On Dragons and Drakes
{yOn DRAGONS and DRAKES{x
by Archmage Uurak Naktois,
as commissioned by
the Var Bandor Earth Guild
and
the Brotherhood of Quartz
"Each word penned by the learned is but
another block from the Quarry of Knowledge."
{y+-------------------------------------+{x
{y|{x 2, on Dragonkind's Elemental Nature {y|{x
{y|{x 3, on their Presence in Avendar {y|{x
{y|{x 4, on Non-Ordered Dragonkind {y|{x
{y|{x 5, on the Breath of Death {y|{x
{y|{x 6, on Dragonkind in the Wild {y|{x
{y|{x 7, on Wakening and Maturing {y|{x
{y+-------------------------------------+{x
2.
Dragonkind's Elemental Nature
A wide variety of reptilian creatures inhabit the prime plane. These mundane creatures, such as the varied snakes, lizards, alligators (and dare we add, even the srryn), are not inherently magical creatures. However, it is suspected by some scholars, including myself, that their very far-distant ancestors may not have been native to the prime, and that the first reptilian species was introduced through magic. They are theorized to be distant and diluted offspring of elemental kin.
It is a controversial idea, to be sure, to link our common lizards with the elementals*. But one can begin to see the foundations for such a theory when considering dragonkind--the mighty dragons, and their lesser kin the drakes. These are magical beings with clear affinities to the elemental planes. Naturalists have affirmed that such creatures are not as other animals of Avendar. Thus, who is to say that these elemental affinities do not extend even to origins, and that dragonkind are native to the elemental planes themselves?
It is clear that dragonkind is much more vicious and fierce than more common elemental beings a scholar might summon. But it is also known that a wide variety of elemental beings inhabit the planes. And so I contend that dragons and drakes are in truth elementals, or a manifest form of such which appear in the prime plane as large powerful reptilian beasts.
- There are some who express the viewpoint (such as Tarfein of Gilfarin and
his supporters) that certain facts do not align with the Elemental Nature of Dragonkind theory. However, many researchers have been, if you'll pardon the expression, "consumed" by the subject. And so the body of research is rather regrettably filled with holes and remains a topic most scholars are unwilling to examine firsthand.
3.
Presence in Avendar
At times rifts, natural or created through powerful magic, may open pathways between the planes. Elemental beings may wander through of their own accord, drawn by an affinity with an aligned location of the prime.
They may also be summoned by arcane means, connecting with and harnessing a portion of the elemental essence (or 'animus', as some say) to the prime. It is apparent that those elemental creatures who resonate with order (chiefly earth, but also void and water) are more likely to heed a summoning and be controlled via magic.
As elementals of earth are said to be the among those most easily drawn or summoned to Avendar, with spells that any serious student of earth will soon master, this lends credence to the Elemental Nature theory. For we have long observed a predominance of earth dragons (manifesting as metallic or gem-like), and a predominance of earth drakes (stone-like or gem-like). Thus it is the earth dragons and drakes that have been most observed, studied, and mythologized in lore, many being drawn to chasms and caverns, rare metals and minerals aligned with their affinities within the plane of earth.
Void dragons and drakes are also known to dwell in Avendar, but also drawn by affinity to places of deepest shadow touched of void, while the water dragons and drakes, which are likely to be mistaken for sea-serpents*, naturally find a place in the greatest deeps within the oceans of Avendar. These creatures also represent connections to planes resonant with order.
- When I was still just a senior mage, I hosted a series of debates with a
then-master of the Water Guild, Shavindska (who would later gain some renown as The Staff of the Green Fountains) on whether leviathans were in fact ancient water dragons. While we both agreed the creatures originate from the plane of water, the discussion ended when none of our assistants returned from a research expedition.
4.
Non-Ordered Dragonkind
There are also legends, not well verified, of dragons and drakes of non- ordered elements found near the border areas of the planes. Shuddeni scholars have claimed to witness flame dragons and lava drakes within the depths of volcanoes, and air scholars have spoken of thunder dragons and zephyr drakes within the eyes of the mightiest storms. The ch'taren, too, have their ancestral tales of analogous creatures of the spirit planes, the Iwminar and Ahiaa, though such tales are told in sorrow, and they relate that many if not all of the Iwminar were believed to be corrupted or consumed in the Great Devastation of Spirit.
Such creatures remain far less studied, and many leading scholars consider them pure legend without basis in reality. This is understandable, in light of the Elemental Nature theory, given that scholars of non-ordered elemental spheres can summon and control even the common elementals only with great difficulty and cost, if at all (and then, they are more likely to find success when cross-studying an ordered sphere, as with the summoners of lava and fog elementals).
5.
The Breath of Death
The most fearsome and infamous weapon of a dragon, which it can only wield once it has matured beyond its adolescence, is to channel a raw blast of elemental fury at its victim. The "dragon breath" is connected in obvious form to the creature's affinities within its plane of origin, another fact that supports the Elemental Nature theory; flames from fire, frost from water, toxic vapours from void, so forth.
The breath is known to be weakened as the creature is physically weakened, which strongly suggests the body's role as an important element of the conduit to the plane.
For an elder dragon in full strength and might, the destructive power of the blast is almost unparalleled. The drakes, however, are of smaller size and thus unable to channel to the elements in such a way. Yet drakes wakened of certain stones may have lesser powers.
6.
On Dragonkind in the Wild
It is unheard of for dragons, though to our knowledge gendered*, to establish a mating pair and breed in the prime. Scholars speculate that dragon eggs would not develop or hatch away from the forces of its elemental home.
Unlike dragons, drakes have been known to establish breeding colonies. This is related, it is theorized, to the fact that earth scholars have learned the secrets of drawing forth nascent elemental drakes from their plane into the prime. These hatchling drakes are trained to do the scholar's bidding, but also acclimate to the prime as they mature, eventually maturing into a creature as much of this plane as of the elements. I believe they, at some point, may even lose their link to the their animus and survive--still dangerous, still a being of some magical influence, but now wholly of Avendar.
- See Tziniptja's "Dragon Eggs and Drake Stones" for more information (though
compiled by scribes after the scholar's unfortunate death, it remains nonetheless the authoritative work on the topic).
7.
Wakening and Maturation
If there have been dragons summoned or wakened by mortal casters, they have never been successfully controlled. But of earth drakes, the Wakened Stone tradition of scholars has preserved the knowledge of their summoning. And this is perhaps the greatest support to the Elemental Nature theory, for earth drakes are wakened from within a common elemental!
I contend that the drake and elemental are not the same being, but rather the elemental's conduit to its plan is used--perhaps even consumed--by the drake as the stone around the elemental is wakened. The surrounding stone of the spell location will greatly affect the nature of the drake, of course-- its particular qualities, its overall might, and its rate of growth. Others theorize that the creature is the same being in animus, simply reshaped by an infusion of the stone of the prime.
The rate of growth is a significant matter. Maturation is the greatest factor of power for all dragonkind. Even a young dragon can lay waste to entire kingdoms if it so desires, but fortunately as most dragons that take up residence in the prime are resonant with order element, they rarely if ever pursue destruction for its own sake, instead delighting in the proximity of the rare earth metals. This is why older dragons are likely to be found with caches of rare-metal coins (which has brought about the tales and legends of the Greed of the Dragons, which is of utter nonsense).
Where the most ancient of drakes is a creature of might and danger in its the ancient dragons have the strength and power of demi-gods. It is for this reason that the dragon is held as such a potent symbol of fear and destruction.
