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SMAUGUST DAY 17 - REST DAY

You get nothing. You lose.

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SMAUGUST DAY 15 - PROGENITOR

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

Explanation of why this isn't just a regular gliding lizard below cut

The Black-Eyed Flying Dragon (Draco euvolans) was the first dragon species to arrive on Dragamida and the ancestor of all extant Dragamidan dragons. Believed to have first settled on the island around 1.5 million years ago, the species saw quick success due to a lack of competition and underwent impossibly rapid adaptive radiation, giving way to dozens of new clades. This success did not last for long, though, as the competition posed by these offshoot species was too much to keep up with, quickly leading to their extirpation. Although small populations of this species still exist on some small islands near Dragamida, none remain on Dragamida itself.

This species is notably more similar in appearance to other members of the Draco genus than any other dragon discussed thus far, but there are two major differences which set them apart. First, their wings. As previously mentioned, their patagia have been adapted into fully functional wings, which allows them to fly upward rather than being relegated to just falling in style. Not only did this allow them to beat out related species when competing for food, but it's also what allowed them to reach Dragamida in the first place. Second, fire breath. Some of their salivary glands were adapted to produce and shoot out chemicals which combust upon contact with the air, allowing them to create small bursts of fire to snipe insects out of the air mid-flight. This adaptation, though less foundational in their ability to establish the Aladraconinae subfamily, still plays a major role in the lives of dragons on Dragamida, especially those with a similar insectivorous lifestyle to their founding species. Even those who don't have found other uses for them, primarily as either display structures or defense against predators. The Black-Eyed Flying Dragon may have vanished from Dragamida over a million years ago, but this species' influence will still always be felt by its current inhabitants.

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SMAUGUST DAY 14 - PREY

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

All-natural flavor text below cut

With how slow and feeble it looks, you'd assume that the Chocolate Sloggoth (Brachiptera taediosum) would have some sort of secret magical way of defending itself, but, for once, this species' appearance isn't deceiving at all. This creature, which spends most of its life climbing trees looking for fruit, moves incredibly slowly and cautiously, as if even the smallest misstep could cost it its life. It's not like this fear is unfounded, though. Due to its large size and lack of true wings, having instead adapted them into additional climbing appendages, it has no way of landing safely if it ever were to lose its footing, making clinging on at all costs its highest priority. Additionally, Sloggoths are the preferred prey of many other dragon species, not helped by the fact that their high-sugar diets apparently make their meat taste delicious. These claims have not been verified, however.

This is not to say that this species is without its strengths, as clearly demonstrated by the fact that it has remained so widespread for so long. Though they are no longer useful for flight, its wing-arms, with the help of some new joints in the middle of the wings' "fingers", can help grab fruit out of trees from far away, making it an incredibly efficient forager. That, combined with how slowly they move, means they are never at risk of starvation, and can reproduce safely without any worry over energy cost. In spite of all the threats it faces, this species is in no danger of becoming endangered any time soon. Still, the lack of magical alterations is odd. Surely a species like this could use the boosts more than any of the others, right? Maybe not. Who knows. Maybe it's just too lazy to use them.

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SMAUGUST DAY 13 - ONE MATERIAL

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

Talky bits below cut

Recently, I've gotten into the habit of making origami dragons (Repenscharta plicata) out of old research documents. Now that we know that Dragamida's ecosystems are being influenced by magic, all of the papers we wrote pre-discovery are completely useless, at least as far as actual publishing goes, since we know that everything in them is wrong, and this seemed like a better use for them than just shredding them. I have about two-ish dozen of these things lying around my desk right now. I'm a lot better at making them than I was when I first started, but most of them still come out a bit mangled. This is the best one I've been able to make so far. I know that it's not technically true origami due to the wings just being taped on, but all of the real dragon tutorials were way too complicated, and it made a lot more sense just to slap wings onto a normal lizard. I'll probably keep practicing though. Even if all the failures are frustrating, it gives me something to do between expeditions. Plus, these heaps of debunked papers aren't going to clear themselves out.

