Dragons

For as long as tales have been told of man and monsters, so too have existed dragons. Dragons are dangerous (and mostly extinct within Altan'ruhl). They are primarily found east of the Endless Wall, and served as a major source of danger and risk for the Saldragon Princedom,

Basic Information

Genetics and Reproduction

Dragons are born into eggs. They look like human fetuses within the egg, and actually hatch in a human form.

Growth Rate & Stages

Dragons age in bursts called "Flames," with each burst granting new and different talents to the dragons.
The first flame is triggered by the Dragon Bath, but each Flame after that is almost always trigged by stress or an urgent response to danger. During a Flameburst, the dragon begins Burning everything around it in an uncontrolled burst for anywhere from 1 minute up until 10... With progressively higher flame degrees causing progressively more widespread damage.

Eggs

Eggs are typically pre-flaming. The dragon grows within its egg. In typical dragon society, this egg is exposed to the Dragon Tongue/Bath/whatever I am going to call it.

First Flame

Most dragons do not hatch until after they have reached First Flame (although Amryn is a notable exception to this rule). Being exposed to the Dragon Tongue/Bath/Whatever typically sets off the first in a series of reactions that ages or evolves the Dragon until it reaches full adulthood. A first flame dragon still looks almost completely like a human. The first flame Burn Radius is about 20 feet.

Second Flame

Dragons tend to reach Second Flame after the first high stress encounter that occurs after about a year within First Flame. This is the dragon equivalent of advancing from child to teen-ager. Second Flames typically (although not always) retain humanoid shapes, but now have far more pronounced dragon features, such as scales, talons, wings, or even tails. A second flame gains some measure of control over breath, but still isn't capable of changing forms.

Third Flame

The dragon equivalent of adult, a Dragon typically reaches this state 15-20 years after achieving Second Flame. After the Blind Burning (need a better name), the dragon is in full dragon form, and gains the ability to shift back and forth between human and dragon form. Let's call dragon form the Majesty form. Senses become extremely potent, and the dragon is now very difficult to kill.

Fourth Flame

Fourth flames are extremely rare in Altan'ruhl (Even Rehl Flameshield attests to having only fought one). A Fourth Flame might Blossom 30+ years after a dragon attains Third Flame, and is an extremely powerful form. The dragon gains access to certain magical properties (above and beyond fire breath and shape changing)... Nature commune type powers. The dragon also now has an incredibly potent healing factor.

Fifth Flame

Still need to flesh this more, the 5th flame is a magic user above and beyond the latent powers of the 4th.

Civilization and Culture

History

Dragons come from a kingdom far, far to the east of the Altan'ruhl mainland. The Isle of Burning is just their outreach colony. The main dragon hub is a huge metropolitan place, highly settled and densely populated. It is also very totalitarian in nature, a rigid police state.