Dragons - History and Lore

Few creatures have had such an impact upon the world as the dragons. Some tyranical, some benevolent, others somewhere in between - all have caused mortals pain, fear and sometimes hope.  

The Legend of Dragonkind

  Legend says that the goddess Mana, daughter of the goddess of knowledge, Ioun, sought the favour and approval of her Father - The Father of all creation. She was domainless, and had no world to call her own in the Astral Dream; no worshippers nor servants to call her own. Her power was less than lesser in comparison to her sire, and she wandered away from her home often, searching for greater meaning and purpose as to her birthright. As the family of celestial gods grew and as the planescape expanded, her jealousy and envy grew and festered. The divine spark of omnipotence, the divine power wielded by the pantheon, did not bless her as it blessed them. Was she little more than a mortal in the eyes of her father?  
Mana walked the mortal, prime world of Vaead as sorrow and self pity gripped her. She walked beneath the walls of ancient cities of mortal kind, the first places of the elves, the halls of dwarves and the first ships of humankind. What she saw made little sense to her. The icons and worship of her fellow pantheon were so apparent, as was the presence of them felt. But so much was given by the people for favour they would never have. Mana saw kings, priests, saints and paragons blessed with favour and even power at times… but hundreds of thousands of unwashed masses were so much less fortunate. She saw in them a hidden strength that even her fellow, mightier gods did not see. In them, she saw a domain of her own.  
Mana curated favour with mortalkind, slowly and carefully. Her place was among them; to her she was tangible, real and her power was real; even if not as mighty as the gods. A community grew around her, and she as their queen. For many years, it was so.  
But when the Father learned of his daughter’s antics, he was furious. He cast away Mana’s followers and destroyed her community, as a lesson of her disobedience. Mana would not defer to the Father’s wishes. Instead, she chose to fool the greatest deity and managed to steal away a portion of the creator’s divine spark without his knowledge. Armed with a power greater than her, she returned to Vaead under the guise of a majestic, great and powerful form of her own making. In this form, she appeared to her broken followers not as their queen, but as their saviour. And to them, instead of returning to rule, she gave the stolen power. The power she gave them spread and grew in mortal hands; quickly becoming as much a part of Vaead as it had originally been part of the divine. The weave through reality she had given mortals she would train to use under her new form. The name they gave to her form, was ‘dragon’.
Without her Father’s knowledge, she taught her mortal followers how to use this new power she had given them, knowing that once he discovered it, they would be destroyed if they could not be protected. Soon, masters of this new ‘arcane’ spark were ready to learn from her and in her words. Time was precious and short for Mana’s spite to become reality. And so, onto her three mightiest followers, she breathed the gift of ascension. To them, she gave not only her power, but her mighty ‘dragon’ form. To her, three Demi-god children were born; made in her image. Tied to her destiny, and with a mutual, singular Objective: make the realm of mortals into a power to rival the gods who created it.  
What Mana did not perceive, however, was how her children would interpret her one wish.  
Tyrax the Iridescent was her first, and hastiest, Demi-god. His great dragon form possessed an endlessly changing shift of colours, shimmering in ethereal light. His form changed with his mood, his head crested with great, long flowing horns and spines. His size was greater than the largest giant, greater than entire cities. His wings overshadowed the world of mortals. In his humanoid form, he was said to appear as a young man with hair that flowed like flame in five colours, ever changing. Horns bent around his head like a vicious crown, and thick, scaled armour gave him terrifying bulk as he held a great biting war axe over his shoulders. Tyrax saw his mother's wish clearly: that the only way for those as pitifully lesser as mortals to rival gods was to serve those who could make them equal. Tyrax's word was 'dominion' and his growing swell of followers who he elevated as his lieutenants coveted that word with great intent.  
Baol the Benevolent was her second and noblest Demi-god. His scales glittered like the metal of deep mines and wealthy dwarf lords. A crescent topped his head like he was forever blessed. His form was great and serpentine; weaving across the sky like an endless river. In humanoid form, he was said to have been an older man, simply robed and dressed like a wise one, but with enourmous presence and gravitas behind his person. He bore no weapon, for his way was with his tongue before it was with dragonflame. Baol's way would be that of 'leadership'. Where his brother saw mortalkind as thralls to a purpose only he was fit to bear, Baol saw the people of Vaead as, indeed weak, but in need of a greater purpose and guide. To Baol, mortalkind should be worthy subjects of a greater kingdom of his kind that would survive the wrath of the gods.   Finally, Mana's third Demi-god offspring was perhaps the most like her mother. Isalla the Bright was said to have first ascended on the barrier between intense heat and intenser pressure on the borders of Vaead and the pillars of creation. Her form was said to be encrusted with the most brilliant and shining array of jewels imaginable. The kind that would make people of today lose their minds and thoughts with the sheer brilliance of its shine and glint. Indeed, so brightly she shone, it was hard to discern much of her form at all save for her silhouette and she dazzled those mortals she walked among and came to. Isalla carried Mana’s own mother Ioun’s curiosity and careful pensive approach to the nature of the reality the gods ruled. In service to her own cautious, her word was ‘preservation’. What Mana had given mortals was a power that may, in a distant far flung future, rival that of their creators. Her word would keep that power safe, hidden, and as limited as possible to those deserving of it.
  Alone, Mana may have been destroyed by the pantheon. But with her three children, and a growing mass of followers ascended to dragon form as reward for their loyalty and devotion, when the Father sent his angelic servants in pursuit of her, there was no swift destruction of the dragons. Instead, a great battle shook Vaead, as mortals looked up in terror as dragon and celestial set upon each other in a great and terrible rampage through the skies.
For years they raged, and for years would have continued to have done so. But neither side would break. Before long, the Father ordered an end to the fighting, seeing that a continued battle against his daughter would lead only to further multiversal ruin. Mana had won and her wish had been fulfilled. Her purpose served, she was offered a place in the Astral Dream once more and she returned to the heavens, believing that mortalkind was now free to flourish under the freedom and power she had given them. Her own three children would be there to lord over them and guide them forward.   But a wish fulfilled left three intepretations of her wish loose upon the world. Tyrax and his ascended chromatic followers saw dominion over feeble races as a reward for what they had hard fought for. He created the Dragonborn out of many races; a mortal race of his own making that would serve him unquestioningly unto the end of time.   Baol was sickened by his brother's actions and positioned himself and his imperial followers at the head of a great and unstoppable arcane empire of the east. The loyalty of his kingdom's people would be won, willingly or not.   Isalla vanished from her brother's squabble over the 'winnings' of Vaead. She retreated with her followers into the secret and unknowable places of the material plane that neither brother had ever thought to look. There, she reigned over unsettled dragons of gems and stone.    

