Dragon. (Art by sandara)
| “ | You laughed at our existence. Regarded us as nothing more than fairy tale. Gaze upon the land you stand on, boy. What was once green and lush became nothing more than ash and cinder. Life extinguished with nothing more than a breath. We are fire made flesh. And fire is power. We are NO laughing matter. | „ |
| ~ Derous in his true dragon form |
Dragons, or Urulóki, are a race of ancient and powerful reptilian beings. As feared by others as they were admired in the supernatural world, they are immortal, strong, intelligent, and can breathe fire onto their enemies to where they can destroy entire landscapes with their breath alone.
Overview
While dragons are normally regarded as myths by most of humanity, there have been reported sightings of these creatures or beings in a similar shape to them. Widely regarded as terrifying yet awe-inspiring, they can be found all over the world and are frequently referred to in Asian and medieval European folklore. A majority of dragons can be quite aggressive and territorial whilst others only choose to live in harmony not bothering to threaten the humans below, regardless of their staining in the world.
Dragons are especially revered and worshipped in Asian culture and religion as they are said to be wise and powerful creatures, the mentors of kings, and the creators of kingdoms. Asian dragons are believed to be a separate species from European dragons. Most of these Asian dragons reside in the sky but only two races that are earthbound; the Fuzanglon, which are underworld dragons who guard treasures, and the Dilong, which are Earth dragons who live underground and control the flow of water. Many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions.
Dragons also play major or notable roles biblical scriptures but are used as allegorical terms for malevolent entities, although interestingly, the description of the Leviathan in the Book of Job fits the appearance of a dragon especially when God tells Job that out of his nostrils and mouth "come forth burning lights and sparks" which might indicate that dragons lived alongside humanity in the far distant past. Another was when Satan took the form of a dragon to combat the forces of Heaven in the Book of Revelations.
History
Enuma Elish
Dragons are believed to have originated from the ancient Mesopotamian goddess Tiamat who is often titled the Mother of Dragons. After Tiamat was slain by Marduk, blood seeped and spread from her severed heads, and each of the severed heads of Tiamat collapsed unto various sections of the Earth, particularly in areas that make up the elemental components of the planet. Two dragons emerged from the main head, which fell upon the highest mountain, a female wyrm and a typical dragon but with wings whereas the wyrm was wingless. These two were the first dragons to be born of Tiamat's corpse.
The mountain of which the first two dragons emerged also erupted from the sheer force of their appearance alone becoming the first volcano on Earth. More dragons emerged following the birth of the first two. The first dragons emerged when her divine blood from each of her heads gave life to the elemental concoction which a particular draconid class embodies; red dragons emerged from volcanoes, blue dragons from the oceans, green dragons from the forests, and black dragons from the shadows. Gold dragons were said to have emerged from the chemical makeup that creates the alloy of gold itself but with supernatural elements in this case and are an extremely rare breed. White dragons are believed to have emerged from the sky.
Antediluvian Epoch
These dragons resided amongst the dinosaurs, with many far outliving their prehistoric cousins and even surviving various extinction events. After the fall of Adam and Eve and the first humans creating settlements around the globe which was now devoid of such ancient beasts, the dragons still retained their position among the hierarchical pyramid. They did not bother the Protoplasts or their Antediluvian descendants, but their imagery spawned numerous tales in carvings, murals, and biblical/mythical poems.
While the earliest humans held the dragons in awe and reverence, some dragons instead looked down upon humans, viewing them as vicious animals that murder and pillage to satiate their lust and pride. As such, these dragons took to destroying such humans even at the cost of those who did no wrong. Thus, throughout the centuries, dragons cemented themselves in the fantastical imagery of humanity, either helping the latter destroy the forces of darkness, or become the very beasts they so greatly feared in European folklore.
Powers and Abilities
| “ | Rule one: Never piss off a dragon. Rule two: read rule one. | „ |
| ~ Abigail Hawkins |
Dragons are some of the most dangerous and extraordinarily powerful beasts in the supernatural world. While they are normally seen as breathing streams of powerful fire from their mouths, they possess an extensively wide variety of power and strength, with each dragon being stronger than the last and vice versa but this is all dependent on either their hierarchical ranking or species.
Their most common use of attack is emitting streams of fire, and the older the dragon, the hotter the heat they can emit. They are also said to be highly connected to magic and more intelligent species learn magic often using destructive and defensive spells, as such the species is known to range from numerous elements. Some dragons could even combine their inherent elemental power with the magic they learned and could use effectively. The combined usage of their inherent power and magic provides for even more devastating techniques.
Okami dragons, or simply Okami, are strongly associated with water and weather in popular religion. They are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water, such as waterfalls, rivers, or seas. The dragon kami is the dispenser of rain as well as the zoomorphic representation of the yang masculine power of generation. Basically, Okami Dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. Okami dragons are often regarded as being far stronger than European dragons although the subject is intensely debated as European dragons have showcased power on par or even greater than Okami dragons.
All of the draconic species seem to share a universal language among their kind called Dovahzul, a language, while difficult, is possible for humans to learn as evident in Abigail Hawkins speaking to Derous in Dovahzul though she only does so when giving the dragon specific commands.
Types of Dragons
Dragon Class
- Red Dragons (dragons born of volcanic fire known for their ferocity and power) (class)
- Blue Dragons (dragons born of untamed oceans known for their calmness but with power like a raging river) (class)
- Green Dragons (dragons born of encompassing forests known for being agents for the forces of nature) (class)
- Black Dragons (dragons born of shadows known for their malevolence and destruction) (class)
- White Dragons (dragons born of unkempt skies known for their benevolence and speed) (class)
- Gold Dragons (the rarest species of dragons purported to be the greatest of their kind) (class)
- Okami Dragons (dragons of divine origin and implied to be the most powerful of all dragons)
Draconid
- Imugi (a proto-dragon which must survive for thousands of years in order to become a fully fledged dragon)
- Culebre (a dragon that lives in a cave, guards treasures and keeps xanas and anjanas as prisoners)
- Jabberwock (a conceptual dragon described as being the manifestation of fear and insanity)
- Wyvern (a weaker two-winged dragon known to be in groups)
- Qiulong (horned dragons considered to be the mightiest in the globe)
- Kirin (chimeric divine horned dragons on par with Qiulong)
- Basilisk (serpentine draconic monsters that can kill with a glance)
- Cockatrice (avian draconic monsters that can turn any in its line of sight into stone)
- Dragonkin (half-breed offspring of a human and a dragon, noted to be stronger than their parents)
