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Description
A dragon is both a wild animal and a highly intelligent being at the same time. With few exceptions, dragons are able to converse in a spoken language and have the capacity for literacy, and can even learn to write with their claws. It is also equally true that Dragons are ruled by instincts in much the same way as one would expect from a horse or a goat.

In the experience of this author, this seeming disconnect between instinct and intellect leads to some rather odd events, from the point of view of a Dracon. While it is true that Dracons also have Draconic instincts, our intellects and the demands of civilization enabled us to temper those instincts, partly by means of learned customs, but also due to the strengthening of our conscious minds by the creators of our race. Despite this, dracons still have a tension between urges and thoughts, a tension which does not exist as much in dragons because the urges clearly win out in their minds.

One such event was when this author visited a brown dragon in her lair. She sat and talked with me for an hour about the interplay between history and legends, then rolled over on her back and asked me to rub her belly, which I proceeded to do so in order so that I would stay on her good graces. On another occasion, I had the chance to meet a blue dragon known for his skill in magic. After exchanging notes on esoteric magical phenomena, he proceeded to noisily devour the carcasses of some cattle which he had plundered from a nearby ranch.

This seeming paradox of civilized and animal behavior poses a major challenge for those who seek to understand the mindset of dragons.From my observations, it appears that dragon intelligence is but a means to their ends. As with most uncivilized creatures, they have simple urges; to eat, mate, drink, sleep, obtain pleasure, and avoid pain. While capable of friendship, love, honor, and devotion, they are also capable of greed, pride, and the greatest extremes of sloth, lust, greed, and gluttony. Many dragons consider themselves to be inherently superior to any non-dragon, and among dragons, some consider their own kind better than other dragon varieties. This is particularly true for the powerful red dragons, whose might is matched only by the gold and silver varieties.

These often-held feelings of superiority color the relationship between dragons and non-dragons. In some cases, the dragon may feel quietly convinced of his "higher" nature, and feel an obligation to defend those less powerful than himself. Much more often, a dragon will use this power to demand tribute from those who cannot stand up to his might.

One behavior that is hard to explain is why dragons mate with non-dragons. While the urge to procreate is an often-given reason, there is no good reason why a dragon would or could be attracted to a non-dragon, or at least, a creature that is sufficiently different from a dragon, such as a human or a bear. It is true that dragons can multiply with almost any other living creature, despite the species barrier. Some dragons can change shape and then proceed to mate with the creature of the shape it has assumed, but many remain in dragon form during such a copulation, with a mate of compatible size.

Exactly what dragons mean to do by breeding half-dragons is still unknown, event to most of them. The few who were willing to speak of it gave vague answers, dodged the question, or admitted that they simply did not have a good answer. One possibility is that a dragon who wishes to have offspring and not run the risk that they will supplant him or her will breed with a far less powerful creature. Often, a dragon will have many "lesser" beings as slaves or soldiers, and a half-dragon child as a commander to act as an intermediary between the "lesser" beings and the dragon. A far blunter explanation is simply that a dragon and a willing partner fell in love or simply desired to mate and did not care about the difference in species. In some instances, dragon-worshiping cults will either volunteer or force members of the sex opposite to the dragon to breed with the beast, under the warped logic that the resulting offspring would be a sort of bridge between their species.

Dragons exhibit behaviors of monogamy, polygamy, and promiscuity, with the pattern varying between kinds of dragons and by individual. A dragon can have countless offspring in a lifetime in all three of these configurations, although many of these young can be expected to die before maturity. Monogamy is the rarest of the three patterns for dragons, and yet it is the one which consistently produces the healthiest offspring, as well as the most offspring per female. The trade-off is that it is generally the least productive for the male dragon. Polygamy is the most productive for the male and least productive for the female, while promiscuous male dragons have more children on average than the monogamous ones, yet fewer than the polygamous ones, and the situation is reversed for promiscuous females.

Apart from the bonds of mating, dragons form bonds of friendship and kinship. While most dragons are to some extent aloof and prefer to keep their friends at a respectful distance, they enjoy having guests over or to visit other dragons as a guest at regular intervals of time. Of course, these intervals can be anywhere from weeks or months to years to even decades, depending on the exact situation. This brings me to the next major concept influencing dragon behavior: time and their longevity.

Very few other beings can endure the march of centuries as dragons can. For most beings, a long life means a great deal of aging and weakness, but for dragons, age is strength, status, and power, at least until the very end. The sheer gap of time a dragon has to live gives it a different perspective on the world, one in which life is viewed as a set of processes which unfold over years, not a series of events which exist in small punctuations. This view is one shared by historians and is in many ways a more accurate one, yet it also fails to see the forest for the trees sometimes, particularly when events influence conditions, such as a major discovery of new land, the invention of a powerful weapon or spell, or a natural disaster which renders a previously major city unlivable.

-- Notes from Ophion of Minbenthac.