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YET ANOTHER LATE SMAUGUST POST - TWINS

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

Explanation of what these silly little dudes are doing below cut

The Spotted Leozard (Felacerta rosetta) (left) is one of the most fearsome predators on the isle of Dragamida. Armed with some of the strongest bites, the most powerful minds, and the highest stamina levels of all dragons, it is able to effortlessly pursue and maul prey with a shockingly high success rate. They are also notable for their complex social structures, forming prides around the rocky seaside cliffs that surround the island, sharing their hunts with their families, coordinating attack plans with other members of their group, and communicating with each other over long distances using what sounds like purring but is actually small combustions produced by their fire glands. Meanwhile, the Speckled Draguar (Oncacerta maculosa) (right) is... also all of that? Somehow, what is essentially the same exact species seems to have evolved into existence twice from entirely different lineages, both competing for a hold on the same niche. The two species usually stay separate from each other, with Leozards inhabiting the island's western shores and Draguars being relegated to the east, but in the rare cases where they do meet, it inevitably results in inter-pride wars breaking out. Some areas of territory near the far northern and southern shores have been passed back and forth between the two species over the generations, sometimes going much further eastward or westward as one species threatens to totally overtake the other, but always getting pushed back at the last moment. It it not believed that this cycle will end any time soon. Like many aspects of Dragamidan ecology, this is not something which should ordinarily be possible, at least not for as extended a period of time as these species have existed for, but, because it's Dragamida, we know what the explanation is. Time to get the scanners.

Scanning these creatures for signs of magical alteration has revealed something interesting: Although the Leozard has nearly no residual magic anywhere in its body or genome, the Draguar is absolutely brimming with it. Nearly its entire body gives off strong magical signatures when scanned, save for its wings, which are the only parts of its body that are meaningfully different in structure from its rival species. Based on this discrepancy, we can conclude that the Spotted Leozard evolved mostly naturally, while the Speckled Draguar was somehow magically altered into a copy of the former, likely starting as a much smaller, weaker species. Like always, though, we're still not totally clear yet on what's going on with this whole magic thing, or how it was able to reshape the species in this way. We'll have to examine many more species than this to even begin formulating hypotheses.

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Sorry for falling so far behind on the Smaugust stuff, I've just been running a bit low on motivation. I'll try to get everything done, even if it ends up extending into September a bit.

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SMAUGUST DAY 11 BUT ON DAY 13 - YOKAI

Based on @otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt list

Biology stuff that kind of makes sense if you squint below cut

The Umbershoot (Salasa obake) has a notably different body plan from most Dragamidan dragon species, standing on only its back legs and rarely, if ever, using its front limbs for anything other than grooming. As strange as this body plan may be, there is a reason behind it. This species has convergently developed a similar hunting style to that of the Black Heron, wading around in shallow areas of water and using its wings to cast a shadow which lures in fish, then feeding on whatever gets within biting range. Its bipedal gait and extended legs make walking through the water without disturbing fish much easier. While in canopy formation, it stays so perfectly still that you could almost mistake it for an old umbrella someone left floating in the water, though the distinctive eye-like spots on its wings do give the disguise away a little.

A few days ago, this is where my analysis would end. However, now that we know there’s something magical going on on this island, we took it upon ourselves to investigate whether magic had any part in making this dragon look and act so differently from its relatives. After setting up some of those magic scanner things around a lake where a population of Umbershoots was present, we were able to detect some signals which indicated there was some sort of magical energy stored in their bodies. If I'm understanding the readings correctly, which I apparently am according to the people who made these things, whatever the magical energy is seems to be concentrated around their legs and snout, and given that these are the parts of their bodies that most set them apart from other dragons, this would make sense. Dragons have been present on this island for far too little time for something like this to evolve naturally.

Despite these findings, we still have a lot of unanswered questions about this species. What did this species look like before being magically altered? Did they use a similar hunting strategy to this, or is this canopy feeding something entirely new? How long ago did the alterations happen? How did the magic know to target these traits? How long has this magic even existed for? Although we've been able to figure out a lot so far, I can't help but feel like we've barely even begun to take in what's really going on here. These coming days are going to get very difficult.

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SMAUGUST DAYS 9 & 10 - ANOMALY/MANMADE

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

Actual real flavor text this time below cut

Now that any semblance of normalcy has been thoroughly obliterated, we've taken it upon ourselves to try and figure out what sort of magical interference has been making Dragamida's biosphere act so strangely. The first step we’ve taken has been setting up these sensors around the island. We're not totally sure how they work, but according to the people who built them, they should be able to detect some kind of magic signal? Not sure how they managed to make these when we only just discovered magic is real, though. Unless it’s been known about for a while, but in that case, how did we not know about it? Surely we’d have heard something about it already. It’s best not to think about it too much. I don’t know what to think about anything anymore.

