Lore: Dragons, Draegar, and Drakes
Dragons, Draegar & Drakes
True dragons are the progeny of the chained god Beladar, while their diminished kin, the Draegar, are descended from dragons warped by the power of Xogoth. Drakes, wurms, and Sirsanyr, while sharing some similarities, are unrelated to true dragons.
Dragon Nature
Dragons are spirits of wind and fire, enfleshed in stone. They alone among the creatures of Thindul are woven entirely without the elemental thread of water. Though formed from natural elements, and capable of being destroyed, dragons straddle the line between mortal and immortal. No dragon has ever been known to pass away from illness or age. They die only by violence.
Flight
A dragon's flight is fundamentally magical. Powerful though its wings may be, they cannot produce the lift necessary to raise a dragon's gargantuan weight. Rather, the dragon flies as the dragon wills, while its wings assist it with maneuver and acceleration. Through instinct, dragons control the surrounding winds as they fly, and their wings catch this gale-cloak to turn and surge in the air.
Size, Physiognomy, and Potency
While there is no record of a fully grown dragon that might be called “small,” dragons can vary significantly in size, from fifty feet to nearly three hundred feet, nose to tail. Their physical shape, likewise, can vary substantially within certain bounds.
All dragons possess six limbs, two of which are usually wings; and they are always scaled in stone. The further details of their physiognomy, however, may differ wildly from dragon to dragon. While most dragons possess roughly saurian or reptilian features, others appear far more avian or piscine. Some even resemble winged and scaled lions or other beasts. A handful possess no wings, and rather six legs, while others have four wings, or even six wings and no legs at all. (Even those without wings are nevertheless capable of flight, albeit less nimbly so.)
The dragon's strength of spirit (its attunement to the elements of wind, fire, and stone) is also an individual matter; and none of these aspects is at all connected to the other. A dragon may breathe fire of incomparable intensity, yet be among the smallest of its kind; or indeed the greatest in size may still possess a remarkable fire and speed of flight.
What is all the more unusual, is that the dragon itself chooses these features. Within its egg, the dragon comprehends the innumerable forms of life that pervade Thindul. It then chooses the shape and spirit that best suits its nature. If an unhatched dragon wishes to become a force in the world, it may grow into a colossus armored in granite, with fires that could turn mountains to slag. Yet, other hatchlings sense their capacities for beauty and delicacy.
Long ago, there were many more dragons of this kind, swallow-tailed and swift, or living jewels, winged like butterflies with membranes of flowing glass. In the tragedies that befell dragonkind – the fall of Beladar, the curse of Xogoth, and their vengeful extermination by humanity – many of these dragons were lost. Only the strongest of body and spirit survived.
Reproduction
Neither sex nor gender is a natural category to dragons, for any dragon may bear young. (When dealing with mortals, some dragons will speak of themselves in these terms, though others wish to be known only by their name.) Indeed, when two dragons mate through the exchange of their fires, both of them come to carry an egg. Thus every dragon has a sibling, and often their forms and natures are pointedly paired or opposed.
Once conceived, a dragon egg will gestate within its parent for a century. The infant dragon then hatches at a point of its choosing, when it feels that the time has come for it to walk upon Thindul. This may take mere moments, or millennia. There remain dragon eggs from near the beginning of the world, which have yet to hatch.
The Loss
Dragons are deeply connected through ancient magic to their progenitor, Beladar. Since his binding by the Pantheon, nearly all dragons have come to feel a sense of gnawing loss, as though some ineffable fire were missing from the world.
It is for this reason that dragons are known to hoard, as if to counterbalance that inner emptiness. Often, this comes in the form of hoarding treasure, yet others will horde knowledge or other valuables; some have grown crueler still, and strive to possess living beings, including other dragons.
The Primevals
Through the joint power of Beladar and Iandor, the first dragons were born into Thindul. These seven are known as the primeval dragons, and they were the guardians of dragonkind. Far greater in power and size than other dragons, the Primevals were as much forces of nature as living things.
Yet, because their connection to Beladar was strongest, upon his banishing they felt The Loss most keenly. Growing spiteful and reclusive, they would lash out at mortal kind before disappearing again. Their whereabouts are unknown.
Vodoniathan
Even before the seven Primevals, even before Ostic forged Thindul, Beladar bore his first progeny among the stars of Eternis. Vodoniathan was a creature of the farthest sky, near to a god himself. When Beladar stood against the Pantheon, Vodoniathan was with him. Fleeing the wrath of the gods when Beladar fell, Vodoniathan disappeared into Diluvium, Nerophet's realm of dark waters where the gods dared not follow. Yet, Vodoniathan could not resist Diluvium's corrupting influence and was transformed there into a demon of unspeakable power.
