Piercing winds batter against your tiny form as you make your way through the land of ice and snow. Nothing could be seen except for what was a mere foot in front of you. Then again what lay ahead was nothing more than white-coat earth and the slashing blizzard snow. Not a thing could be heard besides the howling wind. Not even your own footsteps were audible as you marched your way aimlessly through the blanche nightmare. It was so odd that the color – which was typically meant to represent light and all things good – could end up being your demise. Pausing, you aimlessly look around for shelter despite knowing full well that it was futile. And yet… there was something there. Taking a step back, you stare at the two floating green dots before you – confused and scared at what it may be. You both just remained in whatever staring contest had begun, a harsh silence forming between the two. Then, the eyes move towards you and a form begins to take shape. It was a dragon of ice and snow, and he was now mere inches from your body. For a while, he just stares – eyes filled with curiosity and concern. Then, he moves and blocks the winds from hitting your freezing body. But he did not dare come any close. Nodding his head in the direction he was now facing, he began to slowly walk into the raging blizzard – just slow enough for you to keep up. He may not be able to provide any warmth… but, at least, he provides you with some shelter.
Name:
Cryosphere
Meaning/Definition “Part of the earth’s surface where water is frozen solid”
Nickname:
Cryo
Age:
117
Gender:
Male
Role:
New Dragon
Class:
Ice
Appearance:
Cryosphere is a well built dragon, made of purest form of survival. His body plays no games and takes no chances. It is deadly, precise, and almost always logical. Starting with his size it should instantly be noted that the icy male is neither the smallest or largest young dragon to exist. He is somewhere in the middle of things on that front. At his shoulder, he reaches a height of fourteen feet. Another three feet is added up top of that thanks to his broad neck. Giving him a decent total of seventeen feet in height all together. Horizontally, he sums up to a grand total of twenty-eight feet – if not a smidge more. Sixteen feet of this total is directed towards his main body. The other twelve can be found in his tail.
~~~
The basis of Cryo’s body plan is one to be marveled at by all forms of survivalists. He is bulky in structure, carrying an incredible amount of muscle that is impossible not to notice. This muscle can be seen on every aspect of his body – rippling with each and every step, no matter how soft. But it is the strongest or most well developed in his legs, shoulders, and tail. The three main offensive locations of his build. His legs are broad and a bit on the longer side. Equipped with four hooked talons each (one for each toe, plus a mostly unused dew claw), he is impeccably good at grappling and holding onto things. These claws were specifically designed to grip onto the icy ground of his homeland as well as the thick hides of blubbery seals and whales that he calls prey. Pair this with his already muscular and sturdy legs, and he’s impossibly hard to knock over. That is, if anyone were to dare try. This male’s body is covered in spikes. Along his back and sides are three main rows of them. The largest of these is the line that runs down the center of his back. The longest of these can reach over a foot long. The other two rows (located on his sides) are much smaller – only reaching around six to eight inches at their peak. Those on his side do not touch his shoulders. All of these spines start along his neck, specifically after his head connects to said neck. Here, the larger row is only around nine inches while the side rows are around five. These spines stand up indefinitely and are completely immobile. Besides length, these structures are somewhat transparent in appearance – being a bit cloudy and hard to see through. They are also not always straight and smooth in texture. While some are, others are more jagged like an actual icicle. Now, you may be wondering how exactly this prevents others from attempting to knock him over. After all, his shoulders are completely exposed… except, they’re not. Not in the slightest. On both of his shoulders rest two very large spikes that jut from their sides, akin to that of a Kentrosaurus. Except, his stick straight out with a slight upwards slant rather than somewhat backwards. These spines measure up to three to four feet in length. This duo of spines (as well as the rest along his body, but especially these two) are incredibly thick and near impossible to break unless immense force is applied. Even other dragons cannot break them. It is because of these spikes that he has such defined shoulders. When possible, he will purposely ram into an opponent with these spines to stab through them. The tail of this beast of survival is sturdy and decently sized, much like his legs. Though, it is less broad than them. It starts out rather thick but thins out towards the end to make a sort of rounded point. The spines from early fade out on their trip down this extremity, ending a good few inches before his tail tip. This ending of the spines gives way for the sight of one of his extraordinary abilities. At the end of his tail there is – you guessed it – a fan of spines with there being six in total. Three on either side. These spines are layered, having typically four separate parts to it. Though, it can have more if given enough time. These layers can actually be loosened at will and then flung at any opponent who dares to test his resolve. With great accuracy too. Hence the muscles within his tail. However, these layers are not constantly loose. Unless willed to actually loosen, they remain tightly attached to the rest of his spine and tail. Thus, he can also use this as a bashing or stabbing sort of weapon as well and not risk losing a layer. If someone miraculously manages to get past these defenses (and attacks at the right time so they will not be obliterated by one of his abilities) then they would have to deal with his upper scales. These scales are sharp and pointed in structure, and – while they do not stick upwards – can easily cut anyone unprepared to face them. Very few have managed to get past his defenses. And one of the few that have left a grizzly scar right underneath his neck. A testament to their feat… and demise.
