2024-05-21 - Dragon Cave's 18th Birthday!

[tjekan]

I bet the dragon turtle is named Archelon. It fits in the alphabetic lineup, and would be a cool name for a big turtle lol

[Metafarers]

Completely anecdotal, but I have done 2 EQ attempts and had no turtle deaths, and 2 turtle hatchings from EQ. How have the EQ ratios been on turtles for others? I am curious if they are more resistant to death.

[Noxenr]

I'm so glad we have plenty of time for the release. My goal in this game is to obtain two dragons of each gender, and I was happy to bring the eggs without having to compete during the release period. The Hatchlings are also really pleasing. Thank you so much!

Edited May 24 by Noxenr

[a101401014]

Happy birthday DC!

Can't wait to know how the dragons look like when they grow up ☺️

[Husky51]

I missed the start and began abt a half-day late...That being said, I now have 8 Hatchlings and 8 Eggs...  3 from each Biome except Coast...  I have 4 from that Biome...  16 in all

 

Thank you, TJ and Spriters...

[Fuzzbucket]

9 hours ago, Metafarers said:

Completely anecdotal, but I have done 2 EQ attempts and had no turtle deaths, and 2 turtle hatchings from EQ. How have the EQ ratios been on turtles for others? I am curious if they are more resistant to death.

 

Not even THINKING about EQ for a new release. I remember the coppers which were rare almost at once.

[Metafarers]

AHHHHHHH THEYRE ALL SO BEAUTIFUL

[Fuzzbucket]

AWESOME adults - thanks so much to all involved. (I knew I was right to go for multiples of Caihong and Thousand Wish !)

[Dinora-]

Woah, what a brilliant release!!! The adults all look super cool, I can't even decide which of the new dragons is my favourite... ❤️
Many thanks to TJ, the artists and everyone involved in the birthday event!

[DeathKiss]

I don't think there has been a release that I have loved as much as this. All of the sprites and writing for these wonderful creatures is amazing! Thank you to everyone who worked on them.

[Arwen17]

They're all very beautiful, but I like the ninja turtle and blue snake the best.

[D-wing]

wow cool adults! I like Thousand Wish's egg, Caihong's S1, and seem like my favorite adult in NR are both Archelonian !!! Thanks TJ and Spriters.

 

 

Edit: Got an interesting code Archelonian... That is the code that I've no decided to keep if they're not appear in NR... and maybe I can say it's very suitable to the original source which I'm collecting. Ah, is that the choice of ____ ___? _ __ ____

Edited May 24 by D-wing

[inghelene]

Alright, this release was FIRE! Love them all. 
Cheers to all people involved!

[Chococat0815]

The new dragons are gorgeous! Thanks to everyone involved.

[Anglia]

Beautiful Dragon, but anybody know what "Chaliuba" and "Zarafauri" mean?

[random_dragon_collector]

These are all quite lovely and the theme is wonderful! Great job spriters and writers!

[SkyWolf25]

Finally, adults!

 

As many of you guessed, this year's theme is the East Asian Five Passages/Five Elements matched with the four auspicious cardinal beasts and the kirin, each tied to one stage/element. The elements represent the five stages of change that they say all things in the universe go through, beginning with Wood that represents birth/creation and ending with Water that represents death/preparation for a new life, then cycling back to Wood.

 

I suggested it because I thought it would be fitting for Year of the Dragon from the Chinese Zodiac, another widespread Asian culture, and I'm very happy the other artists went along with it! Many countries have different animals for some of the years, but it's the Dragon this year in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam afaik.

 

-Thousand Wish Dragon

 

I dug a bit deeper for their concept, partly because I'd been interested in the Five Elements for a while and had done some research beforehand, and partly because the base animal for Wood/East is literally just dragon. xD

 

Life affinity was an obvious choice, for Wood and the birth it represents. As the first out of five stages Wood is connected to spring, they return to the surface at spring, the season of new life.

