Building My Dungeons and Dragons World Part 9: Dragons
Introduction
To establish the races of the Dragonborn, I must first reveal the broad history of my world. There is a lot to unpack here. Draconic Culture is born in the aftermath of a few wars, each responsible for shaking the foundations of the world at their given time. After their history, I will provide a brief rundown of dragons and the current dragon societies in my world. Before we delve into it, I want to remind my readers that I will not strictly follow Dungeons and Dragons' official lore.
The Primordial War
The Primordial Wars was an age when the gods rebelled against the primordials, marked by Kronos and four of his brothers betraying Uranus and Gaia. Uranus was slain in the night and Gaia was forced to flee. Kronos took control of existence. Giant-kin and their pantheons were given control of the Prime Material Plane and founded the Titan Empire.
It is during this time that many dragon-kind believe that Asgoroth was cleaved in two. This violent death gave rise to Bahamut and Tiamat. It also set the stage for the intertwined futures of dragons and giant-kin alike.
The Fall of the Titan Empire
The Titans had unknowingly established their own demise early on. Aphrodite, born out of the remains of Uranus being cast into the sea, helped Gaia flee to Arborea. Chronos, fearing rebellion from his children, consumed them upon birth. This drove a wedge between him and his wife until she reached out to Aphrodite to protect her final son, Zeus.
When Zeus rebelled against his father, he sought aid anywhere he could. Bahamut and Tiamat joined the alliance of gods aiding in the war. The war ravaged the world and broke apart the continent of Pangea. While the Olympians battled the Titans, the Asgardians and the draconic pantheon fought the giants in the western fragment of Pangea that had broken away. Giant-kin lost their empire and suffered greatly during this time, with many of them fleeing to other planes of existence for safety and titans being almost completely annihilated in the purge.
Bahamut and Tiamat would end up ruling the western continents (the Americas) while the Olympians and Asgardians founded the Celestial Empire (Europe and Northern Africa) The giants that remained in the prime material plane were driven to hide in small island communities, separated from "normal society.
The Fracturing of the Dragons
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The fundamental nature of Bahamut and Tiamat ensured that war was inevitable. Bahamut was good while Tiamat was evil. Bahamut knew that to let Tiamat reign unchecked in the prime material plane would only lead to hardship and ruin. So when he turned on her, the Fracturing of the Dragons began. Bahamut and the Metallic Dragons aligned with other gods and races to hunt down Tiamat, eventually creating the Dragonborn. Tiamat hated the other races and believed that dragons were superior to all. She created the Dragonspawn, the various races of monsters born from the Chromatic Dragons loyal to her.
The Fracturing didn't simply divide the race in two, however. Many dragon races wanted nothing to do with this conflict and proceeded to head to other realms of existence. This left only the Chromatic and Metallic Dragons in the Prime Material Plane.
While the Fracturing officially ended with Tiamat being banished to her own level of the Nine Hells, it left its mark on the prime material planes. The western continents (the Americas) were divided. The southern continent fell under the leadership of the Metallic Dragons and the Dragonborn while the northern continent was overrun by the Chromatic Dragons and the Dragonspawn.
Dragons
While dragon society has divided and evolved in different ways, one is consistent in both cultures that predate the Fracturing. Everything in dragon culture revolves around age. The older a dragon is, the bigger and more powerful they generally become. While many races may live a century, dragons take one century to simply mature into adults. But even being an adult is somewhat meaningless in dragon society. Adults spend the next 700 years continuing to mature and make names for themselves through adventuring, business, or criminal enterprise. In dragon society, the goal is to become an Ancient Dragon. In both societies, Ancient Dragons rule supreme. From the age of 800 onwards, an ancient dragon becomes a member of the government. It is rare, but there is an age category beyond the Ancients. The Greatwyrms are dragons that become older than 1200 years old. Few of these exist in my world, but each one that does is a force of nature.
The Chromatic Warlords
The northern continent has no set borders. The Chromatic Warlords constantly compete with each other for territory. That said, each color does have an environment they prefer to live in. Red and gray dragons compete in various mountain ranges. Black dragons preferred to ambush each other in swamps and marshes. Blue dragons preferred to battle in the air over deserts and arid wastelands while brown and yellow dragons ambushed each other below the surface. Green dragons played dangerous political games in the forests. Hidden in the arctic fringes of the north, white dragons competed like wolf packs. Not even the Underdark of the northern continent is safe, as purple dragons stalked each other.
Quick note: I know there is such a thing as pink dragons in dungeons and dragons. But there is little information on them and they are so tonally different from the rest that I don't want to bother even trying to justify their continued existence in this kind of environment. Do not bother berating me in the comments, I am not changing my mind on this.