~~~
The male’s head is quite broad in structure, formed out of well defined edges and muscles. Its general shape is like that of most stereotypically dragons, being larger vertically than other reptiles. Its curves are almost pointed and sharp in appearance, as though they were spikes themselves. Though, here is some curving around his cheeks and upper jaw. His snout looks like a cross between a wolf and a polar bear, but has none of the mammalian aspects – such as the pitch black noses and “floppy” lips – and is just slightly longer than the rest of his head. Those aspects still take a rather draconic course, with his nostrils being small holes on either side of the snout and his “lips” being rather tight against his jaws – only able to go up and down. Two thick and straight horns travel back from around the top of his broad skull, being around seven inches in length. They take a back and slightly upwards position. These horns, like his shoulder spikes, are very thick and are durable. Not as hard to break as the spikes, but still a challenge to most. Running along his horns are multitude of small branching-off spikes. They put a bit more upwards than the actual horn itself, and are rather close to one another – making it hard for someone to grab his horns without getting cut. Each of these spikes are around two inches long, and the only main body spikes that can regrow (not counting the ones on his tail). The substance of these horns can be seen forming a path of sorts down to the middle of his forehead, connecting the two entities. These connective structures also look to be spikes or at least in the form of them, except for being flatter and wider than what is typically seen. They appear to almost be in the shape (but not texture) of crystals. Those touching his horns are the largest of these “plates” and stick out to the side a bit, but still remain pointing back. All parts of his horns are slightly transparent, just like the rest of his spines. His eyes are considered to get quite striking in both color and shape. But, for now, only the shape will be addressed. While the outer structure of his eyes take the typical narrowed form seen in most dragons, the eye itself acts like those of snow leopards. Signifying his rank of being an all out predator. His eyes are also a lot stronger than those of other species, being unaffected by extreme cold and having the ability to see much greater distances in heavy snow. Along his right cheeks are two slash scars that once more show the mark of a daring soul who saw it wise to attack him. Safe to say that they did not last any longer than any of the others before them.
~~~
The chilling beast’s wings are nothing too noteworthy. He dawns two of them, both of which are bat-like in structure. They sprout a little bit behind his shoulder spines and are purposely designed to angle downwards to avoid damaging his skin or membrane on their sharp ends. There is also a gap between his side spines right where the upper part of the wing curls down. That way, he doesn’t cause damage to the skin. The membranes of both wings are connected to his body, leaving no separation between the innermost membrane and his side. These membranes are incredibly thick and tough to damage. Sort of like a really thick and expensive leather. But it is in no way impossible to pierce or damage. In total, his wingspan is just big enough to lift his form into the air when need be – being around forty feet in length (twenty feet to each wing). The scales along his wings, similar to those of the rest of his body, are jagged in shape, sharp, and tough. Sort of like an arrow head. They can easily cut another dragon if they brush them the wrong way. At the joint of his wing, short spikes can be seen jutting out from it (one for either wing). These mimic the aspects of all his other spines and stick straight. The main usage of these two spines is simply a small line of defense for his wings. The end of each wing finger is also tipped with one of these. However, those are much thinner and would only be used for light scratching of anything at all.
