Aww... It’s a cute baby dragon. It has an insatiable appetite.

And look! It’s developed a sharp, bony crest on its snout. It must be close to maturing.

Young dragons are relatively defenseless. They are born with relatively soft scales, which are shed and replaced with harder ones as the hatchling matures. Once a hatchling’s wings grow in, it typically marks the beginning of maturation. At this point they are often capable of hunting on their own and are usually left alone by their mother.

This hatchling likes to eat just about anything that is in a pile. Piles of stones as a bier, piles of logs stacked for winter fuel, piles of clothes waiting to be washed, piles of fruit on a cart for market, piles of hay in a field, piles of garbage—she eats it all.

A farmer besieged by Piylfead requested help from the closest town. They used her for their waste disposal until she grew too big for the town to sustain. She was then directed to a city some distance away. They were all happy to let her eat their garbage at first; now at least two of the city planners are nervous about what might happen when she outgrows their waste production.

Piylfead does not worry about it. She just eats and eats...