There are MANY Dragons in Worldstree, though most of them are inactive at any given time. There are other types of Dragons than the classic winged lizards - there are Sea Serpents, Storm Dragons, RockWyrms, Dragonnettes, Lotans, Faerie Dragons and River Dragons, but they are all related and all definitively Dragons. The Lung Dragons are not related to the Spawn of the Great Wyrms, but have been known to interbreed with them. Dragons are identified by Lineage and Habitat, such as the Spawn of Nightfire, Scourges of the Burning Desert (these are legless Dragons) and Icy Clutch of Ulargaroth, Rulers of the Farthest Lands. Not all Dragons are Evil, but many are and those that are not often have an fabulous appetite for the High Metals. The difference between a Dragon and a Monster is basically up to the creature itself.
 

The Great Wyrms

There are three Great Wyrms, one for each of the High Metals. They are the Sun Dragon, the HandMadien, and Gnawer at the Root. They are capable of assuming humanoid Shape, but the Sun makes this his Practice. They are the parents of all of the Dragons of Worldstree. They no longer play at the War. Should they ever fight each other again, the Worldstree might be unmade from the Fury of it.

The History of the First Clutch

This is a history, not a Story or a Myth, because these versions of the facts are usually told over a period of months (by Dragons) and never agree.  Both Subtyrranus and Solarus were courting the Handmaiden, but she could not choose without upsetting the Rhythyms of the World.  She mated with both, forcing them to give their word to retire from the world until the eggs hatched, and that she would care for them.  In her secret lair on the LesserMoon, she used her magic to hide her gravid state even as Subtyrranus delivered her eggs. Together there were sixteen eggs in her clutch (an enormous amount for a Dragon to feed as hatchlings). For this reason, and to ensure the safety of her plan should the Sun or RootGnawer come back,  she took eight of the eggs and placed them in foster nests scattered around Worldstree.  She gave one to the GreatEagles of the Landspine Mnts. She gave eggs to a clan of Ni'akklu in the IceMarches, to the Pegasi, to a Poh (fierce Chinese unicorn), to a Kilin, to the Naga, to the Medusa, and the last to a tribe of Otters.

The eggs incubated, and the two other Great Wyrms met each other in combat on the other side of the World's Disk and ten years passed. The hidden eggs, hatched into Dragons that show coloration and traits suited to their environments, and these were known as the Wildlings The Nested Eggs were much different. Most were a single color:  Red, Yellow, Blue, Black and White, and these were known as the Nestlings. There were also those with reflective metallic scales, though not in any ordinary color:  one had metallic black scales limned with silver and was called Adamanthril,  one silver scales limned with gold and was called Electrum. Last are the Twins, Crystal and Trimetite. The Twins are the first two-headed dragon, whith a body like Trimetite (like hematite with a covering of oil-on-water) and perfectfly transparent wingmembranes, claws and teeth.

These Dragons consider themselves an elite group, and it was due to the nature of the hatching that the Nestlings were turned against the Beings and Races of Worldstree, and that the Wildlings (to a degree) came to be involved in the affairs of the Peoples. Some are even still alive.  There are often used in the study of Dragonology because no trait that didn't exist  in the first gen will not show up in succeeding  generation without outbreeding.

Traits of the Firsters:

Head:  whiskers and small horns, big moon eyes and spined batlike ears, a hunterkiller face like a velociraptor (binocular vision),  a snake head complete with forked tongue, fangs, snake pupils and no sense of hearing; and the chameleon look, with protruding independently focusable eyes.

Wings:  Full 5 veined, 4 veined with wingtalon, 3 veined with wingtalon and thumb (-4 grip), legs instead of wings, no wings, vestigal with wingtalon (good for gliding),  vestigal with three finged hand (-2) and two veined wings.

First Pair of Limbs:  Legs, Bad grip arms, poor grip arms, normal arms, vestigal arms (2 non opposed fingers, cannot reach mouth), and poor grip arms with fins and no limbs at all

Last Pair of Limbs:   Legs, Arms with bad grip (too large, good for perching), legs with a leg spur, vestigal legs, fins and no legs

Crest:  No crest, head crest, horsestyle mane, spines or a sailfin crest

Tail:  normal, long and serpentine - poor constrictor and semmiprehensile, with bone/horn spikes at the end, with a stinger like scorpion, a sharp point to be used for stabbing, detachable, split into two - bad grip hand or a set of spikes,  and tails that bifurcate (splits in two) a number of times resulting in two tails at the spine and some binary exponent at the end. Bifurcate tails are perfectly usable as hands.

Dragonhide:  Scales too fine to see, lizard like plated scales, raised rough crocidilian scales and normal scales with hair in places (wing joints, bushy tail, etc).

BreatheWeapons:  Fire, Heat, Cold, Snow, Petrification, Sleep Gas, Poisongas, Acid, Lightening, Coherent light, Water Jets, Swampgas and a Sonic Disinigration sound.

