Guardian of Nature

Guardians of Nature (abbreviated GoN) were released on the March 26, 2010, as part of the Dimorphism Update. GoNs can only be obtained via the Summon BSA. Summon is available only when a user owns a complete "Legendary Trio" set (Magma, Ice, and Thunder Dragons). The Summon BSA is also only visible if the user's scroll is not at its egg limit.

Although the base success rate for Summon is unknown, the chance of success increases with every available set of Legendary Trio dragons on the user's scroll. Summoning can only be performed once every two weeks. Players are also limited to 3 Guardians of Nature per scroll. After a player completes three successful Summons, the BSA will disappear. While killed or zombified Guardians of Nature formerly could not be replaced due to the breed limit, this has since been changed. Any dead Guardian of Nature will be removed from the limit when the tombstone disappears.

Guardians of Nature can be bred with other dragons to produce "Guardian Avatars". The Avatars represent the three alignments: Destruction, Change, and Creation. The kind of Avatar depends on the elemental affinity of the mate's breed. Elementally neutral dragons do not produce any Avatar, instead producing the non-GoN mate's egg when bred to a Guardian of Nature. Since Guardians of Nature cannot be produced through breeding, attempting to pair two Guardians of Nature will always result in refusal. See Avatar Breeding for a list of mates.

Guardian of Nature eggs and hatchlings cannot be abandoned, and TJ explained why on the IRC:   : TJ, why can't we abandon summons/Guardians of Nature anymore?   : PrincessKiara, because they're meant for you.   : They aren't meant for your friend, when you summon an egg, it's yours.

Egg
This egg glows mysteriously.

Hatchling
''Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. It seems very protective.''

Mature hatchling
''Aww... It's a cute baby dragon. It seems very protective.''

''And look! It has grown wings! It must be close to maturing.''

Adult
''This breed of dragon was thought to exist only in legend. Although their name varies between cultures, they are often referred to as “Guardians of Nature.” They are able to channel the forces of fire, ice and lightning, which allows them to wield tremendous power. Seen very rarely, it is thought that they only become active when something is threatening the territory they have chosen to guard. In order to protect their chosen home, these dragons are incredibly adaptable; they have been seen everywhere from remote mountain ranges, to ancient forests, to the darkest depths of the ocean.''

Sprite artists

 * Fiona BlueFire (Egg)
 * Komodo Gallant (Adult)
 * Marrionetta (Hatchlings, New Adult)
 * Odeen (New Adult)

Trivia

 * TJ himself has a Guardian of Nature with the code TJ09.
 * The inspiration for this breed comes from the Pokémon Lugia: a legend tells that it appears only when the Legendary Pokémon Articuno (an Ice-type), Zapdos (an Electric-type) and Moltres (a Fire-type) combine their powers to summon it.
 * Since Dragon Cave's 8th birthday (May 21, 2014), the limit of Guardians of Nature was raised from 2 to 3 per scroll. The adult sprite also received a minor update.
 * Under the legacy breed sort, these dragons sort as "Lugia" on a user's scroll.
 * Guardians of Nature go by many unofficial names and for the following reasons:
 * Rugia (used by many workers, spriters and TJ09)
 * Humboldt (used by the adult spriter of this breed)
 * Lugia (used by many due to the Pokémon reference)
 * If a third summoned Guardian of Nature egg is turned into a Vampire Dragon, the Summon BSA becomes available again after the usual cooldown, since they no longer take up a GoN slot.