Description
A dragon is both a wild animal and a highly intelligent being at the same time. With few exceptions, dragons are able to converse in a spoken language and have the capacity for literacy, and can even learn to write with their claws. It is also equally true that Dragons are ruled by instincts in much the same way as one would expect from a horse or a goat.

In the experience of this author, this seeming disconnect between instinct and intellect leads to some rather odd events, from the point of view of a Dracon. While it is true that Dracons also have Draconic instincts, our intellects and the demands of civilization enabled us to temper those instincts, partly by means of learned customs, but also due to the strengthening of our conscious minds by the creators of our race. Despite this, dracons still have a tension between urges and thoughts, a tension which does not exist as much in dragons because the urges clearly win out in their minds.

One such event was when this author visited a brown dragon in her lair. She sat and talked with me for an hour about the interplay between history and legends, then rolled over on her back and asked me to rub her belly, which I proceeded to do so in order so that I would stay on her good graces. On another occasion, I had the chance to meet a blue dragon known for his skill in magic. After exchanging notes on esoteric magical phenomena, he proceeded to noisily devour the carcasses of some cattle which he had plundered from a nearby ranch.

This seeming paradox of civilized and animal behavior poses a major challenge for those who seek to understand the mindset of dragons.From my observations, it appears that dragon intelligence is but a means to their ends. As with most uncivilized creatures, they have simple urges; to eat, mate, drink, sleep, obtain pleasure, and avoid pain. While capable of friendship, love, honor, and devotion, they are also capable of greed, pride, and the greatest extremes of sloth, lust, greed, and gluttony. Many dragons consider themselves to be inherently superior to any non-dragon, and among dragons, some consider their own kind better than other dragon varieties. This is particularly true for the powerful red dragons, whose might is matched only by the gold and silver varieties.

These often-held feelings of superiority color the relationship between dragons and non-dragons. In some cases, the dragon may feel quietly convinced of his "higher" nature, and feel an obligation to defend those less powerful than himself. Much more often, a dragon will use this power to demand tribute from those who cannot stand up to his might.

One behavior that is hard to explain is why dragons mate with non-dragons. While the urge to procreate is an often-given reason, there is no good reason why a dragon would or could be attracted to a non-dragon, or at least, a creature that is sufficiently different from a dragon, such as a human or a bear. It is true that dragons can multiply with almost any other living creature, despite the species barrier. Some dragons can change shape and then proceed to mate with the creature of the shape it has assumed, but many remain in dragon form during such a copulation, with a mate of compatible size.

Exactly what dragons mean to do by breeding half-dragons is still unknown, event to most of them. The few who were willing to speak of it gave vague answers, dodged the question, or admitted that they simply did not have a good answer. One possibility is that a dragon who wishes to have offspring and not run the risk that they will supplant him or her will breed with a far less powerful creature. Often, a dragon will have many "lesser" beings as slaves or soldiers, and a half-dragon child as a commander to act as an intermediary between the "lesser" beings and the dragon. A far blunter explanation is simply that a dragon and a willing partner fell in love or simply desired to mate and did not care about the difference in species. In some instances, dragon-worshiping cults will either volunteer or force members of the sex opposite to the dragon to breed with the beast, under the warped logic that the resulting offspring would be a sort of bridge between their species.

Dragons exhibit behaviors of monogamy, polygamy, and promiscuity, with the pattern varying between kinds of dragons and by individual. A dragon can have countless offspring in a lifetime in all three of these configurations, although many of these young can be expected to die before maturity. Monogamy is the rarest of the three patterns for dragons, and yet it is the one which consistently produces the healthiest offspring, as well as the most offspring per female. The trade-off is that it is generally the least productive for the male dragon. Polygamy is the most productive for the male and least productive for the female, while promiscuous male dragons have more children on average than the monogamous ones, yet fewer than the polygamous ones, and the situation is reversed for promiscuous females.

Apart from the bonds of mating, dragons form bonds of friendship and kinship. While most dragons are to some extent aloof and prefer to keep their friends at a respectful distance, they enjoy having guests over or to visit other dragons as a guest at regular intervals of time. Of course, these intervals can be anywhere from weeks or months to years to even decades, depending on the exact situation. This brings me to the next major concept influencing dragon behavior: time and their longevity.

Very few other beings can endure the march of centuries as dragons can. For most beings, a long life means a great deal of aging and weakness, but for dragons, age is strength, status, and power, at least until the very end. The sheer gap of time a dragon has to live gives it a different perspective on the world, one in which life is viewed as a set of processes which unfold over years, not a series of events which exist in small punctuations. This view is one shared by historians and is in many ways a more accurate one, yet it also fails to see the forest for the trees sometimes, particularly when events influence conditions, such as a major discovery of new land, the invention of a powerful weapon or spell, or a natural disaster which renders a previously major city unlivable.

-- Notes from Ophion of Minbenthac.