Egg:
This damp egg is covered in sharp thorny spikes.
Hatchling:
Spoiler
Your thorny egg has hatched into an equally thorny lizard hatchling. This wouldn’t be a problem, except its favorite spot to sun itself is your lap, and when the curious hatchling isn't busy sunning itself, it likes to explore everywhere, and it's very fast. As a result, it's shredded a number of your clothes - both from resting in your lap and from exploring your closet - and your books all sport an impressive number of scratches and tears on their covers. It's also constantly moist, which makes having a lap lizard much less pleasant, and has ruined several papers you were writing by plopping down on them and smudging the ink beyond repair. For that matter, it's also ruined several ink pots and essays by drawing all the water out of your ink and onto your desk instead, until you trained it out of that particular habit. On the bright side, not a single ant has invaded your room since your new companion hatched, and any that escape when you feed it are simply a fun snack for it to catch later.
Spoiler
As thorny dragons mature, their sharp spikes gain an additional magical defense - scratches from them no longer merely hurt, but also cause listlessness in their victims. Fortunately, they also grow more aware of their potential damage, and generally do not scratch creatures or people unintentionally. Adult thorny dragons grow to the size of a large house cat, and those living at the Keep enjoy sunning themselves in the same spots as winged cats, sometimes leading to minor squabbles. Beyond being an indispensable companion for magi traveling through deserts, thorny dragons help magi figure out where to dig wells and identify leaks, though the latter is often done so by finding a thorny dragon smugly splashing about in a new pond nearby.
Spoiler
Despite their name, thorny dragons are closer in kin to lizards than dragons, though they are every bit as sharp and prickly as the other half of their name suggests. These lizards live in the sands of the Etain Desert, and even though they have an unwelcoming appearance, are a welcome sight to travelers. This is due to their water magic, which not only allows them to find water in the desert, but draw it up from underground when needed. Many small oases are attributed to the presence of a thorny dragon, and those who stop by them always make sure to leave some sort of offering for the resident thorny dragon as thanks. Since their preferred food, ants, are difficult to offer, travelers often leave coins or other small tokens instead. As a result, despite not having any specific interest in treasure as such, wild thorny dragons may have hoards comparable to small actual dragons.
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❖ Malo mori quam fodari ❖ 
thank you, gifters!
