Dawn Age

The Time of Dragons was a period in Faerûn's history that coincided with the Dawn Age, between -30000 DR to -24000 DR.

The Time of Dragons began in -30000 DR when the dragons of Faerûn launched devastating attacks against the dominant Aearee Empires throughout the land, air, and underground, creating the first Flight of Dragons, destroying those nations completely. They also battled against giants over territory, forcing giantkind to yield their lands and flee to the north. Individual dragons and dragon clans came to rule large swaths of territory and battled with their rivals not only for dominion of those lands, but also over matters of religious nature as the dragons of this age were devout followers of the Draconic pantheon. This period of devastating warfare among the dragons of Toril led the race to near extinction.

It was also time on Toril when dragons took an interest in the lesser races' squabbling and taught them the basic concepts of organization and civilization, leading to the construction of cities and armies. The metallic dragons admired a certain amount of selflessness in the lesser races, such as the elves and dwarves and the young races of humans, gnomes, and halflings. They took pity on the weaker races and helped lead and protect them. Alternately, the chromatic dragons saw those races as less intelligent and more malleable, believing them to seek only their own advancement. They forced them to build a loose-knit society and organized them into armies. They then taught the lesser races how to construct fortified castles for their new masters to live in and bask on the hoards that they stole from the weak.

Over time, draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that all of the fighting was wasteful and that gods who allowed such behavior were not worthy of their worship. Some believe this behavior was influenced by the god Zorquan as a way to stop the dragon wars. Others believe some dragons feared that if they continued battling each other in such conflict, they would eventually face extinction. Those dragons came up with a solution: Instead of battling each other, dominance among them would be established by status. To determine this, they developed the xorvintaal.

Timeline

 * Around -30000 DR
 * Fall of the Aearee Empires. Led by the powerful dragon general Nagamat, the dragons destroyed the empires of the avians.
 * The first dragons began to spreading across Faerûn.
 * Draconic religious factions began to fight over their different philosophies. The most violent conflicts were those fought among the followers of Asgorath.


 * c. -29500 DR
 * Dragons and giants ruled nearly all of Faerûn; over time the giant-ruled kingdoms threatened the hegemony of dragonkind, leading to great battles between giant nations such as Darchar, Grunfesting, Helligheim, Nedeheim, Ostoria, and Rangfjell, and dragon-ruled realms such as Argissthilliax, Caesinmalsvir, Darastriverthicha, and Tharkrixghontix.
 * While dragons and giants battled, members of the smaller humanoid races began to carve out their own civilizations.
 * The Dragonfall War: The series of wars between Bahamut, Tiamat and their followers began when followers of Xymor (Bahamut) killed Nagamat.
 * Tiamat began to breed aberrant creatures known as of the Spawn of Tiamat, and unleashed them on the followers of Bahamut. To counter them, Bahamut created the dragonborn to act as his soldiers and knights.


 * c. -27000 DR
 * Trying to undermine dragon rule, the Fey opened planar gates to allow the first elves to immigrate to Toril. Although most elves were content to remain in small scattered tribes, one group of green elves known as the Ilythiiri negotiated with dragons to allow them to carve out a small kingdom in the south.


 * -26000 DR to -25000 DR
 * The Thousand Year War: An avatar of Garyx led red dragons to invade Ostoria. Eventually all of dragonkind was drawn into the conflict. Upon its conclusion, Ostoria was reduced to only a few territories in the Great Glacier and the Cold Lands.


 * c. -25100 DR
 * Durothil took a silver dragon mount and became the first known dragonrider.
 * Elves from Tintageer defeated the great red wyrm Mahatnartorian, Master of the Mountains, although Durothil also died in the battle.


 * c. -25000 DR
 * Ostoria made a truce with dragonkind and the Reign of Giants came to an end.
 * First Rage of Dragons: Elves created the Dracorage mythal in a citadel in the northernmost reaches of Toril, tying it to the appearance of the King-Killer Star. This powerful magic incited dragons across Faerûn to madness and mindless destruction, turning them against each other and even against their offspring.
 * Draconic legends first speak of Ironfang Keep, a stronghold built on the cliffs of the White River, overlooking the Dragons' Sea.


 * c. -24500 DR
 * Legends tell that either, Tiamat or the green dragon Caesinsjach, created the first of the dragonspawn, Kurtulmak. Soon afterwards, new kinds of dragonspawn began to appear, among them the kobolds and the urds.
 * Kobolds from Darastrixhurti discovered Garl Glittergold's gem caves, where the god had stored the soul-gems that contained the souls of the gnomish race. The kobolds enslaved the gnomes.
 * Destruction of Darastriverthicha: Dragons affected by a Rage destroyed the dragon realm of Darastriverthicha.
 * Destruction of Darastrixhurti: Garl Glittergold rescued the gnomes while the dragons destroyed Darastriverthicha, and then destroyed Darastrixhurti, killing all the kobolds living there and creating the Hidden Lake. Seeking to compensate and protect the kobold and urd races, Asgorath elevated Kurtulmak and Kuraulyek to godhood.


 * c. -24000 DR
 * Draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that religious fighting was wasteful and that gods who allowed such behavior were not worthy of their worship. This started the dragon's apathy toward their gods, which lasted for thousands of years. Due to this, it was speculated that several members of the original draconic pantheon just died due to the lack of worship.
 * The great wyrms of the southern lands continuously assault the cities of Mhairshaulk, causing the yuan-ti realm to fall.
 * End of the Time of Dragons: Following The First Sundering, and due to the effects of the Rage of Dragons, dragons were unable to take control of Faerun again, and the elven people began to settle across the continent. With the elves' success, the other races thrived in safety and began the slow climb on civilization.