Drake, Oasis

Description

The oasis drake is most commonly found in the deserts of Zakhara, the Land of Fate (the setting for Al-Qadim), though could easily fit into a desert of most any campaign setting.

Another of the widespread family of drakes, proving that dragons and their smaller cousins can adopt to most any environment or habitat, the oasis drake as its name might suggest calls desert oasis its home. Dwelling in nests they weave out of plant fibers high among the fronds of palm trees, they make them more defensive with spines, thorns, and prickly leaves of many desert plants. Dwelling in loose colonies, generally in an average oasis one could find about five to ten families. In the larger and less disturbed oases, as many as three hundred families have been seen, though this is rare.

The noisy, sometime quarrelsome oasis drake spends most of the hotter hours of the day resting, preferring to hunt for insects on the wing and landing on the ground to go after scorpions and lizards in the morning and afternoon. Not very large animals, it sometimes take two or even three drakes to bring down their larger prey items. They are almost comical to watch, for instance when they go after scorpions, four or five may dance around the dangerous creature, lunging at it and chattering at it, but moving away with exaggerated fear when it moves to strike. They also have been known to hunt on brightly lit nights, but generally only when there is a full moon.

As oasis drake have a communal system of sorts, they share their catches. As a result, few oasis drakes every go hungry, and all hatchlings get enough to eat. Many drakes are able to spend time away from hunting duties, preening themselves or others, caring for the offspring, or in play. A favorite oasis drake activity is to see how low they can skim over water and not enter. Another is to carry some sort of nut or small rock into the air and play keep away. Several Midani proverbs indicate the playful nature of oasis drakes, generally in a disapproving nature (especially among Moralist cities).

What sets oasis drakes among many other small dragons is that they are fairly intelligence (Average, 8-10). Possessing their own rich language, they can pick up at least on other language, though are better able to understand than speak it. Individual oasis drakes become fond of certain phrases in Midani or any other language, and are apt to repeat endlessly like some catch phrase.

Wise men and women have befriended oasis drakes in the past, and convince entire colonies to their bidding. In return for not being harassed, the occasional bowl of honey, and the odd shiny bauble, they can be convinced to carry messages, scout, or serve as sentries. Some desert tribes have had colonies of oasis drakes working with them for years to help them keep abreast of rival tribe activities, as well as keep an eye on the herds and out for danger. Bandits have been known to use drakes to spy out rich caravan to plunder, and lawgivers have used them to hunt down these same individuals.

In appearance an oasis drake is a sky blue in coloration underneath, shading to a darker blue above. They have glittering azure eyes that appear to almost glow. Their snouts are streaked with red, and in full mating form the males can appear quite striking, with the red growing in size and intensity.

Oasis drakes possess no breath weapon, and have a claw/claw/bite routine. Like many drakes, they do not have the ability to cast spells.