38 réponses à ce sujet

[Pandaman102]

Filament wrote...

No, the one in the dragonbone wastes, in the same place where you fight the Varterral in Witch Hunt. It may not be very notable because it's a bit of a pushover.

Ahh, that's right, there was bit with the whole dragon graveyard. Completely forgot about it, not because it was a pushover, but I think at that point I just wanted to get Awakening over with after discovering I missed out on a couple of companion quests due to scripts not triggering properly.

[Maria Caliban]

Blacklash93 wrote...

Maria Caliban wrote...

A high dragon is one of mating age. 30 years ago (30-40 years ago) the first High Dragon was spotted.

I have to ask what sort of reproductive cycle and maturity rate you're imagining here because High Dragons maintain clutches of 20-30 dragonlings at a time. Most animals reach sexual maturity in two years. Even if we said ten years for sexual maturity, that's four generations worth of High Dragons.

I believe female dragons take a few hundred years to reach full maturity (High Dragon).

Oh. That changes things, doesn't it?

They also only lay a clutch every 100 years.

I see.

I now find myself not wondering why there are so many dragons, but how there are dragons at all. That sounds like a poor biological strategy.

[TripLight]

*cough* I'll leave this here.

[Maria Caliban]

Okay, I have a new idea!

There are actually parts of Thedas that haven't been explored. I've suggested earlier that this is where the High Dragon that started the current age came from. Now I'm going to suggest that a group of dragons migrated en mass after the Navarrans killed off the dragon population and the first made the transition to High Dragon 30 years ago.

Filament wrote...

Where'd you get that badass shield?

Mod.

Modifié par Maria Caliban, 09 mai 2011 - 04:10 .

[TripLight]

Filament wrote...

Where'd you get that badass shield?

From this lovely women's mod, which is linked in the first post, after all the pictures.

[Blacklash93]

Drakes only live for about a century. Female dragons who live a century are considered "immature". They probably take another few hundred or so years to be considered fully mature (high dragon). And to boot, they only have a clutch every century and ramage to prelude it (making everyone hate them).

That does sound like a terrible evolutionary strategy. Then again, a high dragon will sick its children on you to defend itself... so maybe they don't care.

Modifié par Blacklash93, 09 mai 2011 - 08:14 .

[Kilshrek]

The dragons found the awesome button guys, seriously, get with the program.

[PantheraOnca]

Blacklash93 wrote...


That does sound like a terrible evolutionary strategy.

Maybe by a human timeframe, but I imagine a human growth and mating cycle looks ponderously slow to an ant as well.

[Myusha]

It's Dragon Age. Not much of a Age of Dragons without Dragons right?

[Blacklash93]

Myusha wrote...

It's Dragon Age. Not much of a Age of Dragons without Dragons right?

Considering how little a role they play in the story and lore, it's a wonder why they're on the cover and the namesake of the series.

Maybe by a human timeframe, but I imagine a human growth and mating cycle looks ponderously slow to an ant as well.

Waiting so long for maturity puts up a rather major risk of death before being able to reproduce. And then waiting a century before laying each clutch? Our timeframe is one thing, but this is something else entirely.

Modifié par Blacklash93, 10 mai 2011 - 12:36 .

[PantheraOnca]

Blacklash93 wrote...


Waiting so long for maturity puts up a rather major risk of death before being able to reproduce. And then waiting a century before laying each clutch? Our timeframe is one thing, but this is something else entirely.

I honestly don't see how its something else entirely.

I mean, as far as animals to compare  to go, I'm going to compare to whales and elephants as far as "big-mother-f'er" and then maybe an eagle or falcon as far as "predatory flying thingy" to see what proprotions come up. Most of this information will be from wikipedia, so sue me.

Blue whales are thought to live to at least 80, we'll call it 75 for lack of actual data. They reach sexual maturity at 8-10 years old and birth every 2-3.

Sperm Whales go till about 70, females reach maturity anywhere from 7-13 and birth every 3-6 years.

Elephants live for lets say 60 years, females reach maturity at around 13 and birth every 5 or so years.

Peregrine falcons live for about 15, start breeding at 2-3, and lay eggs 1(sometimes 2) times a year.

So, what does this lovely little science lesson show us?
Blue whales start breeding at about 10-12% of their lifespan, and reproduce every 2-4% thereafter.
Sperm Whales start breeding at 10-19% of their lifespan and reproduce every 4-9%/
Elephants start at 21% and reproduce every 8% or so after.
Peregrines start at 13-20% and every 6% after.

Now, we know high dragons can live at least 1000 years. So on the lower end based on the above animals would reach maturity at 100 years old and on the high end at 210 years. Based on the fastest rate above, would then reproduce every 20, with the slowest rate 90 years, thereafter.

So, again, I don't really see how its "something else entirely" or a major risk or whatnot for the dragon.