 

I added Lightning affinity because Wood encompasses lightning/thunder and air according to the 8 Trigram. (For reference, fire belongs to Fire, water belongs to Water, sky and swamp belong to Metal, and mountain and ground belong to Earth, though as incorporating this into the dragon was an optional choice made by me, the other birthday dragons won't necessarily fit into this.) I thought it was fitting, because lightning causes some nitrogen fixation when it strikes, which is good for plant growth, and can cause fires that'll create nutrient-rich ash. It was also a good elemental affinity for rain.

 

Them living in the ocean during winter stems from Eastern dragons' affinity to water and tales of dragon kings that rule the sea, and also alludes a bit to Water's keywords - winter and end of a cycle, which then flows back to Wood.

 

The shoulder ornaments were inspired by the shoulder decorations on the blue dragon of the East mural and flag from ancient Korea - 

 

The shoulder ornaments on the Lihnseyres originated from the same thing too, actually. I love the shoulder stuff on traditional dragon art.

 

The trees in the description that villagers tie fabric on their branches with their wishes comes from the wish trees in many different cultures, and is the reason for this dragon's name. I imagine the tradition to be a long-standing one, with the same dragon returning to the same village for many, many years. The tree would be equally ancient and colourfully adorned with numerous wishes.

 

 

Here's the sketch:

The antlers have a gemstone-like core that is covered by a wood bark-like substance. It's been simplified in the sprite since the antlers are only 1 pixel wide, but the gems are revealed at some of the tips where the casing splits apart, and light can be seen seeping out from the cracks near the points of the antlers.

 

Additionally, Pinus densiflora(a.k.a. Korean red pine / Japanese red pine) was the general vibe aesthetic I had in mind when designing and concepting them.

I love the mystical feel of the winding and twisting trunk and boughs.

 

I don't have a definite size for them atm but imagine them to be a little shorter than Lihnseyres in height and less bulky but around the same length, maybe longer - they are loong.

 

They are benevolent and have been known to advise villagers who come asking for their wisdom. They don't live inside the villages, typically, but they will descend from the sky or their resting place - usually an ancient, giant tree - in the forest. 

 

I don't know if the encyclopedia will be released right away, but I did write it up, so hopefully you guys will be able to read them soon!

 

 

---

Since my post is pinned, here's a link to Pied's Chaliuba lore post, and haze's Archelonian lore post.

Edited May 29 by SkyWolf25

[laevsk]

Absolutely incredible dragons! Wow! 

 

A huge thank you to all those who created these precious dragons for us:

 

For the magnificent Chaliuba - PiedPipecleaner and Munin.

 

For the impressive Archelonian - Shiny Hazard Sign and Spatio.

 

For the spectacular Zarafauri - Hawaiianbabidoll and Odeen.

 

For the elegant Thousand Wish - schenanigans, SkyWolf25, spatio and Mewtie.

 

For the stunning Caihong - Adrak, birdzgoboom and Dohaerys.

 

And, of course, thanks go to TJ for continuing to offer the wonderful Dragon Cave to enjoy!

[DarkellaLord]

Gorgeous adults=3 I might start recruiting to a  Zarafauri army

[Bacon]

Happy Birthday Dragon Cave.

[Leidarendi]

Beautiful adults!  I'll never remember those names, though.

[Lagie]

Beautiful adults! Thank you, spriters!

 

 

42 minutes ago, SkyWolf25 said:

I suggested it because I thought it would be fitting for Year of the Dragon from the Chinese Zodiac, another widespread Asian culture, and I'm very happy the other artists went along with it! Many countries have different animals for some of the years, but it's the Dragon this year in China, Korea, Japan, and Vietnam afaik.

Great idea! (I'm a Dragon. )

[purplehaze]

1 minute ago, Leidarendi said:

Beautiful adults!  I'll never remember those names, though.

*sigh* True. The more dragons we get with unusual names the harder it gets for my old brain to remember them.

 

This is a beautiful set of dragons. Many thanks to all the artists involved in creating them and to TJ for bringing them to the cave.

I have my favorites, of course, but they are all magnificent creatures worthy of their place on my scroll.

[Tiira]

Zarafauri is still my favourite, also for their description. I am in love! But all these new birthday dragons are wonderful, many thanks and congrats to their creators, you're so incredibly talented.

[Jazeki]

All pretty adults!