Blanket Dragons

Summary: A rather unique species that are almost like those from the imaginations of children. Appearances of them in public areas are almost nonexistent, instead only known via those who have witnessed them in their own homes.

Body Structure & Forms: The species all share at least two body structure types, with one different form for each; Quadrupedal, and Bipedal, with the alternate form being them looking like normal blankets.

Quadrupeds – often referred to as 'feral' – are ones that stand on all four legs. Their sizes are often determined by the length from the tips of their snouts to the tail tips, though at times its from the tops of their heads down to their feet.

Anthro ones are ones that have a more humanoid build to them. They stand largely on their hind legs, though their forelegs double as arms and have one less major joint in them compared to the legs(Hind have four(waist, knee, secondary leg bend, ankle), while fore/arms have three(shoulder, elbow, wrist)). Height for anthro are always calculated from top of the head to feet, while head to tail measurements are less often used, they usually result in the same length as the standing height.

Their blanket forms is what they use to blend in among human homes with ease, always appearing like the average bed covering. They are still capable of movement in this form, though it's at a much smaller amount compared to the active form. Blanket dragons are able to shift between these two forms with ease, the average time it takes to fully transfer from one form to the next being roughly two minutes. This shows that the dragon forms are of a much larger size than the blanket – or dormant – forms, the average seven-foot covering could result in a blanket dragon totaling up towards thirty-five feet in length/height(feral/anthro).

Overall Sizes, Weight and Builds: How large a blanket dragon can be can vary quite greatly, all due to the size of the blanket they are from. Members of the species in their dormant forms are known to come from miniature coverings in doll houses all the way up to king-sized bed coverings. This range would result in members of the species being roughly the size of large dolls up towards a large house. Even larger members of the species past the largest known range though have no record of showing up throughout the existence of the species.

The weight of each member also varies. Dormant forms are very light, able to be carried around with ease, though ones that are comforters are a little more difficult. Active forms are significantly heavier, with one feral, reaching thirty-five and a half feet from snout to tail, weighing at – according to one person that has one – 'like several memory foam mattresses stacked on top of each other'. Anthro ones are moderately heavier given the extra mass but still pose no danger of death by accidental crush.

The weight can also be varied depending on the 'build' of the blanket dragon when in their active forms. Some could be slim while others would look moderately bulky, some anthros with a muscular build while others with a sleek frame. Much like how they can shift between their active and dormant forms, they can also alter their body build to suit their needs. This however does not mean that ferals can make themselves anthro and vice versa.

Skin Appearance: The 'skin' of the species can vary greatly from each member. What determines it though is what kind and color of the material was used in their creation. One could have black and white checkered patterns while another could be a variety of colors, one with stripes or another being a wholly solid color.

The underbelly/front torso of them can also vary from materials, though it's just not said area that could be of said color/patterning. If a dormant form blanket dragon is laid out flat, underside of it laying down and if said dragon's a feral one, then when it shifts, the four corners would be its legs, while the center of either end of the blanket would be the head/neck and tail.

Cultural Appearance: Whether they're from the USA or Brazil, from Russia or Japan, from France or Iraq, the appearance of some blanket dragons can reflect the culture they are from, mainly those who often travel to show which country they originate from. This shows that they're just as if not more than diverse in culture than human society. Thankfully, they don't clash at all due to this, allowing those from various cultures to mingle with each other without problems among each other.

Additional Appendages: By default, most members of the blanket dragons would be lacking some of the more iconic features of dragons, most noticeably the wings on their backs and horns on the head. However, should one be in great condition or be made of a more elastic material(see 'Deterioration and Injuries'), they can opt to have said limbs to grant them flight.

Communication: Members of the species communicate mainly via telepathy, which is usually audible only between those who are involved in the conversation. They can be able to make the voice be audible to all who are within range. Those speaking vocally and not through telepathy are a bit uncommon among the species, with those who can communicate via both methods a rare kind.

