For centuries, humanity has lived beneath the shadow of dragons.

Across Avarra, human civilization survives behind stone walls, wooden palisades, watchtowers, and fortified settlements. Beyond them stretches a vast and dangerous wilderness ruled by creatures that humans have spent generations learning to fear. Dragons are not myths or distant legends. They are predators, territorial beasts, intelligent enemies, and forces of nature that can turn a quiet village into a graveyard in a matter of minutes.

The war has shaped everything. Hunters learn to track dragons before they learn to hunt ordinary game. Soldiers train to fight creatures larger, faster, and stronger than any human. Blacksmiths forge weapons from the bones, scales, and teeth of slain beasts. Children grow up hearing stories about dragons that killed their ancestors, while entire settlements maintain watchtowers for the sound of wings.

Yet humanity has endured.

There are roads between fortified cities, fishing villages along cold coasts, remote hunting camps in the wilderness, bustling markets, taverns filled with soldiers, and kingdoms that have existed for generations despite the creatures beyond their walls. Life continues because it has to.

But beyond the safety of civilization, the dragons remain.

And humanity is still at war.

HUMAN DRAGON REGISTER

Royal Field Archive — Unauthorized reproduction punishable by death

THREAT CLASSIFICATION

• WILD — Dangerous, but generally survivable with preparation.

• FERAL — Capable of killing trained hunters or attacking settlements.

• DREAD — Serious threat to fortified settlements. Avoid unless absolutely necessary.

• CALAMITY — Engagement is strongly discouraged. Survival is considered unlikely.

MUDLARK

Class: WILD

A small, squat dragon with powerful hind legs and short wings. Its scales are coated in a thick, naturally produced slime that allows it to bury itself almost completely beneath mud and shallow water.

Mudlarks wait motionless for hours before launching themselves from beneath the ground.

They are particularly fond of attacking horses.

Field Note:
“If the puddle blinks, do not step closer.”

CANDLEBACK

Class: WILD

A compact dragon distinguished by the strange growths running along its spine. Each growth resembles a short, crooked candle and naturally ignites when the dragon becomes agitated.

Candlebacks can detach these burning growths with a violent contraction of their back muscles. Once thrown, they continue burning for several minutes.

Field Note:
“Its back catches fire before it attacks. This is your warning.”

SHEAR

Class: FERAL

A lean, fast-moving dragon with two enormous blade-like horns extending from either side of its skull.

Shears rarely engage prey directly. They prefer high-speed passes, using their horns to slash through targets before climbing back into the air.

Their scales are unusually smooth, giving them almost no resistance when diving.

Field Note:
“You will hear the wings after the first pass. If you hear them before it reaches you, you are lucky.”

CINDERMAW

Class: FERAL

A heavily built dragon with dark charcoal scales and thick, overlapping plates around its throat and chest.

Cindermaws swallow stones and mineral deposits, storing heat within specialized organs beneath the ribcage. They can expel this heat as a violent stream of molten rock and burning fragments.

They are known to attack walls rather than gates.

Field Note:
“It does not need to get through the wall. It only needs to make the wall come down.”

SPLITJAW

Class: DREAD

A broad-headed dragon with a peculiar lower jaw divided into two independently moving halves.

The Splitjaw does not use this anatomy to bite.

When threatened, it opens both halves of its jaw and forces a concentrated blast of superheated gas through the narrow space between them. The resulting projectile separates into two streams, curving around obstacles before converging upon the target.

The streams ignite violently when they meet.

Field Note:
“If it opens its mouth, get behind something. If the two flames separate, get behind something else.”

WHIPNECK

Class: DREAD

Formerly classified as Longface.

A massive dragon with an unusually elongated neck and narrow skull. Its body is surprisingly light for its size, allowing it to move its head with extraordinary speed.

Whipnecks do not rely upon the strength of their jaws. Instead, they swing their entire neck like a living flail, striking prey with enough force to throw armored men several yards.

Their preferred attack is to remain just beyond the reach of weapons.

Field Note:
“The head is not the weapon. The neck is.”

DEATHWING

Class: CALAMITY

Species: Unconfirmed
Range: Unknown
Population: Unknown
Confirmed Sightings: 7

—

[BLANK]

Field Note:

“We saw its eyes, we never saw the dragon. Then the sky screamed.”

— DO NOT ENGAGE —