GLOSSARY
Armor
Dragon riders wear armor made from their own dragon’s scales, collected since their hatching. The scales are attached to a lining of supple leather in a shingle-like pattern. Dragonscale armor is essentially indestructible. It is no more cumbersome than a light coat. In contrast to the unwieldy full suit of plate armor, worn by knights and soldiers, a dragon rider has complete freedom of movement, even when fully suited out.
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When Amáne first receives her suit of dragonscale armor, she has to keep Eshshah’s beautiful scales hidden. The Dorsal blacksmith, Dorjan, a dragon rider himself, created Amáne’s suit of armor. On top of Eshshah’s scales, he placed another layer of leather. It wasn’t until Eshshah and Sovann, Ansel’s dragon, were revealed, that they were able to remove the outer leather covering, exposing their dragons’ beautiful shining scales.
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The same terms are used for armor made from dragon scales as well as plate.
Bonding
See Linking. If a dragon rider suffers the loss of a dragon, another dragon, who either had lost their rider, or never had a rider, as in the case of the dragons from the Valley of Dragons, may bond with the rider. A dedicated connection with each other is solidified. They are able to communicate through Thought Transference or Open Thought Transference. The relationship of a bonded pair is not as strong as a linked pair.
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Communication Device
King Galtero devised a plan to usurp the throne from King Emeric Drekinn, Ansel’s father. That plan included the systematic destruction of all the dragons in Teravinea. One by one deadly “accidents” occurred to the dragons, their riders, or both.
By the time Gallen recovered from the murder of his dragon, Gyan, all the dragons had been annihilated. True to Galtero’s plan, communication throughout the kingdom came to a standstill. Keeping his subjects in ignorance enabled him to rule more completely.
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The surviving dragon riders united and went into hiding. Gallen worked furiously on an invention using his late dragon, Gyan’s scales. Gyan means knowledge. Gallen utilized this attribute to create the Communication Device.
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Three of Gyan’s scales are secured in a triangle pattern on a board. A thick disc of glass is placed over the scales. Below the glass, a brass knob protrudes from the board. By holding the knob and saying a dragon rider’s name, the rider being summoned hears the disc buzz. He grasps the knob on his Device and his image appears in the caller’s disc as the caller’s image appears in the receiver’s disc. They communicate in real time until they sign off and release the knob.
The riders are stationed throughout the kingdom, each with their own Disc. In this way they planned their attack on the king to reinstate the rightful heir to the throne, Ansel.
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Linking
The dragons of the kingdom have always hatched for their Chosen Ones in the hatching grounds in Castle Teravinea. Eshshah, Amáne’s red dragon, and Sovann, Ansel’s golden dragon, are exceptions to this norm. Eshshah hatched for Amáne in a secluded cove near Dorsal. The two were alone in the hatching rite. The fact that they both lived through it is remarkable. Sovann hatched for Ansel at the Healer’s house in Dorsal. They had the Healer, Gallen, Amáne and Eshshah as witnesses and guides.
The rite begins with the unhatched dragon drawing the Chosen One toward its egg. The egg begins to hum. The rider-to-be places their hands on the egg and falls into a hypnotic state. The egg hatches and a tiny dragon, about the size of a large domestic cat, tumbles out in front of the Chosen One. The dragon locks eyes with the human. After a space of time, the dragon blinks severing the mesmerizing connection. Before the rider comes completely to their senses, the dragon pulls it head back and strikes its rider in the right shoulder, burying its fangs into the human’s flesh, injecting a powerful, potentially deadly venom into the Chosen One. The rider succumbs to the intense pain and falls unconscious with dragon fever. The dragon then waits vigilantly and with much concern until their rider wakes up. Dragon fever usually lasts from 24 to 48 hours.
In Amáne and Eshshah’s case, her dragon fever lasted for three days, actually sending Amáne to the Shadows, nearly ending her life. Eshshah, with her great healing powers, even as a newly-hatched dragon, was able to call Amáne back.
Once the rider awakens, the linking is complete. They’ll find a tattoo-like linking mark on the right shoulder where the fangs had punctured. This mark is unique to each linked pair. The design contains runes and symbols that, when interpreted, tell of the dragon, its attributes and the rider’s information as well.
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Thought Transference
A dragon and its rider are able to communicate without words. They hear each other’s voice in their head. The distance between the linked (or bonded) pair’s ability to hear each other depends on the strength, among other criteria, of their linking. Eshshah and Amáne can communicate at an extreme distance.
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Open Thought Transference
Not only can a linked (or bonded) pair hear each other, but in Open Thought Transference they can see what that other sees, as if they are in the same space with their linked other.