Dragon
Since the dawn of humanity, dragons were prevalent creatures that were feared and respected by humans. Although true dragons (intelligent dragons capable of interspecies communication) are instinct, their descendants still live on to this day.
Classification
Dragons can be classified based on a few characteristics: the presence or absence of wings, a lizard-like or serpent-like body, and their level of intelligence. In Western culture, dragons are usually as winged and lizard-like dragons, while in Eastern culture, they lack wings and have serpentine body. Henceforth, these two types of dragons will be refered to as "Western dragons" and "Eastern dragons", respectively. While dragons are very intelligent creatures, those with the ability to communicate (usually telepathically) with other species is called "true dragons".
There are also two species descended from Western dragons called wyverns (distinguished by the apparent merging of their forelimbs and wings) and drakes (which lack wings altogether and cannot fly).
Evolution
All dragons are descendants of dinosaurs. Their evolution diverged from the natural fauna of the Earth because these creatures were exposed to the magical energy that coming from mana hotspots linking Earth and Mundus Magicus. At this point, they were all tetrapods and suddenly gained the power to control fire. Some time later, their development split—one group developed the power of flight through wings, and the other developed it through manipulation of air particles under their feet. The former was more prevalent in the north and west, and the latter in the south and east.
Wyverns are descended from winged Western dragons, where a mutation caused the bones of their wings and forelimbs to grow from the same place on their body, thus merging the structure. Drakes, on the other hand, had a mutation where they lost their wings and their ability to fly altogether.
Prominent Dragons
Among the dragons that lived in early human history, there were four oriental dragons whose strength were unmatched by any other existences. They were named the Four Great Dragon Emperors (四大龍皇, Sì dà lóng huáng). The Dragon Emperors were the first to make contact with the humans and made peace between the two race. They decided that to show their trust by granting some humans their powers and taught the humans to wield the powers against malevolent dragons. The humans, instead, used these skills to kill hundreds of dragons indiscriminately, dwindling the population down to only a handful. The Four Dragon Emperors regretted their decisions of teaching those techniques to the humans, killed the humans they originally taught, and went to hiding, never to show themselves again. The other dragons fled to different corners of the Earth, hoping to live out their long lives. Regretfully, some of them were hunted down and killed before their lives ended. The Four Great Dragons Emperors eventually died of old age and became spirits in the Spirit World.
Four Great Dragon Emperors
- Límíng (黎明, meaning "Daybreak" in Chinese), also known as Yáng lóng (陽龍, meaning "Yang dragon" in Chinese), is the Dragon of Yang. Its pure white scale contains concentrated Yang energy. In contrast, its black eyes symbolize that even within light, there is darkness. Of the four dragons, Liming was the first to befriend the humans and taught them how to defend themselves. He sees the consequences as his fault and blames himself for the death of his fellow kin. His special ability is the flame called Báisè huǒyàn (白色火焰, "White Flame"), which is an inextinguishable white flame that burns all corporeal bodies with intense heat.
- Hēiyè (黑夜, meaning "Black night" in Chinese), also known as Yīn lóng (陰龍, meaning "Yin Dragon" in Chinese) is the Dragon of Yin. Its black scales, which are as dark as the moonless night, contain concentrated Yin energy, and its white eyes symbolize that even in darkness, there is light. Heiye is the least trusting and most malevolent of the Four Dragon Emperors. When the humans started hunting dragons rather than simply defending themselves, Heiye was the first to act and wiped out three whole towns in one night, leaving no trace of them ever existing. Liming and the other Dragon Kings calmed his rage and reluctantly sealed him away in order to prevent further destruction. Heiye eventually died and became a spirit, residing in the Spirit World. Heiye's special ability is the flame called Hēisè huǒyàn (黑色火焰, "Black Flame"), an inextinguishable black flame that burns all incorporeal matter.
- Huáng Guāng (皇光, meaning "Majestic Light" in Chinese), or Jīn lóng (金龍, meaning "Golden dragon" in Chinese). As its name suggest, its scales are the same color as gold and it has bright blue eyes. Huang Guang became a Dragon Emperor after stopping Mezzanotte on his senseless rampage. His special flame called Jīnsè huǒyàn (金色火焰, meaning "Gold-Colored Flame" in Chinese) is a powerful golden flame that can change its intensity and property through a change in color. Huang Guang is immune to all flame attacks and can consume any type of fire.
- Yín Yuè (銀月, meaning "Silver Moon" in Chinese), or Yín lóng (銀龍, meaning "Silver dragon" in Chinese). Yin Yue has silver scale and bright red eyes. Yin Yue was nominated to become a Dragon Emperor when he awakened his special power. His silver flame, Yínsè huǒyàn (銀色火焰, meaning "Silver-Colored Flame" in Chinese), steals heat and freezes whatever it touches.
The Elemental Dragon Kings
The Dragon Kings are the thirteen strongest dragon of each of element of nature.
- Homusubi is the Fire Dragon King. Kagutsuchi is a typical, large Western dragon covered with dark red scales with a light yellow underside. It is unknown where Kagutsuchi was born, but at some point in time, he moved to Japan and took the name of the Shinto god of fire. Currently, he is living in a dormant volcano somewhere in Japan.
- Donghai is the Water Dragon King. Donghai is a blue Chinese dragon with two horns and four-clawed feets. In ancient times, during prolonged periods of drought in China, he would use his magic to consume the ocean's water and rain down upon the land. As the people's belief in the dragons diminished, Donghai became less invovled with the human world and eventually ceased interactions with the humans.
- Meifong is the Sky Dragon Queen. She is one of the three females to be promoted to the ranks of Dragon Kings. Meifong rules over the sky and governs the flow of air. She is a white Chinese dragon with two horns and soft, feather-like scales. Currently, she is sleeping in the sky above the Mt. Everest, ocassionally waking up to watch how humans have changed.
- Demetrios is the Earth Dragon King. He is currently living under Los Angelos and slowly wreaking havoc on the human world with his earthquakes. Demetrios holds a grudge against humanity for hunting them after the dragons blessed the humans with their magic. Demetrios is a Western dragon with brown scales and a green underside.
- Hamon is the Lighting Dragon King. In ancient times, Hamon took a human form and lived among the humans. Using his power of lightning, Hamon controlled the weather and brought rain to the kingdom during times of drought. He was revered as their savior and crowned their king. Then, five hundred years ago, Hamon had left the kingdom to attend the millenial meeting of the dragons. Returning five days later, 100 years in human time, Hamon found his kingdom ravaged and his subjects brutally murdered. Hamon's rage rained down upon the Earth in the form of thunderstorms and lightning strikes for next hundred years.
- Wood Dragon King
- Metal Dragon King Adamantine
- Ice Dragon King Stribog
- Poison Dragon King Yaman
- Crystal Dragon King
- Celestial Dragon King
- Light Dragon King Kealani
- Mezzanotte is the Dark Dragon King. Mezzanotte is a Western dragon with night black scales and scarlet red eyes. While Mezzanotte can consume any form of energy to fuel his magic, he mainly feeds on dark energy and negative emotions. Of the Dragon Kings, only the Light Dragon Queen Kealani is able to parry his attacks. Mezzanotte despises humans and treats them as less than insects. He wouldn't hesitate to kill them and enjoys destroying their towns and cities. Mezzanotte was born in Germany, but at some point, he moved to Japan when the Japanese were being oppressed by the foreigners and fed on their negative emotions. It was here that he gained the name Mugetsu. After coming back to Europe, Mezzanotte settled in Sicily, the homebase of the largest underworld crime syndicate, and renamed himself Mezzanotte.
Comments