Dragons:
They begin their lifecycle as Nymphs, or Naiads, in the water, before graduating into dragonflies.
A dragonfly that perseveres for even just a day beyond its morality, will pupate into a Wyrm and begin a dynamic adventure to determine how its live ultimately unfolds:
A dragonfly's life cycle has three main stages:
egg (a few days to weeks)
nymph (1 to 5 years underwater)
and adult (2 to 8 weeks in the air, though up to several months in rare cases).
Total life span heavily depends on the specific species and weather.
This lifecycle follows known dragonfly lifecycles (+=>23 hours)
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Wyrm
As a Wyrm, the new potential dragon must choose a place to cocoon and survive a day and a half of metamorphosis.
The conditions it experiences in that day and a half dramatically impacts it's evolution.
The Wyrm is essentially a dragon larva, and has the mobility of a giant caterpillar until it cocoons into an Ouroborus Tun and faces the day and a half of vulnerable metamorphosis.
This stage lasts no less than 10 years.
Ouroboros
Biting it's tail, the Wyrm enters a torpor state and becomes a nearly camouflaged, unassuming lump taking on the general colors and textures of wherever it cocoons.
The conditions of its cocooning will determine how it will further unfold. As a cocoon, or tun, the Wyrm, now Ouroborus, has an impressive and excessive HP boost and defense, stamina, and strength bolster, at the sacrifice of mobility and interaction, or the ability to defend.
Due to this, even though nearly camouflaged, the Ouroborus tun still has a tendency to attract chaos and bad luck.
In order to emerge healthy and ready to pick its path, the Wyrm must choose a safe location, so it can incubate more safely, lest its trauma force it into the Hydra or Dragonturtle path.
By cocooning in a high altitude location, the emerging Lindwurm will be prepared for the sky path.
By cocooning underground, the Lindwurm would be prepared for the Behemoth path.
By cocooning in deep waters, the Leviathan Path gets coded into the Lindwurm.
I'm order for the Lindwurm to follow the technology path and later grow arms, the Ouroborus needs to be cared for by a member of a technologically oriented race, preferably in urban spaces and in the absence of harmful weapons, tools, and technology.
Otherwise, an unsafe (or careless fostering) torpor state will traumatize the Ouroborus and a Chimera Lindwurm will emerge.
36 hours incubation.
[Trauma branch*]
Lindwurm
Two forelegs and a serpent tail. Already mostly conditioned, as an Ouroborus, toward its graduation path, the Lindwurm has the next opportunity to change or affect its progression, by deliberately entering the ocean, underground, urban spaces, or high places. At this point, however, attempting urban spaces will have a high probability of resulting in a Kirin, by nearly inevitable trauma... But depending on the race, a Lindwurm could even be welcomed to a village or city.
The Lindwurm stage lasts no less than 30 years.
[Condition branch]
*Trauma:
Chimera Lindwurm
The features of the Chimera will be borrowed from every individual Ouroborus attacker, resulting in an amalgamation of monsters, animals, creatures, and races, according to their damage contributions. The Chimera Lindwurm can overcome their trauma by investing in willpower, flexibility, vitality, defense, strength, and stamina or embrace the trauma by investing in luck, rage, strength, wit, dexterity, and agility. Further trauma soak will influence Hydra conclusion; avoiding damage and cooperative gameplay will encourage Dragonturtle advancement.
=>30 years
RNG Dragonturtle or Hydra end result if overcoming and embracing investments are balanced.
Overcoming trauma:
Dragon Turtle
The mother of the Draconian caste's Tortoian, and titanic Tortoian twin, breathes Qi, and can kinetically manipulate all 20 elements without the use of magic.
Embracing trauma:
Hydra
The mother of Chameil, and the bane of Heroes all throughout history. By embracing the chaos and damage of life, the Chimeral Lindwurm's healing factor goes insane and instead of repairing damage, it reproduces triple the appendages or mass.
Where the classical hydra would "just" lose I've head and regrow 2, the Tales of the Phoenix Days' Hydra not only regrows THREE, it regrows 3 of ANY lost limbs, AND if it sustains damage, it regrows three times the mass to repair wounds.
Ocean:
Imperial Dragon
4 small legs, but has graspers with rudimentary dexterity. The imperial dragon hides a 7th final form: by being the first form capable of weilding magic and casting spells the imperial dragon can choose to refrain from continuing its metamorphosis lifecycle and remain as an imperial dragon. Most adept magic user of all other races, but inferior to Leviathan, Behemoth, Quetzalcoatl, and True Ancient Dragons - in that order.
