Bituminis

An aggressive dragon that resides in the Volcanic Isles. The Tarwing (Bituminis igneus igneus) is no different than a living furnace.

Appearance
This brick red dragon is equipped with menacing silvery teeth visible from the outside. It stands between 180 - 200 centimetres. Its eyes resemble cat’s eyes but with scarlet irises instead. Pairs of pointy spikes are lined up at the top its head. Much larger horns, situated parallel to its eyes (think minotaur). Their scales are coloured with brick red for the most part, and lead grey for the chest to belly.

Its large, sail-like wings allow the Bituminis to fly and glide across the air, even with its massive mass; along with the wings, its prehensile tail, which not only serves as a pointy weapon, but also as a jet, propelling the dragon forward using carbon fuel from its diet. The Tarwing also has a noticeable streamlined body shape, which makes it able to achieve higher flight speeds.

Females
The females are considerably larger than the males (around 2 times larger), and have more definitive and lean muscles compared to its opposite sex.

Diet
The Tarwing feeds mostly on fossil fuels extracted from ores. It spends most of its days digging through the mountains, in hopes of finding coal. This dragon will occasionally eat other lifeforms like themselves, as they are quite aggressive, especially when you trespass their territories. Therefore, they are able to convert proteins, carbohydrates and etc. from the animals they eat into carbon, which fuels their metabolism; they will expel any waste materials such as metals, other gases and anything that is not carbon through its tail and nose.

Even though the Bituminis thrives on high temperature conditions that would kill other living things not adapted like humans, it still needs water to cool down and flush out toxins, absorbed from the pores all around its body.

Powers and Abilites
The Bituminis is able to generate heat, by using the coal as fuel from its diet. It can be used to aggressively scald the opponent, or as a defence mechanism. Temperatures can reach above 100°C.

Living in a harsh, lava land, and capable of generating heat enough to boil water, it would have thick scales that insulate the Bituminis and protecting it from fire.

The Bituminis is gifted with exceptional hand-to-hand combat skills, along with its boosted strength. Topped with its speed and heat, this combo is enough to beat most creatures.

The Bituminis has an array of sharp claws, horns and clawed feet, capable of piercing obsidian.

Since the Bituminis relies on coal to survive, it would have jaws that is capable of shattering rock. It can also be used offensively, like breaking bones.

The Bituminis has another notable appendage, its tail. Its tail is strong enough to pick up rocks with, strangle humans, and pierce through rocks.

The Bituminis is able to generate and store hot tar, produced as a byproduct, from the coal it eats. The tar would then be able to be spat at the threat, or ejected through its tail when there is an excess of it in its system

The Bituminis is able to absorb moisture from the air through its skin.

Weaknesses
The Bituminis will only gain their thick scales after 5 years, so before then, it has a skin that is not able to withstand as much force as the scales.

The Bituminis cannot stay powered up/stay in a high temperature state for too long, otherwise it will overheat and melt its scales or explode.

The Bituminis’ claws and horns can be broken, and they cannot regenerate.

The Bituminis is quite small compared to the other dragons, so it is outclassed in terms of strength.

When its tail is cut of or severely injured, this will bring excruciating pain towards the affected Bituminis, leading to either death or incapacitation.

Societal Information
Generally solitary reptiles, however, young Bituminises remain with their mothers until they reach 5 years of age and every year, the females and males gather at the biggest volcano at the Volcanic Isles to mate; the males have to fight the females in order to prove their worth.

The Bituminis dragonets will stay with their mothers until they are 5 years old, then the young dragon will be able to take care of itself as the basic defence mechanisms are developed, such as its horns, claws and heat generation.

Mating Rituals
Every year, Bituminises, males and females alike, gather around the largest volcano in the Volcanic Isles. The male dragons has to fight the more physically dominant females, in order to prove themselves worthy as a partner and later parent. If the males win, the female will allow the male to mate with her; if the opposite occurs, the female will consider the male a 'tar-dripping' feast.

Lifecycle
Once the mating is complete, the female Bituminis will devour its male partner for its 'fuel' it has gathered from eating coal over its years. Around one to two dragonets will be conceived, and the embryo will continue to develop for 6 months, then it will be ready to be born into the world. The mother will give birth to the newborn dragons through her tail, the inside lubricated by graphene. The newborn Bituminises can already walk and fly, but still has to stay with their mothers until their defensive characteristics appear.

Once the young are mature enough, their mothers will die of old age or leave them to fend for themselves and grow up on their own. So, the young will spend its life learning how to hunt and gain experience in fighting (though they are naturally born hand-to-hand fighters). As they grow up, they would have to consume lots of carbon, in order to compensate for the intense heat they generate everyday for offensive purposes. In short, their goal is to survive long enough until they are at the age of sexual maturity which is 18 years of age.

The young adult Bituminises will be able to take part in the mating ritual at the volcano and fight for a mate to have a chance to pass their genes for the generations to come. Then, if they are successful, the cycle starts all over again from the beginning.