Melanie Nilles

Another week, another post. Today we have the section of Appendix B: Dragons about the infamous Red Clan from the Legend of the White Dragon series, and image on the cover of Dragon Prophecy.

Please remember that this is copyrighted material and any use must be credited to the author, Melanie Nilles. Please link back to my website if you post any portion, melanienilles.com. Thank you! Now, on with the show…

Dragons of Darkness:

The Red Clan

The dragons known as the Red Clan are related to the firedrakes and are also classified as firedrakes but are not usually referred to by that name.

The Red Clan was created by the Darklord. He commanded his demons to steal eight eggs from the firedrakes. He then took the eggs and immersed them in the dark forces, which mutated the embryos inside. They hatched red, and forelimbs that were separate from the wings on the Dragons of Light, or true dragons, had merged with the wings so that a three-fingered claw appeared on the fore of the wings. The only separate limbs are the hind limbs, which had grown thicker in the mutation.

Because the true dragons consider the Red Clan an abomination, they are not called “dragons” by anyone except their master and his minions. Others refer to them as the Red Clan or as wyverns, which is a slur they will not tolerate.

The Red Clan are as immortal as the true dragons. However, the Darklord took away a level of intelligence and lessened their magic. Fearing the possibility that the Red Clan would not stay loyal to him, he wished to ensure that they could not overpower him as the true dragons had shown they could do in several confrontations.

The Red Clan mature faster than true dragons but reach a peak size around fifteen to seventeen years of age that is smaller than the true dragons. By two years of age, they can take down a horse with ease. By twelve years, they can breed, although only one female breeds. That female becomes known as the queen. Normally the queen lays a clutch of eggs once every eight to twelve moon cycles. Eggs in a clutch usually number five to eight.

Due to the violent nature of the Red Clan and the status of the queen, competition is fierce among breeding females for dominance. While the other females settle to serving their queen, occasional fights will arise when one wishes to challenge the current queen.

Most of the Red Clan are female. Males are rare and usually for breeding purposes only.

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Next week, come back for the segment on the drakin, those fun-loving little reptiles featured in the interview with Jaren.

This information is also available in a PDF file with updates posted with each informational blog post. This is from Appendix B for Dragon Prophecy (Mundania Press, March 2008). To learn more, you can read the opening chapters, download a PDF of all the character interviews posted to my blog, and download Appendix A from Dragon Prophecy. Thank you for reading!