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Description
**PLEASE DOWNLOAD FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE THANKS**

This was something that definitely needed to get done. Thankfully RamenScotch is holding an ice creature contest, which helped to motivate my lazy self into action! So here they are, mortal enemies of volcano dragons everywhere, the northern ice dragons! I don't usually color sketches directly, so it's a little rough, but I learned a lot about how to go about it during the process.

-ahem-

As the name might suggest, this species of dragon resides in the arctic regions of the world. They are actually a migratory species, but they spend the majority of the year in their living/breeding grounds in the northern mountain ranges of their world, with individuals becoming more sedentary as they age. These dragons favor the northern mountain ranges for breeding grounds, as the remote location among harrowing cliffs protects them from most predators, and prime locations of geothermal activity can help their young survive the long, sunless winter. However, this brings them in direct competition for territory with volcano dragons, who claim the north as their birthplace and rightful home. Over millions of years, as the great ice sheets have expanded and contracted, the balance of power between these two species has shifted. Along with the volcano dragons, northern ice dragons are seemingly the oldest living species of dragon on the planet, with no apparent relation to even other ice dragons.

These nocturnal dragons revere the moon, as they feel it was their only protection besides their own strength during the horrible winter they had to endure as young pups and symbolizes their inner will. During their second winter, the young will migrate with the non-breeding adults, while breeding and older adults stay behind in the mountains. Their anatomy and behavior are similar to that of arctic wolves, while their wings resemble those of the migratory arctic tern. They possess a large magical capacity and can attack with their powerful ice element, the only ice magic known to be able to overcome the highly insulated armor of a volcano dragon, although ripping chunks of the armor off still gives them a much greater advantage. Less skilled individuals attack with frosty breath, while the most powerful fire beams of ice and utilize various forms of ice magic, such as firing deadly blades of ice and freezing materials with a touch.

Northern ice dragons undergo many changes as part of their natural life cycle.

Baby:
Hatchling ice dragons are born during the spring, when prey items are most abundant. Their bodies are actually capable of producing their own heat at this age, and their parents bring them food in an attempt to provide as much energy to the young as possible before winter. The ice dragons are born with underdeveloped, bat-like wings and a reptilian tail, but their bodies are covered with fur and feathers from birth. The energy from their food will be mainly converted to fat, a coat of fur, and warm, downy feathers on their wings. These will all be necessary to survive their first winter, as they are capable of neither flight nor magic before their first year is over. They wrap themselves with their tail and wings to keep warm. Their fur is white or nearly white to help camouflage them in the snow, and their eyes are dark colored to shield them from light reflected off the white terrain.

Child:
Before their second winter, while the underlying wings are still small, they will have grown flight feathers and be capable of migrating with the older dragons. Their fur darkens somewhat (depending on the individual, some dragons even remain light colored their whole life) to show that they are now capable of wielding the ice element, though they are still endothermic. A popular folk legend among the species states that a young dragon who stays out in the sun will never lose its feathers and thus never grow its adulthood wings.

Young Adult:
A dragon at this age has a highly developed elemental affinity and no longer produces internal heat like it did as a child. Rather, it is at a large enough size such that the warmth it produces by movement dissipates much slower and, combined with their magic and special scales, allows them to stay warm. As the child grows into an adult, it loses most of its fur and feathers, while its wings, fins, horns, and scales grow out. The rate of this transformation varies depending on the individual, as well as the adult color it takes on, which generally includes blues, purples, or whites to solidify its status as a magic-wielding member of the group. Young adults form packs at this time and establish territories throughout the northern range, abandoning the group only in winter if raising offspring. Their is a social hierarchy within the pack, but unlike wolves, any member can choose to raise young. They communicate with howls over long distances and in blinding snowfall that would drown out a speaking voice. Their packs are generally smaller than the clans of the volcano dragons, and it is at this age that they are most likely to have run-ins with a volcano dragon clan.

Adult:
The fully-grown northern ice dragon has lost all traces of fur or feather and boasts an impressive array of magic-imbued scales that keep its body temperature from fluctuating. Volcano dragon fire can overcome the scales, but any damage done to the scales first will give them a greater chance at success. This fierce creature boasts both strength and magical power on its own with less reliance on a pack. Many fully grown adults choose to stay in the north during the entire winter season, as they are no longer affected by the cold and must consume much less food to stay warm. These behemoths help keep the northern breeding grounds worthwhile despite the threat of volcano dragons- even the mightiest of those rarely dare to tread where the adult ice dragons lie (though much the same can be said regarding ice dragon intrusion into volcano dragon territory). A beast who has survived this long has truly conquered the frigid existence of arctic survival.

real talk it was like 80 degrees today and here I am writing about ice dragons who live in temperatures I couldn't even imagine

Description
**PLEASE DOWNLOAD FOR YOUR VIEWING PLEASURE THANKS**

This was something that definitely needed to get done. Thankfully RamenScotch is holding an ice creature contest, which helped to motivate my lazy self into action! So here they are, mortal enemies of volcano dragons everywhere, the northern ice dragons! I don't usually color sketches directly, so it's a little rough, but I learned a lot about how to go about it during the process.