Capable of aquatic respiration and navigation, burrowing and underground navigation, flight, and rudimentary technology manipulation of simple complexity items, machines, tools, and weapons. Can breathe dense clouds that operate like floating solid objects in the sky or projectiles.
Mother of Iguanians.
Sea Dragon
Trading libs for fins, the Imperial, serpentine, dragon now swims better and breathes underwater; and has frost breath.
50 year minimum incubation.
Leviathan
The world serpent that has outgrown his environment and no longer has enough room in the ocean to swim freely and fluidly. Breathes poison.
Underground:
Imperial Dragon
Drake
The immortal dragon chooses to trade agility for the underground, and sheds its thumbs and thickens its appendages, torso, and tail, gaining incredible mass.
100 year incubation.
Ancient Drake
More than doubling in size, the ancient Drake sprouts a third set of legs and increases its grounding and speed significantly, without sacrificing much agility, by shortening its tail.
500 year incubation.
Behemoth
The ancient Drake finally loses it's tail completely, triples in size, and grows yet another pair of legs, making it an 8 legged, titanic, metal slag breathing catastrophy.
Sky:
Faerie Dragon
The lindwurm, in order to conquer the sky, resorts to a raw elemental form, borrowing from the Fae survival tactics, and embarks on a long evolutionary journey mirroring the process of creation itself. Capable of 20 elemental breath attacks, tiered and locked behind context sensitive progression. While not a final form alternative, like imperial dragon, Faerie Dragons can also choose to remain in this state, due to magic affinity. Still now adept than any other race, but next down the list from Imperials.
A minimum of 1 year to incubate, but can choose to halt it.
Wyvern
The Faerie Dragon discards it's hands and arms, grows a mane, and sprouts a barbed tail. Looking more like a Chimera, or Lion than a dragon. Wyverns also breathe poison. Mother of Velosaur.
Incubation lasts 20 years.
Amphiptere
The Wyvern ditches it's legs and GROWS into a large winged serpent that breathes electricity and thunder.
Incubation takes no less than 75 years.
Lung
Trading wings for 4 small legs and Talon like claws, the Lung cannot actually fly, but instead breathes dense clouds that float but can carry unfathomable weight and density without descending, which it uses to climb into the air.
100 years incubation.
Imperial Dragon
Quetzalcoatl
Shedding the legs again and returning to wings, Quetzalcoatl stands out significantly with brightly colored green plumage and iridescent red, blue, and yellow feathers. Quetzalcoatl breathes entire weather systems.
Tools and weapons:
Kirin
Chimeral but not traumatized, the Kirin is a smaller, majestic, Dryad fauna stylized dragon with a sleek, albino, and faintly glowing appearance.
Kirin are capable of using most magic but only rudimentary spells, and lacks the authority over its own evolution to stop it, BUT has the longest incubation period of all dragon transitions at 2,000 years.
Imperial Dragon
Surface Dragon
This is your "True Western Dragon" with a huge frame, long neck and tail, cruel horns, gigantic wings, occasional carapace armor spikes, and four legs. Breathes fire.
750 years incubation.
Ancient Surface Dragon
Don't mind this guy. We're just adding 2 arms to his already OPAF structure.
He's the pinnacle of magic mastery, second only to the actual source substrate, CAO/God, and prevented from meddling with the physics and stability of the Primordial 20 archetypal elements and their deities.
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Elements and magic
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Once a dragon becomes Faerie, Kirin, or Imperial, they can choose to master the elements and break off their usual evolutionary progression becoming an Elemental Archetypal Dragon, Amalgon, Behemothan, Cosmic Dragon, or Psydragon.
Arcane Dragon
Mastering all 20 elements, the Arcane Dragon is the absolute pinnacle of magical mastery within the sandbox playable assets.
Psydragon
This dragon shed its corporeal form and exists alongside C'Thulhu as a mutually shared hallucination, but without quarantine because it's not the madnessbane or one of his agents. (I think maybe the mother of phantoms in Minecraft? 🤣😜🤠)
Cosmic Dragon
Not to be confused with the Celestial Dragons!!! These are Star Eaters and can potentially grow to the size of a medium galaxy!!! Their physical form is in constant phase shifting to prevent damage to physics, and refrain from interfering with the Primordial Elemental Deities.
Behemothan
Whatever Dragon masters the terrestrial elements transforms into an 8 legged, aquatic, fast swimming, serpentine, catastrophy, merging the advantages of Leviathan and Behemoth while discarding their penalties.
Amalgon
This is a dragon whose appearance out intimidates its actual danger; an amalgamous Chimeral fusion of magma, ice, poison, and technology in one streamlined humanoid body, resembling a winged Draco with full tail and no hair or skin hood.
And 20 individual elemental specialist dragons!
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