General information:
Habitat, diet etc.:
Jeweled dragons live in volcanic, mineral rich regions. The most sought-after territories among them those with a large amount of hot springs with a high concentration of hexachromatite and calidaqualite (hexachromatite and calidaqualite being the minerals that form the crystals on the dragons) as well as having a lot of vegetation and prey animals. They can however survive in other regions, they just will not have crystals to grow on them. Jeweled dragons hunt various herbivores, ranging in size from small deer or antelopes to larger animals such as bison.
Life cycle:
Jeweled dragons usually have one, and on rare occasions two babies at a time. They hatch as small round fluffy babies about the size of a cat and for the first year or so one parent will always stay at the nest to keep them safe and warm, during this time they are fed pe-chewed bites of food and later, when their first teeth grow in, at about 6-8 months, small bite sized pieces of meat. Parents take turns hunting and watching the baby/ babies. After about a year baby jeweleds start exploring the nest and the immediate vicinity with a parent keeping an eye on them. By the age of 5 they have lost most of their big fluffy feather and will start growing crystals, by this time their wings have developed to the point that they can begin to learn to fly. Around this time the parents teach them to hunt, find good territories, and other important life skills. By the age of about 10, Jeweled dragons are essentially fully grown and will usually leave the nest to start their own life, most return home to visit occasionally.
After leaving their parents, female will generally go out adventuring for a few years, while males will look for a good territory to make their own, build a nest, grow big and grow large impressive crystals to impress a mate and start a family of their own. Some individuals decide to go about their lives a different way, for example staying with their elderly parents, moving in with an older sibling, or deciding not to settle down at all but rather explore the world. If a male does settle down, he will be extremely territorial towards other males but quite friendly when it comes to other species. After a few years of exploring around the age of 15, females set out to look for mate. Females tend to be quite picky when it comes to finding a mate about their age, generally they favor males with fancy crystals and big territories, however they also tend to have personal tastes, for example favoring specific colors of crystals or just particular personality traits. Males aren’t quite as picky though they don’t settle down with a female they don’t get along with.
Should two Jeweled dragons settle down together they generally say together for the rest of their life sometimes staying in the same territory sometimes moving. After a few years, they usually raise their first baby, the average pair of Jeweled dragons raise 3 young during their life. A jeweled dragon lives for about 90 years.
hexachromatite and calidaqualite:
These two minerals are commonly found in areas with high volcanic activity, especially in and around hot springs. Both minerals dissolve in the hot water from the springs and form crystals on specific surfaces when the water begins to cool. Hexachromatite forms hexagonal clear crystals under normal condition, but when mixed with other minerals, they can form in a wide variety of bright colors. Calidaqualite requires significantly hotter springs in order to form crystals, the crystals are beige and translucent on their own (not quite transparent) but tend to form in shades of blue, green and purple when mixed with other minerals. Calidaqualite crystals aren’t quite as good looking as hexachromatite, however they grow significantly faster and are less fragile. Jeweled dragons spend a lot of time in slightly cooled streams flowing from rich hot springs, or lying very close to them in the steam, allowing the dissolved minerals in the water/vapor to stick to their small feathers and grow into large crystals.