Dragons¶
Contested
Named in the open question When and why the dragons were made: the Compendium counts dragons among the first Titan Races of the Age of Titans, while the later histories have them forged from Titans to fight the demon hordes.
"Dragons were created in the same manner as Titans, and were intended to replace them." — Fae Magic (S279)
Dragons are the Faeborn made by the gods from the stuff of the Titans, "more militant than the titans and better able to deal with demons" (S279). Each colour is a brood headed by one of the Primal Dragons, and a brood fails without its Primal: when the master "is not at full strength", only lesser drakes are born (S434). Dragons have immortal souls in a sub-plane of the Ethereal, were untouched by the corruption of Mithis, and in the Fifth Age have been "driven nearly to extinction, with the exception of the black and red dragonflights" (S014).
Nature¶
"Dragons were created in the same manner as Titans, and were intended to replace them. This never fully occurred, but dragons do often pick up the slack from failed titans. They were created to be more militant than the titans and better able to deal with demons. The primal dragons were given dominion over the Titans. For this reason dragons tend to dig up titans (and destroy them so that more dragons can be born)" (S279). "Dragons were formed by the gods to fight the demons from ancient Titans, who in turn were given dominion over the Elements. A Dragon or Titan may therefore tap into their own Fae lifeforce as an energy source" (S208). They are Faeborn, "Ethereal beings with a Fae connection" who "flourish in their natural demesne, and struggle when outside of it" (S279).
"Dragon souls are immortal, but have Ethereal souls in a specialized sub-plane of the Ethereal. Some legends believe that the most righteous souls ended up being reincarnated as dragons" (S018). Dragons "were placed above the Titans (the most powerful Fae casters) and were also well-versed in Ethereal Magic, in some cases rivalling the Eldritch" (S208), and in the Age of Dragons "Dragons ruled over the world and the worldstone and Elves served as their associates and emissaries" (S208). Their blood carries Mithis: "The ability to harness Mithis is in bloodlines... These bloodlines are very rare except in magical races such as Elves and Draconians" and "some breeds of Draconians and Dragons" (S208). When the Mithis of the world was corrupted in the Hollowing, a mage who tried to cleanse it noted "that dragons, most titans and the metal, adamantium appear to be unaffected" (S142). Dragon's fire burns hotter than any forge, and the dwarves rate "Dragon Oil" and "Dragon's Fire" above pure elemental fire for smelting the Mithis metals (S419).
The Compendium's roll of the Elder Gods makes Uxbannon, Steward of Magic, "Father of Dragons, Fae creatures" (S372).
Broods and drakes¶
"Each primal dragon is of a unique color, and is the head of their brood. They are immortal in form and age. Dragon reproduction rates are dramatically reduced when their primal matriarch/patriarch is not alive. Their magic channels through all of their kin and seems to be required for dragon eggs to properly develop into young dragons. Often only lesser drakes can be born to dragons when their master of their brood is not at full strength. Some primal dragons have taken so long to regenerate that their entire broods have gone extinct" (S434, S429). The dragons themselves are "created by Primal Dragons mating with Drakes or Dragons" (S429), and the souls of a red brood are "bound together using fire elemental essences" (S010).
The wizard Severac of Proturas found a way around the Primals: "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, S031). The treatment needed titan bone. The red dragon Eksurinyol, Emberclaw, "is trying to create a brood of red dragons without Vixseranyol" (S028).
Drakes are the lesser kin. The Dark Goddess Pyri is "Creator of Drakes, Fire-Giants, Fire-Drakes, Salamanders" (S372, S429). The men of Mugaran keep "trained drakes [that] hunt beasts on the plains as well as help defend them from Draconian raids" (S372). The iron drakes of the Drakkani Wastes "despise humanoids/orcs the most (for stealing their eggs) and prefer them for meals. They fear humanoids in large groups and their nets. They also fear the red dragon and will keep their distance. The drakes are a colony of approx 30. They have 5 different nesting sites, all constantly guarded and they take great care not to give away their locations. They are led by the alpha iron drake Seralath (female). They hunt primarily at night (where their vision grants them an advantage and they are all but invisible in the sky). They do occasionally make organized raids, mostly in an attempt to recover stolen eggs" (S469, S546); the orcs of the Wastes run "drake egg gathering operations" and field drake riders (S469). The Urok'gar orcs ride iron drakes in the air and on the ground (S057, S059). A red drake served Malathar as roof guardian of the Mist Keep (S049, S050); the Cult of the Dragon keeps black drakes in the Rushing Void of the Underdark; an onyx drake fought the Sancturi party there, and orc clans of the White Towers marched with drakes large and small (S199, S193).
