These dragons call themselves the Myrsilk Dragons (Mire-silk), though Myrsilk and Myrsilkain(s) (Mire-silk-cane(s)) are also common names that are heard around the complex. The words are pretty much interchangeable.
The Myrsilk Dragons are, to put it bluntly, large. The average size can range anywhere from fifty to a massive one hundred feet long (though almost half of that, especially for the females, is tail) with the average length being around sixty to seventy or so feet long. There are the occasional sport/runt, of course, which may not even reach thirty feet when full grown, but these are fairly rare. A standard Myrsilk falls into the "Large" category, with a length of about sixty feet and a height of about twenty feet.
Their standard height/length/wingspan ratio for an adult is 1:3:6. For a hatchling, that ratio is 1:6:9.
The Myrsilk, being very steeped in magic from the second they're conceived till the second they die, have developed several means of communication. One, their typical method, is mind-to-mind telepathy, being very versatile and not hindered by flight or inconvenient obstacles like walls. Their second method, though it takes time to develop it to its full potential, is actual speech, much like we do. In their case, though, they use magic to aid them in producing the proper sounds, assuring that, as long as they can hear the language spoken, they can speak it with only a slight accent. Their third method, though used mostly among themselves, is, of course, body language. This is often used unconsciously in combination with either of the other two methods, and consists mostly of the positions of their tails, wings, and head. Still, much can be learned of the dragon's mood if careful attention is paid to the positioning of those three body-parts.
The Myrsilk, large as they are, require somewhat large meals at fairly regular intervals. They don't require food every day, but usually they'll want to feed every four or five days, though that can vary depending upon various things. They prefer to hunt for their food, but if pressed will accept already killed meat if there's nothing else available.
One thing that can extend the feeding times beyond the four to five days, or shorten it as well, is the amount of magic the world they're on has to offer. Being magical creatures, they can, and do, turn the magic that gathers around them into energy to sustain them, so if there's an abundance of magic, they might not have to feed for an entire week or a bit longer, or, if there's a lack of magic, they might have to feed every two to three days.
Beyond each dragon's innate element(s) and the abilities they gain through that, there are several skills that all of them share, despite gender or element. All of them naturally absorb and process the free magic that is given off by their surroundings, and all of them have a store of this within their bodies, much like other animals store fat. A magic-starved Myrsilk Dragon can easily be spotted, as their hide appears dull, they're not very energetic, their eyes may appear a bit cloudy, and their markings will fade in color as well.
Another skill is that of teleportation, which is directly linked to their ability to absorb and process the magic about them. When they teleport, they pass briefly through a realm much like between, except, instead of being merely a non-place of cold and sensory deprivation, it's the same realm that the Void dragons summon their creatures from, or send their enemies to. As such, while no sounds can truly be heard, there's often a sense of malice about the void. While this doesn't really bother the dragons (in fact, the Void Myrsilk have been heard to call the place pleasant on occasion), any riders, if not properly warned, will undoubtedly get slightly unnerved. Time spent in the void is typically bare instants (often barely enough time to register that there's more to the place than the chilling cold), less even than most dragons spend between, but the time lengthens if going backwards or too far forwards in time. Extreme jumps backwards or forwards in time are almost impossible for any but a Void to achieve.
A Myrsilkain may choose a permanent mate - indeed, as Myrsilkains age, they often begin to favor the concept of a permanent mate. Society demands that the Summoner and Sorcerer be mated, but practically acknowledges that the mating may be simply a mating of convenience. The Conjurer and Magician are traditionally mates as well, though they don't have to be.
A mated Myrsilkain will, if their mate dies, often choose not to accept another full mate, though they might still rise to clutch or chase.
Myrsilkain females usually lay clutches of eggs that can range anywhere from four to twenty or more, though most lay clutches of anywhere between five and ten to twelve eggs. In true Myrsilk tradition, the 'sands' where they lay their eggs are often comprised solely of gemstone and crystal fragments, as these hold and radiate magic more easily than normal sand. If a Myrsilk clutches on normal sand, she will often become a very broody mother, curled about her clutch and filling the air with her own magic in order to provide for her hatchlings. She will refuse to leave the sands for anything, even to eat, and must be provided for by either her bond (if she has one) or her mate.
Myrsilkain dragons rejected a true 'naming system' long ago, when they started splitting into various clans and colonizing other worlds. Each clan wanted to have some way to let others know where they were from, yet at the same time, not have to really modify the formal introduction into a clumsier form. And so the 'tags' were thought up.
Each clan has its own name, and each is different from the others, sometimes to the point where a clan name can be over twelve syllables long, a little too long to say smoothly in the rhythm of the formal introduction. When all the Summoners and Sorcerers gathered together in a meeting of clans, they decided, after much debate, on how they'd include the clan names into their own. Their method: Take the first four letters of the clan name, and add it to the end of the dragon's name, separating the two with a '. (For example: The Sorcerer of this clan is named Revent, while this clan's name is Akelara. So when he is formally introducing himself, his name is Revent'akel.)
Strength, given a grade of 1-10, with 10 being highest, determines how powerful a given dragon is. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with the dragon's actual ranking, meaning that one of the lowest ranking dragons out there could outperform, in terms of shear power, one of the highest ranking of the dragons. More often, though, the higher the rank, the higher the power. Dragons with any grade over 1 can do the same things that the grades below them can (For example: A dragon with a grade of 2 can perform grade 1 skills as well, a dragon with a grade of 7 can achieve anything that 1-6 can, and so on.)
Sports/runts generally, for some reason, have some of the highest power levels out there. The hypothesis on this effect is that, as sports have the smallest bodies, they require less magic to sustain themselves, which therefore frees up more for their personal use. But, as there are no known sports existing right now, there's no way to prove this.
To help understand the scale that these dragons come in, here's a size chart, measured in feet. This chart does not include sports, because so few sports survive the egg, and so it's difficult to know what, exactly, the lower limit of the sport size-range is. Click for a larger version.
