The Flamingos of the Draconian race.
Vedvrii, a Dark Mana Draconian
The Mana Draconian are a race of humanoid dragons that feature a few canine-like attributes such a long snout and pointed ears. They have Wyvern Origins, standing between 7 to 10 ft on average in height, they share many traits with Wyverns such as acidic saliva, sharp bladed tail-tips, horns and/or antlers and in rare cases, actual Wyvern wings instead of arms, a now recessive trait due to their race's subterranean habits. They possess sharp hearing and eyesight due to their pointed ears and their glowing eyes giving them excellent night vision, making it hard to both sneak up on them and also to hide from them. Their eyes being a bright yellow-orange color or a bright red are the two most common colours, but there are other rarer colours such as bright blue and green.
Mana Draconians are mainly telepathic, their vocal language being almost completely composed of magic spells unless they learn common. Almost all have the ability to survive in magma and increased pressures, besides the Water and Ice element Mana Draconians that are more resistant to the cold than the heat. Mana draconians also are known as the masters of stealth, due to being able to slip soundlessly through terrain, either to avoid enemies or while hunting prey, and they are also swift runners.
Mana Draconians are named as such due to their unique adaptations to having developed in a world rich in mana pools and deposits of various elements. For one, they are able to handle raw mana thanks to their specialized scales, and can even process it to be safe enough for other races to handle it and use safely by draining the energy and making the mana much less potent, though they can also crystallize the liquid mana to solidify it for travel.
More amazingly the Mana Draconians are born colourless. The coloration in a Mana Draconian’s scales is more than a surface coloration, but rather affects the entire scale, and the mana in the draconian’s scales is absorbed from the diet rich in mana, similar to a Terran Flamingo, the mana infuses into their scales, bones and blood, giving them colour. The hardened scales give them both magic and physical resistance, but the magic resistance is because their scales absorb most of the magic cast on them. This makes them very powerful magic users due to their ability of utilizing various types of elemental magics, and are far from being 'squishy mages.'
For example: A Mana Draconian that eats mostly Dark Mana will get black or dull dark purple scales and will have more affinity for dark magic.
Whilst a Mana Draconian that eats Light Mana the most will retain the white scales... However said white scales will shimmer various colours of the rainbow when stuck by light, much like opal, and have more affinity for light magic.
Some skilled Mana Draconians learn how to localize mana in their own bodies to produce patterns, e.g. Light Mana upper body scales, Metallic Silver Earth Mana horns and Life Mana belly scales to have white, opal-like scales, Silver horns and bright green belly scales.
In a way, mana is a mix of fashion, strength and currency among the Mana Draconians.
They are more in-tune with the mana they were raised eating as hatchlings, but they can adapt to fully absorbing and wielding a different mana type over time, often after having a diet of neutral mana for a while first. Also the closest thing to a magicless Mana Draconian would be one that eats Neutral/Balance Mana, developing dark blue/purple scales.
<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Dragon Cave Encyclopedia</dt><dd> </dd></dl><div>"The energy to power all forms of magic comes from a substance called mana. This liquid provides the energy that is utilized when casting a spell (or otherwise using magic).
Mana can be found naturally in pools, springs, or as solid crystals. Mana in this “raw†form is very potent, but must be refined before it can be used by humans (dragons, on the other hand, are generally able to make use of raw mana as-is)."[/quote]
Mana Draconians have an attraction towards shiny objects and tend to hoard them, picking up shiny objects they find and decorating their dens/lairs with them, either this a cave or more modern dwelling such as a house. Such things also include mana crystals, stones, minerals and also scales of other dragons. They may also hoard objects of their favor such as books, plush toys or bones depending on the individual. Mana Draconians are more active in doing this during near the end of February when spring starts, an instinctual behavior from the past they had in order to attract mates to their homes.
