Post by Spiffy on Mar 3, 2010 22:06:08 GMT
Please bear in mind that much of this information is still unknown to humans. Those that have seen them will know what they look like, an may know of their 'invisibility trick', though their history is still a mystery. Also, there will have been no opals/queens in the attack on the dragon riders, so no-one will have seen one. The only close up view in a non-violent situation anyone will have had is seeing Dusk and the other human-Impressed basilisk hatchling wandering around the Weyr. I'll leave the assumptions up to your characters.
If you have any questions, of think I've not explained something well enough, don't hesitate to tell me about it so that I can sort it out ;D And if you reeeeaaaalllyyy don't like this veeery long thread, I can try and condense it into bullet points or something for you ;D
History:
The basilisks are the descendants of the first dragons. As the first few generations of dragons were 'new' and still genetically a little unstable, in a few rare instances when a riders dragon was killed the dragon failed to between. Most times the dragons simply died of starvation, stress or any number of related ailments, but the occasional few hung on. These survivors, not being able to bare the constant reminders of their late riders that the human world gave, fled to a continent devoid of human habitation: the Western Continent.
It wasn't long before one such survivor was a queen dragon, who's name is long forgotten. She fled west with the others of her kind, unable to between, unwilling to die, all they could do was to band up together in that desolate wasteland. The queen flew, and clutches were laid, but each failed at the hatching. These hatchlings were apparently still programmed to choose a human to Impress, and with no humans present the hatchlings soon betweened, the few who couldn't (for the resistance to between was apparently genetic) eventually died.
It was after many such failed hatchings that the dragons began to despair, and something miraculous happened. Unable to bare the thought of loosing another one of his queen hatchlings to between, upon her hatching the bronze who fathered the clutch forced his mind onto that of the little gold. Impression was made. Taking the hint, many of the other dragons present did the same and, though not all were successful, more hatchlings were saved. But the mother queen was getting old, and this was to be one of her last clutches, but now there was a new queen to carry on her line.
The new queen, who's name was Orleanth, soon clutched for herself to another of the bronzes present. Among her clutches, a few of the dragonets began to Impress to each other at hatching, in much the same fashion as they wold have bonded to their humans. It took several generations hence, but soon almost every dragonet bonded with another. This was a relief to the dragons, as the number of newcomers from the North was now almost none, as the northern dragons became more established.
During this time, they began to change, evolve, subtly. Though there was no great increase in size as with the mainland dragons, the western dragons began to get longer and thinner, with longer legs more suited to walking and running the earth, the downside to which was that their wings became smaller. Life was difficult for them, and fights soon began to break out over the limited supply of food available in the west, as they lost their non-violent nature in favour for survival, and gained overall pointier features (spine ridges, headknobs), colour variations, and fiercely quick minds and increase in intelligence. A new rank developed, not quite a queen but still a clutching female, and the clutches became less proportionate, with less chromatic colours being laid and slightly more metallics to make up for the loss of life during queen flight fighting. They even developed regional characteristics, as they split into groups around the continent. Those to the west were smaller and thinner, for life among the trees and plains, and to the east they were larger and stronger, retaining much of their flight ability for traversing the mountains and possessed a fiery territorial instinct the smaller western variety apparently lacked.
The continent also developed with the now basilisks (as they began to call themselves, as a breed apart from their origins). Under the protection from Thread that the basilisks provided (for even they were unable to shake that inbuilt desire to fight Thread) life could flourish like never before. What the settlers had originally disregarded as a wasteland began to grow green. The basilisks had stolen some heardbeasts from the North, and these too multiplied. But despite this, the numbers of the basilisks remained small, particularly in the Intervals, when clutches were smaller; there were rarely more than two hundred at any one time.