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SMAUGUST DAY 8 BUT ON DAY 9 - TOO MANY (EYES)

Based on @otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt list

So, uh, full disclosure, I was going to actually render this one digitally, but the idea I was going for ended up being way above my skill level, so all you’re getting for now is another low effort pencil sketch. Basically it has a lot of eyes. And eyespots. But more importantly eyes. The flavor text would have been something about the researcher guy who’s been narrating all of these being pushed over the edge by the discovery of this species into trying to find out what magical force is altering the dragons’ evolution, which would lead into the next post, which is a joint anomaly/manmade dragon so I can do two prompts at once to catch up. Maybe I’ll finish it later on, but I just don’t have the energy right now.

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SMAUGUST DAY 7 BUT ON DAY 8 - BONELESS

Based on @otiksimr's Smaugust prompt list

Semicoherent word salad below cut

Look. Up until now, we've had something at least vaguely resembling an explanation for all of the bizarre anatomical and biomechanical oddities that Dragamidan dragons have had. We've been able to maintain some kind of veneer of certainty that the ecosystems on this island make sense and that the evolution they've undergone to reach their current forms has been just regular natural selection like you'd encounter anywhere else in the world. We've been able to take in all of the information, study it, and say to ourselves and everyone else that we understand what's going on. Despite everything, we've been able to make sense of it all.

I'm just going to be honest: I don't know what this thing's deal is.

This thing, which we haven't even been able to name yet because no one can come up with anything that fits, is single-handedly the most confusing thing we've discovered on this island to date. We have no idea what it is, where it came from, or why it exists. Absolutely none of the data we've gathered on it makes sense. First of all, their behaviors. Rather than doing literally any of the things that an animal should do, all these things do is fly around in circles about a mile above the island. We've never seen one be born, we've never seen one die, we've never even seen one do so much as, like, land! Or eat! Or sleep, or anything! We don't know where they get their energy from, or what they get out of flying in this spot all the time, or why every other species of dragon just seems to treat these things like they don't exist.

We don't know how it evolved, either! We've done the tests, and no matter how many hypotheses we go through, it always seems like it has no genetic ties to any one dragon lineage! As far as we can tell, it has no evolutionary history whatsoever. Is it a hybrid of multiple species? Is it some kind of spirit? Is it just a collective hallucination? Did it just pop into existence one day? Is this thing even actually a dragon? Not only that, but its anatomy makes absolutely no sense for the niche (if you can call it that) it occupies. They don't have mouths, their legs are just useless nubs, their tails are unreasonably long compared to everything else, its wings and tailfins are way too small for it to be able to fly like it does, and IT DOESN'T EVEN HAVE BONES!? WHY DOES IT NOT HAVE BONES? HOW DOES IT FLY? HOW DO ITS WINGS STILL WORK? HOW DOES ANY PART OF ITS BODY STILL WORK? WHY? WHY!?

The mere fact that this thing exists has completely destroyed all of the structure that our research of Dragamida has had and any semblance that regular science is going to be of use here. The best explanation we have is that it was created by some unknowable magical force either as a personal insult towards us or as a desperate bid to meet some kind of deadline, because there's no other excuses for how a creature that sucks this much could possibly exist. Absolutely pathetic excuse for an animal. Zero stars.

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SMAUGUST DAY 6 BUT ON DAY 8 - FOSSIL

Based on @otiksimr‘s Smaugust prompt list

Science-flavored blabbering below cut

Above are a collection of diagrams showing the evolution of the wings posessed by modern winged dragons (Family Agamidae, Subfamily Aladraconinae). Spurred by the discovery of the unique lifeforms native to the isle of Dragamida, researchers have been able to construct what we believe is a full timeline of how these structures went from just skin stretched over extended ribs to true, fully motile wings, as well as what pressures may have caused them to develop in the way they did.

Fig. A shows the rib structure of a gliding lizard from the genus Draco, a clade which true dragons have been found to be an offshoot. Their patagia, formed from extended ribs, allow them to glide long distances between trees, but do not have the ability to provide real more lift than what they can accomplish by briefly swooping upward while gliding.

