A dragon attacks with its powerful claws and bite, and can also use a breath weapon (breathweapons differ in each dragon species), and special physcal attacks, depending on its size. It prefers to fight on the wing, staying out of reach until it has worn down the enemy with ranged attacks. Older, more intelligent dragons are adept at sizing up the opposition and eliminating the most dangerous foes first (or avoiding them while picking off the weaker enemies).
Bite:

A dragon's bite attack can cause the least amount of damage as compared to their other natural attacks. Razor sharp teeth fill their maws which can tear and shred most materials in a matter of moments. As the popular saying goes about dragons 'Beware of angering dragons for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.'

Dragons use their claws like anthromorphs use their fingers. In most species of dragon, the claw is a hooked talon similar in shape to an owls, while in others the claw is more straight and manipulative. These are wickedly sharp features all dragons have and can rend the hardest of rocks into sections in a single swipe.

A dragon's tail can be a dangerous and deadly weapon. They can use their tails to slap their opponents around and disarm them with ease. The spikes many dragons have make this attack even more effective, often ending a small skirmish in a matter of moments if the tail slap is done right.

Watch out for the crush attack if you are much smaller than the fighting dragon. This is a very effective attack the larger species of dragons make full use of. They do so by suddenly dropping down on their oppoents, crushing all beneath them. If you are fighting drgons and look up when their shadow stops over you, run, or end up flat.

The largest of dragons generally use a tail sweep to knock over their opponents. The thick and sturdy tail can not only mow down someone, but it can do significant damage if not properly protected with enchanted armor.

Dragons don't generally grapply, but they will if they are up against an equal sized opponent. Grappling can occur in the air or on the ground and usually ends in one dragon besting the other by sheer strength alone.

The breath weapon varies greatly according to species, though the most common is fire. Some dragons have an ice breath weapon whch can both freeze their opponents solid or burn similar to fire depending on age. Other dragons breath smoke only, steam or electricity. Using a breath weapon is standard among dragons, though to some species, its use is limited due to physical strains. The range of the breath weapon varies greatly on age, size, and species.

Dragons are notorious users of magic, hoarding the different spells like they do treasure. Adult dragons and wyrms tend to be the strongest of sorcerors with a vast array of spells handy for combat situations. Some dragons have spell like abilities which follow the same rules as the associated spells. All dragons have a natural spell resistance which increases as they age, making it more difficult to catch them with conventional magics.

Some dragons can cast spells known to clerics (priests) as weapons against some demons and evil creatures. Though it is rare among some species of dragons, they can shapeshift to conceal themselves or enter towns without causing fear among the locals. Wyrms tend to not use the shapeshifting ability, finding most smaller races inferior to them.

Dragon sight is exceptionally strong in full daylight or in darkness. In the dark, the dragon see up to 100 feet clearly in any direction as if there were a minor light source. Motion is detected quickly and reacted to before many are able to think. Dragon eyesight fails during the evening and early morning when the light is fading since their eyes cannot adjust like many races can to change in light, so many tend to be lairbound during sunrise and sunset until there is full light or dark to hunt or patrol.

In all dragons, the sense of smell is extremely strong, able to pick up minute details from far off towns when the wind comes from their direction. Up close, a dragon can zero in on its opponent with the sense of smell alone then use one of many attacks. Finding and tracking prey is easy for dragons with this keen sense and often rely on their sense of smell far too much to detect visitors to their territories.

A dragon's sense of hearing is quite strong, able to pick up sounds from up to a mile away. With this keen sense, a dragon can hear armies approaching their lairs well in advance to prepare for them. This also makes it easy to subdue them. A dragon can hear the tiny nuances in a song either sung or played on an strument. As such, they'll become transfixed by the lulling tunes. Also, on the other extreme, a dragon can be temorarily deafened by a loud enough sound, which is rare in itself.

