The First Dragons

Dragon Creation Myth & Light Analysis

Slodius Rex

Tale

According to dragons and dragonkin, their tale begins before anyone else's.
In the beginning was Bahamut and Tiamat — or just Tiamat, as the chromatic say; or another mystical dragon mother, as the gem dragons say — and then they had an egg. The egg was a most precious thing and covered in moss, birthing fluids, and even excrement. This egg they tended, never seeing an egg before and not knowing its eventual crumbling.
After some time, the egg's shell cracked. This disturbed them both, for this precious thing was more wholesome than each other. In a desperate attempt to fix it, the two took on their own forms: one metallic to be strong and hardy, the other chromatic, to be bright and powerful (more powerful than Bahamut, as the Chromatics feverishly repeat). This very act of splitting of each other split the egg further and it finally cracked open.
The innards of the egg spilled out, first a wispy, milky substance, hot and bright, that fell first and lightly, floating in the ether. Next, heavy, liquid mud and excrement fell past the ether, slopping in a heap. The moss came immediately after. This ground began to settle, but not before Bahamut, in a fit of desperation, rent some of his own beautiful scales to catch it, but the scales fell, melting and scattering in the cooling mud. Tiamat bent to gather his fallen scales but only heaped mounds. This created large pockets in her fruitless search. The last bits of the egg's insides, the birthing fluids, fell last, filling in the holes created by Tiamat.
As both parents gazed at their broken gift they began to weep. Pieces of eggshell drifted down and each piece fell into their tears. The parents watched in astonishment as the shell bits wiggled then contorted into shapes much like themselves. The tears of Bahamut produced the shiny, metallic dragons while Tiamat's produced the chromatic ones. The dragons, ten of each color and metal, took to the air, happily playing amongst each other.
Bahamut looked on in joy, but Tiamat looked on in fear. She remembered the egg. What, then, would happen to her brood? She told her kin to leave the metal ones alone, and, to Bahamut's chagrin, she stole her kind from him, glaring with fiery eyes. In her lust for protection she sprouted many heads, which called her children and she flew away from the shocked Bahamut, who cradled his own offspring.

Analysis

Literal Interpretation

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We are witnessing the world's birth.
First, the hot, bright stuff in held aloft "in the ether" is the sky. Night and day both are found here.
Second, the mud is very obviously the earth and dirt and all that. The excrement is always important to the stories and everyone recites it. I believe this is to say why the world is fertile. Tiamat's clawing is the creation of mountains, valleys, and ocean beds.
Third, the "fluids" turn into the oceans and waters of the world. We are left to assume some bits were more salty than others, which explains the saltwaters.
Finally, the bits of shell that become the dragons. This is also interesting as it means dragons came from a sacrifice and melancholy (the crying parents). Dragons are nothing if not melodramatic, after all.

Inconsistencies

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After all this we can break down some inconsistencies and interesting things.
The tale told by both chromatic and metallic do not account for the elusive gem dragons. It doesn't help the gem dragons are want to be left alone at any expense. The reluctant transcripts we have from the Gems speak of the same tale but with "All-Mother," as they call her, finding the eggshell pieces and planting them in various locations. All different types sprang up and they found they were similar and different. The similar kinds tended with each other and found their dispositions similar as well. From here, the like-minded dragons went off and the world began.
There is also no real reason why Tiamat sprouted her heads. For protection? The story doesn't give a satisfying answer.

Other

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It is also interesting to note that the beginning says about the egg "not knowing its eventual crumbling." This is eerily prophetic of things that came to pass and things that have yet to pass.
One can also not help but wonder if the tale is meant to be a "returning" myth. It seems to suggest all the dragons' rivalries are because of their split at this moment. It raises the question of "What would happen if all the dragons came together?" A wild, speculative, but, as I think, perilous thought indeed.