-ahem-

As the name might suggest, this species of dragon resides in the arctic regions of the world. They are actually a migratory species, but they spend the majority of the year in their living/breeding grounds in the northern mountain ranges of their world, with individuals becoming more sedentary as they age. These dragons favor the northern mountain ranges for breeding grounds, as the remote location among harrowing cliffs protects them from most predators, and prime locations of geothermal activity can help their young survive the long, sunless winter. However, this brings them in direct competition for territory with volcano dragons, who claim the north as their birthplace and rightful home. Over millions of years, as the great ice sheets have expanded and contracted, the balance of power between these two species has shifted. Along with the volcano dragons, northern ice dragons are seemingly the oldest living species of dragon on the planet, with no apparent relation to even other ice dragons.

These nocturnal dragons revere the moon, as they feel it was their only protection besides their own strength during the horrible winter they had to endure as young pups and symbolizes their inner will. During their second winter, the young will migrate with the non-breeding adults, while breeding and older adults stay behind in the mountains. Their anatomy and behavior are similar to that of arctic wolves, while their wings resemble those of the migratory arctic tern. They possess a large magical capacity and can attack with their powerful ice element, the only ice magic known to be able to overcome the highly insulated armor of a volcano dragon, although ripping chunks of the armor off still gives them a much greater advantage. Less skilled individuals attack with frosty breath, while the most powerful fire beams of ice and utilize various forms of ice magic, such as firing deadly blades of ice and freezing materials with a touch.

Northern ice dragons undergo many changes as part of their natural life cycle.

Baby:
Hatchling ice dragons are born during the spring, when prey items are most abundant. Their bodies are actually capable of producing their own heat at this age, and their parents bring them food in an attempt to provide as much energy to the young as possible before winter. The ice dragons are born with underdeveloped, bat-like wings and a reptilian tail, but their bodies are covered with fur and feathers from birth. The energy from their food will be mainly converted to fat, a coat of fur, and warm, downy feathers on their wings. These will all be necessary to survive their first winter, as they are capable of neither flight nor magic before their first year is over. They wrap themselves with their tail and wings to keep warm. Their fur is white or nearly white to help camouflage them in the snow, and their eyes are dark colored to shield them from light reflected off the white terrain.

Child:
Before their second winter, while the underlying wings are still small, they will have grown flight feathers and be capable of migrating with the older dragons. Their fur darkens somewhat (depending on the individual, some dragons even remain light colored their whole life) to show that they are now capable of wielding the ice element, though they are still endothermic. A popular folk legend among the species states that a young dragon who stays out in the sun will never lose its feathers and thus never grow its adulthood wings.

Young Adult:
A dragon at this age has a highly developed elemental affinity and no longer produces internal heat like it did as a child. Rather, it is at a large enough size such that the warmth it produces by movement dissipates much slower and, combined with their magic and special scales, allows them to stay warm. As the child grows into an adult, it loses most of its fur and feathers, while its wings, fins, horns, and scales grow out. The rate of this transformation varies depending on the individual, as well as the adult color it takes on, which generally includes blues, purples, or whites to solidify its status as a magic-wielding member of the group. Young adults form packs at this time and establish territories throughout the northern range, abandoning the group only in winter if raising offspring. Their is a social hierarchy within the pack, but unlike wolves, any member can choose to raise young. They communicate with howls over long distances and in blinding snowfall that would drown out a speaking voice. Their packs are generally smaller than the clans of the volcano dragons, and it is at this age that they are most likely to have run-ins with a volcano dragon clan.

Adult:
The fully-grown northern ice dragon has lost all traces of fur or feather and boasts an impressive array of magic-imbued scales that keep its body temperature from fluctuating. Volcano dragon fire can overcome the scales, but any damage done to the scales first will give them a greater chance at success. This fierce creature boasts both strength and magical power on its own with less reliance on a pack. Many fully grown adults choose to stay in the north during the entire winter season, as they are no longer affected by the cold and must consume much less food to stay warm. These behemoths help keep the northern breeding grounds worthwhile despite the threat of volcano dragons- even the mightiest of those rarely dare to tread where the adult ice dragons lie (though much the same can be said regarding ice dragon intrusion into volcano dragon territory). A beast who has survived this long has truly conquered the frigid existence of arctic survival.

real talk it was like 80 degrees today and here I am writing about ice dragons who live in temperatures I couldn't even imagine