Dragon Rider HQ

Fan guide

Dragonkind Terms Explained: Wing, Section, Squad, Lineage and More

Dragonkind throws a lot of words at you: a Wing, a Section, a Squad, then a colour, a tail type and a lineage on your result card. This is a plain list of what each one means in the game, based on the books and on what players report. It is an unofficial fan guide.

Your placement: Wing, Section and Squad

Before the Threshing, the game places you in the riders' quadrant. In the books, cadets are organised in a fixed chain: a Wing, then a Section, then a Squad.

Wing. The largest group. There are four, numbered First to Fourth.

Section. Each Wing is split into three Sections: Flame, Claw and Tail. The names look like a dragon's weapons, but the books do not say why they were chosen.

Squad. The smallest group inside a Section. Each Section has three Squads, so the books describe four Wings, twelve Sections and thirty-six Squads. In the game your placement reads like "First Wing, Claw Section, Third Squad".

Does it change your dragon? The most useful thing to know is that it does not appear to. Moderators on the Fourth Wing subreddit have said that your Wing, Section and Squad make no observable difference to whether you bond or which dragon you get. Treat it as flavour, not a hidden clue.

The words on your result card

If a dragon bonds with you, the card lists these fields. Colour, tail and lineage come from the books. How the game picks them is not published.

Colour. The game uses six: red, orange, green, brown, blue and black. The books also have a seventh line, irid, which is the line Andarna belongs to. Players report no irid result in the game. In the books each colour hints at temperament. Black dragons are the rarest and the most discerning, blues are powerful and ruthless, reds have short tempers, oranges are unpredictable, greens are thoughtful and browns are steady. See our guide to every named dragon for examples.

Tail type. Adult dragons in the books have one of five weapon tails: swordtail, daggertail, clubtail, scorpiontail or morningstartail. Young dragons have a feathertail until they mature. Rebecca Yarros has said the game can produce 6 colours with 5 tail types, which is 30 combinations, and a very large pool of dragon names. Those figures come from player reports of her posts and are not on the site itself.

Lineage. The family line your dragon comes from. In the books lineages carry a reputation, and the Dubhmadinn line, which includes Tairn and Codagh, is known as the most cunning. The game shows a lineage on your card, but there is no official list of them, so what each one means is mostly player interpretation.

Sex and age. Shown on the card as facts about your dragon. Nobody has published how the game chooses them.

Name. Dragon names in the books come from Scottish Gaelic words. The game reportedly generates a very large pool of names, so your dragon is unlikely to share a name with a dragon from the books.

Words from the story

Threshing. The ceremony where dragons choose which cadets, if any, they will bond with. In the books many cadets do not survive it, which is why the game builds its whole story around it.

Threshing Valley. The name Rebecca Yarros has used for the place in the game where your Threshing happens. In the books the Threshing is also held in a forested valley below the war college.

Incinerated, or burned. What happens when a dragon rejects you. Rebecca Yarros has said that roughly one run in ten ends this way whatever you choose. After a burn, the game keeps you out for about four hours. See the Dragonkind guide for the wait.

Bond. A dragon choosing you. A bond ends the run and gives you a result card.

Signet. A rider's power, which appears after bonding in the books. Signets are not in the game yet. Players expect them in May 2027. While you wait, try our signet quiz.

Related guides

Dragonkind game guide Which book dragon would bond with you?

Dragon Rider HQ is an unofficial fan site, not affiliated with Rebecca Yarros, Entangled Publishing or the makers of Dragonkind. Details are from the books and player reports as of October 2026 and may change. Play the official game at dragonkind.com.