The chromatic dragons had to earn their place in their society or face subservience or even death. It often wasn't just about strength either. The most successful dragons knew they had to gather armies of monsters and allies, often utilizing their stolen hordes to purchase more forces. With all of this conflict in mind, it makes sense that very few dragons reach the age of ancient. There is only one ancient dragon in a given region, as ancient chromatic dragons will usually kill anyone who might become a threat. If they fail to do so, they will be killed more often than not. Ancients dragons must face two alternatives.
Many ancient chromatic dragons seek to escape death. As such, there has been heavy research into creating the first dracolich. It is unclear if any of them have been successful, but if they have been, then the dracolich could become a powerful force and change the balance of power in the northern continent.
The other option is to become an Elderwyrm. If becoming an ancient is hard, becoming an elderwyrm is nearly impossible. The chromatic elderwyrms were powerful beyond measure and rarely concerned themselves with the younger dragons. But when an ancient dragon began to get older, the elderwyrms would see it as a challenge and attempt to kill them. There is only one elderwyrm for each chromatic race of dragon for this exact reason.
The Metallic Union
The southern continent is unified under the Metallic Union, a senate made up of ancient metallic dragons. Similar to their northern brothers, the metallic dragons each have a preference for areas where they wish to reside. But while the dragons of the north seek to slaughter each other for more power, the southern dragons preferred a peaceful life of cooperation.
Gold dragons fought for peace from their homes in the plains. Silver dragons ruled peacefully from the mountains. Bronze dragons inquisitively fought for good from the hills. Copper dragons played in the rocky mountains. Brass dragons spoke for hours in the deserts. Mercury dragons impulsively resided around volcanoes. Iron dragons enforced their laws in hills and mountains. Steel dragons rebelled against authority in the plains.
There are rumors of a rare race of dragons called the Platinum Dragons. Many non-dragon scholars believe they do not exist, but dragons know differently. Every known platinum dragon was a member of the draconic pantheon, mythologizing the power of the platinum race. Platinum dragons are the rarest and most powerful of metallic dragons. It is believed that the appearance of a platinum dragon would bring a new era to the southern continent.
Unlike chromatic dragons, the metallic dragons didn't fight for power among each other. Instead, many look to improve communities in the areas where they live. These communities were made up of creatures and races of all kinds, provided that they were good people and didn't seek to harm those around them. In fact, many of the dragons took on human forms to blend in with the communities they lived in, seeking to gain more knowledge about their neighbors. The only group that lacked this grand diversity was the Metallic Senate.
The Metallic Union was composed entirely of ancient dragons from every race, though you may not see it at first since many of the dragons are in different forms. But while this would hinder many governments, the ability of dragons to transform into other races means that they can experience the lives of everyday people firsthand without their identities interfering. This gives them the unique advantage of being able to truly understand the people they rule and therefore give them the best help they can.
But being good is not the same thing as being peaceful. The Metallic Union is well aware of the threats that line their northern borders. In fact, skirmishes often broke out in the land between the continents (Mexico) as the chromatic dragons attempt to invade or infiltrate the southern continent. The Metallic Senate does not take this threat lightly. The Metallic Senate will not directly engage in a war with the dragons of the north. Many of the senate members are literally old enough to remember the previous draconic wars and are hesitant to repeat them without due cause.
But they have waged a secret war against the Chromatic Warlords. The Metallic Union sends agents into the north to ensure that the warlords continue to fight each other and to undermine any efforts that could pose an international threat. At the same time, they are also known for deploying agents overseas to disrupt the criminal organizations affiliated with the smarter chromatic dragons. These international teams must be careful, however, as a single misstep could have major ramifications. Directly provoking the northern dragons could kick off a new war while antagonizing a foreign power could damage alliances and destabilize areas. This is where the Dragonborn comes in.
It is believed that Bahamut created the first Dragonborn many ages ago. Less religious minds propose the idea that Dragonborn come from old relationships between transformed dragons and their human lovers. Whatever the case, Dragonborn are half-dragon and half-human. This has allowed them to become a valuable tool in the secret war against the northern dragons. Dragonborn are often seen as separate from "True Dragons," by outsiders. This belief allows them to conduct operations internationally without putting the southern dragons into an unfavorable situation. The Dragonborn are not forced to do this, but rather many of them volunteer to do so. They truly believe that them putting themselves in danger is what's best for the Metallic Union. Since they are usually volunteers, they are paid handsomely and can choose to stop fighting at any time. Dragonborn who volunteer and survive the war usually retire without consequence.
As far as the dragons themselves, many of them spend their adulthood pursuing their private goals of helping their communities. But once they reach they become ancients, they will often become members of the Metallic Senate, having spent centuries getting to know the people they will be governing.
Conclusion
I know I took last weekend off for my birthday, but I was sporadically working on this that whole time. I was initially going to try to cover this and Dragonborn all in one long extended article, but I realized that that would be a lot of information. I am not entirely sure that this article isn't on the lengthy side. I hope that this article was worth the wait and hope you will join me next week when I go further in-depth into the Dragonborn themselves.
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