human languages when they wish to. Unfortunately throughout most of history, the war between humans and dragons has found death and destruction far more prevalent than discourse.
A dragon can fly for days at an average speed of a bit under 60 knots, which is roughly 70 old London miles in an hour. Depending on the dragon, she might fly twelve to twenty-four hours at twice that speed.
A dragon can- by choice or need- go without sleep for eight to twelve weeks. He would then wish to sleep for a month. Likewise, they can alternate sleep and waking a few minutes at a time as long as they wish. They can go weeks without eating, but then eat a half dozen cows or a herd of sheep.
A dragon relic- meaning any part of a deceased dragon- provides some protection from direct attack by dragons. The more relics one has upon them or about them (typically in castle walls), and the larger the relics, the safer one is. There are exceptions. For instance, were a dragon to die in combat and fall upon a house with many relics in it, the relics would provide no protection. Likewise, should one owe a dragon a life debt[3], relics would provide no protection.
NOTES [1] From Wales, or from somewhere across the ocean via Wales. [2] Whence the faerie assure us mankind originated.
[3] The law of debt is too complex for a brief explanation.
Copyright 2019 Miles O'Neal, Round Rock, TX Illustration from chapter 33 of Year of the Dragon Lord by Alli W. Ritchie