Ranks:
~ Opal (Queen)
~ Onyx
~ Amethyst
~ Jasper
~ Sapphire
~ Amber
Rank Sizes:
~ Opal : 32 - 27 ft
~ Onyx : 30 - 25 ft
~ Amethyst : 27 - 24 ft
~ Jasper : 25 - 22 ft
~ Sapphire : 23 - 20 ft
~ Amber : 20 - 15 ft
Anatomy:
The western dragons seemed not to undergo the huge transformation in size that the northern dragon did as programmed by Kitty Ping at Landing. This was possibly due to the shortage of food on the continent in the early days of the basilisks development, which may also be the root of their much more streamlined appearance than the dragons. Where the dragons were awkward on land, being much more suited to flying, the basilisks are much more graceful, their longer legs allowing them to almost float over the ground, rather than hop. They can run at speed, and are agile on the ground, the larger ranks retaining much larger stamina reserves than those who are smaller, at the price of of some speed.
Due to the fact that they rarely fly any more, their wings are smaller in relation to their body size, though all ranks retain the ability to fly should they choose, though the onyxs find this very difficult. This smaller size enables them to fold their wings up much closer to their body, so that to first glances they may appear not to have any wings at all, though the wing fingers do stick out from their hips in a way that may look like an oddly placed frill.
Smaller differences, such as longer headknobs for increased mental capacity, can also be noted. Many of their features are also sharper than a dragons. For instance, their spine ridges, which on a dragon are relatively blunt, on a basilisk are much more pointed. They are also a deal longer, especially in areas vulnerable to attack such as behind the head and above the hips and base of the tail. The area between their shoulders however, to the relief of any they may choose as riders, is still clear of these 'spines'. Their headknobs to, are pointier, to the stage where they more closely resemble horns than headknobs, though they are as yet not a strong, and are not used a weapons.
Due to their aptitude for running, their fore limbs have also undergone significant change. Other than becoming longer in relation to the rear limbs and body, their hands have become less dextrous and more like weight bearing limbs. They still have five digits on the front and three at the back, and they retain the use of their thumb, though finer movements are now beyond their fingers. To compensate for this, they have a much finer control of their tail tips, which are longer past the fork, which are often used for grasping and carrying objects too delicate to carry in their mouth.
The mouth itself contains many sharp teeth, but it's only real difference from that of a dragon is that their saliva often contains some rather nasty microbes (germs) that will infect any bite wounds they deal. The basilisks themselves, however, seem to be largely immune to its effects which would make any human or dragon very ill.
Abilities:
Other than their physical abilities, the basilisks also sport some other abilities that the dragons lack. Most of these are due to their 'immunity' to between, developed from those first dragons who were unable to suicide this way.
A basilisk is much closer connected to between than a dragon. Apart from being able to enter between without coordinates for exit and survive, emerging later when they finally do think up a destination, they are able to partly enter between. It is difficult to explain, as not much is known about it, but they can slip partially between to the effect that they become 'invisible'. They remain physically tied to the world, but cannot be directly seen, though they seem to be able to see the world as if they were there normally. This is possible due to the way in which the light passes through their bodies when like this, leaving no shadow, and the only visible sign that they are there are 'dark spots' where their eyes should be, as they take in the light that passes into them. However, as they are physically in contact with the world, the world around them reacts in the normal ways to their presence; they leave footprints in the dirt, they will splash in water, and if you touch one it will feel as real as any dragon. The other sign is that, if you stand very close to one, you can feel the coldness of between like a cloud around its body. To do this, however, does take a significant amount of energy out of them, so they prefer to use it only when they have to.
Basilisks can use telekinesis (the ability to move objects with their mind, through between), though like the dragons they use it rarely, and consider it as natural as blinking when they do. They cannot, however, move something without sending it between to its new location.
The communicate telepathically, like dragons, though they use a complex system of images and 'intents' rather than exact words. If a basilisk bonds to a human, it will take a while for it to learn to speak, as it will not instinctively know the language from it's riders mind. They do, however, learn it very quickly. Within a few months they can speak as fluently as a dragon, depending on how much conversation it does with its rider and others in this way. Aside from this, they also communicate verbally with a wide range of sounds including the classic bugles and roars, though they also use hisses, trills, 'coughs' and a number of other rattly sounds (think velociraptors from Jurassic Park ;D).
