Ethelshai’s Description - By Nemmy

The forest stretches on as far as your eyes can see in all
directions as you continue along your way, not entirely sure where it is you’re
going.  You don’t mind at all, though, it feels great to take the time away
from the bustle of society.  The leaves of the trees practically glow with such
a beautiful green this day, illuminated by the unchecked sun above.  Sweat
beads down your forehead and helps keep you cool each time a gentle breeze
greets you.

You hear a low noise all of a sudden and freeze in place,
your head just barely moving to scan the immediate area.  It almost sounded
like thunder, you think.  You give a quick look up at the sky and see nary a
cloud in sight.  Shrugging your shoulders, you keep moving forward, deciding to
play it off as just another marvel of the forest.  But the rumble rolls through
the ground again… and again… and again, louder and louder, the pace seems to
quicken now.

You fear that something big may be headed your way and your
eyes dart about, looking for the best place to hide.  The sound grows louder in
your ears and you decide that the base of a thick tree is where you will try to
cover yourself in the shadows.  It is almost deafening now compared to how
quiet the forest had been earlier.

Suddenly, a panicked boar crashes through the bushes in
front of you, barely 50 feet away.  You gasp as it runs straight at you but at
the last second it jukes around the tree and continues running.  Breathing a
sigh of relief you almost forget about the thunderous noise.  It takes a few
seconds for your mind to remind you that there was no way a boar could have
made all of that racket.

And just at that moment a much larger creature comes
barreling through the same bushes, obliterating them under its huge forepaws. 
You feel your mouth hanging wide open, unable to believe what it is you are
seeing, unable to move even as it comes right at you.  It gives a surprised
snort when it notices you there and comes to a stop and you silently curse to
yourself for hiding in the absolute worst spot.

Still, the sight of this amazing beast is too incredible and
you soon let your awe take over.  At first you can’t believe it but eventually
you decide that this is a dragon that stands before you, one of the so called
mythical beasts of lore.

The first thing you notice about the dragon is his size,
what a huge creature it is!  It easily looks to be about 80 feet in length from
snout to tail and about 30 feet tall at the shoulders.  The dragon has
marvelous green scales adorning him all over save for his underbelly plates
which are a pale white color.  Whereas the leaves just sort of absorb the
sunlight, the dragon’s scales sparkle brightly, majestically reflecting green
light all over the forest floor.

You continue to examine the beautiful dragon and your years
of experience with other creatures tells you that this one must be a male even
though there are no clear signs of that.  The dragon rumbles a low, pleased
noise while your eyes take in all his details.  Curious, he lowers his massive
head down perilously close to your own.  You fight the urge to run, even though
he could easily swallow you in one gulp you optimistically think that if he
didn’t eat you yet then he hopefully isn’t planning on it.

He tilts his head and examines you with one of his big,
brown eyes, locking his gaze with yours.  His pupil is a black, vertical slit,
much like that of a cat.  You break the staring contest rather quickly and the
dragon gives you a toothy grin, clearly amused at having won.  You smile too,
still in shock but starting to calm down now.  Looking up beyond his eyes you
notice that he has two long, kind of wavy horns that extend from the back of
his head, black in color.  The horns actually are longer than his snout, you determine.

The next thing you notice, starting at his forehead, is a
frill of spines held together by membrane that is almost teal in color.  The
frill extends all the way down his back and ends just as his tail begins.  The
spines aren’t fully erect at the moment which helps you relax even more,
knowing, at least, that the dragon is not on edge if he’s like any other
creature with back spines.

He lifts his head back up again and looks off in the
direction that the boar had run off and you realize that he must have been
hunting it.  The dragon smiles at you, or so you think, you’re not really sure
if it truly is or if you’re going crazy by this point.  He pads around the tree
and you watch as he goes, noticing his paws for the first time now.  Each
forepaw has five big toes ending in black claws.  His hind paws are digitigrade
with four toes in the front and one back toe with a black claw as well.

You see his wings, too, as he walks by, neatly folded up
along his flank.  You can tell that he has four wing fingers and also a thin
bone juts out from the elbow of his wingarm.  The folded membrane is the same
teal color as his frill on both the top and bottom.  Oh how you would have
loved to see him flying as well, what a sight that would be to behold!  You figure
that his wingspan would have to be as equally massive as his big body.

Suddenly the big dragon’s tail whips about overhead and
knocks down some tree branches as he takes off again after his prey, leaving
you bewildered and amazed.  Who would have ever thought that such a big forest
would hold such a big surprise?  With a big grin, you stand back up and look
off in the direction that the dragon ran, that thundering sound slowly fading
until you can hear it no more.