Dragons
The most important question to ask yourself if you happen upon a dragon is whether it is a chromatic or metallic dragon. The chromatic dragons are servants of Skadi and sworn enemies of civilization itself. The metallic dragons serve Heimdall and defends the mortal races in a secret but ever active war. The Dragon War is mostly fought on remote mountains and deep in swamps and mortal accounts of it are rare.
Dragon society
Depending on type, some dragons are solitary, others live in societies of varying order. For example, Black dragons are almost always solitary, while Silver dragons form complex societies, living almost like mortals. Some dragons even live in mixed roosts with multiple types of dragons. Dragons are deferential to age, and to the inherent ordering of their types.
Age
Dragons grow very slowly, but never stop growing, neither in size nor power. For the first century of their lives, most wyrmlings are raised by their broodmothers. After this, they usually set out to make a lair of their own. They leave adolescence at around 200 years old, and at this point they may begin looking for a mate. At around 500 years old, they are fully grown adults, and may have spawned several wyrmlings of their own. At more than 800 years old, they are considered ancient, and at the top of their power. These ages are approximate, and chromatic dragons tend to develop slightly faster than their metallic counterparts.
Mating
When dragons reproduce, it can pass many years, even decades, between the mates meeting and the laying of the eggs. The chromatic dragons usually spawns a clutch of 3-5 eggs, but it is rare that more than two hatchlings survive infancy. The metallic dragons only lays a single egg, which takes longer to hatch, but their hatchlings are not as helpless. If dragons of different types interbreed they take the color of their mother.
Dragonborn
Dragonborn are the result of a powerful female dragon mating with a mortal man. Powerful dragons are able to take on a humanoid guise, which simplifies the process. The resulting egg hatches after around six months, much faster than a true dragon. Dragonborn often serve their mothers, but some turn renegade.
Dragonborn can continue to have children with other dragonborn, even those of other colors. Those who have a true dragon parent ('trueborn' dragonborn) are considered above those who don't in the complex social structures of chromatic dragons. Metallic dragonborn are usually less strict about heritage, but it can still come up, especially when tempers flare.
It is not uncommon for dragonborn to form communities of their own, as they are often looked down on in the general Estian society.
The Primordial Dragons and the Dragon War
When Skadi, the goddess of Nature, saw the other gods giving the mortal races the tools and knowledge to build civilization, encroaching on her domain and ravaging her lands, she travelled to the outer planes and birthed a primordial dragon of each color, each stronger than the last. The first to be born from the goddess' womb was Ixes the Freezing, the ancient fore-bear of the white dragons who was imbued with the power of the freezing plane of Helheim. After Ixes came Regia the Devourer, whose black acid comes from the Swamps of Oblivion in the Plane of Earth. Next, Skadi joined her body with the River Styx, which flows through Helheim. The result was the green dragon Arcotoxes the Foul, who could make an entire city uninhabitable with a single breath. The blue dragon-mother Operia the Arcing was birthed in the great thunderstorms at the center of the Plane of Air. Finally, Skadi gave birth to Igrites the Ever-burning in the Fountains of Creation, volcanoes deep in the Plane of Fire.
Once all five primordial chromatic dragons had been spawned, she set them loose on the early civilizations of the material plane. They were the mightiest force that young world had seen, and what remained of the mortal races went into hiding to avoid their airborne foes.
Forging an Opposition
Upon seeing the destruction wrought by the chromatic dragons, the other gods decided that they needed to be reigned in. Heimdall took it upon himself to make an equally powerful force and set out to forge the metallic dragons. He forged one great dragon each from brass, copper, bronze, silver, and gold and imbued them with the magic of the gods. When he was finished, he personally carried them down to the Material Plane and set them their task: protect civilization from the Chromatic Dragons.
The battles that followed brought further destruction to the world, but after almost a thousand years of war, all primordial dragons were defeated, at the cost of the lives of all the first metallic dragons, except for the Aurelia the Golden One, who was carried off to Valhalla and became one of Heimdall's most trusted servants. All that remained on the material plane were the children of these first dragons, who carry on the fight until this day. Sometimes the war flares up, leading to grand battles with hundreds of dragons when two roosts clash, but it is usually fought in the shadows with a great deal of subterfuge and proxy warfare.
Conflict Flares
The last time the Dragon War flared was 800 years ago, when the Empire ruled most of the known lands. The metallics were on the back foot until they made an alliance with the Teccans, who sent many legions to aid against the chromatics.
One of the final battles stood on Iacaris, where a massive roost of white dragons atop the Rhimer Peaks were defeated by the Ninth Legion, led by the Bladesinger Guard. Aerilwyn Nilteril, the leader of the Bladesingers perished in the battle, but her sacrifice gave the mortal forces the upper hand in the battle.
Since that time, the conflict has been quiet, with only scattered skirmishes whenever opposing dragons met by chance. Recently however, chromatic dragon activity has increased. If this is another flare-up in the making is hard to tell with the long-lived beasts.
Dragon magic
Dragons are magical beings, and their magic grows more powerful with age. A young dragon might be able to cast 2nd or 3rd-level spells, while an ancient dragon can probably cast 7th-level spells and above.
Different colors of dragon is associated with a school of magic, but individuals sometimes break these trends. The metallic dragons are, on average, more magically gifted than their chromatic counterparts.
| Color | School | Likely classes | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gold | Evocation | Cleric, Sorcerer | Tempestuous and majestic |
| Silver | Divination | Wizard, Artificer | Analytical and curious, silver dragons focus on scholarly arcane learning |
| Bronze | Enchantment | Bard, Rogue | Eloquent and secretive |
| Brass | Abjuration | Paladin, Ranger | Noble and idealistic, brass dragons work to protect the material plane from outside influences |
| Copper | Illusion | Bard, Wizard | Masters of tricks and subterfuge, the rare copper dragons are tough to pin down |
| Red | Evocation | Paladin, Sorcerer | Greedy and hateful, red dragons wants little but to burn the world to its foundations and claim its treasures for its hoard |
| Blue | Conjuration | Wizard, Warlock | Intelligent and self-serving, blue dragons can even be scholarly, but always to further their own goals |
| Black | Necromancy | Wizard, Druid | Deceiving and cruel, black dragons enjoy causing torment to others and dominating over them |
| Green | Transmutation | Rogue, Ranger | Vain and calculating, green dragons use long-running schemes to achieve their goals |
| White | Abjuration | Fighter, Barbarian | Bestial and merciless, the white dragons are the closest to animals |