The dragons of the Fifth Age¶
"Dragons, with their traditional ties to both Mithis and Fae sources have been driven nearly to extinction, with the exception of the black and red dragonflights which have been successful at securing new sources of power to fuel their broods" (S014). "Fae and Dragons continue their steep decline since the Faewild Wars. Most have retreated (if they can) fully into the Elemental Planes" (S112).
Ebony dragons. In the 200s SM "Much of Dalmar and Faragond is consumed in dragonblight. Ebony dragons from the Cloudwall mountains raid frequently in these lands. The nations surrounding these areas are hard hit and many of their people choose to migrate further west" (S326). East of the Cloudwall, in the old eastern provinces of the Thyssal Empire, lies the Dragonruin: "Ebony Dragons control this area and there are no significant humanoid settlements. Rovers from Western Astia enter this area briefly on occasion for the purposes of scavenging" (S324). "The Dragons keep to the east of the Cloudwall mountains. There are reportedly quite a number of them in the east and why they generally don't come west is a mystery" (S327). "In 524 SM, the last dragon seen west of the Cloudwall mountains is defeated by Sancturi forces", and the Draconian forces "crumble quickly... without their dragons in support" (S326).
Red dragons. The Primal Vixseranyol "had been rebuilding the brood of red dragons in the period after the Dark Sun... The reds ultimately overran and conquered much of central Astia including what remained of the Free Cities" (S031). The red dragon Kuorethimel, "old and weakened", is worshipped by kobolds in the Rift (S010). After the Sancturi fall the Primal Glaurmelnis and the Red Priests of Glaur keep "an unsteady truce with the Divine" (S112). The Circle of Eternity of Proturas uses "Red Dragon blood and spirit of Vixseranyol as part of their immortality serum" (S028).
Green dragons "though few in number, appear to be the apex predators" of the Jungles of Aquitania (S324). A corrupted green dragon, a "Fungal Dragon", nested in the Hollow's core at the Monastery of St Morgan (S185); the green dragon Orphux, son of Thraxis, was an antagonist of the Marshford campaign, whose heroes bore a dragonscale shield and a dragonhorn afterward (S361).
Black dragons. The Great Black Dragon Saran-Mauge helped the Draconians take the dwarf-hold of Naramunz and "has made the ruins his home, and occasionally hunts across the fields of Rhovun" (S372, S429). The arch-lich of Delvarn "defeated an Elder Black Dragon and turned it into a Draco-lich under his control", Druk'rhinatraz, which "breathes a Necrotic Shock-cloud" (S153). The Red Dragon Dresylla'Visarax makes her home in the Sisters of the Drakkani Wastes and helped raze the dwarven fortress there (S469).
The Divine's own Ascendants in the Fifth Age "live among the mortals. Each is a dragon of various colors" (S112); the Divine Alliance, for its part, is "devoted to the worship of the Divine and the eradication of evil in all its forms (most notably... Dragons...)" (S004).
Dragons in the histories¶
"Izhtari and the Einar used the Throne of Law to create the Primal Dragons and their broods to counter the threat. The Primal Dragons were forged of Astral and Elemental energies and added considerable power to their Dragon Broods as well. The Dragons were very successful at slowing the advancement of the Demon Hordes, but not successful at stopping them" (S386). "Fighting broke out among the dragon broods and global war was brought to Terrun (The First Dragon Wars). In these wars, most of the Primal Dragons and their broods were slain" (S386). After the Shattering "The slowly reproducing dragons took many centuries before asserting their power again... In the early 800s MA, many Draconian and Dark Elven societies were practicing dragon worship, leading them to eventually become ruled by Dragons", and in the Second Dragon War "the few remaining Kalari Dragons" fought beside men, elves, dwarves, gnomes and giants against the broods of Pravustiratel (S386, S372). The 2026 revision of the Mithis lore has the Worldstone under "the control of the Twilight Dragons during the Draconian Ascension/Pax Draconia" (S419).
Earlier accounts¶
The Compendium lists "Dragons, Giants, Dinosaurs, Faeries" among the Titan Races created at the formation of the world, and has the Primal Dragons empowered against the demons only later, in the Age of Faerie (S372, S384). The 2020 history, the Nature of Magic, Fae Magic and Demi-Gods all have the dragons made in answer to the demons (S386, S208, S279, S434); this is the reading followed here, and the difference is filed as an open question.
In Play¶
The Cult of the Dragon raises the dead: in the forbidden forest of Arne'Athosia its allies used "One of the claws of Vixseranyol... with an ancient dragon skeleton to animate a red bone dragon" (S052). A living dragon in the Fifth Age is most likely black or red, east of the Cloudwall or in the Underdark; the Draconians are a people, not dragons, and are under Peoples.