Editing Periodic Table of Dragons/Stories (section)

==Interview with an Iron Dragon==

The working of a forge by an Iron dragon is an interesting sight to see. Although Iron dragons are perhaps the most well-understood of the draconics, they are still just as fascinating to me as any other species of dragon. In fact, I would venture to say they are made more fascinating by their willingness to mingle with non-dragons: it means this explorer need not spend days wandering the Wilds to find one and then hope it is in a good enough mood to humor his questioning!

In my continuing quest to find a Manganese dragon to interview about their cultural views on Runics, I have been traveling along the coast of the Hepellion Sea. Going from one coastal village to the next, most of the settlements I have visited offer little to weary travelers, because they have little themselves. I cannot blame them for this, but the carrot I have spent the day gnawing on has grown awfully short.

Two days ago, I arrived in one such village, and was surprised as I passed the local smithy by its large size. In most of these villages, I’ve found the smithy to have enough space for a lone resident to eat, sleep, and work his trade, but this one seemed large enough that I thought a pair of families must share between them both the house and the forge. Following an instinct from my gut, I investigated, and learned that size of the building was due to the nature of its inhabitant: an Iron dragon! Fortunately, my surprise that such a tiny village had attracted such a patron was received with good humor.

I shall record first a few preliminary details about this particular Iron dragon, a female who went by the name of Enula. She was only a couple hundred years old, still somewhat young by the standards of her kind (A standard that we humans could only dream of!). She had separated from her parents a few decades ago, but only came to this village six years ago.

Enula allowed me to examine her, in the form of a very brief physical. The luster of her scales, as well as their hardness, suggested Enula was healthy and well-nourished on her diet of fish and poultry. Her claws were of average length, except for on her left foreleg, which she complained often hurt. Examining it, I told her it was likely a certain sort of ingrowth, and advised her appropriately on how to fix the issue (it is best to tend to these problems while a dragon is young). This was the only defect I found in her health, something she was relieved to hear. I imagine the concerns regarding rust that an Iron dragon living coastally must fret over are significant.

I went on to ask the dragoness first about her kind’s history as metalworkers and smiths. She told me that while many other dragons take such pride in their racial features that they are left unwilling to help other races manipulate their associated element, Iron dragons are a more pragmatic sort that see potential benefit for both themselves and those around them. The generally-expressed sentiment among draconics is that the advantages of their unique elemental anatomy are theirs alone, but it seems Iron dragons are not as inclined toward this view.

Iron dragons are, of course, one of the more prolific alloyers among the draconics, and working the forges proves to an easy manner of getting the necessary scales, along with whatever else the dragon needs: in short, Iron dragons have adopted the economic spirit more that non-draconic civilizations foster more readily than other dragons. Enula stated that she suspects other dragons may eventually also come around to this same point of view, and that they stand to benefit for it a great deal when that happens (though if that day comes, they’ll have to find some other niche in the market, as Iron dragons seem to have this one cornered).

It seems that the modest Iron dragons are actually quite progressive in nature, at least in the eyes of their cousins.

At this point, I raised the fact that, despite what she says about Iron dragons seeking scales in barter, Enula has employed herself in a tiny coastal village with no prosperous economy or trade to speak of- she seemed to grow bashful at the comment and dismissed the matter without really providing a reason. It seemed particularly strange to me that she would come to a place so close to the water, where the risk of contracting rust runs high. The rest of our conversation delved into the subject of how she protected herself from the malady, as well as an anecdote about how her grandfather succumbed to rust. I decline to include that information in this journal, for the sake of keeping things organized, but should I ever compose a volume on illnesses which plague draconics, I shall surely reference this conversation again.

As our discussion ended, I asked my impromptu interviewee if she knew of any Manganese dragons living nearby. It is known that a fair number of them live around the Hepellion Sea, which was the reason I had been on this difficult adventure in the first place. As fortune would have it, Enula affirmed that there was one who lived not too far from the village. Given how her bashfulness returned at this point, I came to suspect an answer to my earlier questions about why she had come to this village, but I did not press on the matter. Young love, whether human or draconic, is a beautiful thing.

(On the opposite page, a drawing of an iron bauble has been made. According to the notes, the pendant was a gift from Enula, but Callsi found it too heavy to comfortably wear.)

Excerpt from the journals of Callsi Omalfen, Wandering Dracologist