Have you seen that video of kangaroos at sunset? Their little journey is so beautiful … Ever since then, I've been imagining how perfectly Speed Stingers would fit into that exact same atmosphere.
And look closely! There's a baby dragon in the pack! Do you think it could be the same one from the show - the hatchling the Dragon Riders saved?
"These fast and furious frenzy feeders of the Swarm class are one of the most common traps naïve vikings will fall into. One small raptor is easy pickings for a beginner; ten is a death sentence, and thats not even starting on the other 40-60 back at home."
smaugust prompt list | class info | rambles below
sorry this took so long only to be shite, turns out day ten seems to be my fully detailed limit. the rest wont be *this* bad but ill probably lessen the detail a bit to save myself.
speed stingers are the face of the swarm class, and for good reason. though they typically live in packs of 50-70, there have been colonies observed of up to 150+ if a territory is large enough. a short gestation period, large broods and small stomachs mean they repopulate quickly at the cost of the shortest known lifespan in the dragon world.
stingers have a complex hierarchy & gender/sex system, somewhat akin to bees, with far more diversity in sex than the male/female dichotomy observed in many species. the most prominent role is the alpha—a female-adjacent gender that dictates the pack like a queen bee. she can only have alpha offspring if she births them herself, however she does possess a penis-like genital that is able to impregnate non-alphas and have non-alpha hatchlings.
alphas will always have much more vibrant stripes than other stingers, usually ina bright red or purple, and will be the only stinger to have these markings.
young alphas will fight and often kill each other from a young age in a bid to be the next leader and ergo the singular one that survives. if an alpha is not ready to give up her role, she will kill the challengers until she is. if an offspring is a survivor but unworthy, she will kill them.
this harsh style of parenting have led to alpha speed stingers being viewed as the chieftesses of the dragon world, to mimic the "tough love" style of parenting many high profile vikings use.
their titular stingers contain a paralytic venom that works in seconds, but a single dose isn't strong enough to take down a large dragin. they rely on overwhelming prey with many stings to keep them down, then either killing them or eating them alive. they use large packs to herd prey into a favourable position before they go in for the kill.
also as the name suggests, they are the epitome of speed, and are by far the fastest groundlocked creature in the land.
thankfully, due to their social nature, stingers are relatively easy to train provided they are able to socialise with other stingers. with the exceptions of alphas with are more rebellious to human interaction, stingers are often used to introduce new vikings to dragon riding; no wings means no falling, no fire means no misfire, small size prevent crushing, their need to hunt in groups means they are less likely to be a threat one to one, their poison alone cant paralyse for more than a few seconds, and the short lifespan means a trainee can see a stingers whole life and be considered ready for a winged dragon at the end.
For the past few days @yamsleftfoot and I have been discussing what kind of httyd dragon Tenna or Spamton would have and it evolved from that.
Tenna's Hobblegrunt is named Starlight and yes she's the pipis, yes this will be my one and only fanchild <3 That's his baby girl. Tenna does traveling plays, moving his work with dragons such as Terrible Terrors and Night Terrors. He has been abandoned by human helpers <3
Bringing to the Mike's who are a Terrible, Night Terror, and a Speed Stinger respectfully.
Featuring yamsleftfoot's lil pippin guys as well.
During the breaking of a deal for Spamton, he was taken away from Tenna, scared with Changewing acid, and thrown into the pit with said dragon, and left to die. The Changewing, who he calls Little Sponge, is a timid and meek creature with a myriad of problems of their own. Spamton is the emotional support rider.
Anyways <3 I love them I think they're so sillyyyyyyyyyy
