Editing Dragon

{{Quality|Exceptional|16:09, 7 March 2023 (CST)}}

Dragons are most notable for their ability to quickly and frequently exhale long (20+ tiles) jets of [[dragonfire]], a much-hotter (theoretically {{ct|50000}}, over four times the heat of [[magma]]) version of fire, which can make quick work of any creature caught in its path and can kill even creatures normally immune to fire, though it can be blocked by enemies equipped with [[shield]]s. All dragons are born with Talented [[skill]] in [[Combat skill|fighting, biting, kicking, dodging]] and [[Observer|observing]], which, combined with their size and dragonfire, makes them formidable opponents to an untrained [[military]] [[squad]].

Dragons slowly grow to become one of the largest creatures in the game, finally reaching their adult size of 25,000,000 cm³ after 1000 years. As a hatchling, dragons are quite tiny, at exactly 1/10th an adult dwarf's size, but they grow very rapidly, at roughly 25,000 cm³ per year. Dragons reach dwarven size shortly after their second birthday, are more than double a dwarf's size at about year 5, and add another dwarf's-worth in size roughly every two years after that.

*After 1000 years, a dragon is the second largest creature found on land. (The [[giant elephant]] is the largest land creature, while the [[giant sperm whale]] is the largest creature found anywhere.)

Dragonfire can be avoided by fighting the dragon in a hallway that is covered in 4/7 water depth, here the dragon can not spit fire leaving it open for melee combat.

Possibly the best defence is to use piercing weapons like crossbows, especially spears, and hope you get lucky and hit a vital organ which can bring it down immediately. An alternative is building one or multiple cage traps, possibly beforehand, which will probably cage the dragon making it harmless. You should know that cages and mechanisms will be destroyed by dragonfire unless constructed from pure slade, so either make sure both cages (or weapons, or supports) and mechanisms are impervious to dragonfire, or, more simply; ensure that the dragon has no reason to breathe fire by removing animals and dwarves from the trapped area. While they won't breathe on buildings normally, a stray blast (at your outdoor livestock or bait animals, say) that catches any traps, doors, or bridges not made of dragonfire-safe materials will melt and deactivate them. This can be used to your advantage, since dragons will destroy the bridge they are standing on, even if they aren't aiming for it. Also, dragons make good companions if you are able to reanimate them as a [[necromancer]].

[[File:dragonprev.png|thumb|260px|right|How majestic!<br><small>''Art by Olivitree''</small>]]

Dragons can be captured in [[cage]] [[trap]]s and [[Animal trainer|trained]] if you're lucky enough to catch one. Currently, knowledge of animal behaviour is based on the civilization level and depends partly on the animals available for contact in a given civilization site. Such a rare megabeast as a dragon is unlikely to have had any civilized contact aside from adventurers attempting to slay them and other violent contact; as such, your fort will have to build the knowledge base from the ground up, making dragon-training a highly difficult task. Bear in mind that even with a skilled animal trainer at hand, your first attempts to control such a powerful and elusive beast may result in [[Fun|half your fortress burning in dragonfire]]. Being megabeasts, trained dragons will still be hostile to caravans, diplomats and other visitors.

Provided you are lucky enough to capture a pair of dragons of different sexes, you can [[Egg#Hatching Conditions|breed]] them with a [[nest box]]. Hatched dragons will need to progress through 1,000 years of growth to reach full size.

They will, in accordance to popular belief, however, set fire to the countryside, [[peasant]]s, and any thatched roof cottages that happen to be in the vicinity.

[[File:Dragon2.png|thumb|300px|center|Dragons; admired for their terrible majesty]]