A brief history and evolution of dragons.
370 million years ago planet earth experienced its first drop in water levels, leaving larger areas dry and free from water. In this time the first amphibians began to escape from the water to dry land. But that is all history that is well written.
It was few of those amphibians that where different, remarkably different.
They first emerged what is known today as China. The prehistoric forrest of primitive bamboo where the ideal place for our little creatures to seek shelter in. The thick green canopies that formed over the wet and moist soils where the ideal place for them. The wet mud covering the grounds was easy to glide through and maneuver around. The still existing pairs of fins where used to move, quickly their tails formed from their rear fin.
The front fins became stronger as the grounds became drier, starting to resemble small legs.
But they retained the major anatomy and physiology of amphibians. Using their swim bladder, once to control buoyancy in the water, to store air from the atmosphere to breathe from. Storing large amounts of atmospheric gas, at the time predominantly rich in hydrogen and sulfur gases.
This organ became vital in their evolution. It developed the ability to separate hydrogen from the gas, absorbing sulfur into their skin and scales. Titanium was secreted through glands in their mouth, from where they where rubbing their scaled on the entire body. Giving their scales the strength to resist the eruption of volcanoes and their fangs the piercing power to chew through anything that would contain nutrients.
With the early planet developing, the atmosphere kept changing. Photosynthesis of the plants led to a increase in oxygen in the air, carbon dioxide was created by the lush development of life on land.
Slowly the rear fins became stronger too, giving them the ability to crawl over longer and longer dry patches on their hunt for food. Gliding into muddy ponds and lakes, using their middle fins to swim like a fish. It seemed like the perfect anatomy.
With the hydrogen content slowly declining, their swim bladder became lighter then the surrounding air, making their bodies lighter and easier to maneuver around.
Gradually their remaining two flippers became stronger and began to grow larger. Flapping them around made our creatures hop from rock to rock, over coming larger spans of dry land with ease.
Eventually their flippers became wings, the strength was enough to soar from a hill top in a swoop over a valley, to land on the far side. Flight !
As with every organ, frequent usage makes it more efficient and stronger. The bladder once used to control buoyancy under water had transformed into a flight instrument, the more hydrogen they could absorb from the atmosphere the lighter their bodies became and further they could fly.
Until now our once reptiles had few enemies apart from earthquakes and eruptions of volcanoes. This remained until the dinosaurs emerged. Their bodies where more efficient for maneuvering the grounds, strong limbs gave them a advantage in fights over food.
Nature had another plan.
The unique ability to absorb and secrete titanium was the perfect weapon. When angered the large bladder containing hydrogen gas would rapidly contract and expel a cloud of gas. It was when enough of that gas was quickly passed through their clenched fangs and teeth that it ignited in the presence of the protective coating of titanium and sulfur.
Dragons where borne, spewing fire to defend them self.
This was a major advantage of the heavy Dinosaurs that where constrained to the forces of gravity, crawling and walking on land. Dragons could fly and swoop in, over their prey and render them powerless with one deep breath and the resulting expulsion of a cloud of scorching fire.
It came at a price, with every attack, they emptied their bladder, giving them less lift in the air. So they had to calculate carefully how much they could afford to use and how much was needed to escape.
Older more mature Dragons knew how to skillfully calculate the moves in the air, the gas used to fight and how much time they needed to fill their organ for the next attack.
It was the younger more impulsive dragons that fell most often victim to miss calculations, exhausting their powers and rendering them vulnerable to terrestrial fights.
Imagine Dragons !
With time, Dragons ventured far from their place of origin in Asia, leaving fewer in the dense forrest of bamboo in China. But history remembered them, making Dragons part of their heritage and mythology. The Chinese horoscope was once filled with mythical creatures, dominated by dragons, as time passed on new creatures began to roam the planet and traditions faded, fewer dragons where remember, but then where never forgotten !
As civilisations began to form, people started to look into the sky for Dragons, but there fewer, the atmospheric changes made it more difficult for the dragons to replenish them self of the vital ingredients they used for their advantage.
When looking into the sky, people imagined the glowing dots in the night sky to be the glistening sparks of the titanium coated flags. Seeing the outlines of dragons when connecting the glowing stars was the way for fathers to tell their children the story of the creatures that soared the skies for millions of years.
Using their imagination they could see a dragon fight in the firmament of the night, dragons hiding behind clouds, observing from far above.
When a new child was born, parents would look at the night sky to see the stars rising, imagining the dragon that would look over the newborn for the rest of their life time.
Everybody had their favorite dragon, with its own story.
Imagine Dragons !
Dinosaurs where long forgotten, they had no magic, they did not live in the sky and heavens. When somebody passed away, it was said the person would join the dragons in the sky, sitting on their backs and steering the dragons to protect the ones left behind.
When two people decided to unite, it was not just the unity of two people, two families, it was the unity of their Dragon symbols. Combining the mystical powers the heavenly creatures lend.
This that is where the story begins…
SaKiE 