Crypts Art - Blog Posts

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7 months ago

"The Vampiric Bloodletter"

"Out of all the dragons I've seen and studied, along with the one's I've only heard of in passing conversation, the Bloodletter wasn't one I thought truly existed. Tales of a bright red dragon with ten eyes that drank blood...? Seemed too much like an old story to scare children but it seems this nesting year at the colony has proven me wrong.

I noticed the new egg amongst a clutch of Monstrous Nightmare eggs, an odd oblong shape with a dark red shell amongst the pale orange-pink eggs certainly stood out. Moving the egg wasn't an option so I left it. Come hatching day I kept a close eye on the nest, only to find an entirely unique dragon to hatch with the Monstrous' brood. At first I figured it was a case of hybridism but that theory was dropped quickly, after all just one hybrid offspring in a nest of six didn't make sense. Not to mention the tiny-tooth's features, ten eyes that all were a dark black, unique extra digits that I assume are opposable to a degree and a notable blade on the end of it's tail.

So I can conclude that the Bloodletter is in fact a living and breathing dragon species, a colony or nest parasite from what I can tell but also it's behavior is still unique. From what I have observed the nestling has been acting like a Monstrous Nightmare, mimicking their vocal calls and behaviors which is fascinating. For now I see no need to try and relocate the dragon, nor do I think it's surrogate mother would allow me and I personally would like to keep my good record with her.

This will at least give me time to study it and hopefully pull together some proper information, since I fear the number of these dragons may only be in single digits... I've also noted while looking through some other old local legends that the Bloodletter shares some shocking resemblance to the few descriptions of the Lycanwing... I can't help but wonder if they're connected somehow, but that's research for another time." - Excerpt from "The Nature of Dragons", an extensive series of books and journals by a man named Salamander.

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Class: Mystery

Size: 6 to 7 feet tall, with a wingspan of 10-11 feet at Broadwing stage - Titanwings are roughly 12 to 14 feet tall with a 20-22 foot wingspan.

Preferred Food: Dragon blood or incredibly fresh meat along with specifically certain organs of most creatures.

Status: Critical - Maybe only a handful of individuals exist on the surface world, that or they are just really good at staying away from people.

The Vampiric Bloodletter is noted for it's vibrant colors and unique features that assist with defending itself and securing it's specialized diet, due to the low amount of sightings and encounters little is truly known about them by humans. They are parasites in truth, spending a lot of time in flocks or colonies with other species so they can feed easily and also mimicking the dragons around them in terms of mannerisms for survival.

Their numerous eyes negates any blindspot they would normally have, along with this a forked tongue and heat sensing pits along their upper lips makes for the perfect tracking equipment. They have opposable digits on all their limbs that are topped with claws that are much like switchblades, used for further opening the bites they leave on other dragons or for defense - same to be said about the blade on their tail.

It's vibrant coloration is a classic animal warning system of "I'm toxic, stay away!". Seeing as they possess a highly potent venom which actually changes throughout their lives.

Tiny-Tooth to Shortwing: They can use this venom as a projectile to blind much like spitting cobras and generally deter threats to them. It's noted that it also stings if it makes contact with human skin. It has mild anticoagulant properties when administered via a bite along with slight numbing, think vampire bats.

Broadwing: The venom glands develop fully, producing a highly anticoagulant hemotoxin that causes numbing and disorientation even causing dragons to become incredibly drowsy. In humans it causes severe hallucinations, supposedly making one think that they're turning into a dragon.

Titanwing: Not much changes aside from more potency and the ability to even render some dragons unconscious for a certain amount of time after being bitten. Though at this stage they can afflict humans with something much worse, it's unknown how exactly it works but if a human is bitten by a Titanwing Bloodletter there is a chance they will be afflicted with the curse that is becoming a Lycanwing - if they survive the initial bite and the first shift that is...

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WOO! Done at last!!

The Vampiric Bloodletter is one of my very few fanmade httyd species and I love how they came out!! Also if you couldn't tell these guys are my explanation for the Lycanwing legend, basically these guys are the ones that turn people to Lycanwings and somewhat go off of the description of the one in the story told by Gobber in RTTE. I have some more notes on them so uh if anyone has questions I will gladly elaborate on my fellas!

Also I will say: Anyone is free to make one of these fellas just please credit me! The lineart of the image is under the cut and can be used as a base.