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Dragon

Revision as of 03:23, 20 July 2020 by Wwuviking (talk | contribs) (adding background to "based on")
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This article is about the creature. For the magazine, see Dragon (magazine). For the coin, see Dragon (coin).

Dragons (or wyrms)[5] were very powerful and magical creatures.[3] There were several types of dragons, [2] the most common of which were chromatic and metallic which were evil and good respectively.[1] They were an ancient race. Few species that still exist can claim longer lineage.[3] Dragons were the bane of the creator races of Toril; their line was so old, they had their own realm during the first recorded exploits of the elves.[6] In recent times, the dragons of Toril were nearly all recluses or at the very least deceptive to their true nature, living amongst other species in polymorphed form.[1]


Subraces

The draconic family was vast. It consisted of numerous types of dragons, as well as lesser creatures related to dragons or descended from them.[7]

True Dragons

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Five chromatic and five metallic dragons.

The term "true dragon" referred to dragons that became more powerful as they aged.[8]

Chromatic dragons
Chromatic dragons were inherently evil. With the advent of the Cult of the Dragon many chromatic dragons were tempted to become dracoliches.
Metallic dragons
Metallic dragons were inherently good. They often were found helping others.
Planar dragons
Sometimes dragons lived and bred in otherworldly environments. Those that remained in another plane long enough were radically altered by its nature or its denizens.
Gem dragons
Gem dragons were aloof and self-centered, keeping to themselves and remaining neutral. They spent most of their time on the Inner Planes.
Lung dragons
Dragons of the land of Kara-Tur, most of whom were charged with carrying out tasks for the Celestial Bureaucracy.[9][10][11]

Miscellaneous Dragons

These dragon types did not fit into a single category.

Lesser Dragons

The term lesser dragon referred to dragon-type creatures that did not become more powerful with age. It did not necessarily mean that they were less powerful than true dragons.[8]

Related Creatures

Biology

Dragon anatomy - Mark Nelson

The internal organs of a dragon.

Dragons were inherently magical beings, and in no case should dragons be considered reptiles, despite obvious similarities such as a scaled epidermis and reproduction by laying eggs.[30] In fact, they were more akin to feline creatures than reptiles, particularly in regards to their posture and movements, as well as being inherently warm-blooded and an eye composition similar to felines, although far more complex.[30] A good example of this was the placement of the legs: dragons also tended to place their rear foot where their front foot was previously, much like most stalking feline predators.[30]

Diet

All dragons were omnivorous and could eat almost anything,[31] thanks to their innate elemental nature that allowed them to consume and digest all sorts of food, including substances that wouldn't qualify as food to other living creatures.[32] Most dragons preferred a carnivorous diet, but a few of them had developing unique dietary habits. Metallic dragons, for instance, preferred to eat primarily inorganic fare.[31]

The great "spellwyrm" Helgaldegar believed that each dragon had its own "unique body chemistry" so that their specific, individualized diet would effect their longevity, vigor natural proficiency for casting magic and proclivity for other activities.[33]

Most dragons usually consumed half their own weight in meat every day. Dragons seldom got fat, as their bodies converted all the eaten food into elemental energy, storing it for later use. Much of this stored energy was expended using their breath weapons and when their bodies changed because of them advancing in age.[31] When eating inorganic materials, dragons needed to eat as much as its own body weight per day to maintain healthy bodies.[32]

In some instances, dragons also ate magic items. These instances were rare however. While dragons could "inherit" the magical properties of some magic items for a day or so, and as such this would had some tactical value, few dragons would resort to do such a thing unless they were starving to the point of death.[34]

Reproduction

The number of eggs a dragon laid each brood depended on its race, but was usually low, between one and ten.[35] Thanks to their shape-shifting, dragons could also cross-breed with virtually any other creature, creating a half-dragon. The most commonly heard of were in the humanoid races, particularly with human and elves. Any combination was possible, however, even with devils or angels.[36]

Senses

As for their senses, which varied slightly depending on the species, dragons were superior in most ways to other creatures - like any predator, they had exceptionally acute senses, which only increased with age.[30] Dragons had excellent depth perception and comparably good peripheral vision, able to see twice as well as a human in daylight; they had great night vision, and were able to see even when conditions had no light to offer, though not in color.[30] Dragons could also pick up scents very well, utilizing both their sensitive nose and forked tongue, much like a snake.[30] Their hearing was on par with human hearing, although their minds could filter what noise it hears.[30] Dragon taste was also refined, although they did not respond well to sweet flavors, and most dragons didn't discuss why.[30] They were able to eat almost everything, but each race had a preferred diet; some preferred flesh, other to eat precious metals or gems, and so forth.[30] Of all its senses, a dragon's sense of touch is the only one to decrease with age, due mostly to the development of thick, hard scales.[30]

