Imagine Dragons
This lecture was given by Lupdels during a Bardic Discussion, based on his prepared remarks in the year 439. The actual lecture may have deviated at times.
“Thank you for attending tonight’s meeting and listening to my lecture on dragons.”
“Imagine … dragons!”
“Yes, dragons! Fearsome creatures. Perhaps foul creatures, perhaps not? Well, tonight we find out.”
“First, as rare, solitary creatures, information on dragons is scarce. The few scholars that study them do their best to make reasonable conclusions based on … well, whatever they can!”
“Second, I am indebted of course to those who came before me. I am but a Gnome standing on the shoulders of a Gor’Tog. The great Bard Aaron Albuam, world traveler and hero, wrote extensively on his conversations with an ancient dragon in his book, Journey to the Forbidden West.”
“Despite his reputation as a Bard, or perhaps because of said reputation, some people view his works as fanciful and fictional. I will do my best to distinguish between the more conventionally accepted knowledge from scholars from the firsthand reports by Albuam.”
“Now then!”
“Like a canary in a coal mine, scholars do agree that dragons seem to have a unique relationship with their domain. Like a Ranger who spends too much time in the big city, dragons seem to have a connection with their habitat. When the domain is corrupted, the dragon becomes unwell.”
“This is most fascinating! I have written extensively on this situation in my winning submission to the Lorethew Mentor Society Magic Symposium. That of course was attempting to apply what little we know about dragons and their domains to the biggest, baddest dragon—The World Dragon!”
“But that’s for another time.”
“What does this relationship mean? Well, it seems that dragons are sensitive to the purity of their domain. Purity from what? Scholars indicate that dragons view a host of magic users, not just sorcerers and necromancers but even holy men and moon mages, as corrupting to their domain! A domain must be as close to pristine, untouched nature as possible, free and pure of the touch of other planes … all other planes, even Elemental Planes.
“Unlike dragons, we of Elanthia mine the rocks, chop the trees, smelt the lead, call the Gods, and twist the dimensions.”
“Our very society is polluting to their existence and survival.”
“Albuam writes that dragons can only attune to and manipulate two frequencies of mana, Life and Elemental. He describes two classes or dragons, Life Dragons and Elemental Dragons.”
“The dragon Albuam spoke with, a Life Dragon, offered to summon an Elemental Dragon to teach Albuam some of their ways, but Albuam has great quests in his journey to continue to focus on …”
“It seems possible that the Elemental magic of Dragons does not depend on a confound analogous to the direct attunement to the Elemental Planes that Warrior Mages use. It hints that dragons are hostile to all extraplanar magic! They are like Warrior Mages that have been blinded to the planes, unassisted by their innate connection and summoning ability.”
“Anyway …”
“The Elemental magic that Elemental Dragons do perform is said to explain much of their most fantastical abilities. A large, lumbering creature able to fly and breath fire is not natural, but Elemental spells.”
“Interestingly, Albuam indicates that there was a social distinction with Life Dragons as priest-kings above common Elemental Dragons. Life Dragons, like the ancient and wise dragon that Albuam spoke to, give up their access to the classical draconic abilities like flight and fire for … power over life and death itself.”
“Power over life and death!
“What does that mean exactly? Albuam said included the ability to warp and shift their shape and form. And then rulership over nature itself. And Albuam wrote that a common dragon can live up to 2,000 years, and Life Dragons multiple times that.”
“There may be more on dragons I am forgetting to mention, so I encourage you to ask questions at the end. A few unanswered thoughts to end, specifically on the situation we find ourselves in.”
“The dragon Ael'tharaxus. Not forty years ago this dragon proclaimed himself the new Emperor of the Dragon Priests. Showed up in Shard, met with Ferdahl Aemmin, and has been unheard from since … until recent claims that he has ... Ascended? To what? We don’t know.”
“He was in dragon form and flew into Shard, and reports were that he was perceived to have a number of unknown elemental spells about him. This would indicate his status as a commoner, Elemental Dragon.”
“But could he have made the choice to become a Life Dragon more recently? We know nothing of the choice involved in dragons attuning to different frequencies of mana. Is that possible? Perhaps Ascension to Life Dragon status is normal. Or maybe this is unnatural. Perhaps this Ascension is something … different. Foul.”
“Are there other dragons? Aside from Ael'tharaxus I have heard of no reports of a dragon. Albuam found them far, far to the west. Given their sensitivities to their domain, it would be unlikely to find one living in the center of the Crossing. But could they still be in some wild areas?”
“Maybe?”
“And now, questions?”