Drakes were draconic creatures, distant and lesser cousins to true dragons. They were smaller and not as powerful as dragons but were much easier to train, so they were commonly used as mounts.[5]
They were often used as guards by dragons, or they were given to the dragons' humanoid servants.[5][1]
Types of Drakes[]
A trained hunting drake.
The sheer variety of the drakes meant that there were different groups of drakes, including the elemental drakes, the felldrakes, and the greater drakes.
Elemental Drakes[]
Elemental drakes were fierce creatures with elemental heritage. They tended to be around 12 ft (3.7 m) long and closely resembled lithe dragons in form.[6] The black firedrake was a hybrid population descended from both fire drakes and a black dragon.[7]
- Air drake[6]
- Earth drake[6]
- Fire drake[6]
- Ice drake[6]
- Magma drake[6]
- Ooze drake[6]
- Smoke drake[6][8]
- Water drake[6]
Greater Drakes[]
The various kinds of greater drakes were little-known, due to primarily dwelling in secluded wilderness regions far from civilization; additionally, their distinctly draconic form meant that they were often mistaken for young dragons. They were close in size to a large horse and were about as intelligent as one. Greater drakes could be trained as aerial steeds. Most species possessed a breathe weapon that originated from a bladder-like organ in the throat. They hatched from eggs and molted their skin several times as they grew to their full size. Greater drakes had an average lifespan of about fifty years.[8]
Felldrakes[]
Left to right: Crested, horned, and spitting felldrakes.
The felldrakes were created by Bahamut himself and carried his blood in their veins, making them fierce, loyal, and good at heart. They originated when a group of powerful elven wizards helped Bahamut turn back a demonic invasion, and were meant to guard the elves against future invasions.[9]
- Crested felldrake[9]
- Horned felldrake[9][3]
- Spitting felldrake[9]
- Spiked felldrake[6]
Familiar Drakes[]
Not a well-known or well-described grouping, these drakes are more intelligent and, notably, go through distinct age categories through which they increased in physical and magical power. Somehow related to the faerie dragon, it was possible to summon a younger one as a familiar.[10]
- Crystal drake
- Demon drake
- Faerie drake
- Shadow drake
Other Drakes[]
- Ambush drake
- Bloodseeker drake[3]
- Guard drake
- Liondrake, also called a dragonne.
- Mind drake
- Portal drake
- Rage drake
- Sea drake[11]
- Space drake
- Stone drake[12]
- Storm drake
- Temporal drake[13]
- Vulture drake
- Wardrake[14]
- Warwing drake[15]
Appendix[]
See Also[]
- Abyssal drake - a confusingly named fiend that was related to wyverns and dragons.
- Crow's-nest dragon - a dragonet which was sometimes called the spiretop drake.
- Eyedrake - not any kind of true drake at all, but the result of a beholder dreaming of dragons.
- The needlefang drake, fang titan drake, and scytheclaw drake are all misnamed dinosaurs.
Appearances[]
- Adventures
- Hoard of the Dragon Queen • The Rise of Tiamat
- Novels
- Annihilation
- Referenced only
- The Fanged Crown
Further reading[]
- Johnathan M. Richards (June 1999). “Greater Drakes”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #260 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 29–39.
- Andrew Finch, Gwendolyn Kestrel, Chris Perkins (August 2004). Monster Manual III. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 0-7869-3430-1.
- Rob Heinsoo, Stephen Schubert (May 19, 2009). Monster Manual 2 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 88–89. ISBN 0786995101.
- Richard Baker, et al. (November 2009). Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Edited by Logan Bonner, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 194–195. ISBN 978-0-7869-5248-9.
- Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 222–223. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Mike Mearls, et al. (November 2016). Volo's Guide to Monsters. Edited by Jeremy Crawford, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 158. ISBN 978-0786966011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Wolfgang Baur, Steve Winter (August 2014). Hoard of the Dragon Queen. Edited by Miranda Horner. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 88. ISBN 978-0786965649.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Rob Heinsoo, Stephen Schubert (May 19, 2009). Monster Manual 2 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 88–89. ISBN 0786995101.
- ↑ Andrew Finch, Gwendolyn Kestrel, Chris Perkins (August 2004). Monster Manual III. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 8, 130–131. ISBN 0-7869-3430-1.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Richard Baker, et al. (November 2009). Draconomicon: Metallic Dragons. Edited by Logan Bonner, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 194. ISBN 978-0-7869-5248-9.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 6.6 6.7 6.8 6.9 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 152–157. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
- ↑ Philip Athans (October 2005). Whisper of Waves. (Wizards of the Coast), chap. 12. ISBN 0-7869-3237-6.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Johnathan M. Richards (June 1999). “Greater Drakes”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #260 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 30–36.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 Ed Bonny, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Skip Williams, and Steve Winter (September 2002). Monster Manual II 3rd edition. (TSR, Inc), pp. 97–99. ISBN 07-8692-873-5.
- ↑ David E. Cates (June 1989). “Dragons are Wizards' Best Friends”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #146 (TSR, Inc.), pp. 14–21.
- ↑ Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, James Jacobs, Erik Mona, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and James Wyatt (April 2003). Fiend Folio. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 147. ISBN 0-7869-2780-1.
- ↑ David Noonan, Jesse Decker, Michelle Lyons (August 2004). Races of Stone. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 189. ISBN 0-7869-3278-3.
- ↑ Jesse Decker (2022-11-22). Temporal Drake. Monster Mayhem. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2016-11-01. Retrieved on 2022-02-26.
- ↑ Andy Collins and Matthew Sernett (July 2003). “Beasts of the Battlefield”. In Jesse Decker ed. Dragon #309 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), p. 33.
- ↑ Kolja Raven Liquette (April 2009). “Remains of the Empire”. In Chris Youngs ed. Dungeon #165 (Wizards of the Coast) (165)., p. 77.
Connections[]
Chromatic dragons: Black • Blue • Brown • Gray • Green • Orange • Pink • Purple • Red • Salt • White • Yellow
Gem dragons: Amethyst • Beljuril • Crystal • Emerald • Obsidian • Sapphire • Topaz • Ruby
Neutral dragons: Amber • Jacinth • Moonstone • Pearl
Lung dragons: Chiang lung • Li lung • Lung wang • Pan lung • Shen lung • T'ien lung • Tun mi lung • Yu lung
Ferrous dragons: • Cobalt • Iron
Planar dragons: Adamantine • Astral • Battle • Blight • Chaos • Ethereal • Hellfire wyrm • Howling • Mirage • Oceanus • Pyroclastic • Radiant • Rust • Shadow • Styx • Tarterian
Spelljamming dragons: Moon/lunar • Radiant • Sun/solar
Epic dragons: Force • Prismatic • Time
Catastrophic dragons: Blizzard • Earthquake • Volcanic
Miscellaneous dragons: Cobra • Dzalmus • Mist • Rattelyr • Song • Vishap
Linnorms: Corpse tearer • Dread • Stygian
Drakes: Ambush • Black firedrake • Dragonne • Elemental (Earth • Fire • Ice • Magma • Ooze • Smoke • Water) • Felldrake (Crested • Spitting) • Greater • Guard • Mind • Portal • Rage • Space • Storm • Vulture
Dragonbloods: Draconic creature • Dragonborn of Bahamut • Dragonspawn
Drow-dragon (shadow) • Drow-dragon (deep) • Half-dragon • Kobold (Dragonwrought • Urd) • Weredragon • Zar'ithra • Zekyl
Hybrid monsters: Dracimera • Dracolisk • Mantidrake • Wyvern drake