The sense of touch isn't very strong in all dragons, whether they have hide or scales. It is because of their tough hide and thick scales that they loose most of their sense of touch. Only on the tips of their toes where the pads are thinnest do they have the best sense of touch.

Some, but not all dragons have a strong sense of taste, able to detect poisons in a single drop of liquid. All dragons can tell the differences between different rocks by taste alone, and how fresh their scavanged meals are.

This species of dragon is the smallest found on the world of Haven. It is approximately one foot from nose to tailtip and pretty much resembles it's much larger cousins. The fairy dragon doesn't posses the batlike wings the larger species do, instead they have a double set of gauzy wings which can just barely be seen when in motion, similar to the wings of a dragonfly. These tiny dragons come in bright colors resembling gemstones, such as ruby red, sapphire blue, emerald green, and a swirl similar to opals.

Normally, fairy dragons are found in dense forests surrounding mountains where rocky outcroppings can be found. Sometimes they can be found along the coast in the tropical regions or near volcanic areas where it is warm. They are always found in small 'swarms' and tend to have a collective intelligence. Although they are harmless, they will strike with their sharp claws and short bursts of fire when provoked.

Firelizards are the miniture version of a rare species of dragon called Pernitian. These little dragons are highly intelligent with a natural telepathic ability with which they communicate with each other and other races. Although they are small, firelizards are by no means tiny. They reach up to three feet from nose to tailtip with a two and half to three and half foot wingspan.

The colors these little guys come in is limited to only gold and green for the females, and bronze, brown and blue for the males. Variations in color per dragon is normal. The gold and bronze dragons are the largest of this species with the brown second largest, followed by blue, then green. Clutches of eggs laid by golds (queen), tend to reach the hatching stage while those laid by greens rarely make it.

Firelizard breathe fire to defend themselves, but only when they ingest a sulpher bearing rock known as firerock. After they chew a small quanity of firerock, firelizards can breath fire for up to two hours then they must reload. Normally, they won't have to chew the rock but once a day for normal defense purposes.

Firelizards have a teleporting ability where they can jump from one place to another they have visited before or someone has visualized for them. The distance, and amount of time they can jump is limited to about 10 seconds, otherwise they are lost to the void space they use as a conduit.

Firelizards are the miniture version of a rare species of dragon called Pernitian. These little dragons are highly intelligent with a natural telepathic ability with which they communicate with each other and other races. Although they are small, firelizards are by no means tiny. They reach up to three feet from nose to tailtip with a two and half to three and half foot wingspan.

The colors these little guys come in is limited to only gold and green for the females, and bronze, brown and blue for the males. Variations in color per dragon is normal. The gold and bronze dragons are the largest of this species with the brown second largest, followed by blue, then green. Clutches of eggs laid by golds (queen), tend to reach the hatching stage while those laid by greens rarely make it.

Firelizard breathe fire to defend themselves, but only when they ingest a sulpher bearing rock known as firerock. After they chew a small quanity of firerock, firelizards can breath fire for up to two hours then they must reload. Normally, they won't have to chew the rock but once a day for normal defense purposes.

Firelizards have a teleporting ability where they can jump from one place to another they have visited before or someone has visualized for them. The distance, and amount of time they can jump is limited to about 10 seconds, otherwise they are lost to the void space they use as a conduit.

These dragons are cousins to the firelizard and follow the same general characteristics. They are highly intelligent with telepathic abilities, though instead of using images like firelizards do, pernitian dragons can use actual speech in their mental exchanges. Pernitians can reach up to 50 feet in length from nose to tail with a 75 to 80 foot wingspan, depending on color and gender. These beautiful dragons come in the same colors as firelizards with gold and green for females and bronze, brown and blue for males. These dragons do not have scales anywhere on them. Only a very tough thick hide which feels like fine suede leather. Their eyes stand out the most as looking very gem like in appearance and changing colors with their moods. On very rare occassions, a white pernitian will be found.