Reign of the Dragons

For thousands and thousands of years, no one could ever have doubted the power of dragon kind. For all of the great empires of Vaead built upon the forge of arcane, divine and primal magic, none could stop the dragons.  

Decline of the Dragons

Toward the end of the Age of Restoration, dragonkind was on the verge of falling into myth. The Chromatic tyrants that reigned through the Age of Darkness were considered driven to extinction. The Gemstone wyrms were always secretive and only seemed to retreat further into the hidden places of the world with the fall of their Chromatic cousins. Imperial dragons can still be found in Avea, though their wars with both ancient mortals and dragonkind have left them nearly on the edge of extinction. The Lesser Dragons can be found rarely throughout the world in their respective biomes and habitats. Truly, dragonkind is on the verge of total extinction - with the greater Chromatic and Imperial dragons all but gone, the Gemstone dragons uninterested in the pursuit of dominance, and the Lesser Dragons being hunted and pursued across the known world.   Scholarly classification divides dragonkind into categories based upon individual strength, capability and power.  

Greater Dragons

The Greater Dragons are dragons of the subtypes Chromatic and Imperial. They have great intelligences, long lives and incredible power.  

Chromatic

Chromatic dragons were native to the continent of Karthica. They are noted for their selfish behaviour with a disregard for other mortals. During the Age of Darkness, a great empire was forged by an alliance of Chromatic wyrms. This empire was later defeated near the conclusion of that age by the combined forces of the remnants of the Metallic dragons and the new great Kingdom of Giladris. They have since been considered extinct, with only rumours of sightings and encounters being passed around noble courts and local taverns since.   Types of Chromatic Dragon include:

• Red

• Green

• Blue

• Black

• White

 

Imperial

Imperial dragons were native to the continent of Avea. They are noted for their benevolent disposition and tendancy to shepherd mortals under their power and guidance. Before the Empire of Kyotai dominated Avea, imperial dragons led great empires of mortals against evils left behind from the War for Heaven. Their constant battles against the Chromatic's attempts at dominance caused their numbers to dwindle exponentially. While they are not extinct, they are exceptionally rare in Avea, and are only rarely seen keeping a great distance from mortals.   Types of Imperial Dragon include:

• Forest
• Sea
• Sky
• Underworld
• Sovereign

     

Gemstone

 

• Emerald
• Ruby
• Sapphire
• Topaz
• Amethyst

 

Lesser Dragons

Dragons that are not part of the 'greater cast' are those that have spawned over millenia of tinkering and diversifying by their more evolved and advanced sires. This includes common dragons; those that look like greater dragons at a glance but do not share the same ambition or tendencies (more inclined to spend their time alone in selfish desire). Linnorns are wingless dragons of a similar ilk, but retain the greater dragon's sense of superiority and hating lesser creatures. Drakes are much smaller and more animalistic dragon kind that can be found in abundance - common legends hold that the dragons of old have devolved into the beastial drakes as punishment for their atrocities. Other dragon kind persist additionally.  

Common Dragons

Common is a deceptive term to describe these dragons: they are still rare, but it is highly likely that adventurers will encounter at least one of these wyrms during their journeys. They are more commonly found, simply put, than Greater Dragons, and though they are intelligent, their selfish desires rarely account for long term plans and goals. They are ultimately impulsive creatures driven by their more base instincts. Common dragons are native to multiple environments across the known world. Despite being the more commonly encountered dragon type in the world, sightings and encounters are still met most often with fear - be it the realisation of a new nearby lair indicated by a changing landscape or the decimation of the local countryside.   Types of Common Dragon include:

• Brine

• Cloud

• Magma

• Dragon Turtle

• Mine Dragon

Linnorn

  Linnorns are wingless dragons of equal size to their greater kin. They possess a vindictive and hateful view of creatures they see as lesser than them and attempt to exterminate such creatures to form their desired world around themselves. Linnorns have a deep tie to the First World of the Fey; while they may not originate from there, Fey are clearly not on a Linnorn's list of lesser beings.  

• Fjord Linnorn
• Cairn Linnorn
• Shoal Linnorn
• Ice Linnorn
• Crag Linnorn
• Taiga Linnorn
• Tarn Linnorn
• Tor Linnorn

Drake

The animalistic drakes are a much more draconic sight. Peasants have long mistaken them for true dragons and from their perspective, they are often no less deadly. Drakes have spread across the world since the downfall of true dragon kind and can be found in a variety of environments and forms.

• Desert Drake
• Flame Drake
• Frost Drake
• Jungle Drake
• Prairie Drake
• River Drake
• Sea Drake
• Shadow Drake
• Wyvern