Draegar*
During the War of the Moon, otherwise called the War of Broken Thoughts, the servants of the terrible urnäkki Ansadyr descended on Thindul. Meeting this challenge, the warrior god Qoth came forth in splendor, leading legions of angels; and in alliance with dragons, elves, and other mortals, they drove Ansadyr and his minions deep below the world.
Yet, the elves were shaken by the horrors they had faced, and they recalled the ferocity of their former allies, most of all of dragonkind. For the dragons had been overawing in their fury. Thus, a conclave of elven priests of Xogoth assembled and cursed dragonkind. Xogoth's curse, coming to pass, would reshape all but the strongest dragons into the Draegar – smaller, mortal beings of roughly draconic form.
The Draegar live hardly longer than humans. They are vulnerable to disease. They can neither fly, nor breathe flame. Their spirits and flesh are laced with water. Like many other creatures of Thindul, they are male and female, and the males cannot bear eggs, which was also a terrible loss for the dragons who were so transformed. And this curse is born through generations, so the children of Draegar will never be dragons again.
Drakes
Drakes are a recent creation, coming into being within the last several hundred years. They were engineered by early human wizards, who, having seen most of dragonkind slain, were nonetheless aware (and covetous) of the dragons' power. Now, over the centuries, many drakes have escaped captivity and proliferated in the wild. Broadly, there are three lines of drakes, which can breed within their own type.
Iron drakes are the most outwardly similar to dragons, being up to forty feet long, with flesh of woven metal. (Though most commonly iron, some are armored in other metals such as copper or steel.) They are winged and can breathe fire; and like dragons their flight appears to be at least partially magical, rather than mechanical in nature. Iron drakes are relatively rare, as they are solitary outside of mating, and each commands a wide swathe of hunting territory. For all of their resemblance to true dragons, however, neither iron drakes, nor drakes of any other kind, possess intelligence greater than that of a clever beast.
Sky drakes are smaller, rarely more than twenty feet, and commonly only ten or fifteen. They live in social groups of several individuals, with the juveniles hunting in small packs and older specimens seeking larger prey on their own. Sky drakes are so named for their propensity to loiter high in the air, watching for prey. Unlike dragons or iron drakes, they have only four appendages (hind legs and forewings). Faster and moderately more intelligent than iron drakes, they tend to pose a greater threat to mortals. Fortunately, at least, they do not breathe fire, though some can spit varieties of poison.
River drakes live in freshwater, most often in deep lakes and rivers, though they sometimes venture into shallower waters. Their serpentine bodies can grow up to thirty feet, and they swim swiftly, assisted by finned arms and legs. Though they do not breathe fire, some of them are able to hold a charge like an eel and release it into the surrounding water. River drakes typically hunt large fish, and they rarely trouble mortal people, unless food is scarce or they are somehow provoked. The largest known population of river drakes can be found in the Glassheibe, in the Harpwringer Domain. They are also seen often in the lakes of Periandor's North Wold.
Wurms
Wurms are tunnelers in the deep places of Thindul. Most resemble dragons very little; however, the greatest among them, the flame lithorade, is armored in stone and breathes a jet of scalding steam. These are sometimes misunderstood as a type of dragon. In truth, their lineage is entirely different. Flame Lithorades were first created by Ostic for dwarvenkind to tame. They are of great use in mining, for they feed on minerals and can discover otherwise hidden deposits of gems and gold. Most of their kind, sadly, were destroyed when the sea flowed into the Deepings.
Sirsanyr
The casual observer might mistake these serpent folk for Draegar. Sirsanyr, however, are smaller, comparable to humans in size, and lack the Draegar's vestigial wings. They are one among several kinds of beastfolk that have emerged on Gwynnbered, transformed from mere animals by the divine aura of Beladar, who lies entombed beneath the island.
The Dragons are Singing Tonight
While not strictly related to Thindul or its dragons, I would like to mention Jack Prelutsky's wonderful book of children's poems, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight. I'm uncertain what percentage of my (outsized) love of dragons stems from this book, but I think it's fairly high. The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, still available thirty years later, is by turns whimsical, mournful, and enchantingly weird. If you also love dragons, and have children you'd like to pass that trait on to, you might consider it as a bedtime book.
