Melanie Nilles

With the upcoming release of Dragon Prophecy, I’ve been pondering the question of why I like dragons. I’ve seen fans of other books about dragons post things like “They’re cool!” or “They can breathe fire?” But I’ve never really considered how I would explain if asked why I like dragons.

I must admit that dragons are cool. What other creature of the imagination is so unique with enough interpretations across the globe that almost anything is acceptable? Not all dragons breathe fire, but it is an interesting ability. What makes dragons cool, though?

That’s what requires more thought. Dragons are mighty beasts with a varying degree of intelligence, ability, and/or magic. They can be anything we want them to be. They are not limited to what we know.

As I delve further into finding a reason why I like dragons, I wonder why I like horses. I love horses because they are noble and beautiful, graceful, and sincere. A horse will never lie about what he feels. He’s a powerful animal with feelings, likes and dislikes, but willing to learn and to accept non-equines (us) into his herd. He’s far stronger than a human, but is willing to trust and accept the leadership of the human and do things that go against his instincts as a creature of prey. Personally, horses give me something that nothing else can, and riding on the back of half a tone of muscle and sinew to direct all that energy into whatever shape I desire fulfills me and sets me free. It’s real magic.

So, how does that relate to my interest in dragons? Let’s see…Dragons are big, intelligent predators, but in my world, most have no intention of hurting humans. They’re big, noble, scary, and magical. Something in that combination fits, and I can see how controlling (writing about) a creature so big and frightening to harness it’s power into the magic of the imagination is fulfilling. It is a different type of magic.

Horses fascinate us because of their fight or flight nature as a prey beast, which they are willing to overcome to serve. Dragons, however, fascinate us because they are dangerous and beautiful at the same time. They can be creatures of our nightmares or be the beast in which the beauty lies within. They are mysterious because we don’t know which they are. That mystery and the idea of a creature that magnificent having any number of abilities piques the imagination.

It’s that never ending allure of the imagination, the limitless scope we can apply to these mythological creatures made real in fiction, that holds the key to my interest.

Here we are with one final installment of the appendices you’ll find included in Dragon Prophecy, the first book of Legend of the White Dragon. I’ve posted about the dragons and the Red Clan. This week we have the Drakin, the last type of dragon introduced in the series, although as those of you who have read the character interviews are aware, they aren’t really dragons. I’ll leave you to read below, but remember that this is copyrighted information 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!

Drakin (Drake Kin)

The drakin are not dragons but winged reptiles. They reside in what is known as the Second Realm, or Eyr Droc by the dragons residing there, to escape the Second Race of humans when they turned on them. That is the place of the drakins’ origination.

Drakin earned their name because of their similarity to dragons, or more accurately, the Red Clan. They look like they could be drake kin, thus the source of their name for their kind. They have two hind limbs, long tails, and wings but no separate forelimbs and are all a shade of green that allows them to hide among the foliage of trees. Their scales are like those of reptiles, however, and almost more of a heavy skin.

That is where the similarity ends. Where Dragons have sharp, tearing teeth for ripping meat, Drakin have jaws full of flat, grinding teeth. Drakin primarily eat insects and berries but also enjoy occasional soft fruits. They also are not very intelligent and have a short lifespan of only about thirty years.

Drakin have none of the cares of the dragons. They would rather play all day, chasing each other through intricate acrobatics.

Ever since the Unnamed Majera gave them the ability of mindspeech, their only magical skill, they enjoy speaking. They can, however, talk nonstop for hours, which is likely because drakin easily get sidetracked when telling stories. Those who know them have learned that they must interrupt a drakin in order to keep it on the same subject.

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What’s next?  I’ve posted Appendix A: Basics of Gairdra and Appendix B: Dragons and interviews with more than two dozen characters.  How about weekly snippets from Dragon Prophecy?  Or is there a better suggestion?  email me!

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!

Here it is! The sneak peek I’ve been promising:

Courtesy of Niki Browning

So far, you’ve met characters, including some firedrakes, and learned a little about the world of Gairdra. As promised last week, this week I’ll introduce you to the waterdrakes you’ll meet in the series coming from Mundania Press.

(Remember that this is copyrighted information belonging to the author, Melanie Nilles. Please credit any links to my website. Thank you!)

Waterdrakes

Waterdrakes may also be known as sea dragons or the Water Clan. They are well adapted to life in the sea. Although they can stay underwater for long periods of time, they must return to the surface for air. They have no wings for flying, and claws of their feet are spaced wider than a firedrake with a thin membrane between the toes. Their bodies are long and sinuous with a fin that runs down their dorsal side starting at their head. Because they swim in an undulating motion, like giant eels, they have often been regarded as sea serpents.