What language they speak is determined mainly on their culture(see 'Cultural Appearance'), though they can usually 'detect' the main spoken language someone else speaks and alter their own accordingly. While this can allow for near-flawless interaction between those who speak of a different language, the transfer does take a couple of minutes to carry through, which will leave the blanket dragon mute for the time being. The full time it would take to switch would affect if they're trying to switch to an entirely new language, though over time and repetition, the time it would take to switch languages would decrease. Those that travel the world are undoubtedly the ones that can be able to switch languages with almost no delay between them.

Diet: One would assume that blanket dragons would need cloth-based items and products to stay fed. This isn't the case since their diet consists mainly of energy. More specifically is the energy of dreams from living creatures, mainly humans. This is accomplished simply by the human covering up with a dormant blanket dragon or sleeping within an active one, the entire process of them feeding from the dreams is unknown. For active dragons, they could instead opt to feed on the humans themselves, though they are not entirely capable of killing said human(see 'Traits'). When they do feed off of dream energy, they do no harm to the human they're feeding from nor disrupt their sleep. No negative effects were shown even after a human wakes up from their slumber after being a source of food for a blanket dragon, instead saying that they had a much better sleep than normal.

Deterioration and Injuries: Like all items, blanket dragons would go through deterioration, their skin becoming dull in color with holes or tears appearing when in worse conditions. Their skin isn't much tougher than a thick bed comforter, so they take care when going through forested areas or places with a lot of objects jutting out. Even though they can recover from most artificially inflicted injuries, ones made from over time are not able to be healed(see 'Traits'). Fire is also a deathly risk to them, always avoiding any flames even if they're contained. They also tend to stay inside or in shaded areas during most summer days or when the sun is especially intense.

The severing of a limb is dangerous but not lethal nor irreversible for a blanket dragon. Should it happen, the dragon would seek out assistance in trying to get the limb sewn back on, be it an anthro member of its kind or human, the latter a little more hesitant due to their nature(see 'Behavior). When the stitching is done, their regeneration would seal the torn portions together, making it look like nothing had happened(see 'Traits').

Of them being able to inflict injuries though, their bodies are fully incapable of doing so other than using the environment to do so. Swipes from them would only result in their claws brushing up against the target without harm, bites would feel like 'pillows clamping onto the skin', as described from one individual.

Aging and Death: Blanket dragons are possibly immortal, since none recorded have perished by natural means. How long one has lived for though is usually determined by how many living beings/humans they have eaten to sustain themselves(see 'Deterioration Healing'). This doesn't necessarily determine how 'old' a member is, rather some could be identified by how far back their skin dates.

It's shown to be difficult for one to actually perish. To prevent themselves from dying, they would go so far as to tear a portion of their plush skin off and discard it to where they feel is safe should they be in a scenario they can't escape from. So long as a scrap of their skin is left intact, they're known to reform from it should their main bodies be destroyed but at a smaller size, depending on what size said scrap is. It's then that they would have to regrow themselves via patches over the next few years, relying on others for them to do so. The only way that is known for them to perish is if all parts of them are incinerated by fire, hence their universal fear of fire(see 'Deterioration and Injuries')and their desperate act to put even a sliver of their skin to safety.

Behavior: Most, if not all, members are shown to be overly kind towards other creatures save for those that are unreasonable. Aggression from them is a rare, almost nonexistent sight, instances of it happening only when those they're closely attached to being gravely threatened. Most of the time though, they stay in their dormant forms, usually waiting for an opportune moment to become active. When active, they tend to shy away from any places that are public due to their uncertainty of human reaction to their kind, though this can be averted if the population is aware of them and openly accepts them. The best moment for them to do so though is when their 'owners' – people that they have been given to, especially when young – are being tormented by nightmares in their sleep.

When this happens, they would try and consume the troubled person, with great care to not wake them up, letting them rest inside the dragon's plush form for the night before letting them out when it's close to time for a member of the house to awaken. For those who are too small to do said action though instead lay beside the sleeping person, working almost like a dream catcher.

Another thing is that if they go for too long without feeding, they would revert to their dormant forms and remain as such for however long it'd take before they're in contact with a human being. This also slows down their deterioration rate as well, to the point to where they could stay isolated for years before showing any signs of deterioration.

Traits: There are several abilities known about the species, most noticeably is their ability to shift from their 'dormant' blanket forms to their 'active' draconic forms. The time it takes for this process to fully complete averages around two minutes, though they can make it to where it takes however long they can.