Like their little cousins, pernitians chew firerock in order to use their firebreath attack, but in much larger quantities. The only real difference, other than size, between firelizards and pernitians is that the green female is barren. Only the gold queen can lay eggs. These large females lay their eggs in hot sand caverns and guard them until hatching, then leave them to either impress any being that wishes to watch the hatching, or survive on their own in the wild.

If a pernitian, or firelizard, impresses another being, such as a fur, anthrodragon, or elf, the bond is for life. If their bondmate is killed, the dragon will suicide instantly by jumping to a void space known as between, the same space they use as a conduit to teleport from one place to another. Impression occurs only at hatching and can not happen at any other time in life.

Oriental dragons tend to be the most wise of all the dragon breeds, with a natural insight into the workings of other races and species. Unlike most dragons where they are either chaotic/good or chaotic/evil, these dragons tend to be more towards the lawful side of both and on rare occassions, nuetral. Almost always solitary, the oriental dragon can be seen winding its way through mountainous valleys or around high peaks as it patrols its territory.

Often, these elegant dragons are seen as guardians to eastern temples or as gods themselves because of the great wisdom and power they possess. Oriental dragons are strong mages in their own rights, often bestowing gifts of magical treasure on those that aid them or watching over thse that fall within their domains. Sometimes, an oriental dragon will ask for a sacrifice from those that it watches over, but these instances are few and far between.

Of all the dragons, the oriental is the most unique in appearance and easily distinguishable from the rest. These dragons have a round head fringed with yellow or brownish fur and a pair of spiralling horns behind the eyes. Their muzzle resembles that of an alligator with the broad ridged snout and flaring nostrils, but with a mustash of either fur or long feelers. Their bodies are long and sinuey, giving them a snakelike appearance since there is very little gradient between neck, body and the base of the tail.

Usually, they have a 'mane' of fur along their backs and a tuft at the tip of their tails, their elbows and hocks. The legs of an oriental dragon are very short in comparison to their bodies and spaced far apart. Their scales are a bright irridescent green, blue or red on their sides and back with a golden yellow on their bellies. From nose to tailtip, an oriental dragon can reach up to 100 feet in length, and all of it is muscle.

Oriental dragons do not have wings, instead flying by undulating their bodies through the air currents like a snake through water. In flight, these dragons are a force to contend with, able to dodge ranged attacks easily as well as capture enemies with their long bodies and tails. They can breath fire, but many prefer to breath fog to confuse their enemies or prey then ambush them in the midst of the clouds they created.

The most commonly found species of dragon, the western dragon is highly recognizable. This species seems to have defined what a dragon is over the centuries, from their habits to their appearance and temperment. In this species does color help dictate alignment and where they can be found. Only in western dragons do the chromatic colors tend towards evil and the metallics tend towards good.

In this species, the size and shape is typified. From nose to tail, the western dragon is about 110 to 120 feet long with a 130 to 140 foot wingspan. For a dragon their size, their bodies are compact and heavily muscled, built for strength in battle and flight, but not for speed. Normally, their wings are attached fully along their sides like extended ribs instead of true wings, in some cases, the webbing going half way down the tail. These dragons can have frills of any kind along with horns and bony ridges. Spikes on their tails is a common sight as an added weapon. All western dragons have a plantigrade stance on all four feet.

These dragons are fierce fighters and can breath not only fire, but also smoke, steam and ice, depending on age. To create their breath attacks, a western dragon need on focus on which of it's lungs to use. It's firelung keeps a constant supply of fire ready for use, but if used too much, will shut down until enough heat is produced again. The ice lung produces a limited amount of ice, so the dragon will use this attack only as a last resort as it takes a long time to get the ice lung refilled and cold enough to use.

The firedragon, likes it steam and smoke cousins, are easily mistaken for western dragons. Only up close do the differences between them stand out. Firedragons tend to have a gradient from color with the darker along their spine ridge and fading to yellow or white along the belly. They also have stripes, though faint, to set them apart from the western dragon. Of all the dragon species, firedragons have the longest range in firebreath and the most duration of holding their flame.