Fig. B was reconstructed from a fossil dated to around 7.5-7 million years ago, retrieved by researchers from Indonesia. While overall still very similar to regular gliding lizards, it does feature some early changes that would eventually lead to powered flight. Most notable is the fact that the vertebrae at the base of the patagial ribs have become compressed together, which would have made the dragon able to more precisely adjust its movement while gliding. The ribs themselves have also become more extended at the front, letting it generate more lift in cases where it needed to glide upward before landing. Despite the fact that this would give this species an advantage over other species of gliding lizard, the basal patagium type remained and continues to remain more common in most parts of Asia, as this more refined structure remained contained to only a small handful of islands.

Fig. C depicts another fossil, this one dated to around 5 million years ago, which builds on the changes shown in Fig. B. The bases of the patagial ribs have shifted even closer, to the point where the adjacent vertebrae have fused together. A similar change has happened with the bases of the ribs, as well, which, though not yet fused, are directly touching each other, essentially acting as a single bone. By contrast, a small fissure has formed near the base of the ribs, serving as an additional joint which would give the dragon a wider range of motion in its patagia. This extra joint, alongside the development of new muscles around what would soon become a wing, was one of the defining steps in this clade's path toward flight.

Fig. D is the first example of a dragon having true wings capable of powered flight. This wing structure, which can still be found in a few older dragon species, displays further developments at the base of the wing. The split-off roots of the patagial ribs have fused and thinned into a single limb, at the end of which rest the ribs that the wing membrane is stretched across. With more control over their movement while gliding than ever, this group of dragons soon found themselves capable of flapping their wings to gain height midair, an ability that would become more and more refined over the subsequent generations.

Fig. E represents the most common wing structure found on Dragamida today. A more sophisticated shoulder girdle, a longer bone in the middle of the wing, additional joints around the four frontmost patagial ribs, and the hollowing out of the bones' interiors give this group much better flight capabilities than any that has existed prior. This additional refinement is believed to have helped Dragamidan dragons navigate the island's many high cliffs more easily than the previous simpler design would allow. Despite its success on this island, we have as of now not found any instances of this wing type occurring anywhere else in the world, being solely endemic to Dragamida.

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SMAUGUST DAY 5 BUT ON DAY 6 - ENDLING

Based on @otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt list

Hastily-typed worldbuildy stuff below cut

One of the final extant surface-dwelling representatives of the once far more diverse Scamp clade, the Brilliant Blackfooted Scamp (Caligopoda iridia) came into being partway through the Scamps' collective shift to subterranean life, which can be seen in a handful of partially-developed cavedwelling adaptations inherited from its predecessors, such as a heightened sense of touch and reduced wing strength. In their brief time on Dragamida, the species struggled to establish itself in any particular niche, not yet having any specialized traits that would allow it to excel in its environment. If circumstances had been different, and if they had a bit more time, maybe this could have changed. Perhaps they could have gone on to become a keystone species in some small sub-environment, like a powerful, ground-bound pursuit hunter, or a burrowing ambush predator, or something else that made use of the traits they had. However, the evolutionary scene moves quickly on this island, and before they had time to adapt, other species evolved to fill all of the available niches. Forever stuck in an awkward in-between point, with no place left for them above or below the surface, they, and the rest of the terrestrial Scamps, saw their numbers gradually dwindle.

Today, there is only one Brilliant Blackfooted Scamp left. He spends his days aimlessly wandering the island, scavenging for food among whatever's left of other, more successful species' hunts and carving out temporary sleeping spots in what few predator-proof nooks remain. Life isn't easy for him, but he persists in spite of it all. When not fending off his basic survival needs, the last Brilliant Blackfoot can usually be seen staring off into the sky, especially during sunset. What exactly he finds so captivating about the sight isn't clear. Maybe he just thinks the lights are pretty. Maybe he finds it comforting how consistent it is in a life where everything is shifting constantly. Maybe the colors of the sunset remind him of the scales of his own long-gone kind. Maybe, when he sees it, it fills him with a desire to keep his species' legacy alive. Maybe it makes him hope that, maybe, in some way, somewhere else, some part of his kind will continue to live on. But there's no way to know for sure. It's not like we can ask him. He's literally just a lizard.

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Not going to be able to finish the Smaugust drawing for today, but it and the next one will probably definitely be posted tomorrow.