~~~
Cyro is, oddly, quite the colorful fellow. Sure, he may not be as vibrant as most of the other dragons, but he still has his way in the “beautiful coloration” market. To begin, it should be noted that there are three main “layers” of colors for his scales. An upper, lower, and middle layer. These colors do not always stick to their designated areas, but typically accumulate around the same area. The upper layer is a light grayish-blue in complexion. It runs along his spine, upper tail, and slightly down his sides. The lower portion of his scales – which almost exclusively covers his underbelly – is of an icy blue shade. Nearing white but not being completely there. In some lights, this shade can also get a grayish tint to it. The middle section (which covers everything between the upper and lower areas, including his wing scales) is a slightly dull sky blue. Thus, his body is made up of a slight fade of blues – starting at the darkest along his back and going down to a pale blue. However, his body had more patterns than just a simple fade. Scattered about his middle scales and underbelly are white snowflake patterns, forming a sort of spotted appearance with their shape. At certain points of his body, the light grayish-blue of his upper section can form swirls that curve down into the two lower sections and cut between the snowflake markings. While these sticks typically stick to running through his midsection, they can cut into the pale blue of his underbelly. It’s just not as commonplace. Parts of the aforementioned underbelly colorations can also break the fade and swish gently upwards to run into the sky blue of his middle scales. The membranes of his wings also seem to hold this pattern, having small, white snowflake shapes scattered around at random. However, these do not stay white. Rather, they start out that way at the top of his wing (near the wing arm) but gradually fade from white to an icy sky blue as they go down the membranes. This fade is not observed within all the snowflakes. Some are pure white, others more white than blue, then more blue than white, and finally a pure blue. Outside of his pattern, the rest of his wing membrane does a fade that is almost the exact opposite of the pattern. It starts out as an icy blue – like that of his underbelly – at the top of the wing and fades into a sparkling white by its end. His horns and spine all take on a tinted light blue appearance which can be seen as shiny thanks to the slight transparency of them. Finally, the male’s eyes are a bright and stunning mint green. Or, more specifically, spindrift green. It stands out a lot when compared to the rest of his blue form.
~~~
The sound of the blue scaled dragon’s voice is a complete and utter mystery. It has never been heard by another living soul, aside from his now… likely deceased siblings and his out-of-the-picture mother. His continuous silence has had many-a-being assume that he is mute. Though, no one is quite sure if it is by choice or because he physically cannot talk. Those who believe that he cannot physically talk always seem to point to the scar along his neck. Maybe that former wound did some damage to his voice box? The others who just see it as a choice, however, always point out the fact he can make other sounds such as roars and growls. But the reason behind the likelihood of this choice will probably never be discovered.
~~~
The roars of this icy beast are incredibly special and unique. What makes these so unusual is the fact that almost none of them share traits with another call, with there being only one exception to this. Like usual, there are five total roars: broadcast, friendly, threaten, danger, and victory. Cryosphere’s broadcast is a rather simple sound. It’s a mix between the sound of cracking ice and the howl of a wolf. This howl carries a really deep pitch to it – a stark contrast to the higher pitched ice sounds. Despite being rather deep, the howl portion of this roar can be heard from much farther away than the cracking ice can. A mile or two of distance to be exact. The friendly call is probably what he is most known for, sound wise. It is a gentle trill-like noise with the soft backdrop of a purring snow leopard and the mysterious and mystical sound of singing ice. This sound of singing ice becomes louder the colder he is. His threaten call is a loud and bellowing noise, sounding akin to the roar of a polar bear with the thunderous break of dividing glacier. The roar has very little build up, just being there from the start. But, the glacier sound does decrescendo as the sound comes to its end. The male’s danger noise is… quite out of place when considering all the other calls. It is oddly high pitched in nature, and sounds a lot like the whistling wind of a rushing blizzard. It can sound rather frightening from a distance, like a banshee’s scream. His final call, victory, is the roar that breaks the pattern of sharing no traits with another call. In fact, it shares aspects with not just one but two other roars. It is essentially a mix between the friendly and the broadcast roars. The deep howling of a wolf and the harmonious sound of singing ice are blended together to form this call, with the soft cracking of ice sneaking its way underneath these two sounds.
Personality:
Lonely || Curious || Clingy || Protective || Loyal || Silent || Attentive || Observant || Standoffish || Smart || Clever || Problem Solver || Knowledgeable || Patient || Thick Skinned || Expressive || Calm || Selfless || Helpful || Logical || Realistic || Observant || Introspective || Neither A Loner Or Social || Perseverance || Wanderer (Hates Staying In One Place) || Defensive (Fights Back Against Those That Challenge Him) || Mysterious || Stealthy || High Prey Drive
Cryo stares at you with a blank face. He has nothing to say.