Another difference between firedragons and westerns is their size. Firedragons are small and compact, no more than about 50 to 80 feet from nose to tail, but they have a broader wingspan. From wingtip to wingtip, their span reaches anywhere up to 160, allowing them greater control, speed and distance in flight.

Smoke dragons are very rare, almost extinct on the world of Haven. They are much smaller than their firedragon cousins, ranging up to only 20 feet from nose to tail and have very small wings which just barely allow them to glide. To make up for their lack of flight ability, smokers have strong claws and legs meant for grasping and digging into rock so they can reach high cliffs and their nests with ease.

Like their name suggests, smokers colors are limited to greys, browns and blacks, so they can blend in with their surroundings. Though they are unable to breath fire, the smoke they do create as their breath weapon is deadly, filled with toxic fumes and extreme heat. These small dragons have a tough hide with scales along their backs and legs, leaving their softer undersides unprotected.

Like smoke dragons, steam dragons are very rare, possibly extinct on the world of Haven. These dragons are brightly colored with their scales colored like gems. Of all the dragon species, these cannot fly, with or without wings, which may be the reason they are so rare.

Found only near water, steamers live in small groups of mostly females called flocks. They reach no bigger than 10 feet from nose to tail with short legs and slender bodies. These are the only truely aquatic dragons, able to swim as fast with their webbed feet as any dragon can fly, and hunt the waterways for their prey. Their scales are very small like a fish' and have an irridescent shine to them which tend towards blues, greens, and often times a mix of the two colors with bands of dark brown for patterning.

Of the two arctic species of dragon, the snow dragon is the largest, and most intelligent and prefer to congregate in small groups called flights. Unlike many dragons, snowies mate for life and only lay no more than five clutches of eggs during their long lives. These large and beautiful dragons stay mostly in the sub arctic regions where it tends to warm just long enough for them to hatch their eggs. Also, snowies have the most distinguishable vocal speech among dragonkind. Instead of grunts, growls, and roars, snow dragons sing in a wide range of trills, warbles, whistles, and chirps.

Just like their name implies, snow dragons are white with very little color on them, normally blue or violet which is found only along their back, mane, and ridges. A snowie is built for the cold environs of the great cold north with slender bodies, thick layers of fat beneath a tough suede like hide and an ever burning internal furnace to keep their massive bodies warm. Their heads are wedged shaped with a slightly pointed snout and long feelers around their nose slits. A single pair of horns, either blue or white, adorn the heads of the adults and they sometimes have a fringe of fur around the back of their jaws and ear slits. Their necks are as long as their tails with a mane running from the base of the head all the way to the tip of the tail. Snow dragon eyes are many faceted like a pernitians and tend to swirl with different shades of the natural blue or violet color though their emotions do not show as different colors in their eyes.

A snow dragon's body is fairly compact and made for speed as well as navigating the blizzard force winds of the harsh northern winters. Their chests are small compared their stomachs and hind quarters. Also, their forelegs are noticibly shorter than their hind legs and have a more hand like shape to them with dextrous digits. Their hind feet are broad with three toes splaying to support their weight and one back facing toe with a large hooked dew claw. At the tip of their tails, where most dragons have spikes, snow dragons have a pair of very manipulative fingerlike digits with which they can pick things up and move around when their front paws are full.

By far the largest species of dragon on Haven, Storm dragons are also the smartest, and possibly deadliest of them all. This species alone is able to control the weather, but only over their territories. They, like many races, can be found in small congregations or solitary, depending on their natural inclinations. Because of their immense size, these dragons can only be found in large mountain ranges and islands just off the coasts. Seeing one soar over head is a fairly common sight of you live close to the mountains or in a place that has large enough caverns for their lairs. Only the females can be found living near volcanic regions where they nest communally.