Names/Types:  Mountain, Desert, River, Artic,  Jungle, Forest, Swamp, Cave, Grassland, Sea, Red, Yellow, Blue, Black, White, Electrum, Adamanthril and little Crystal-Tremitite.

Reproduction:  Though all Dragons lay eggs, they are not simple male/female creatures. There are male, female, outbreeding hermaphrodites, sexless Parthenogenics, hemaphroditic parthenogenics that can either breed with another or give birth to a clone but never, ever Steriles - Dragons have too much lifeforce for that. Mating is ritualized and preceeded by at least a century of courtship and/or mutual antagonism,  which causes one or both partners to become gravid. The couple retires to secret "honeymoon suite" to insure conception - this usually lasts a year. Incubation time varies wildly. Typically, the couple will stay together until the eggs are laid or sometimes until they hatch. The parent who incubates the clutch may not be the layer of the eggs. It's all very complicated and involves loads of turbid dragonemotion.

Later Generations:

Dragons figure their Generation by counting down from the HandMaiden, adding the generations of both parents. All of the Firsters count only Lunarae. For the most part, the Nestlings and Wildlings avoided each other and bred only within their group for the second and third Generation.  Thus the  members of the Violet Clutch (named Fuschia), born to the Red and Blue Firsters is Second Generation.  Her Clutch with the First Electrum is called the Amethyst Clutch are they are Third Generation.  Snowcap is the Seconder child of the PineDaleValley Clutch, raised by Crag Mountain and Glacier Icemarch, both Hidden Firsters. Nestling descendents prefered colors and gemstones for names, Hideling prefered nature-oriented names.

Crystal-Trmelite (which possessed a single mind) was thought sterile til it spontaneously produced an egg, which grew into a two headed, two tailed matte black Dragon named LoadStar. It was constantly rippledover by faint blue waves of electricity. Unlike its parent, each of LoadStars' headed had a separate mind and loathed one another. All Hydras are descended from this line and from a failed experiment by Electrum and Adamanthril to create a Clutch to replace Crystal-Tremelite. They called them the Vitredur clutch, but that didn't help much. Vitredur are also two headed dragons, but monosexual and four legged. Their bodies  were actually semitransparent, as if made of glass. Their wings colored sunlight like stained glass. And they were dumb as stones with only a slightly unified mind.

The Violet (red and blue), Sapphire (blue and black),  Topaz (red and yellow) and Jade (yellow and blue) Clutches were born, all Fourthers.  There was a Sixer group, which was a little different in that it produced patterns of colors.  IndigoSun Clutch have hide that slides between yellow and red-orange, becoming blinding in the sunlight. The noticeable thing about them, though was that they had dark blue whiskers, horns, eyes, talons and underbelly (which is of a plated type of snakish scale).  The PurpleAgate is Purple and Green - a darkgreen base with purple tiger stripes.  Thus the first Twelver Clutch was the Diamonds, and this clutch bred with the Firster white and thus produced the Prismatic Clutch, which it contains the history of every colored dragon in the lineage. The Prismatics are another monster clutch. They have between two and ten heads from their ancestors. They are born with two and bud new ones regularly. The Lucky ones have either a single mind, or a workable split personality.

After these kinds of mutations started showing up,  making known the Doom of Dragons - that each generation would be less than it's parents. Dragons begain to mix it up a little more, and even go beyond their species (especially Wildlings who were not raised by dragons).  For example:  Nightfire is from the RubyLava clutch, parents from the Topaz and BlackMountain (from Jet Black and CragMountain, all Firsters).  She is a Fourther and can have any of the traits of her ancestors. Nightfire and Dunewaves (child of Desert Firster) had the SandSerpents, only the first five of which are truely of the SandSerpent Clutch, the others not even considered Dragons anymore as they are so fecud and unintelligent).  The Sciroco Clutch was fathered by SunstoneElectrea (a Fourther) and they specialize in Winds and Sandstorms. There are four living Scirocos, who are aided by SunStoneElectrea. The two Clutches of Nightfire hate each other, naturally.  Dragons likes these are generally considered the "last" generation.

In another direction,  Glacier Icemarch, who was raised by Snow Elves, transformed herself to a male Ni'akklu, took a snow elf bride with the Gri'ilklo powers. He loved their child and taught him to use his shamanic powers to become a Mandrake Ranger. This mixing is typical of the Wildlings, who came to be involved with the affairs of the Peoples of Worldstree.

Dragons exist somewhere between the level of Monsters and Beings and have such strong lifeforce that they can interbreed with almost anything. Two notable crossovers are the Faerie Dragons, which are very small beast with iridescent colors and butterfly wings, and seem to be Aseelie, and one the other end, Mandrakes, or Were-wyrms. Mandrakes are Celenes whose alternate form is that of a small dragon. Though a few live in the evirons of Silverymoon, they are rarely invited to the councils of the Sages.

Dragonettes are exceptionally small creatures, usually a foot and half from head to pointed tail. They are of fairly low intelligence, but often make familiars for wizards and Rangers.