Dragons were capable of blindsense, the sense in which eyes, ears, and other senses were used to detect invisible persons or objects.[30]

Abilities

Dragons became stronger as they grew older; they also became larger, more resistant to damages and magic, had a more dangerous breath, and a great deal of other enhanced aspects. Older dragons could cast draconic magic, such as spells with just a few words, and oftentimes they didn't need long and complex ritual involving words, gestures and components like other wizards, and they radiated a mystical fear aura around themselves. After a millennium or two, a dragon reached his maximum development.[1]

All dragons had some innate magical abilities, but they varied from race to race. Metallic dragons were often able to shapechange into small animals or human forms, and used this ability to secretly help or watch over humans. Dragons also had some innate powers upon the element they are linked to. For example a red dragon, who breathed fire, had some control over other flame.[1]

Society

Religion

Main article: Draconic pantheon

Dragons worshiped Astilabor, Bahamut, Garyx, Hlal, Kereska, Lendys, Null, Sardior, Tamara, Task, Tiamat, and Zorquan. The pantheon once included many other deities, forgotten after millennia of time, countless holy wars, and the deaths of all their living worshipers. Some dragons had even taken to worshiping human deities under different aspects.[23]

There were other, ancient gods of dragons, including Asgaroth (also known as Io[37]), although the nature of their being was not fully understood.[23]

Wyrm

The term "wyrm" was used to mean "dragon", but might also refer to a dragon within specific age criteria; see dragon aging. "Wyrm" was believed to have originated from Jotun, the ancient language of the giants.[5] The words "wyrm" and "worm" were pronounced similarly. Great care should be taken to avoid this as "worm" was the most insulting thing that one could call a dragon.[38]

History

Main article: Dawn Age
See also: Proto-dragon

It was not clear exactly how dragons came to inhabit Abeir-Toril, but many traditions believed their origin was related to the Tearfall. Some scholars believe this event precipitated a dramatic climatic change, which in turn sparked the rapid evolution of proto-dragons into the varied forms of dragonkind known today, while others claim that the dragon race was born from falling meteors that were actually dragon eggs.[39]

Regardless of their true origins, as soon as the race was established, they began a war with the giants[40] that would last over a thousand years.[6] This war concluded, according to the giants, when a stalemate occurred in a game of wah-ree between the dragon god Garyx and the giant god Annam All-Father. However, according to the dwarves, the dragons ceased the war due to their own civil war developing between the chromatic and the metallic dragons,[5] known as the Dragonfall War, a conflict between the followers of Bahamut and Tiamat that continued unabated even in more recent times.[39]

Individual dragons and dragon clans came to rule large swaths of territory and battled with their rivals not only for dominion of those lands,[6] but also over matters of religious nature as the dragons of that ancient age were devout followers of their draconic gods.[39] This period of devastating warfare among the dragons led the race to near extinction.[23] Eventually, 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. This started the dragon's apathy toward their gods, which lasted for thousands of years.[39] They also created the xorvintaal to determine supremacy among them.[41]

Draconic rule came to an end when the elves created the Dracorage mythal, a powerful magical effect that incited all dragons across Faerûn to madness and mindless destruction, turning against each other and even against their offspring. This event became known as the Rage of Dragons.[42] Dragons were unable to take control of Faerûn again, their collective power waxing and waning over the following millennia. Although exceptions were recorded throughout history, the majority of Faerûn's dragons came to occupy the niche of top predator, not ruler.[43]

After the last Rage of Dragons, in 1373 DR, the dragon population of Faerûn was greatly reduced in number.[44] That realization sparked the need of dragons to look for the help of their gods, marking the prophesied "turning of the Great Cycle", an ancient myth that foretold the return of draconic religious fervor.[44] The dragon gods who survived the long years without worshipers received a great influx of power from their new draconic followers. In 1374 DR, a new "Tearfall" caused several new dragon eggs to fall from the sky.[44]

As dragons became free from the effects of the Dracorage mythal, Faerûn was threatened with the possibility of a new Time of Dragons.[44]

Uses

The meat of a dragon was said to be similar to white bustard meat but with a much more intense flavor. When news of a fallen dragon got out, it often brought "snatch teams" to the site to carve up and transport the carcass to the nearest big city to be butchered and rendered into saleable parts. These teams were typically well-equipped and well-armed because the potential profit from such a windfall was tremendous. Any offer of meat billed as "dragon tail" (or any other part of the creature) was usually a ruse or a get-rich-quick scheme. The largest and best tasting joints were said to come from the wings. This area of the body also yielded large slices of fat with the consistency of jelly. It was used to make fine stews when harvested in time, or as bait for bears and other large carnivores and scavengers if not.[45]

