Talk:Dragons
discord gm text:
ON DRAGONS
According to most sages' understanding, Dragons are one of the primordial forces that dominated the world before the First War and the advent of the Demi-Pantheon.
The only real sources we have of the world pre-Demi-Pantheon are oral traditions, children's stories, and legends. Some particularly ancient ruins have bas reliefs and other sculptural representations of the Wyrms of Olde, so no one really doubts that the once did exist.
2 [8:34 PM] That means the traditional chromatic/metallic understanding of dragons may or may not be correct. [8:36 PM] There are myths about dragons being good and forthright and brave, and others about them being despicable horders and villains.
It's also hard to determined color, because stories usually refer to them by some sort of description other than color. "The Wyrm of Infernos," "The Wyrm of the Deep," etc. [8:39 PM] During the reign of the Demi-Pantheon, we likewise have very few reliable sources but there are surviving epic poems that feature dragons: as remote beings sought for wisdom and power, or else fearsome antagonists to our bootleg Gilgameshes. [8:42 PM] It is thought that the dragons that survived the First War were either hunted to extinction or else bound in some sort of captivity.
It is confirmed that by the time of Alexandria (~1550 ya, aka 2001-03 Campaign Setting) dragons were already considered extinct and not even the longest lived beings on the Mainland had ever having encountered one.(edited) [8:43 PM] (In a META perspective, this means that from the earliest real version of this setting, Dragons were already long, long gone) [8:45 PM] It is considered noteworthy that the Great Wyrm of the Earth arose in the Tragidore Swamp at the same time Arak became the Darkling Oracle (see wiki). Many sages believe the Dragons that swore fealty to the Dark Fiend in the primordial times went into torpor with his imprisonment, waiting for the inevitable failure of his prison. [8:47 PM] Even during the Prophet's War, only two Dragons are directly mentioned: The Great Wyrm of the Earth (released and later slain by Alexandria) and the Quicksilver Dragon (who came with Alexandria from The West and who died in her name). [8:51 PM] Oh - and for those who are like "oh well every setting says 'no dragons'" but of course they do!
In META terms, the Great Wyrm of the Earth and it's offspring are literally the only dragons that have ever been encountered in twenty years of actual play time, with the exception of a wyrmling that was a part of Sunless Citadel when I was running throwback modules and probably shouldn't be considered canonical.(edited) [8:53 PM] If you'd read Edrell's book like @Feantari did, you might have more insight but that might cover your broad question?