True dragons are the progeny of the chained god Beladar, while their diminished kin, the Draegar, are descended from dragons warped by the power of Xogoth. Drakes, wurms, and Sirsanyr, while sharing some similarities, are unrelated to true dragons.
Dragon Nature
Dragons are spirits of wind and fire, enfleshed in stone. They alone among the creatures of Thindul are woven entirely without the elemental thread of water. Though formed from natural elements, and capable of being destroyed, dragons straddle the line between mortal and immortal. No dragon has ever been known to pass away from illness or age. They die only by violence.
Flight
A dragon's flight is fundamentally magical. Powerful though its wings may be, they cannot produce the lift necessary to raise a dragon's gargantuan weight. Rather, the dragon flies as the dragon wills, while its wings assist it with maneuver and acceleration. Through instinct, dragons control the surrounding winds as they fly, and their wings catch this gale-cloak to turn and surge in the air.
Size, Physiognomy, and Potency
While there is no record of a fully grown dragon that might be called “small,” dragons can vary significantly in size, from fifty feet to nearly three hundred feet, nose to tail. Their physical shape, likewise, can vary substantially within certain bounds.
All dragons possess six limbs, two of which are usually wings; and they are always scaled in stone. The further details of their physiognomy, however, may differ wildly from dragon to dragon. While most dragons possess roughly saurian or reptilian features, others appear far more avian or piscine. Some even resemble winged and scaled lions or other beasts. A handful possess no wings, and rather six legs, while others have four wings, or even six wings and no legs at all. (Even those without wings are nevertheless capable of flight, albeit less nimbly so.)
The dragon's strength of spirit (its attunement to the elements of wind, fire, and stone) is also an individual matter; and none of these aspects is at all connected to the other. A dragon may breathe fire of incomparable intensity, yet be among the smallest of its kind; or indeed the greatest in size may still possess a remarkable fire and speed of flight.
What is all the more unusual, is that the dragon itself chooses these features. Within its egg, the dragon comprehends the innumerable forms of life that pervade Thindul. It then chooses the shape and spirit that best suits its nature. If an unhatched dragon wishes to become a force in the world, it may grow into a colossus armored in granite, with fires that could turn mountains to slag. Yet, other hatchlings sense their capacities for beauty and delicacy.
Long ago, there were many more dragons of this kind, swallow-tailed and swift, or living jewels, winged like butterflies with membranes of flowing glass. In the tragedies that befell dragonkind – the fall of Beladar, the curse of Xogoth, and their vengeful extermination by humanity – many of these dragons were lost. Only the strongest of body and spirit survived.
Reproduction
Neither sex nor gender is a natural category to dragons, for any dragon may bear young. (When dealing with mortals, some dragons will speak of themselves in these terms, though others wish to be known only by their name.) Indeed, when two dragons mate through the exchange of their fires, both of them come to carry an egg. Thus every dragon has a sibling, and often their forms and natures are pointedly paired or opposed.
Once conceived, a dragon egg will gestate within its parent for a century. The infant dragon then hatches at a point of its choosing, when it feels that the time has come for it to walk upon Thindul. This may take mere moments, or millennia. There remain dragon eggs from near the beginning of the world, which have yet to hatch.
The Loss
Dragons are deeply connected through ancient magic to their progenitor, Beladar. Since his binding by the Pantheon, nearly all dragons have come to feel a sense of gnawing loss, as though some ineffable fire were missing from the world.
It is for this reason that dragons are known to hoard, as if to counterbalance that inner emptiness. Often, this comes in the form of hoarding treasure, yet others will horde knowledge or other valuables; some have grown crueler still, and strive to possess living beings, including other dragons.
The Primevals
Through the joint power of Beladar and Iandor, the first dragons were born into Thindul. These seven are known as the primeval dragons, and they were the guardians of dragonkind. Far greater in power and size than other dragons, the Primevals were as much forces of nature as living things.
Yet, because their connection to Beladar was strongest, upon his banishing they felt The Loss most keenly. Growing spiteful and reclusive, they would lash out at mortal kind before disappearing again. Their whereabouts are unknown.
Vodoniathan
Even before the seven Primevals, even before Ostic forged Thindul, Beladar bore his first progeny among the stars of Eternis. Vodoniathan was a creature of the farthest sky, near to a god himself. When Beladar stood against the Pantheon, Vodoniathan was with him. Fleeing the wrath of the gods when Beladar fell, Vodoniathan disappeared into Diluvium, Nerophet's realm of dark waters where the gods dared not follow. Yet, Vodoniathan could not resist Diluvium's corrupting influence and was transformed there into a demon of unspeakable power.
