Liches

Lich dragons are a strange dragon native to Alluum. Dwelling in caves and the underground caverns of the mountains around the country, they are seldom seen. They're an average-sized dragon, being about one storey tall and double or triple their height in length. They follow a classical dragon look, having four legs and a single set of wings. Males have bright and showy colors while females are of a darker plumage and smaller build, built more for stealth than the males. These dragons have large claws and are built stout, but for strength in and out of the air.

Lich dragons' wings are extremely large and have strange patterns on them. The membrane attaches to the base of the dragon's tail and to the wing arm along with the body between, making them an extremely wide wing that is efficient for gliding and carrying heavy weights. Their wings also are double-membraned, being very stiff in flight. There is a space between the two membranes where luciferon veins spiderweb under the skin to give the dragons' wings their bioluminescent glow. The glow is a yellow-ish white light, which means that it is efficient as a sort of natural flashlight and the pattern on the dragon's wings is reflected in the light. The glow is able to be turned on and off by the dragon.

Even though lich dragons live in caves, their eyes have not unevolved. They actually have small eyes for a dragon, but have extremely good eyesight in the light but very poor eyesight in the dark. To counteract this, these dragons have evolved feelers on their bodies. These feelers feel like fur on the dragons' scales and make the dragons actually look fuzzy in the daytime. Dragons can control the feeling in their feelers so if one should have a rider, it won't cause them pain.

These dragons also have a strange adaptation of retractable whiskers down their bodies. On either side, there are small, multi-colored knots that will unwind into whiskers that are up to thirty feet long. They are placed at six-inch intervals down the dragon's main body and neck. They are able to be controlled by the dragon and they use these whiskers to carry heavy things beneath them while they fly or even to move things out of the way. They are made of an extremely strong material and will grow back if they are chopped off.

Lich dragons live in groups called covens inside the caves of Alluum. They live to be around ten thousand years old and are generally a very friendly dragon species toward other creatures. They possess little magic as a species and are known to be rather noisy, generally speaking an ancient dialect of elvish to each other. Covens are like a wolf pack, having a set hierarchy, and lich dragons occasionally break away to create new covens. This is uncommon, though. Currently, ten covens of lich dragons are known to exist in Alluum.

Females are the hunters of the coven and are generally stronger than the males. They hunt in small packs and are generally the lich dragons you see outside. Liches eat whatever they can find that can sustain them. Generally, females will fish giant catfish out of the underground lakes with their whiskers and large claws. In a way, they can be compared to lionesses if it weren't for the fact that they are the protectors of the coven as well. The males will, naturally, fight as well, but the females take the brunt of physical activity around the cave.

Males will take care of the young immediately after the females lay their eggs. A female lich will lay up to five eggs in a clutch and they generally take about a month to hatch. Males will curl around them for this time period, the females hunting for themselves and their mates.

There are more male liches than female liches and they mate for life, so a few males are wondering around without a female lich. Males are bright colors and large to attempt to impress the females (who do everything) and they really must be impressive to catch the eye of one.

Lich dragons have a different type of magic than other dragons, holding an inter-dimensional bond. No rider in Evercrest has ever been known to capture and tame a lich dragon, so it is unknown of the inter-dimensional properties of this species. Some theorists claim that they travel beyond the spirit dimension, which would explain why the divines haven't picked up the lich dragons. The lich dragons' magic is a very elusive thing to many people.