[Indemaijinj]

This is an example on how two bits of (somewhat) common D&D lore gives a rather suprising result.

We all know cromatic and metallic dragons. Great fantastic beasts and the figureheads of the Dungeons and Dragons game.

This thread is about their hides. Not the protective quality of their hides, but their colour and how it changes as the dragon matures.

A general thing about the hide of metallic dragons is that it behaves much like the metal it resembles. Over age it acquires patina and changes colour. A copper dragon, for example, is gleaming reddish-brown when it emerges from the egg. As it ages it will gain greenish tinges on it's scales. A copper great wurm has almost nothing left of it's original colour, being almost completely green.

The colour of chromatic dragons also change over time, though less drastic. Their colour will generally lighten, and become more mottled giving the dragon better camouflage. A wyrmling red dragon, for example, has fiery crimson scales while an aged red would be rust-coloured.

Now let's take the silver and the black. A hatchling silver dragon has gleaming white scales, while a hatchling black dragon is jet black.

But what about a silver great wurm and a black ditto? Whose scales would have the darkest hue? The answer might not be what you first thought.