Serpentine Squiggles

an opposable finger attached to a dragon’s wings. It is long and dextrous.

a cool volcanic lake filled with molten glasses and unmelted metals.  Its fragile surface contains a hardened mix of its glass with the ambient soil, called dustone.  All sifting occurs here.

a cycle of inhaling, exhaling, inhaling again, and exhaling again, which cycles air through the air sacs and and lungs.

a transparent scale covering a dragon’s eye.  Over time collects dust, and is cleaned by licking with a tongue.

see also: clouding

a period of torpor which dragons can consciously enter, analogous to hibernation or aestivation.

a white‍-​green moon usually visible at night.

the country or alliance consisting of nearly all inhabited skylands.

a time of gyra in the land of glass and secrets, especially Gwymr/Frina in which the weather is largely fair and amiable to farming or traveling. 

(of a dragon’s brilles) grow clear and transparent. See: clouding

a race of dragons with red scales, largely native to the cliffs and southern canyons.

(of a dragon’s brilles) grow translucent or opaque through the flow of blood into the scale.  All dragons must regularly cloud their eyes, but the flow is regularly staunched by constricting the blood vessels in order to see.  This window of sight can be extended briefly when needed.  The clouding and clearing of eyes can be controlled, but is usually unconscious.  (It is comparable to breathing, or the blinking of mammals.)

a day on which one of the loversuns eclipses the other, marking a midpoint of the cycle.

a glowing, vibrating stone native the Berwem, shrouded in secrecy, and often subject to superstition.

a tiny, scuttling thing that congregates on crysts.

a unit of time corresponding to the orbit of the loversuns around each other, taking roughly eighteen days.  See also: troughday, crestday.

a unit of time between cycle and gyra, associated with the moons.

(of a dragon’s fangs) grow wet with venom, especially as an emotional response.

the venom dewed on a dragon’s fangs, especially as an emotional response.  Sometimes used metonymically to refer to the feeling causing such a response.

suspicious or dangerous, as of a sudden draft when flying.

be disagreeable or unpleasant, as of a drag when flying. 

a male dragon

a fragile composite made naturally from various earthy materials and the native glass of the Berwem. While its hardness depends on composition, it’s generally quite brittle and crumbly.

the leader of a town in the land of glass and secrets

dragons possess fangs not dissimilar to that of a spitting cobra, with apertures from which impotent venom may leak or be spat.  They regularly dew with a scented venom for several major emotions: such as sourness for sadness, tartness for anger, or spiciness for fear.  However, the connection between scents and emotions is vague and often idiosyncratic.

often used metaphorically as a synonym for ‘create’ or ‘become.’

a dragon mature enough to fly, though often referring to one still adolecent.

a diverse race of dragons, usually with green scales.

dragons possess scaly ruffs at the top of their necks, of diverse size and shape.  They catch sound, and are used along with the inner ear for hearing.

a small gray arthropod with a glassy shell native to the Berwem.  Their blue blood is alchemically significant.

a black, oily salve which protects the wearer from extreme heat.  Used often when sifting in the Berwem.

the time of gyra in the land of glass and secrets, especially Gwymr/Frina in which seismic and volcanic activity increases, resulting in higher temperatures and weather such as ashstorms or acid rain.  Many animals aestivate during this time, and some dragons brumate.  Contrast: clear season.

a large town built off sifting for metal and glass in the lake Berwem.  Most inhabitants are plain‍-​dwellers or cliff‍-​dwellers.

a long unit of time corresponding to one passage through all seasons.~ horns~ dragons possess horns underneath their snouts and atop their heads.

an especially young dragon

of or relating to a hatchling, often used derogatorily.

a small, bare country squeezed into the cliffs and ravines that border east the plains in the land of moutains and truth, and south the deep canyons in the land of chasm and wisdom. Its capital is Gwymr/Frina.

a purple moon usually visible at night.  Often associated with volcanoes, violence, or war.

the orbiting pair of stars visible during the day.

young dragon grow fast and so shed scales very often. A young dragon still in this phase of frequent molting is called a moltling.

a race of dragons with muted, earthy‍-​colored scales, largely native to the eastern plains.

the act of searching or mining the surface of the Berwem for valuable materials.  Often involves digging into the fragile surface or scooping around in the molten glass.

a mass of land floating above the ground.

a race of dragons native to the skylands, usually with blue scales

silly or arbitrary, especially in a harmful or negative way.

dragons possess forked tongues used for scenting, and it is long enough to comfortably reach a dragon’s eyes.  Often used as a metonym for a dragon’s intellect or sensibility.

cloaca

an abbreviation of vomeronasal organ; a dragon presses their tongue against this in order to scent.

a biological process in which a dragon’s metabolism alters to increase their body temperature, largely involuntarily.  Although it may occur at low external temperatures, it most often happens as a social response, especially toward hatchlings.  In some cultures, this function is inaccurately associated with the heart.

a female dragon

honorific or pronoun conveying love, a more intense form of ‍-​cyf.

honorific or pronoun conveying friendship and appreciation.

honorific or pronoun conveying equality and unfamiliarity.  Occasionally has an insulting connotation.

honorific or pronoun conveying great respect or superiority in rank.

honorific or pronoun conveying dismissal or cuteness.  Can be insulting or endearing depending on context