Dracius Cradle¶
"It is a conduit and amplifier for the energies of primal dragons." — Severac, in the dreams of Inwe (S040)
The Dracius Cradle is the device the wizard Severac built to let a dragon egg grow into a dragon without a Primal. Fed a trace of a Primal Dragon's essence and a second power source, a titan fragment, it focuses and amplifies the dragon energy into the egg. Inwe founded the Knights of the Dragon Lotus to guard it. In the Fifth Age Valtor of the Circle took a Cradle and altered it, and the Proturan party stole it from him.
Also called: the Cradle; Severuc's Dracius Cradle (S040); the Egg Stand, the egg holder (S040).
Making¶
Severac "has been working on a way for dragon eggs to develop without a Primal. It's an alchemically prepared magical treatment for drake eggs which will allow them to develop into full dragons. He does eventually succeed and it is used to breed several Silver and Platinum dragons. One of these dragons, Ithcaricotyl, is now an adult Platinum dragon allied with Proturas" (S071). The memory comes to the party through the Ashtareth dreams of Inwe, who served Severac in disguise as his assistant Magister Uita.
In the dream of its completion, Severac shows Inwe the Cradle and tries it on a platinum dragon egg. He "explains it is a conduit and amplifier for the energies of primal dragons. Given a small sample of primal dragon essence and another elemental power source (such as from the titan fragment) it is able to focus and amplify the primal dragon energy to the point where Severuc believes the egg will develop into a dragon. This platinum dragon will be its first test" (S040). The prep notes put the same thing plainly: it worked "by having an artifact from the primal in question such as bones or blood, and then having an amplifying power source" (S040).
The titan fragment¶
The Cradle's power source was a fragment of a Titan. Inwe brought it to Severac among his reagents. "He compliments your punctuality and wonders where you found the bone? He remarks that extraordinarily it appears to be a titan fragment. Despite already knowing that he needs the titan fragment in order to have a chance at success, you ask him if titan bone will work and he replies excitedly that it will almost certainly be an improvement, but he can't fathom where you found it. You reply that finding things which are impossible to find is your specialty" (S071).
Gap
No source says where Inwe found the titan fragment, or whether the Fifth Age Cradle still holds it.
The Knights of the Dragon Lotus¶
Inwe saw the danger. She "asks if there is a way to ensure it can't be used by the corrupted dragons. Severuc explains that he has no way of differentiating between primal dragon energies, which means it can work on any primal dragon energy, including the corrupted dragons. Inwe says it's worth the risk, and that she will create an order of Aryic knights to protect it (Knights of the Dragon Lotus, symbol is a silver colored LOTUS with a golden center shaped like dragon), and any developing eggs and dragons" (S040). The order is described with the Orders of Arya.
Valtor's Cradle¶
In the Fifth Age the Cradle surfaced in Proturas. At the start of the campaign the party briefly held a "Small Dragon-egg stand" together with the Blood of Vixseranyol and a small mithril dragonskull (S036; see Lesser Relics); the notes do not say whether it was the same device. The Cradle later stood in the hands of Valtor, whose apprentice studied "the Egg Stand device". Valtor "modified it (added a large channeling crystal) and he (and the Circle) want to see if it's magic can be repurposed to focus energy from a primal's corpse. They used primal blood to test it" (S040). Valtor took it with him, and the party were set to steal it from his tower, where it stood in his vault among an Orb of Night, a Death Mask and a Sword of Soul Harvesting (S042). Dala wanted it for Eksuru (S040), and Revan pressed the party for news of "the Cradle" (S042, S044).
From the following session onward the campaign notes carry the same line: "THEY LEFT THE CRADLE IN THE VAULT" (S046 through S059). The heist and its aftermath are told in the Proturan Campaign chronicle.
Gap
The notes do not say which vault the Cradle was left in, whether the party ever delivered it, or what became of the platinum egg of Severac's first test beyond the dragon Ithcaricotyl.