If you have any questions, of think I've not explained something well enough, don't hesitate to tell me about it so that I can sort it out ;D And if you reeeeaaaalllyyy don't like this veeery long thread, I can try and condense it into bullet points or something for you ;D
History:
The basilisks are the descendants of the first dragons. As the first few generations of dragons were 'new' and still genetically a little unstable, in a few rare instances when a riders dragon was killed the dragon failed to between. Most times the dragons simply died of starvation, stress or any number of related ailments, but the occasional few hung on. These survivors, not being able to bare the constant reminders of their late riders that the human world gave, fled to a continent devoid of human habitation: the Western Continent.
It wasn't long before one such survivor was a queen dragon, who's name is long forgotten. She fled west with the others of her kind, unable to between, unwilling to die, all they could do was to band up together in that desolate wasteland. The queen flew, and clutches were laid, but each failed at the hatching. These hatchlings were apparently still programmed to choose a human to Impress, and with no humans present the hatchlings soon betweened, the few who couldn't (for the resistance to between was apparently genetic) eventually died.
It was after many such failed hatchings that the dragons began to despair, and something miraculous happened. Unable to bare the thought of loosing another one of his queen hatchlings to between, upon her hatching the bronze who fathered the clutch forced his mind onto that of the little gold. Impression was made. Taking the hint, many of the other dragons present did the same and, though not all were successful, more hatchlings were saved. But the mother queen was getting old, and this was to be one of her last clutches, but now there was a new queen to carry on her line.
The new queen, who's name was Orleanth, soon clutched for herself to another of the bronzes present. Among her clutches, a few of the dragonets began to Impress to each other at hatching, in much the same fashion as they wold have bonded to their humans. It took several generations hence, but soon almost every dragonet bonded with another. This was a relief to the dragons, as the number of newcomers from the North was now almost none, as the northern dragons became more established.
During this time, they began to change, evolve, subtly. Though there was no great increase in size as with the mainland dragons, the western dragons began to get longer and thinner, with longer legs more suited to walking and running the earth, the downside to which was that their wings became smaller. Life was difficult for them, and fights soon began to break out over the limited supply of food available in the west, as they lost their non-violent nature in favour for survival, and gained overall pointier features (spine ridges, headknobs), colour variations, and fiercely quick minds and increase in intelligence. A new rank developed, not quite a queen but still a clutching female, and the clutches became less proportionate, with less chromatic colours being laid and slightly more metallics to make up for the loss of life during queen flight fighting. They even developed regional characteristics, as they split into groups around the continent. Those to the west were smaller and thinner, for life among the trees and plains, and to the east they were larger and stronger, retaining much of their flight ability for traversing the mountains and possessed a fiery territorial instinct the smaller western variety apparently lacked.
The continent also developed with the now basilisks (as they began to call themselves, as a breed apart from their origins). Under the protection from Thread that the basilisks provided (for even they were unable to shake that inbuilt desire to fight Thread) life could flourish like never before. What the settlers had originally disregarded as a wasteland began to grow green. The basilisks had stolen some heardbeasts from the North, and these too multiplied. But despite this, the numbers of the basilisks remained small, particularly in the Intervals, when clutches were smaller; there were rarely more than two hundred at any one time.
Ranks:
~ Opal (Queen)
White in colour, Opals sparkle in the light like any draconic queen should. Their base colours can be anywhere from pure, snowy white to a vary pale blue, green, or gold; often there are flecks of blue, green or gold spattered seemingly randomly across their hide which sparkle in twilight, but these flecks seem to form into almost discernible patterns when the opal is soon to rise to mate. They are relatively bulky compared to most basilisks, second only to the onyxs, though still display the longer legs and tail that are characteristic to all basilisks.
Mentally they are far superior to gold dragons, most surpassing even the intelligence of humans, though in subtly different ways. Their memory is better than a golds too, though not as good as a humans, and they live less in the here and now than dragons do in general. Contrary to being a queen, they often display a certain lack of self confidence, so usually bond to individuals that can provide moral support or plain bull-headed conviction that their queen is right.
~ Onyx
The basilisk equivalent of bronze, onyxes are the largest males, possessing the best strength and stamina of all the colours. Their hide is dark, varying from a deep reddish brown or deep orange to pitch black, and glitter subtly in the light. This dark colour is rent with flashes, stripes and smatterings of almost pure white, making them instantly recognisable. They are, most decidedly, the least graceful rank, going as far as to be clumsy in some cases.
