It has come to my attention that many people don’t know shit about dragons, so let me help you out.

Dragon: 4 legs, 2 wings.

Also Dragon: 2 legs, 2 wings

Also Dragon: 4 legs, flightless

Also Dragon: Limbless

Also Dragon: 4 legs, can fly

Also Dragon: 0 legs, 2 wings

Also Dragon: 2 legs, 0 wings

“But wait!” You, my hypothetical Strawman wail. “I thought that was a wyvern/wyrm/drake! Does this mean tumblr and pop culture has been lying to me this entire time?”

Not exactly, but it has been getting things not 100% right either.

Dragon an Umbrella Term, meaning there are a lot of creatures that fall under that heading. Something with two wings and two legs is a Wyvern, but that doesn’t mean it has stopped being a dragon.

So why the confusion? Part of it has to do with the fact fiction is free to define these terms how they want. In the context of D&D a Wyvern isn’t a dragon, but D&D is borrowing these creatures from myth, and doesn’t make the rules when it comes to interpreting said myths.

Another part of the issue is that Dragon, referring to the subtype with four legs and two wings, has no other name. It shares the name of the group. An example I use to demonstrate a similar case is Tigers vs Cats. Tigers are a species of cat, no one will deny this. Tigers are not, however House Cats. See what I mean? Wyverns are Dragons (The Group) but they are not Dragons (the subtype with four legs).

Additionally, because I have seen this a bit, unless you are using Wyrm as a synonym for Dragon: The Umbrella Term, do not call East Asian dragons Wyrms. The term Wyrm is heavily steeped in European tradition, while East Asian dragons are heavily steeped in their own. At best it’s ignorant, at worst it’s culturally insensitive. If you want a name for East Asian dragons, use one of the native terms. Which, now that I’ve confused you with the pictures, here are some terms.

• Dragon- Umbrella Term for entire Group.
• Dragon-Four legs, wings.
• Wyvern- Dragon with two legs, wings.
• Drake-Wingless, flightless dragon. Alternatively, synonym for Dragon.
• Wyrm-Limbless dragon. Alternatively, archaic word for any dragon.
• Long/Lung- Chinese Dragon.
• Ryu/Tatsu-Japanese Dragon.
• Yong/Ryong-Korean Dragon.
• Rong-Vietnamese Dragon.
• Naga-Indian Serpent/Cobra Dragons.
• Amphiptere-Dragon with wings, no legs.
• Linnorm-Dragon with two legs, no wings. Alternatively, Scandinavian term for dragon.
  

greentealycheejelly:

I used to make little baby dragon adopts for Flight Rising. I made so many of them. I counted 79 and there’s possibly more?? Anyway, here are some of my favorites.

Flight Rising was fun, I kinda miss it. (but not enough to get back to it - that game was a time suck)

jramseyi:

Pet Dragon

feradami:

“Daddy’s kitten”

Ft. Zhongli dragon & Xiao “demobeast”

Zhongli still see him as his lil kitten, Xiao disagrees

atopfourthwall:

paxamericana:

Originally posted by eldergremlingifs

pikachu-says-peekaboo:

saint-megatron:

mercury-moonlight:

thedialup:

thedialup:

you know I couldn’t be a cowboy because I’d be stuck with my partner in the dead cold prairie night and our horses would be tied up and we’d be huddlin around a crudely made fire because it was too far to go back to the ranch and he’d play the sweetest song on his harmonica, the kind that you felt in your bones and your heart and that the hymns had nothin on, and then he’d finish and we’d both lean in a little too close and my hand would be on his bandanna and his whiskey-breath would be hot on my lips and I’d realize that maybe it wasn’t the touch of a woman i’d been hankerin for

yeah I’ll be honest I don’t know wtf possessed me here

a-book-of-creatures:

jellyfishdreamofstarlight:

icemankazansky:

delphinidin4:

Omg y'all Y'ALL

3 years ago, I wonder if they have gone through all that rice yet…..

tamberella:

Dragons in the modern world I

the-evil-clergyman:

Dragons in the Clouds by Kano Seisen'in Osanobu (19th Century)

thecreaturecodex:

Agathion, Ophinal

“Snek” © Cindy Avelino, accessed at her ArtStation here

[The name “agathion” for Pathfinder’s NG outsiders is derived from “agatho daemon”, or the “fortunate spirits” of classical Greece. The agathodaemon, sometimes named Tycho, was popular in Ptolemaic Egypt, particularly in Alexandria. Which is why, for a venomous snake-based agathion, I feel comfortable slotting it into Africa for the World Tour project. For more information about snake veneration in the Greek world, Drakon by Daniel Ogden is an excellent book, and was the inspiration for this entry.]

Agathion, Ophidinal
CR 4 NG Outsider
This creature appears as a snake with a human torso and arms. Its scales are colorful, and its expression beatific.

An ophidinal is an agathion devoted to healing above all other arts. They serve heavenly forces and mortal temples alike as doctors, able to patch injuries, treat longer term ailments and expel most mundane and some magical afflictions with magic. Although their aspect resembles that of venomous snakes, they are actually anti-venomous; a creature bitten by an ophidinal has the toxins purged from its body, and any natural poisons it secretes temporarily suppressed.

Ophidinals dislike combat, and rarely choose to fight. They can defend themselves with teeth and claws if they must, but would prefer to heal than to harm. They are usually mobile on the battlefield, casting a sanctuary spell on themselves and then moving between allies to grant them support. In addition to healing, their touch can bring with it good fortune. An ophidinal will happily lay down its life to protect goodly allies. 

Unlike many agathions, which eschew civilization for wilder spaces, ophidinals are comfortable in buildings and cities. There are many hazards that urban populations have to deal with—hunger, disease, crime—and ophidinals work to minimize these impacts on common folk. An ophidinal is especially good at dealing with pests. Insects and rodents are often eaten as snacks, and venomous serpents are bitten to suppress their venom and then encouraged to take up residence elsewhere. Ophidinals are suitable for calling with lesser planar ally to act as a source of healing, and their prices for such services are typically taken in healing items magical and mundane, or simply blankets and digestible food to make the lives of the sick more comfortable.

An ophidinal is about eight feet long, but come up to about four foot high when posed upright. Some have hoods, eyelash scales, colored stripes, or other markers of particular species of venomous snake, sometimes mixed and matched in ways unseen in nature.

Keep reading

draconic-absurdism:

Spyro and Cynder’s return to the dragon temple after Dawn of the Dragon, where they will be reuniting with Cyril, Volteer, and Terrador! (and eventually Ignitus, when spyro flies to the White Isles to cuss out the Chronicler for leading him astray during the Eternal Night, only to find that Ignitus is still alive)

Most of the old dragon temple was totally destroyed as it fell to the planet’s core during the battle with Malefor, and the majority of it has been left floating above the earth, so what’s left of it will need a lot of rebuilding.