I've really enjoyed seeing your reworking of the laughing dragons' design, Dime! I think the arm and finger plates work very well, and thank you for answering about their ear and hair change. I will admit though, I did like their wings; I think you did, too. :p A couple more questions for you: What is the reason for the false face/teeth on their tails? And, are Wylye and Greta a romantic couple?
Laughing Dragons are creatures of smoke and mirrors, their survival strategy is discombobulation, and the false face on the tail is part of that. There’s a whole act to go with it to help make the false head more confusing, including walking backwards, angling their tails around like a head, etc.,
And yes, they are.
A few questions on laughing dragons: Are the fake teeth and the bone plating on their arms actually bone or is it more like fingernails or the enamel on actual teeth? Is there a particular reason for the arm plating, such as for digging or going after their favorite food?
Their fake teeth plates are like hair or fingernails, with similarities to enamel, having some tough mineral properties like teeth.
Laughing Dragons are big time diggers, yes, and even somewhat into masonry, reinforcing their tunnels with stone work. So I figured arm and finger guards would serve them well.
Can you talk more about Wylye and Greta? Their personalities, lives?
Wylye and Greta’s group of Laughing Dragons maintain the water and plumbing infrastructure under a city. Wylye and Greta both work in repair, with Greta being the one in charge of initiating the regular repair cycles for her area and leading the charge, and Wylye making repairs during those repair cycles, or during emergencies. They both also deal with certain above-ground entities that need personal attention (like, say, the hospital Tewarius, Sornal and Seekali work at)
Greta is a cheerful, playful sort of person and a bit of a goof. She knows when to stop goofing around and get serious, but even still she deals with most things through humor. Her perma-grin is actually somewhat fitting.
Wylye is the kind of person who likes to make things and come up with inventive solutions. He also has something of an inferiority complex. He sort of convinced he’s a fraud and he’s going to be discovered soon.
why are laughing dragons called dragons? i remember you mentioned that their cries sound like laughter, but now i'm wondering why what looks like an otter-flying squirrel-snake hybrid is called a dragon.
They were more dragon-like when I started (ah, the creative process), but I think I can still get away with it because the in-universe people that named them consider them creepy underground devil-snakes, and “dragon” seems appropriate for that.
They also have something similar to fire-breathing - they can spit a glowing substance. They use it to light their homes, but they also spit out a mist of it as a defensive distraction.