They possess very strong minds, and excellent memories, though tend to be less free thinking than opals, and follow their orders more or less without question. They are, true to their origins, exceptionally arrogant, even if they're slower of thought than a good half of the basilisk population, and so are easily confused when insulted several different ways in one sentence - most often by the wit of the amethysts, who they usually regard with suspicion to say the least.
~ Amethyst
Perhaps the most intriguing of the basilisk ranks, the amethysts are a deep purple in colour, often verging on black, though never into lilac. Though undeniably female, the lack the feminine curves that the ambers have in plenty, instead sporting the build of a sapphire, only reaching as large as a small onyx, and never any smaller than a jasper. They can fly, but do not excel at the sport. They do not sparkle like the metallics, but nor are they simple chromatics, instead they appear to shine like highly polished stone. A dull amethyst is a sure sign of illness or neglect, as it is any metallic.
They are certainly among the most intelligent of the basilisks, level with the sapphires, but in possession of a sly cunning that could rarely be said of the innocent chromatics. They are the plotters and the schemers of the basilisk world, their minds constantly taking in every stimulus around them and building a very accurate picture of the world and the people around them. So too, are they one of the less sociable colours, often to be seen just watching, rather than speaking, though when they do speak they are hard to ignore, a sure a voice of authority as a queen. They certainly seem to think of themselves as of similar importance as the queens, if more numerous, and seem to hold the onyxes in contempt for their arrogant and shortsighted ways, and enjoy tormenting them with their superior wit and intelligence.
~ Jasper
Clearly the descendants of the brown dragons, they are well built; lacking the brute strength of the onyxes, but with far more grace. They range in colour from a dark chocolaty brown to a sandy tan, to almost scarlet, but no matter their shade they all sport veins of darker and lighter shades cracking their hides. They are also the only basilisks with a tendency towards chubbiness. Compensating for this though, is the fact that their large wide wings give them the best staying power in the air than even the onyxes, who quite frankly struggle to get off the ground.
Though certainly not the most intelligent rank, they do possess a clear reasoning and impeccable logic that often enables them to see things that others would miss. They have a knack for finding the simplest solution to a problem, but their rather literal thinking does mean that things like metaphors are frequently lost on them. Saying that, they are very loving basilisks, the most trusting of all the ranks, and will rarely complain if they do indeed get 'lost' during a conversation.
~ Sapphire
Definitely blue in origin, the sapphires will commonly diverge into the realms of aquamarine to an almost green colour. They also appear in almost any shade of blue imaginable. They are whiplike to the point of emaciation in some instances, all possessing long tails and, for a basilisk, large wings. This combination of lightweight and large wings makes them on of the better fliers of the ranks, and certainly the fastest over a distance.
Mentally they are one of the quickest thinkers of the ranks, level pegging with the amethysts though perhaps slightly ahead, but aimed more understanding than scheming. They are generally happy and carefree, often to the point of childishness, earning them the love of all the ranks unconditionally, though the amethysts seem to take a particularly mothering attitude to them.
~ Amber
The smallest of the basilisk ranks, it is perhaps not so obvious that they are descended of the green dragons. They are, indeed, small, dainty, and curvy, in all appearances the epitome of femininity. They are not, however, green; even in the best case scenario they are a greenish-yellow in colour, but far more often they range from pale sandy yellow to orange, to pure amber. Their small size gives them unrivaled agility in the air, which they can take to as if they were born there. They are fairly quick but, unfortunately, cannot keep it up for long.
They are a great deal calmer than greens, and less flirty, though singularly their memory leaves a lot to be desired. Collectively, however, it can span centuries. This brings us to the strangest feature of the ambers - they seem to share what can only be termed as a 'collective conscience'. While they retain their own distinct personalities, they can share thoughts and experiences with other ambers almost as they would with their bonded. When something happens to one amber, they will all know about it instantly. Much like with the firelizards, this causes memories to bounce around from one mind to another until such a time as they are needed, meaning that they can remember a particular happening of significance that happened a thousand turns ago accurately, albeit a little fuzzy on the details.