Draegar*
During the War of the Moon, otherwise called the War of Broken Thoughts, the servants of the terrible urnäkki Ansadyr descended on Thindul. Meeting this challenge, the warrior god Qoth came forth in splendor, leading legions of angels; and in alliance with dragons, elves, and other mortals, they drove Ansadyr and his minions deep below the world.
Yet, the elves were shaken by the horrors they had faced, and they recalled the ferocity of their former allies, most of all of dragonkind. For the dragons had been overawing in their fury. Thus, a conclave of elven priests of Xogoth assembled and cursed dragonkind. Xogoth's curse, coming to pass, would reshape all but the strongest dragons into the Draegar – smaller, mortal beings of roughly draconic form.
The Draegar live hardly longer than humans. They are vulnerable to disease. They can neither fly, nor breathe flame. Their spirits and flesh are laced with water. Like many other creatures of Thindul, they are male and female, and the males cannot bear eggs, which was also a terrible loss for the dragons who were so transformed. And this curse is born through generations, so the children of Draegar will never be dragons again.
Drakes
Drakes are a recent creation, coming into being within the last several hundred years. They were engineered by early human wizards, who, having seen most of dragonkind slain, were nonetheless aware (and covetous) of the dragons' power. Now, over the centuries, many drakes have escaped captivity and proliferated in the wild. Broadly, there are three lines of drakes, which can breed within their own type.
Iron drakes are the most outwardly similar to dragons, being up to forty feet long, with flesh of woven metal. (Though most commonly iron, some are armored in other metals such as copper or steel.) They are winged and can breathe fire; and like dragons their flight appears to be at least partially magical, rather than mechanical in nature. Iron drakes are relatively rare, as they are solitary outside of mating, and each commands a wide swathe of hunting territory. For all of their resemblance to true dragons, however, neither iron drakes, nor drakes of any other kind, possess intelligence greater than that of a clever beast.
Sky drakes are smaller, rarely more than twenty feet, and commonly only ten or fifteen. They live in social groups of several individuals, with the juveniles hunting in small packs and older specimens seeking larger prey on their own. Sky drakes are so named for their propensity to loiter high in the air, watching for prey. Unlike dragons or iron drakes, they have only four appendages (hind legs and forewings). Faster and moderately more intelligent than iron drakes, they tend to pose a greater threat to mortals. Fortunately, at least, they do not breathe fire, though some can spit varieties of poison.
River drakes live in freshwater, most often in deep lakes and rivers, though they sometimes venture into shallower waters. Their serpentine bodies can grow up to thirty feet, and they swim swiftly, assisted by finned arms and legs. Though they do not breathe fire, some of them are able to hold a charge like an eel and release it into the surrounding water. River drakes typically hunt large fish, and they rarely trouble mortal people, unless food is scarce or they are somehow provoked. The largest known population of river drakes can be found in the Glassheibe, in the Harpwringer Domain. They are also seen often in the lakes of Periandor's North Wold.
Wurms
Wurms are tunnelers in the deep places of Thindul. Most resemble dragons very little; however, the greatest among them, the flame lithorade, is armored in stone and breathes a jet of scalding steam. These are sometimes misunderstood as a type of dragon. In truth, their lineage is entirely different. Flame Lithorades were first created by Ostic for dwarvenkind to tame. They are of great use in mining, for they feed on minerals and can discover otherwise hidden deposits of gems and gold. Most of their kind, sadly, were destroyed when the sea flowed into the Deepings.
Sirsanyr
The casual observer might mistake these serpent folk for Draegar. Sirsanyr, however, are smaller, comparable to humans in size, and lack the Draegar's vestigial wings. They are one among several kinds of beastfolk that have emerged on Gwynnbered, transformed from mere animals by the divine aura of Beladar, who lies entombed beneath the island.
The Dragons are Singing Tonight
While not strictly related to Thindul or its dragons, I would like to mention Jack Prelutsky's wonderful book of children's poems, The Dragons Are Singing Tonight. I'm uncertain what percentage of my (outsized) love of dragons stems from this book, but I think it's fairly high. The Dragons Are Singing Tonight, still available thirty years later, is by turns whimsical, mournful, and enchantingly weird. If you also love dragons, and have children you'd like to pass that trait on to, you might consider it as a bedtime book.