Mana Draconians are very family oriented. All of the adults spend time educating the young in survival, in hunting and gathering food, and in avoiding predators and both males and females share the same tasks. There does not appear to be one dominating sex. They are also a very proud race, and do not tolerate what they consider shameful behavior among their family groups. Theft, dishonesty and bullying are behaviors that are quickly disciplined in their young and punished when committed by adults. Because they teach their young so devotedly, Mana Draconians often mature somewhat faster than other races, able to become self sufficient at a younger age.
Teething begins immediately after hatching. Victims often include parents, siblings, bones, and sticks. Parents seem to be a common favorite however and young Mana Draconians are compelled to attack and pounce on anything which moves in erratic patterns; sometimes anything which simply moves, play hunting small prey and chewing on their parent's tails and playfully pouncing other hatchlings in the group, as at that stage... Everything is a chew toy, soon move onto learning how to actually hunt shortly after their scales harden enough, in which they often tend to get urges to hunt prey the same size as, or larger than they are anyways. Whilst clumsy on their feet for the first four months, young Mana Draconians spend a lot of time practicing moving without causing sound and learning to understand the signs other creatures leave as they move through the area... And enjoy to splash around and soak in any mana pools they come across and are known to climb into still-hot embers whenever they get an opportunity to do so.
Gender does not seem to have an effect on hatchling behaviors of Mana Draconians, as hatchlings are very playful, curious and energetic by nature, actively seeking out playmates if none are available and adventurous and enjoy exploring the terrain, however they are careful to stay within the area the adults have designated... But it is not uncommon for them to wander or even sneak off if not supervised, and thus because of their penchant for exploration leading to cases of lost hatchlings; windchimes with small round bells serve as an effective beacon to guide escaped hatchlings back home. Young Mana Draconians also form attachments readily, even with complete strangers due to their fearless and inquisitive nature and there have also been cases where hatchlings being lured along by bits of shiny material into traps, intentional or not, so the familial groups keep close watch over the young ones to keep them from wandering off, getting hurt or being kidnapped.
Diet:
Usually a Mana Draconian's first meal consists of the mana-rich egg shells that they hatched from, and young Mana Draconians will beg shamelessly in a manner similar to young birds when small for food, though this behavior will continue into sub-adulthood if it is encouraged.
Mana Draconian saliva is extremely acidic to aid in melting down mana crystals and tough hides of their prey, and different teeth fall out and regrow on a frequent and regular basis with no hindrance to them, similar to sharks. They can digest almost anything thanks to the strong acids in their mouths and stomachs, and thus can survive in environments where food is relatively scarce.
Mana Draconians are carnivorous, and thus typically their primary diet consists of large game and pack animals, ignoring smaller animals to go after large prey to get more satisfying meals. Though very capable hunters, they still make sure they kill quickly and cleanly when they hunt. As they eat they swallow meat and bone alike in large chunks. They may scavenge if desperate, but finding and killing their own food is a point of pride.
Occasionally they will search for magical creatures to eat, as consuming those with magic in their blood helps them replenish their bodily mana supplies. Mana Draconians are careful to avoid killing off entire herds however when hunting.
They “snack†herbs, bark, grasses, vegetables, nuts, and other vegetation on rare occasions if available, as fibre is very important for a healthy digestive system, which they normally find in the wild grains often found growing along riverbanks. Some Mana Draconians who are more fond of plants will plant and tend patches of crops as a food source, either using their bladed tails to till the soil or tools. Also, each spring, when fish are plentiful and running upstream, Mana Draconians tend to gather around riverbanks to catch fish.
They also will swallow certain stones; and will even go so far as to break specific stones down to ingest them to get to the mana crystals that grow within. They do not need drink any liquids as they can survive on only the water contained in prey, and they do not require much liquid anyways. Although they would gladly drink out of liquid mana springs to replenish their mana reserves, in-fact they often travel in groups to different mana springs to replenish their stores. When food and reserves are scarce and it becomes difficult to keep the entire group fed, the clan will separate into smaller groups and split apart into different territories until conditions improve.