The inedible parts of a dragon had many uses, both magical and mundane. The tendons from the wings were very strong and flexible, for example. Indeed, there were a few shops that specialized in dragon parts, such as the Wyrmworks in Silverymoon. Some alchemists claimed that properly prepared dragon organs, blood, or other fluids had magical healing or anti-poison properties. The same sort of claims were made for alicorn (the horn of a unicorn) and for wyvern-tail juice so it was often difficult to separate fact from fiction.[45] Many spells could use dragon parts as material components, such as create baneguard, Daltim's proof against fire, dragon scales, dragonbane, time conduit, and weapon bless, for example.

Appendix

See Also

Further Reading

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 86–118. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 74. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 68. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  4. ↑ Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 69. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 9. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  7. ↑ Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Kolja Raven Liquette (2006). Races of the Dragon. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 4. ISBN 0-7869-3913-3.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 4. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  9. ↑ David Cook, Steve Winter, and Jon Pickens (1989). Monstrous Compendium Volume Three Forgotten Realms Appendix (MC3). (TSR, Inc), pp. 37–45. ISBN 0-88038-769-6.
  10. ↑ Rick Swan (July 1990). Monstrous Compendium Kara-Tur Appendix. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 4, 62–65. ISBN 0-88038-851-X.
  11. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 287. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  12. ↑ Dale "slade" Henson (April 1991). Realmspace (Monstrous Compendium). Edited by Gary L. Thomas, Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc), p. 81. ISBN 1-56076-052-4.
  13. ↑ Kevin Baase, Eric Jansing, Oliver Frank, and Bill Halliar (November 2005). “Monsters of the Mind – Minions of the Mindflayers”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #337 (Paizo Publishing), pp. 25–27.
  14. ↑ Edward Bonny, Brian Cortijo, Laszlo Koller (November 2006). “The Horde: Barbarians of the Endless Waste”. In Erik Mona ed. Dragon #349 (Paizo Publishing, LLC), pp. 62–64.
  15. ↑ David Cook (November 1990). “A Hoard for the Horde”. In Roger E. Moore ed. Dragon #163 (TSR, Inc.).
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Andy Collins, Bruce R. Cordell (July 2002). Epic Level Handbook. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 181–186. ISBN 0-7869-2658-9.
  17. ↑ Scott Davis, Newton Ewell, John Terra (1991). Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix 2. Edited by Allen Varney. (TSR, Inc.), p. 18. ISBN 1-56076-071-0.
  18. ↑ Jeff Grubb (August 1989). “Lorebook of the Void”. Spelljammer: AD&D Adventures in Space (TSR, Inc.), pp. 73–74. ISBN 0-88038-762-9.
  19. ↑ Thomas Reid (October 2004). Shining South. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 63. ISBN 0-7869-3492-1.
  20. ↑ Scott Davis, Newton Ewell, John Terra (1991). Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix 2. Edited by Allen Varney. (TSR, Inc.), p. 19. ISBN 1-56076-071-0.
  21. ↑ Scott Davis, Newton Ewell, John Terra (1991). Monstrous Compendium Spelljammer Appendix 2. Edited by Allen Varney. (TSR, Inc.), pp. 20–21. ISBN 1-56076-071-0.
  22. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (May 29, 2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. Edited by Kim Mohan, Michele Carter. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 160–163. ISBN 978-0786966240.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 Nigel Findley, et al. (October 1990). Draconomicon. Edited by Mike Breault. (TSR, Inc.), p. 67. ISBN 0-8803-8876-5. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Draco2e" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "Draco2e" defined multiple times with different content
  24. ↑ Jon Pickens ed. (1995). Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Two. (TSR, Inc.), p. 104. ISBN 0-7869-0199-3.
  25. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 83. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  26. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 161–163. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  27. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 192–193. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  28. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 195–197. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  29. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 197–198. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  30. ↑ 30.00 30.01 30.02 30.03 30.04 30.05 30.06 30.07 30.08 30.09 30.10 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 5–10. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 10. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 12. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  33. ↑ Ed Greenwood (2014-07-23). The Spellwyrm's Search. Forging the Realms. Wizards of the Coast. Archived from the original on 2014-08-02. Retrieved on 2017-08-27.
  34. ↑ Bruce R. Cordell, et al. (November 2008). Draconomicon: Chromatic Dragons. Edited by Michele Carter, et al. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 12–13. ISBN 978-0-7869-4980-9.
  35. ↑ Andy Collins, James Wyatt, and Skip Williams (November 2003). Draconomicon: The Book of Dragons. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 10–11. ISBN 0-7869-2884-0.
  36. ↑ Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Jennifer Clarke Wilkes, Kolja Raven Liquette (2006). Races of the Dragon. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 56. ISBN 0-7869-3913-3.
  37. ↑ Dale Donovan (January 1998). Cult of the Dragon. Edited by Julia Martin. (TSR, Inc.), p. 120. ISBN 0-7869-0709-6.
  38. ↑ R.A. Salvatore (May 2000). The Fallen Fortress. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 140. ISBN 0-7869-1606-0.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 39.2 39.3 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 7. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
  40. ↑ Ray Winninger (September 1995). Giantcraft. Edited by Karen S. Boomgarden. (TSR, Inc.), p. 7. ISBN 0-7869-0163-2.
  41. ↑ Richard Lee Byers (June 7th, 2011). The Spectral Blaze. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 15–19. ISBN 0786957980.
  42. ↑ Brian R. James, Ed Greenwood (September 2007). The Grand History of the Realms. Edited by Kim Mohan, Penny Williams. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 8, 10. ISBN 978-0-7869-4731-7.
  43. ↑ Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 8. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
  44. ↑ 44.0 44.1 44.2 44.3 Eric L. Boyd, Eytan Bernstein (August 2006). Dragons of Faerûn. Edited by Beth Griese, Cindi Rice, Kim Mohan. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 10. ISBN 0-7869-3923-0.
  45. ↑ 45.0 45.1 Ed Greenwood (November 2000). “The New Adventures of Volo: Dragonwing Stew”. In Dave Gross ed. Dragon #277 (Wizards of the Coast), p. 94.