Rider:
Open
Abilities:
Ice Breath
The strength of Cryo’s ice breath depends completely on the temperature of his body and surroundings. These determinants cause this ability to change “forms,” but – naturally – not at will. He can never control what type of breath he uses at one specific point in time. These two breaths are mist and solid.
Mist
Mist breath forms whenever the male is too hot to sustain solid ice. Like its namesake, it comes out as a rushing gust of air, filled with bone chilling mist. This mist cannot freeze anything upon contact, but it can cause frostbite overtime. Though, this is not made to be a precise form of attack since it will billow out in all directions no matter what he does. Thus, he will typically just “throw” it about at random to hit a target by whirling his neck and body around in various ways. Unless they are backed into a corner that is, in which he can actually aim. This “throwing” aspect of this breath not only gives him cover, but can boost his “Freezing Touching” ability to the smallest degree. Enough to where someone will at least regret touching him with their bare hands.
Solid
The dragon’s solid breath occurs only when he and his surroundings are cold enough to support it. This type of breath itself comes in two different styles – snow and ice – which he can alternate between at will. But he generally sticks to the ice form. This ice form comes out as a harsh wind at first, but will cause large accumulations and spires of ice to form on whatever it touches. It can freeze practically anything in place, if it is small enough. It should be noted that, if he is extremely cold, the ice from this breath will be near impossible (if not impossible) to melt. The barely used snow breath is likely his weakest of the three. It can barely do any damage to an opponent, but it can temporarily blind or disorient them if used correctly.
Spine Shot
As mentioned before, the blue-scaled dragon has the ability to shed the spines at the end of his tail and throw them at enemies with great precision. This is made possible due to the layering of those spikes which have the ability to loosen at will. Upon being loosened, the male will harshly flick his tail in a specific direction and send the sheath flying towards an opponent. These spikes are incredibly sharp and thick, causing a lot of damage and being hard to remove from practically anything. The lost layering is also replaceable, meaning that he does not have to worry about running out forever. But the speed by which it reforms varies greatly depending – once again – on the temperature of his surroundings. The colder they are, the faster it goes back. The hotter, the slower. Though, placing his tail in bodies of water can also speed up the regeneration process, but he only really does this when in warmer environments. The amount he can throw per battle is limited to around eighteen (as there are three throwable layers and six spikes).
Freezing Touch
When cold enough, touching the male can become quite deadly. His scales hold a constant hum of chill to them which can freeze any living thing it touches – given that it touches him with its bare form. Barriers can prevent anything from happening, no matter how thin. But the being will still become increasingly cold over time. In his home land, this ability allowed him to walk in ice that typically would not support his weight by increasing the strength and width of it. When too hot, the male still holds that chilling aura, but it would only create frost or a thin sheet of ice around his form considering that it is touching something. He is also safe to touch during time. Though, it is still advised that whoever is riding him wears a barrier just to prevent themselves from getting too cold.
Blinding Blizzard
While Cryosphere cannot control weather like storm dragons, he can apply some manipulation to already present showers or storms – given that the conditions are right. If they are, his eyes and snowflake patterns will begin to glow and he will release a broadcast aimed towards the sky. Slowly, the precipitation will turn into snow and – eventually – a harsh snowstorm or blizzard. From here, however, he has no control. It will provide him with nothing more than a boost to his breath and the use of his final ability.
Snow Cloak
The “snow cloak” ability is a rather strange case when it comes to ice dragons. No one is quite sure how exactly it works. Some assume that it works in a similar way as octopus mimicry does – changing the pattern and texture of their bodies. Others believe it to be a cause of invisibility, and the rest just see it as impeccable camouflage. No matter the method, there is no arguing that this ability exists. It works as follows: When surrounded by snow, the male can basically phase himself out of the seeing eye – as though he became the snow itself. The surrounding snow does not have to cover him on all sides (like the snow of a blizzard), and can simply be at his feet. While using this ability, Cryo must move in a slow and methodical manner. If he goes too fast, the cloak will wear off and his scales will become visible once more.
Strengths:
- Cold: Pretty self explanatory. The colder he and his surroundings are, the stronger his power and abilities.
- Precision: This male has impeccable aim, almost always hitting his target in the exact position he desires. This precision is almost exclusively observed when he is using his spine shot ability. Then again, without this strength, this ability would be almost entirely useless. After all, if he can’t hit his mark, then what is the point of the ability? Either way, this can extend toward other abilities and aspects of him, such as his breath and shoulder ram.
