A COMPLETE GUIDE TO DRAGONS
by Giulio N. Caroletti
based on ideas by Bruce Heard & others
Dragons are a complex and mighty race, among the most important of the Multiverse. Dragons and Draeden were the two first true races of creatures that were born in the Cosmos, because Gods were the expression of the Thoughts of the Cosmos, while Athanatoi and Discontiguates were servants created by the Gods themselves.
Dragons are Normal creatures existing in dimensions 1-4, but when they are born they are dimly aware of the existence of the 4th dimension, and this already shows their difference between the other mortal races.
Dragons live long lives, starting as hatchlings, growing up to become wyrms, and during their evolution they become more and more attuned to their 4th dimension of existence; this increase in power, skill and awareness is determined by hatching and by the Ceremonies of Sublimation; through these, in time, Dragons may grow to almost fully dominate their fourth dimension, up to the point of becoming immortal creatures that can prove dangerous even to the Athanatoi; very few among them can grow so powerful to even rival the True Gods. The evolution is natural and normal for the Dragon race, although Immortals and mortals alike, unable to understand this process, generally think of Dragons (dragons that are still of wyrm age or below) and Guardian Dragons or Dragon Immortals (those of immortal level and above), considering them somehow part of their divine hierarchies.
The Origin of Dragonkind
As mentioned above, Dragons "naturally" came into existance in the Cosmos, about at the same "time" when the Gods created the Athanatoi. Dragons, along with Draedens, were not created. They simply "were", from some point in time on. Maybe, as some suggest, they were the expression of the Universal Mind. Or maybe not. Or maybe we'll never know.
When the Normal and Mirror Tetraspace were separated, Dragons chose to remain in the Normal Tetraspace. The separation of the Cosmos changed the Dragons and gave them the appearance and features that most commonly are associated with these beings, although Dragons were a young race, and every Dragon was very different from the others, with no separated races among them. Most of them had different colours, but they didn't hatch into easily discernable races.
The Great Dragons
After the separation of the Cosmos into two Tetraspaces, the mightiest of Dragons discovered that they too had the power of shaping planes and universes. Although they never entered any godlike hierarchy created on the various Multiverses by the True Gods.
The most powerful Dragons, Dragons that had all lived thousands of years and grown in power and size, discovered also another feature: the ability of recognizing the proximity of another of the Great Dragons. Eventually, in their quest for power and knowledge, the Great Dragons began to battle each other. To their surprise, the winners of these bloody battles, that generally ended with the death of the loser, discovered the Remembrance: each time one of the Great Dragons killed another, he acquired all the memories, knowledge and informations of his victim.
But they also risked to gain the personality of the victim. If the victim were much older or wiser, sometimes with the Remembrance a Great Dragon were overwhelmed by the soul of his victim, changing in personality. This didn't prevent the Great Dragons from battling each other. After millions of years, all the original Great Dragons were killed, until only one Great Dragon remained: the Great One.
The Dragon Races and the Dragon Rulers
The smaller Dragons, and the new born ones, didn't share these features with the Great Dragons. Even many of the older Dragons never lived long enough to attain those levels of knowledge. During the millions of years during which the Great Dragons fought each other, the natural evolution forged, in the various Multiverses, all the various Dragon Races that we all know, from Chromatic to Metallic to Gemstone to Linnorm Dragons, and all the various and weird subraces found in the Pocket and Outer Planes.
All these Dragons had the possibility to rise to a higher status, to the level of Great Dragon. And many did: some, joining the Great Dragons in their fight, ended being absorbed by the Great One; others kept their profile low, and in the end accepted being subdued by the Great One, in change of being spared.
It is not clear when the lesser Dragon Rulers were born, or attained their status. Maybe they were the first three Great Dragons to subdue without being killed, or maybe this simply happened at some point in time. However, this changed the lives of Great Dragons forever: many other (since known by unknowing human scholars as "Guardian Dragons") subdued to the Dragon Rulers, and a sort of Great Dragon Hierarchy was formed.
There are three lesser Dragon Rulers: Diamond, associated with lawful, good and metallic dragons, Opal, associated with neutral and gemstone dragons, and Pearl, associated with chaotic, evil and chromatic dragons.
For additional information on Dragon Rulers, go here.
Changes on the Throne
The Remembrance and the Awareness (the name given by Great Dragons to the absorbtion of the other's emotions and to the knowledge of the presence of another Great Dragon near them) remained. And so remained the possibility of Great Dragons to kill others of their kind - and even to kill one of the Dragon Rulers and to take their position.
Moreover, Dragon Rulers are not Gods or Immortals, so they can be normally killed. In this case, Great Dragons will compete against each other, and somehow one of them will reach the position, probably thanks to some sort of intervention by the Great One.
If the Great One were killed, war would rage for centuries among Dragon Rulers and Great Dragons, until one of them reaches the position - although it is unclear just exactly HOW.
From Hatchling to Great Dragon
Dragons are highly magical beings. Their ancient ties with the Cosmos gives them the ability to draw upon arcane powers of their world to magically mutate their adult forms toward more powerful stock. This ability affects size, intellectual perception, spell-casting abilities; this often is the result Dragons seek above all. When dragons reach their ultimate mortal forms, they may still be able to reach a higher level of existance: they may have the possibility to become a Great Dragon.
To change in size and skills, a Dragon undergoes a ritual that has, in proportion, the same effect of shedding skin for a snake. This "ritual" is known as the Ceremony of Sublimation.
Small adult Dragons sooner or later learn about the ceremony. They may have dreams, come across ancient writings, or perhaps be taught about it by other creatures. A Dragon's life undergoes a continuous series of five cycles, ending with the Ceremony. The dragon has to go through the five cycles before attempting the Ceremony of Sublimation again. Each time they continuously go through these cycles until the Dragon dies or becomes a Great Dragon.
When a Dragon becomes a Great Dragon, it generally leaves its birth world, to reach the Outer Planes of the Draconic Cluster, where the Dragon Rulers live.
They generally come here to submit to the authority of their alignment Dragon Ruler, or, if they are extremely aggressive, to attack them. In general they submit to their Ruler, and then remain in the planes of the Cluster to continue their quest for ultimate power fighting against other of their kind, but it's not unusual for them to leave for other planes of existance, or even to return to their home worlds...but this is dangerous, because the power of the Dragon Rulers allow them to constantly monitor their underlings' activities in the Prime Planes of Existance.
For more information on the Ceremony of Sublimation and Dragon Society go here
For more information on the developement of Dragon Races in the Multiverse, take a look here
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