Connections

Dragonkind
The Family of Dragons
True dragons
Metallic dragons: Gold • Silver • Bronze • Copper • Brass • Electrum • Mercury • Platinum • Steel

Chromatic dragons: Black • Blue • Brown • Gray • Green • Orange • Pink • Purple • Red • Salt • White • Yellow
Gem dragons: Amethyst • Beljuril • Crystal • Emerald • Obsidian • Sapphire • Topaz • Ruby
Neutral dragons: Amber • Jacinth • Moonstone • Pearl
Lung dragons: Chiang lung • Li lung • Lung wang • Pan lung • Shen lung • T'ien lung • Tun mi lung • Yu lung
Ferrous dragons: • Cobalt • Iron
Planar dragons: Adamantine • Astral • Battle • Blight • Chaos • Ethereal • Hellfire wyrm • Howling • Mirage • Oceanus • Pyroclastic • Radiant • Rust • Shadow • Styx • Tarterian
Spelljamming dragons: Moon/lunar • Radiant • Sun/solar
Epic dragons: Force • Prismatic • Time
Catastrophic dragons: Blizzard • Earthquake • Volcanic
Miscellaneous dragons: Cobra • Dzalmus • Mist • Rattelyr • Song • Vishap

Draconic transformations: Air • Ascendant • Brainstealer • Hidecarved
Lesser dragons
Dragon eel • Dragon tortoise • Dragon turtle • Dragonnel • Dweomervore • Hatori (Tylor) • Ibrandlin • Landwyrm (Forest • Swamp • Tundra • Underdark) • Rock wyrm • Scalamagdrion • Sea serpent • Sea wyrm • Ssvaklor • Sunwyrm • Velroc • Wyvern

Linnorms: Corpse tearer • Dread • Stygian
Drakes: Ambush • Black firedrake • Dragonne • Elemental (Earth • Fire • Ice • Magma • Ooze • Smoke • Water) • Felldrake (Crested • Spitting) • Greater • Guard • Mind • Portal • Rage • Space • Storm • Vulture

Dragonets: Crow's-nest dragon • Draken • Faerie dragon • Firedrake • Pseudodragon
Related creatures
Abishai • Abyssal drake • Dracon • Dracohydra • Dracosphinx • Dragonborn • Dragonkin • Fume drake

Dragonbloods: Draconic creature • Dragonborn of Bahamut • Dragonspawn
Drow-dragon (shadow) • Drow-dragon (deep) • Half-dragon • Kobold (Dragonwrought • Urd) • Weredragon • Zar'ithra • Zekyl
Hybrid monsters: Dracimera • Dracolisk • Mantidrake • Wyvern drake

Undead dragons: Dracolich • Dragonwight • Ghost • Hoarder • Rathrea • Vampiric • Zombie
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