Black Marrow Dragon

Black Marrow Dragons or Halloween 2010 Dragons are the Halloween dragons released October 31, 2010. As a limited release dragon, Black Marrows can only produce more Black Marrow eggs during a brief period before the Halloween holiday. They may be bred year-round, but will always produce the non-Halloween mate's breed.

Official descriptions[]

Egg[]

This egg is covered in a dark crust.

Hatchling[]

This hatchling could hardly be considered cute.

Mature hatchling[]

This hatchling could hardly be considered cute.

And look! It has grown wings! At least it isn’t quite as naked-looking anymore.

Adult[]

Black Marrows are named for their dark colored hides which are encased in a distinct exoskeleton. Their skull and the top edges of their spine push out from under the skin as they age. As such, their young need excessive amounts of calcium for this armor to develop. The older a Black Marrow dragon is, the more skeletal their appearance. They often use their skeletal looks to lure in foolish scavengers or terrify predators. These vicious dragons love nothing more than to crack open bones with their stony beaks and eat the marrow inside. Voracious scavengers, Black Marrows will swarm and devour corpses both old and fresh, sometimes even dragging larger finds to the water to allow them to “ripen.” Despite their dreadful demeanour and often horrid stench, Black Marrows are devoted mates and parents.

Credits[]

Dovealove (All sprites)
Seiss (All sprites, descriptions)

Sprites[]

Series	Egg	Hatchling	Mature hatchling	Adult
Female
Male

Egg sequence[]

Stage 0	Stage 1	Stage 2	Stage 3	Stage 4	Stage 5	Dead

Retired sprites[]

Temporary event sprites
Series	Egg	Hatchling	Mature hatchling	Adult
Holidays 2011 Female	–	–	–
Holidays 2011 Male	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2018 Female	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2018 Male	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Female	–	–	–
April Fools' Day 2022 Male	–	–	–

Retired sprites
Series	Egg	Hatchling	Mature hatchling	Adult
Original female	–	–	–

Encyclopedia entry[]

Show/Hide Entry

Appearance/Basic Anatomy

Covered in distinct exoskeleton that is black in appearance.
Youngest hatchlings are mostly red in color. Older Marrows are mostly black with red on the underside of their wings.
Stony beak meant for cracking open bones.
Typical build for their body plan.
Skeletal matter pokes through their skull and spine, all the way down their tail.
Male’s horns curve backwards while female’s horns are shorter and poke straight up.
Distinctive foul odor that is hard to get used to or ignore.
Young hatchlings look almost skinless at a first glance.

Hatchling Behavior

Youngest hatchlings mostly sit about screeching and wailing at each other.
Become more active and rambunctious as they age.
Exoskeleton pushing through skin is painful; hatchlings often rub up against trees, rocks, and each other to help the passing of bone through skin.
Play is group-oriented either with other hatchlings or adults.
Young hatchlings are brought food by parents or other adults of the clan.
Older hatchlings begin scavenging themselves but only target carcasses, not dying animals.
Hoarders of anything that catches their eye.
Group play helps hatchlings practice keeping a scavenged find.

Adult Behavior

Live in clans or packs of at least a dozen adults.
Respect earned through finding the largest and ripest carcasses.
Usually mate for life.
May take a new mate if their first mate dies.
Hatchling care is primarily the duty of the hatchling’s parents, but a group would never let a hatchling go forgotten.
Harden their beaks by putting them through rigorous use.
Sharpen their beaks on smoother rocks.
Have been known to play dead for the express purpose of drawing in other scavengers just to frighten them.

Habitat

Hardy dragons that can live in most any environment.
Do not do well in environmental extremes.
Prefer to hide eggs and hatchlings within caves.
Adults do not typically inhabit caves.

Diet

Scavengers, they will eat carcasses of nearly any animal they find.
Favorite treat is bone marrow.
Scavenge for the dead and nearly dead but will not swarm until a creature is dead.
Hatchlings get bits of larger carcasses or are given smaller carcasses of their own.
Young hatchlings cannot dig out bone marrow, so do not taste it until they are more mature.

Trivia[]

Due to the large amount of traffic generated by this release, Dragon Cave experienced unusually high lag, making it difficult for users to collect eggs. To alleviate the issue, TJ09 added a second row of eggs to the cave for this release.
Under legacy breed sort, Black Marrow Dragons sort as "Halloween 2010 Dragon."