Since they live in water, the water clan does not use fire as their primary weapon. Instead, they can let loose electrical discharges of varying strengths. However, outside of the water, they find that it is more effective to command the weather.

Waterdrakes are all the same color, a dark blue dorsal with a lighter belly as camouflage within deep water.

Before all the female waterdrakes were slain, they mated and incubated their eggs on dry land. Like the firedrakes, only certain matriarchs mated while other females provided support and the males provided protection.

All the seaports of the Ancients had a wide area of beach to allow the waterdrakes to come to land. When the females laid their eggs, a designated group of caretakers would help care for them until hatching.

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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!

As promised, this week we focus on firedrakes, at least those within the world of Gairdra and featured in the Legend of the White Dragon series.

(Please remember that if you use any portion of this, proper credit should go to “Melanie Nilles, author of the Legend of the White Dragon series” and I ask that you link back to my website, as I own the copyright. Thank you. Now, on with the show…)

Last week we talked about the Dragons of Light in general terms. This week we have specific facts about one type of dragon, the most common in mythology, firedrakes.

Firedrakes

Firedrakes were the first kind of dragon created. With fire as their main weapon, they need to consume certain ores on occasion to maintain the chemical reaction. For this reason they are fond of the mountains or rocky areas.

The high cliffs of the mountains also provided protection for the nesting matriarchs, or breeding females, before the Second Realm came to be. They may have up to three matriarchs, usually two green or light blue and one gold. Although this can vary, at least one is always gold. Female firedrakes reach breeding age around a hundred years, males at around seventy. The other females help to incubate the eggs and guard them or bring food for matriarchs and any new hatchlings.

Firedrakes range in color from gold to a deep blue. Any color in the blue spectrum ranging from less than deep blue to an almost yellow-green are a mix of the two primary colors and may be either male or female. True blue or dark blue dragons are always male, gold dragons are all female, and green or lighter blue dragons are of equal gender. Gold is a rare color as it can only mix with the others and gold dragons always have smooth scales. Green and blue are the most common dragon colors with the texture of their scales ranging from very rough and spiked to almost smooth.

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Be sure to return next week to learn about waterdrakes.

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–definite). 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!

As promised, this week’s post is another part of the appendix included with Dragon Prophecy, the first book of the four book Legend of the White Dragon series. A PDF of last week’s post can be downloaded here for those wanting some background information of some of the elements of the world of Gairdra, much of which has been touched on in the character interviews. The below information is general information about the dragons featured in the books. Next week we’ll focus on the firedrakes.

(Remember: all information on these pages belongs to the copyright owner and author, Melanie Nilles. While the information is available free to the public for promotional purposes, please link back to this as the source if you post any portion on any other site. Thank you!)

Dragons of Light

The true dragons were made by the Majera to aid in their battle against the Darklord and can be considered “Dragons of Light”. Of these, two kinds developed, the firedrakes and the waterdrakes. Both were given potent magic and great wisdom and most often speak in rhyme and riddles.

All dragons have scales harder than diamonds that cannot be penetrated by any weapon. They shed their scales as new ones grow to replace smaller, older scales. Because these dragons grow throughout their entire lives, they shed various scales at different times. The First Race of humans discovered that the scales contain residual magic from the dragons and figured a method to grind them for use in the metal of their weapons and armor.

Some of the oldest dragons have grown to the size of large hills. Their scales would be large enough to use as shields.

Dragons are immortal, barring injury, and are immune to all illness. However, they can be killed. And like any being, breaking their neck will end their lives.

The only means to slay any dragon is to deliver a thrust into the brain. Only two ways to do this are known and one of those, by a spike through the back of the throat can only be carried out when a dragon opens its jaws. The only place on the outside of a dragon where the brain is vulnerable is a soft spot on each side of the head. These cover the hearing organs and catch the vibrations of sound in the air. Usually a dragon must be sleeping to get close enough to slay it by this method.

Dragons command the most powerful of any magic except the Majera. Because of this, they cannot be killed by magic.

They do not possess the organs to vocalize words. However, they are intelligent enough to understand speech. The first dragons quickly learned to communicate using a magical means that has come to be known as mindspeech, whereby one projects their thoughts so the intended recipient hears them.

Some differences do exist between the two types of dragons.

(featured next week: Firedrakes)

A PDF file will be made available for download in the near future.  Stay tuned for more!

Welcome back for the interview you’ve been waiting for! One of the dragons from the Legend of the White Dragon series has joined us, and not just any dragon. Jêrafînas (spelled using different rules of pronunciation, since the original language of the dragons is certainly not like ours) is one of the five oldest of the dragons, those known as the elder drakes. She’s huge and blue with a hint of green in her color and two short horns from the back of her head.

Are all the dragons like you?

Different are the traits of our kin
from one another, outside and in.
True blue to gold, the colors range
and light to dark in life we change.