Chickweed’s Guide
The Breeds, listed from most to least tolerable
Skydancers
Perhaps it comes from living in the Zephyr Steppes, but I’ve found that Skydancers are the most tolerable breed. While I’ve met some dragons who consider their ability to sense emotion frightening, it’s not as if they can read minds. If they could, they’d have been hunted to extinction long ago.
No, in my experience, Skydancers don’t suffer from insurmountable breed failings. Most of my native Clan was composed of Skydancers and I never suffered for it, likely because they’re not large enough to bully with sheer force. I can’t say that for some of the other breeds on this list.
I give them a solid 8/10
Spirals
Again, I must acknowledge my bias as a Wind Flight dragon myself. Spirals composed a good fraction of my Clan as well, and I learned to tolerate them fairly well. I rank them below Skydancers only because of the breed tendency towards boundless energy.
While managing my classroom, I often found Spiral hatchlings to be difficult to discipline, as it took them some extra time to develop an attention span, and I had to occasionally untie knots of Spirals who played too rough with one another.
Other than that, I’ve found the Spiral tendency towards energy to be rather endearing, if exasperating, at times.
7/10
Snappers
In my classroom, my Snapper students were often at the top of the class. I suspect this is because they could study an entire night without sleep.
With few exceptions, they didn’t interrupt while I taught, though I noticed they had a tendency to ramble when participating in class. In my opinion, they are neither exceptional nor exceptionally annoying, which is why they are rated so highly on this list.
7/10
Fae
Those bulbous eyes, gangly necks, and mechanical voices have always unsettled me. Also, I find their magical advantage to be unfair in the same way that large size is unfair. It’s just not fair, and I’m not being petty.
I do admit, however, that their dexterity and small size does make them very useful, especially for a big clan. 6/10
Nocturnes
I have little experience with this breed. From what I’ve observed during the awake times of the year, they are distinctly annoying as they tend to echo back nearly everything anyone says.
6/10, because at least they’re all asleep most of the time.
Tundras
I don’t understand Tundras and I never will. Every time I come across one of these hairy creatures, they sniff me for an uncomfortably long time and make dim small talk while I try to escape without looking rude. Then a week later, I hear about some Tundra going savage towards an enemy Clan or else burgling an entire bank out of their fortune.
It makes me uneasy and I have no desire to become great friends with one.5/10
Guardians
These dragons are large and tend to bully because of it. These dragons are pretentious because they care about their precious charge more than any physical being can ever care about anything (or so they claim).
These dragons are tolerable if they aren’t brutes, but they so often are. They are wonderful to have on your side if they aren’t too pretentious to have friends. It’s a hit or miss situation. 5/10
Imperials
Who even knows an Imperial in person anymore? There’s always been a mystique around this breed and I can only name two off the top of my head. I suppose I don’t know enough to give these dragons a proper rating. How about an even 5/10 for ambiguity.
Wildclaw
I would put Wildclaws higher on the list if they had behaved better in my classroom. While I had several well behaved hatchlings in my class, the majority tended to have high chase drives, which proved disastrous when an insect flew into the classroom.
While it’s true that my Spiral students were often hyper, they usually didn’t break my teaching supplies when they got excited, which I can’t say for the Wildclaws.
Also, most of the dragons who want to kill me are Wildclaws, which counts for something.
4/10
Obelisks
Imperials grow slowly through their lifespan. Guardians go through a growth spurt as they reach adulthood, thankfully after their time in my classroom was already done. Ridgeback hatchlings grow faster than the previous two, but at a measured pace. Obelisks, though.
Obelisk hatchling explode in size as soon as they gain enough strength to fly, which caused no end of trouble in my classroom. Disciplining a hatchling approaching and exceeding my own height and weight was difficult, and on at least a few occasions, dangerous. 4/10
Mirrors
You can take the dragon out of murder land, but you can’t take the murder out of the dragon. If Mirrors had stayed collectively as a breed in the Scarred Wasteland, maybe I wouldn’t have a problem with them.
As it is, every time I heard that there’s a Mirror pack roaming near my home, I would lock my door knowing full well that it would do nothing. Nothing every happened, but many of my nightmares were populated by vicious Mirror packs tearing down my door and ripping up my notebooks page by page.
It’s not a thought I like to entertain. 4/10
Pearlcatchers
No one cares about your stupid pearls. 3/10
Ridgebacks
How about a large, bullying dragon who also steals your things? I’ve always found these dragons to be imposing and impolite, and they eat an impossible amount of food.
I also had a few Ridgeback students who caused an impossible amount of trouble by “borrowing” the belongings of others and my answer keys.
Their parents all found it to be extremely amusing. 2/10
Bogsneaks
I blame my low opinion of Bogsneaks on one particular experience I had with one. I’m aware that this is an incredibly shallow opinion, but I refuse to change my mind.
Trust me, when a dragon makes it their personal mission to follow you around and lick all of your personal belongings, you will be imbued with a life long prejudice against their kin. There are no exceptions. 2/10
Coatl
Ah yes, my very own breed. I put them last because I can say, within the deepest depths of my pale, colorless feathers, that Coatls are the meanest, most prejudice, cold-hearted breed there ever was. Every time I meet one, they take a long look at my white plumage and slowly move their hatchlings away from me. If they don’t hiss at me first.
There’s a reason I haven’t visited the Ashfall Waste and I never will. 0/10