Storm dragons can reach anywhere up to 210 feet from nose to tailtip, with a rare few reaching close to 220 feet nose to tailtip. Their wingspans range from 215 feet to 225 from tip to tip, rivaling that of the legendary roc. Tough scaled hide is normally grey in color though they can be found in a myriad of colors from dark blues to intense violets, but they all have white or pale grey undersides for camouflage in flight.

This species alone can control some of the highest magics known on the planet and are known among the different schools of mage. Their dark eyes resemble deep onyx pools which, if the dragon is old enough and has enough magical ability, able to capture the very soul of their enemy/prey.

A storm dragon's general body structure resembles that of a snow dragon, down to the nimble digits on the tip of the tail. But, instead of a mane, they have back facing spikes down their neck and back to the tip of their tail. Their natural breath attacks are varied, covering both fire and cold fire, ice, winter breath, smog, steam and smoke after reaching wyrm status. Because of their high intelligence and strong magical abilities, storm dragons tend towards the chaotic good or chaotic evil, but many strive to become a true nuetral in their search for ultimate balance.

Drakes aren't a true dragon. They are more of a modern day salamander with the physical attributes of a dragon, such as a tough scaled hide, spinal ridges, sharp talons, and strong stout legs. This species do not have wings and are incapable of flight, or working magic, though they are capable of vocal speech.

Most drakes live in dark caverns near lava flows or over warm thermal areas where many animals cannot survive easily. Because of their preference for hot places, many will not wander far from their territories in search of prey. These wingless dragons tend to be the most docile of all the species, unless they are guarding their eggs, then they will drive off whatever comes close to their lairs.

Serpentine in appearance, drakes are probably the most mistaken for young oriental dragons. The differences between these two are that drakes have a thicker body, longer legs and snouts, and shorter tails. They reach only about 30 feet from nose to tailtip. Drakes sport only a single pair of short straight horns on their heads and no body or tail spikes. They can, however, breath fire and ice on a limited basis, but will depend mostly on their talons and teeth to defend themselves.

Anthrodragons, as the name implies are more of a sub-species of dragon instead of a species on their own. This being, because, anthros are the bipedal version of their much larger cousins. Normally, anthros are of the western variety, but can be any type of dragon except for pernitian, firelizard and fairy dragon. These specialized dragons have the same abilities as their larger counterparts, such as breathing fire and ice or breathing smoke or fog.

They have the same tough scaled hides as other dragons and a wide range of colors depending on their type. Anthros, when full grown, can be up to 10 feet tall with a humanoid build and a very draconic face and head. Their wingspan can from 15 to 20 feet depending on what type of dragon they are the anthro version of. Other adornments such as spikes, ridges, or manes vary from one to another. Their abilities to magic also varies and depends primarily on their eagerness to learn and discipline. The bonds anthros make tend to last a lifetime among mated pairs, as they live a much shorter time than the larger dragon species. Anthrodragons can live just about anywhere a fur, or elf can.

Stellar dragons are the only non earth based dragon known to the world of Haven. Many of these dragons are born in space or just within the atmosphere of the planet. Very little is known about these except for their appearance and the alliances the make on their visits.

These dragons are about 110 feet from nose to tailtip with a very slender and delicate build. Their front legs are shorter than their hind legs, giving them a lopsided appearance, but enables them to move through the voids of space more easily. They have five toes on each foot and single dew claw just behind the ankle and wrist. With a wingspan of about 130 feet, these dragons are fast and manueverable in the air and can cover great distances with ease. Their scaled hides are extremely tough, able to resist the extreme cold of space and the intense heat of the many stars they fly close to.

In order to breath in space, stellar dragons have developed a special lung which stores breathable air. These specialized organs enable them to remain out in space for years at a time without refilling. Older dragons make few stops, once every few hundred years, to refill while others, regardless of age will drop in to refill once every hundred years or so. Very few will remain on the planet for long as the openess of space constantly calls to them in mystic ways.