Cheese Dragons are not actually alive. They are enchanted items of food that act almost identically to dragons. They have no need to eat, but they must “live” in humid environments or they will dry out and harden.

Original Sage Derby was the second Cheese dragon created by the flock's Spellweavers, a group of research-inclined Magi. He was not, however, the one they intended to create.

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The arcane dragons were trying to recreate the accident that created Wensleydale, but in a more controlled manner. They were aiming for blocks of that same cheese, which they had purchased from a nearby cheesemonger's inventory. Time and time again they cast their magic over the cheese, slightly modifying it each time, without much success.

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Unnoticed by the group, the tremors of their casting had dislodged an egg from the larder's shelves, which had smashed on contact with the stone floor. When Sergio stepped back, balancing on his hind legs only, to get the "right" angle for his spell, his right paw slipped in the slimy mess. As he flailed about, trying not to fall, a panicked bolt of magic flew out. Once the dust settled, the marbled green-and-yellow hatchling was sat where a block of cheese had once been.