Rank Sizes:
~ Opal : 32 - 27 ft
~ Onyx : 30 - 25 ft
~ Amethyst : 27 - 24 ft
~ Jasper : 25 - 22 ft
~ Sapphire : 23 - 20 ft
~ Amber : 20 - 15 ft
Anatomy:
The western dragons seemed not to undergo the huge transformation in size that the northern dragon did as programmed by Kitty Ping at Landing. This was possibly due to the shortage of food on the continent in the early days of the basilisks development, which may also be the root of their much more streamlined appearance than the dragons. Where the dragons were awkward on land, being much more suited to flying, the basilisks are much more graceful, their longer legs allowing them to almost float over the ground, rather than hop. They can run at speed, and are agile on the ground, the larger ranks retaining much larger stamina reserves than those who are smaller, at the price of of some speed.
Due to the fact that they rarely fly any more, their wings are smaller in relation to their body size, though all ranks retain the ability to fly should they choose, though the onyxs find this very difficult. This smaller size enables them to fold their wings up much closer to their body, so that to first glances they may appear not to have any wings at all, though the wing fingers do stick out from their hips in a way that may look like an oddly placed frill.
Smaller differences, such as longer headknobs for increased mental capacity, can also be noted. Many of their features are also sharper than a dragons. For instance, their spine ridges, which on a dragon are relatively blunt, on a basilisk are much more pointed. They are also a deal longer, especially in areas vulnerable to attack such as behind the head and above the hips and base of the tail. The area between their shoulders however, to the relief of any they may choose as riders, is still clear of these 'spines'. Their headknobs to, are pointier, to the stage where they more closely resemble horns than headknobs, though they are as yet not a strong, and are not used a weapons.
Due to their aptitude for running, their fore limbs have also undergone significant change. Other than becoming longer in relation to the rear limbs and body, their hands have become less dextrous and more like weight bearing limbs. They still have five digits on the front and three at the back, and they retain the use of their thumb, though finer movements are now beyond their fingers. To compensate for this, they have a much finer control of their tail tips, which are longer past the fork, which are often used for grasping and carrying objects too delicate to carry in their mouth.
The mouth itself contains many sharp teeth, but it's only real difference from that of a dragon is that their saliva often contains some rather nasty microbes (germs) that will infect any bite wounds they deal. The basilisks themselves, however, seem to be largely immune to its effects which would make any human or dragon very ill.
Abilities:
Other than their physical abilities, the basilisks also sport some other abilities that the dragons lack. Most of these are due to their 'immunity' to between, developed from those first dragons who were unable to suicide this way.
A basilisk is much closer connected to between than a dragon. Apart from being able to enter between without coordinates for exit and survive, emerging later when they finally do think up a destination, they are able to partly enter between. It is difficult to explain, as not much is known about it, but they can slip partially between to the effect that they become 'invisible'. They remain physically tied to the world, but cannot be directly seen, though they seem to be able to see the world as if they were there normally. This is possible due to the way in which the light passes through their bodies when like this, leaving no shadow, and the only visible sign that they are there are 'dark spots' where their eyes should be, as they take in the light that passes into them. However, as they are physically in contact with the world, the world around them reacts in the normal ways to their presence; they leave footprints in the dirt, they will splash in water, and if you touch one it will feel as real as any dragon. The other sign is that, if you stand very close to one, you can feel the coldness of between like a cloud around its body. To do this, however, does take a significant amount of energy out of them, so they prefer to use it only when they have to.
Basilisks can use telekinesis (the ability to move objects with their mind, through between), though like the dragons they use it rarely, and consider it as natural as blinking when they do. They cannot, however, move something without sending it between to its new location.
The communicate telepathically, like dragons, though they use a complex system of images and 'intents' rather than exact words. If a basilisk bonds to a human, it will take a while for it to learn to speak, as it will not instinctively know the language from it's riders mind. They do, however, learn it very quickly. Within a few months they can speak as fluently as a dragon, depending on how much conversation it does with its rider and others in this way. Aside from this, they also communicate verbally with a wide range of sounds including the classic bugles and roars, though they also use hisses, trills, 'coughs' and a number of other rattly sounds (think velociraptors from Jurassic Park ;D).