Another known ability is their regeneration. If they sustain any injuries from artificial sources, like cuts and tears from sharp objects, they are capable of healing them over a short period of time. Ones from deterioration though are not able to be healed through their regeneration. Since smaller members of the species can't ingest a human, they would often seek help from others to help patch their bodies back up. The patches is a double benefit, since not only would the blanket dragon's body consider it an artificial wound and integrate it to their skin, it would also aid in their growth, which in turn would let them regenerate from deterioration much like their larger kin.

Deterioration Healing: Healing from deterioration(damage over time) wounds would require them to eat a human, preferably ones that they're attached to. Larger members would have little to no trouble doing so, though those that are closer to that of the human's size would have a little trouble. The closer they are to the size of the human, the longer they would take in the ingestion, while those who are too small won't be able to do so. Once the human is fully inside, warmth would be the first thing to greet them, which is what would help lull the human to sleep. When the human is asleep, a gaseous substance would flow in shortly after, breaking down the human's body with no pain delivered at all.

The human isn't fully gone at this point, instead in a limbo-like state, the dragon able to regenerate them when they too go to sleep. They would usually lay on their backs during this, the human reforming on their bellies. It would take a couple of hours though, so they would do this preferably close to midnight or at a time where there's the least amount of activity going on.

Hunting: If no humans are close by or if they have been left out into the wilds yet don't want to risk going into dormant hibernation, then a blanket dragon would have to resort to hunting any of the local creatures to keep the deterioration at bay. If their skin has been deteriorating for a couple years, those who are hunting would usually stick with prey they can easily swallow down to minimize damage from struggling. Much like humans, they never kill those they hunt, instead having them go through the same process much like humans would, being reformed at the end and asleep. Doing this to counter the deterioration process though has a much lower efficiency than with a human, the average fully-grown blanket dragon having to hunt up towards ten or so deer over the course of a month to equal that of a full healing from eating a human.

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Edit 3/20/2015: Considering this a pseudo-final version of this, I will allow others to make their own blanket dragon characters if they so wish. Bit of an FAQ below;

Question: Could I be able to make them a bit larger than what's listed?
Answer: Yes, but do take into account of the sizes of both forms. If you have a dragon that's the size of a skyscraper, then you'd have its blanket form being able to cover close to a football field or more in space. Fun as it may sound to have a castle-sized dormant blanket dragon and as much of a nut I am for giants, I'd like to have them within a somewhat realistic size range.

Q: Why isn't there a 'Reproduction' segment?
A: Despite the effort I put into this to making it more detailed than a single segment from the Corrupted Bestiary I got, it's something that I kinda feel highly uncomfortable of writing, let alone a subject that I'm really iffy about touching. Blame the side that wants to try and keep things viewer/reader friendly. What I got planned out for it isn't all that bad, but trying to write it is making me uncomfortable, so I will only do so once I'm confident enough.

Q: Can I make more than one? Five even?
A: As many as ya damn well please. ¦3 They can even be of whatever pattern and coloring you want.

Q: Will there be a general reference for this species?
A: Hopefully shortly after April starts, so that way I can be able to freely browse the internet again without incurring extra strains to finances here. *glares at siblings for the current situation*

Q: Can I use them for sexua--
A: *slaps and speaks in a flat-out stone-bored tone* No.
More detailed Answer: Even though that R34 is one of the biggest/most infamous Rules of the Internet, I'd prefer people to not try and sexualize this species. It'd be inevitable for those who are denizens of the Deep Net, but the closest I'd get to 'sexualizing' them is slapping bewbs onto the anthro female members of the species but toon nude. Otherwise, somewhat anatomatically correct when it comes to the BD(blanket dragon)'s anthro forms, meaning that they'd normally have no bewbz shown for the females, and only smoothed out underbelly/groin areas for either gender.

Q: Can I make art/write stories with this species?
A: Go right ahead. Just be sure to credit me for the species, since even though I've made them within a weeks time, I do kinda get irked when someone tries to claim my work as their own. Not saying that I'd be peeved if you don't credit me at first, but so long as you don't try to take credit of the species for yourself, I won't mind it much.