- Patience: Being the mark of a deadly predator, patience is a virtue that the male holds quite dear. It has gotten him out of a lot of sticky situations and has proven essential in the art of hunting. He will spend literal hours, even days, just to catch the smallest glimpse of the perfect time to strike. This virtue also allows him to easily deal with even the most annoying of beings that could run most others thin.
- Body Build: As one says, one’s greatest offense is strong defense. And that is exactly the motto that Cryo’s body plan follows. With the amount of sharp spines, spikes, and defensive assets his form has, he never really has to go on the offense. All he needs to do is angle his body a certain way and let his opponent come to him. They’re bound to run into this side spines of his, after all. Or get cut on his sharp scales. Or even become completely frozen if he is cold enough.
- Icy Environments: Another self explanatory strength, considering his entire existence focuses on this one fact. Being in an icy environment provides him with a multitude of benefits and the ability to some of his abilities – like snow cloak – as well as his first strength.
Weaknesses:
- Heat: A self explanatory weakness since a certain amount of heat can and will decrease the strength of his powers. However, if he is exposed to a large amount of heat for an extended stretch of time, he will die.
- Flexibility: One of three downsides to his body plan. Cryo is not at all flexible. Due to his multitude of spines and muscles, he finds it difficult to bend certain ways without stabbing himself with one of his own spines or without pulling said muscles. This means that if one were to catch him at the right time and attack certain area of his body, he would have an incredibly difficult time getting them off.
- Agility: The second downside to his body plan. The blue scaled dragon is in no way capable of agility. With hook-like claws, a broad and heavy build, and some of his spines, he finds it rather hard to move quickly in order to avoid a hit. Then again, he doesn’t really need to. He’s sturdy enough to take hits and has the defenses to back it up. But, if he needs to flee, then he better hope that he can avoid all of the incoming attacks because there is no way he is dodging any of them.
- Arid Environments: Like his environmental strength, this is a rather self explanatory weakness. Being in an arid environment can cause a lot of health problems. At least in other hot biomes (like jungles), he can use water to cool down. In these areas, however, there is no water or precipitation. Thus, he will be forced to suffer through the heat. If it doesn’t kill him first, that is.
- Specialized Niche: Yet another downside to his body plan. This is an odd sort of weakness, but a weakness one the less. Much like polar bears and their hunting tactics, Cryo is very specialized for living a certain way. In his case, he is specialized for living in frozen biomes and practically nowhere else. All his desired prey items and the entire basis for his life is centered on these regions. So, take him away from this style of life, and he’ll be in grave trouble. Of course, he can adapt, but he takes a lot longer to do so than most.
Likes:
- Cold
- Winter
- Cold Biomes
- Shallow Waters
- Companions
- Listening To Others
Dislikes:
- Warmth
- Summer
- Hot Biomes
- His Mother
- Speaking
- Deserters
Crush:
Maybe someone interested in him? He’s very likely to have any interest in another dragon as of right now.
Open
Mate:
Not yet.
Kin:
He is… unsure on what actually happened to his siblings. All he knows is that they were all eventually left behind. All except for him.
Polynya (NPC To Reference) – Cryo and his mother have some… complicated history to say the least. She is the source of a lot of pain and trauma in his life, even if it was inadvertent. She by no means abused or demeaned him! She just… Let’s just say that her only goal was to raise the strongest offspring she could. Ones that, without a doubt, could survive on their own when the time came. Thus, this led her to abandoning those who she deemed unworthy of her time, energy, and resources. In other words, she’s the reason he doesn’t know where his siblings are or what became of them.
Open
Affiliations:
Open
Other:
- For whatever reason, Cyro never speaks. It is not known whether just refuses to, or if he is physically incapable of the action. Though, most assume that it is on his own terms since he can still roar and growl.
- The blue-stricken male has never really had many close family or friends. So, he holds all those he considers as such as close as possible and rarely leaves their side.
- The best place to ride this dragon is between his neck and shoulders. A gap between all lines of spines lies in this area.
- Padding and heavier clothing is suggested when riding this beast. Else, one may hurt themselves on his scales, develop a cold, or turn into a literal block of solid ice.
Wings Of Fire was a pretty cool series. Though, I only really like the first arc and Darkstalker’s super edition nowadays. I. Hate. Kinkajou and Qibli with a passion.