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SMAUGUST DAY 4 - EXTREMOPHILE

Based on Otiksimr’s Smaugust 2025 prompt list

Sciency words below cut

Although raising your young in a pit of acid is, understandably, not a strategy that most animals would employ, the Strawberry Lemonhead (Cerasquama dolornidum) seems to have landed on it anyway. This species makes its nests by digging a shallow pit into the ground, laying their eggs, and filling in the rest with acid produced by what were once fire glands. Rocks may also be added as decorations. This setup means that any predators who try to snatch up their eggs or hatchlings are far more likely to be burned than to successfully hunt anything, assuming the parents' acid sprays don't ward them off first. As for how the young aren't at risk of dissolving, both the eggs and hatchlings are created with a waxy coating which grants them an extremely high acid resistance, allowing the babies to swim around in the pool as if it were water, more or less completely safe from anything that might try to harm them. This coating does become thinner with each molt, though, so adults do have to be careful around their own nests as to not hurt themselves. Again, why this, of all things, is the method of protecting their babies that the species settled on is unclear, but it works, so their strategy probably isn't going to change any time soon.

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SMAUGUST DAY 3 - TEETH

Based on Otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt lineup

In and around the forests of Dragamida, the Lanceleaper (Cutlerdontus audax) can be seen engaging in combat with members of its own species, both to impress mates and as a way of bonding with others. These fights employ a wide variety of attack types, mostly revolving around their tusks, with each Lanceleaper slowly developing its own preferred fighting style over the course of its life. One universal, however, seems to be the use of a jumping joust attack performed with the assistance of its wings. These short jumps are really all their wings are useful for, as they are otherwise too small to get the dragon’s fat little body off the ground.

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SMAUGUST DAY 2 - LEGLESS

Based on Otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt lineup

Overly wordy bio below cut

The Aquamarine Lizeal (Lacertaphoca aquamarina) can be found all around the rocky coasts of the isle of Dragamida. In pursuit of being able to better chase after aquatic prey, it has readapted its body for a swimming-centric lifestyle, seeing its wings and tail rudders become fins and a full tail fluke respectively. As these alone were enough to allow it to fit this new niche, its legs, now only an obstacle to its movement, shrank away into barely-noticeable bumps on the underside of its body. Its nostrils and throat have also developed muscles that allow them to fully shut while underwater, which allow the Lizeal to avoid ingesting seawater while hunting no matter long it stays underwater for. However, it has not yet developed the increased lung capacity common among other aquatic land animals, meaning these swims are often short-lived anyway, with it frequently needing to surface for air. These surfacing periods where it reopens these orifices often result in the accidental gulp or two of seawater, which is immediately met with coughing and gagging as the dragon tries to undo its mistake. It hasn't yet developed those fancy salt removal glands that seals have, either. Probably also important to mention.

The process of the Lizeal genus adapting to its new aquatic lifestyle was remarkably quick, much moreso than other terrestrial animals which have made similar transitions, which is believed to have played a part in some of the evolutionary blindspots that it has been left with. It's far from the strangest evolutionary anomaly that has happened on this island, however. If anything, it's one of the most normal ones.

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SMAUGUST DAY 1 - WINGLESS

Based on Otiksimr’s Smaugust prompt lineup

Spec bio-type stuff under the cut

The Rainbow-Tongued Scamp (Alapoda hormona) resides exclusively within the many damp cave systems of its home island. It is well-adapted for life underground, forgoing many of the adaptations that its surface-dwelling ancestors used for survival, most notably sight and flight. What were once wings have been modified into a third pair of legs, which allow it to keep a better foothold when climbing around the many sheer drops and slick surfaces that comprise its habitat. Additionally, its eyes, having no light to pick up on, are permanently stuck shut, with the dragon instead relying on its senses of touch and, more importantly, taste to tell where it's going. By coating its surroundings in pheromones produced from modified orbital glands, it can create a series of trails for it and its fellow Scamps to follow, using their eponymous hyper-sensitive tongues to pick up info on where they're headed. These trails also serve as lures for ants, the Scamp's main food source, who will single-mindedly follow the pheromone trail into the dragon's den and be immediately devoured.

Why exactly the Rainbow-Tongued Scamp's tongue is so colorful despite living in an environment with no light remains unknown. Theories range from them helping to differentiate the tastes of pheromones, to being a side effect of a subdermal parasitic infection, to simply being a freak coincidental mutation that just hasn't faced any pressure to go away yet. The leading theory is that the Scamp's tongue evolved their signature bands, quote, "because it looks cool." Again, why the way something looks would matter in a pitch black cave remains a mystery.