Berengarian Dragons

[RK_Striker_JK_5]

What's that from, Mikey? *Legit interest*

[Mikey]

What's that from, Mikey? *Legit interest*

So Long and Thanks for All the Fish, the fourth (that's right) book in Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy.

[Mark]

Are these dragons supposed to be sentient life forms? Or more like animals?

[Mikey]

Just animals which unknowingly and unintentionally inspire lust in humanoids.

[Mark]

Cool........so with our Quantum shrink ray, we could catch one, keep it as a pet, and use it to inspire lust in various women. Maybe Kirk had one. Maybe that was his secret? 8)

[Varthikes]

I've included this world in my semi-fanfic "WhiteSpace" (in the writer's forum). I don't actually show the dragons there either, but when I have Kirk refer to them, I had in mind that they were semi-sentient. They're more on the level of dolphins and whales. They're intelligent, but, as with any large animal, they're power must be respected. It's mentioned that they do not mind the Federation colony there as long as they aren't provoked.

Of course, my story is hardly canon, but what does that matter?

[Mark]

Geneticly enhanced whales???

[stitch626]

One of Blackstar's... ideas, I guess you could call it that.

You can find it in the Whales on E-D thread in TNG. Long read, but entertaining.
The GE Whales
Not sure when it will come up, but pretty sure you'll find it eventually.

[Mark]

The thread where people got there quotes from, I'm guessing?

[stitch626]

I think so. You should read it. It is funny.

[Mikey]

My sig and part of Seafort's are from that thread. It's like a trip through the looking glass.

[Mark]

I tried to start reading it but DAMN, it's a 41 page thread.

[Sionnach Glic]

It's long, but trust me: it's worth it. That thread contains Blackstar's funniest claims on the board, and the debate itself is hilarious because, even when he's saying in all seriousness that whales are from a highly advanced alien race that geneticaly engineered themselves to swim, he's still utterly convinced that he's winning.

The Black Knight always wins!

[Teaos]

He debated in a really odd way.

People would say something like "Why would someone do that?" And he'd go "Well it could be because..." and come up with something that while slightly possible is highly unlikely, then he would hold onto that statement and argue that it is infact true rather than just give it as a possible example.

[Graham Kennedy]

200 metres is rather on the long side.

I imagine the dragons as being vaguely dinosaur-like, with very long, very thin tails and long necks, which would help keep the weight down.

And remember Berengaria is an alien planet. It might have a denser atmosphere, which would let an animal support a greater weight on a given wing size. And it might have quite low gravity compared to Earth; a habitable planet with a third of Earth's gravity is certainly within the bounds of possibility, which would make it far easier for a heavy animal to fly.

Combine all those, and I can imagine a 200 metre long animal flying, just about.

Breathing fire... well again, unlikely perhaps, but not really impossible. Is it so far beyond animals that spit poison, or produce powerful electric shocks?