THE BUILDINGS OF DRAGONSDALE
The whole valley in which the farm lies was called Dragonsdale in ancient times, before the dragons were domesticated, and retains the name.
Dragonsdale House
Where Cara and her father live. It has a large kitchen with a big wooden table. It is always warm, because of the black wood-fired range and constantly boiling kettles, fresh baking etc. The household is run by the housekeeper, Gerda.
The Stable Yard
Large
cobbled area surrounded by the various buildings of Dragonsdale. It can be
reoofed with canvas for the Yuletide celebrations.
Stables
Stone buildings, clay tile roofs on bog-oak beams. Contain no straw as dragons would burn their own beds if it were used! Instead dragons lie on beds made of pumice in individual stalls or boxes. These have horizontally split iron doors - smaller at the top, larger at the bottom, and brass name-plates for dragons resident at the stud above the doors.
Guard Tower
In the Northeast corner of the stable yard – a lookout point for beacons calling for help from Dragonsdale and spotting the arrival of visitors.
Hatchling Sheds
Contain incubation pens with a hypocaust heating system to keep the dragon's eggs warm on a bed of sand until they hatch, and pens for the dragonets, which remain here until they become yearlings.
Bunkhouses
Where the stable hands live. Resident
riders live in Dragonsdale House.
The Forge
Where Wayland the Forgemaster works at his furnace.
The Well
This lies in the centre of the stable yard.
Nursery Hollow
The lowest part of Dragonsdale, where the youngest riders and their dragons are trained.
Parade Ring
In front of the house, where dragons are shown off to prospective owners and riders and dragons gather for hunts and other social occasions.
Practice Ring
A fully equipped showing arena for the ring flying exercises. This doubles as the show arena for local flying events.
Pylons
There are four of these, marking the Northwest, Northeast, Southwest and Southeast corners of the notional “box” used for aerobatic event training.
Various Outhouses
These include: Feedstores, Backrooms, Storerooms.
Meadows and Pastures
These are used to graze the sheep and goats on which the dragons feed. Dragons also eat plants, sometimes from this pastureland, but more often from the swamps and bogs of Lakeland to the North.
THE CAPACITY OF DRAGONSDALE
Stabling - 3 blocks with capacity of 15 stables each, total 45 stables
Guard flight - 9 dragons regularly fly in guard flight / hunting parties
Beginners/novices - 8 dragons and riders*
Juniors/Intermediate - 8 dragons and riders*
Senior - 8 dragons and riders*
Racing - 8 dragons and riders*
Hack / Messenger - 4 dragons
*including private owners and their dragons kept at Dragonsdale.
DRAGONS OF DRAGONSDALE AND THEIR RIDERS
Skydancer (Goldenbrow) - Cara
Moonlight (Darkeye) - Breena
Breezeskimmer (Silvertip) - Mellan
Bumble / Pollenbloom (Splaytail) - Wony
Valeweaver (Finback) - Hortense
Cloudbreaker (Firecrest) - Hortense
Nightrider (Ridgeback Charger) - Galen
Starseeker (Greenback) - Imar
Dawnspinner (Ridgeback Charger) - Tord
Silvercloud (Bearded) - Hortense
Starskimmer (Not Given) - Orla
Leafscatterer (Not Given) - Nessa
THE GUARD FLIGHT OF DRAGONSDALE
Flight leader.................. Galen
Wing leaders................. Galen (Nightrider), Tord (Dawnspinner), Imar (Starseeker)
Wing riders (Left)........... Caley (Swiftwing), Dolan (Windcatcher), Mellan (Breezeskimmer)
Wing riders (Right)........ Aidan (Spitfire), Tomey (Highglider), Breena (Moonflight)
The Guard flight doubles as the hunting flight when not required for guard duty.
In an emergency, any sufficiently competent junior or any senior rider can be called upon to augment the guard flight.
RIVAL STABLES AND DRAGONMASTERS
Wyvernwood...............Dragonmaster Bain
Wingover.....................Dragonmaster Hoyt
Drakelodge..................Dragonmaster Lunn
Clapperclaw................ Dragonmaster Adair
STABLE COLOURS
Wyvernwood............... Purple
Wingover.................... Blue
Drakelodge................. Brown
Clapperclaw............... Scarlet
Dragonsdale.............. Emerald Green
Lord Torin................... Powder Blue, Lilac Facings