Whispers

The whisper dragon is the companion of the crusaders; they are not always a pretty sight to look at, but any crusader will easily grin and inform you that there is no better companion than the whisper dragon. No one knows where they got their name; it just sort of appeared one day, and after that, everyone sort of accepted it. Maybe if the crusaders cracked open a book, we'd know why…

Regardless, they are considered majestic and honorable creatures despite their looks, due to mostly the fact that they are the dragons of the crusaders, who are seen as powerful warriors. Like their companions, these dragons are strictly non-magical, but it is recommended that everyone avoids their blue, hot fiery breath which has vaporized riders accidentally in moments. Note, however, that their breath does not last long and this is often a weakness in a fight; powerful, yes, but the aftereffects tend to cause the wings and heads to droop. Their snarl may continue to be powerful, but anyone knows the best time to get a whisper dragon is after they let out a long stream of flame.

Note, they do not breathe fire often. They do not appreciate weakness, a trait they picked up from the crusaders.

The whisper dragon is as scaly as a scaly dragon can be; they're also very spiky, a defense mechanism they probably picked up from smaller, spikier lizards, since smaller creatures often have better evolution traits, though they also tend to be rather… well, not particularly smart. That is also a trait that could be applied to the whisper dragon; they are, of course, smarter than the average tiny reptile, but they are much bigger, thus their brains are too. Due to potential impaling of body parts, riders of the whisper dragon must have a specially made saddle and often wear thick clothing, but don't always. The whisper dragon, also likely picked up from their tiny cousins, have some spikes tracing the side of their body – these are not scales, where the rest of their spikiness arrives from. These are not very pointy, either; in fact, no one is quite sure what to call them, but it is clear that if they once had a purpose, that purpose is gone now. In addition, similar spikes that are actually very pointy exist on their tail, so a word of advice: stay away from those tails when they're being swung.

A notable developed trait about the scales of the whisper dragon is their thick scales. These scales act as armor and leave the dragons immune to most magics. However, the scales are not foolproof – they are only immune for short periods of time (approx. 10 - 20 minutes, varying) before they start to erode. However, the scales are especially thick and strong at the dragon's chest and belly. Unfortunately, the weakest point of this dragon where the scales are simply smooth and a bit week would be their jaw area – this includes under it, where anyone trying to slay a whisper dragons could easily kill the dragon. To account for this, these dragons often stand with their chin lowered, defending their weak point.

Whisper dragons can nearly any color; the most common tends to be green, the rarest falling around red. Their colors tend to be dulled out; they are not bright creatures, since that would be rather odd for a dragon anyway, and any markings on their bodies are darker. Speaking of which, all whisper dragons have some sort of marking – there are four total markings that have been recorded. No dragons has ever been recorded with both. Few dragons have been recorded with none. The names are rather self-explanatory but pictures are provided below in case they are needed. The markings are: Spot/Speckle (most common), Mackerel Stripes (semi-common), Tail Stripes/Coloring (rare), Cracked (most rare).

The whisper dragon is also notorious for its long whiskers, one located near its nose ( with many small ones near it ) and a shorter one located under its eye. No one is quite sure why the whisper dragon evolved with such whiskers, but some conclusions can certainly be drawn about them. First and foremost, these whiskers are unbreakable and cannot be pulled off the dragon ( how anyone knows this shall not be mentioned ) like the whiskers of a cat, and secondly, the dragons are in complete control of the movement of the whiskers. The dragons have also stated to their riders that they can feel with the whiskers. The purpose of the body part, however, has yet to be revealed, but deaths caused by the whiskers have been recorded.

Finally, the dragons also have long claws – which can grow up to 6 inches before it starts to get annoying for the dragon – and hooked claws – more like spikes, approximately 4 inches – on their wings that they use for climbing. Although the dragons are perfectly able to fly, and do, in fact, enjoy it, they do tend to prefer climbing, and in the wild, can often be seen clinging to the sides of mountains rather than flying. This trait developed due mainly to large gusts of winds having the ability to hinder flying creatures; to counter the wind, the dragons became experts at staying in one place. Over time, they actually started to find it fun. In addition, the long claws are great for battle – though the dragons are relatively peaceful when on their own in the wild, the dragons that are tied with the riders tend to be more aggressive, mainly by influence, and in fact like trying to get into fights when they are still quite young.

The dragons do not have an overall speedy metabolism and must constantly be moving around to stay in good shape, but it is not hard for their muscle mass to build up. If anyone knows anything about the whisper dragon, though, it's that they're one of the strongest dragons… but not very fast. Crusaders don't have much of a need of speed and find the strength to their advantage. In battle, the dragons are fierce and deadly; though their weight and size might not be much of an advantage, they do utilize their strength in powerful ways; in fact, an average whisper dragon can knock an average human over 20 miles into the air and even further if kept parallel with the ground. Apparently, they'd be good at baseball. In battle, their spiky tail is also a formidable opponent, though some dragons have few spikes on their tail which does not help them much.