Dragons

Dragons are not native to the world of Atheron. They arrived as an invasion force from some other realm through portals created by their own rulers – the Dragon Kings. The resulting war shattered the fates of all beings in the world, and was only ended by the Sundering. True dragons are magical creatures that have a great deal of physical diversity but all share the inborn need to gain power and collect some form of treasure. All true dragons are hexapedal with four legs, and a single pair of wings. Their necks tend to be relatively long and sinuous. Their tails are typically quite long, may have weapon-like protrusions and may be prehensile. They are covered with thick, damage-resistant hide with overlapping scales. All true dragons have some form of ‘breath weapon’. For younger dragons this breath weapon is almost always some form of gas or liquid-based attack. Usually, it is some form of poison or venom, but may instead by a soporific, adhesive, acid, or some other fluid. As with all draconic creatures, true dragons are hatched from relatively small eggs. At hatching, all dragons are animalistic, reptile-like creature with little to no magic of their own. These new born creatures are called drakes. Young drakes are universally covered with reptilian scale patterns in ‘natural’ color tones. That is, grey, green, brown scales in a variety of patterns. Some drakes develop wings early, others don’t, but more importantly, some young drakes develop an urge to collect a hoard. This desire to collect some form of treasure is what drives the development of a drake into a true dragon. Drakes that hoard (and are not killed) grow to become true dragons. Not only do they grown in size, and grow wings, but also their intellect and inherent magical abilities all increase in power and scope. This increase is less about time and food as it is about increasing the size and value of their hoard. Most commonly, it takes a young dragon at least two centuries to increase their hoard to the size and value that the dragon can be considered an adult dragon. By this time, a dragon’s breath weapon will likely have changed and grown as well. Most dragons gain some connection to a specific form of elemental energy that will be reflected in their breath weapon and the color of their scales. Drakes that never develop a hoard remain animalistic, rapacious creatures. Drakes are often killed by their ‘siblings’ in territorial fights. Occasionally, growing true dragons will dominate these creatures as guards or servants. Drakes are highly variable in their appearance. The majority will remain reptilian in coloration and adapt their form to fit their preferred hunting methods and location. Many drakes retain some form of breath weapon, but it is usually weak compared to that of even young true dragons. A small number of drakes will actually develop wings, and become known as ‘false-dragons’. Drakes that live in the territory of an adult dragon may develop elemental properties related to the dragon whose territory they reside in. Very, VERY rarely, a drake may form a bond with (or be dominated by) a non-draconic creature. Such drakes can be very potent guards or servants. All drakes keep their cunning, and usually have at least a minimal capacity to understand spoken language.
Dragon Mating Flights As true dragons become adults, they gain the capacity and an occasional, overwhelming urge to mate and produce young. As near as scholars can tell, true dragons do not have a male/female gender divide. Instead, when dragons mate, it is a form of competition, and the one that ‘wins’ is the individual that produces eggs. These mating competitions take the form of mating flights. Scholars think that when a given dragon is close to their mating urge, they will engage in a frenzy of violence and predation – even sometimes turning on their own trusted servants or guards and consuming them. Once they have sated their initial bloodlust, the initial dragon rises in a long and powerful flight. All nearby dragons, made aware by some form of magical signal, rise to chase and compete with the leading dragon. It is unclear how the dragons establish their dominance in these flights, though speed of flight and distance clearly play some role. But there are also bouts of physical and magical combat interspersed through the flights, so it is not simply a race. The ‘winner’ of this mating competition is not necessarily the dragon that initiates it, but that dragon does start with some significant advantage. Whichever dragon does win will return to their territory to lay eggs near, but not usually within, their lair. Dragon mating flights are far more important than just an unusual form of reproduction – they also introduce a chaotic magical influence on all creatures that exist near the flight path of the dragons. The first major impact of a dragon mating flight on any animals nearby is a massive urge to violence. This urge is not absolute, but it is powerful and pervasive. In humans and their kin, the flight causes a powerful lust, rather than violence. Again, this urge can be resisted, but it is quite powerful. Mating flights also have a similar and powerful effect on the Wilding Fae. Groups of such creatures tend to follow a mating flight in a bloodthirsty and orgiastic frenzy. The size of an area effected by a mating flight is determined by the number and relative power of the dragons involved in the flight. Arguably more important than the immediate effects of a mating flight are the magical and chaotic influence of the flight on beings created or conceived under its influence. Dragons are, by their nature, magical, metamorphic creatures and the magic of their mating flight can induce changes in almost any creature that is created under its influence. These flights are the fundamental source for the massive number of new species of magical and non-magical creatures that have been encountered since the Sundering. More importantly, human children conceived under a dragon flight may have radically different features from their parents. These changes can be as simple as unusual hair/skin/eye color to something as complex as being a new species. Since the Sundering, a number of new humanoid species have arisen in this way. Most famously, this includes the dragonborn, but also a handful of others. Similarly, dragon mating flights can cause massive changes in the young of other animals (and occasionally, plants). This is the source of many of the monsters than roam the Wode and the Seas since the Sundering. Creatures that derive from chaotic modification of mature drakes, or monsters that gain strong draconic traits are all collectively referred to as dragon-kin.
Dragon Lairs and Hoards When a dragon claims a home, it gains magical power over that place. Even young dragons can exert powerful control over its lair, and over time that control extends outward into its domain. Similarly, the collected hoard of material in a dragon’s lair develops magical properties over time. Any item that has been possessed by a dragon can gain some magical properties. Even simple objects, such as metal coins, can be transformed into magical materials. As an example, dragonsilver (mithril) is simply the metal silver that has been in the long-term possession of a dragon.