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Dragons

Revision as of 18:37, 19 October 2019 by MrParaduo (Message Wall | contribs) (It's a pic of a Fire dragon. My bad.)
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"When the Old Ones first crafted their Gates from the substance of stars, I was there to assist their labour. Down the long ages I have come, watching the rise and fall of you lesser races and your civilisations. I’ve laid waste to knights and cities, burned fields and routed armies in my years. I could tell you much of the world that you have forgotten and more that you never knew, but I think not. You and yours are suited for nothing more than to provide me with amusement and the occasional graceful bauble for my lair. I see little else worthwhile about you."

—Brinrairdih, also known as the "The Storm that Roars", Ancient Wyrm.[2c]
Fire breathing dragon by sandara-d56vmyu

A monstrous Fire Dragon laying waste to mortal armies.

Dragons are a race of large, flying, fire-breathing reptiles that had at one time populated the entire world, with many variants currently living within many regions of the world. Dragons are an incredibly ancient race whose forefathers lived many thousands of years before even the Elves set foot in the Old World. Today, they are few in number compared to the times of old, when they dominated the world and the air was full of soaring dragons, tussling for supremacy in the primeval skies. Those dragons who remain today are of a lesser, reclusive breed that spend much of their time asleep in hidden mountainside lairs or sunken caverns. Although fewer in numbers, dragons are still creatures of vast power and when they are roused from their deep slumber, their deeds and actions are the stuff of legends.[1a]

Dragons are a diverse species, apt to display enormous variations in colour and abilities. These differences depend little on the creature's breeding, for the father of all dragons was the fabled Kalgalanos the Black, and his spawn were all the colours of the sun. The hue of a dragon's scale goes beyond mere pigments — it is an indicator of the dragon's nature. Red, or fire dragons, are impatient and wrathful creatures that breathe roaring flame, forest dragons are elusive, deepwood creatures that belch noxious fumes, whilst storm dragons spit lightning bolts and are whimsical, almost flighty, in temperament.[1a]

A dragon's size is proportional to its age. They continue to grow throughout their lives, and dragons of any colour can reach huge proportions if they live for long enough. Few dragons today can rival the size Kalgalanos the Black, whose vast scaly body was bigger than an Empire greatship, and whose head was bigger than a house. Even so, dragons remain amongst the largest of all creatures, and powerful servants to those that can tame one.[1a]

Overview

The dragons are ancient creatures who roamed the skies of the frigid world long before the Old Ones arrived. In this, they are akin to dragon ogres and other primeval creatures that have existed since the dawn of time.

Alas, the days of dragons are slowly fading. Many of them have been hunted down and killed by adventurous humans or dwarfs. The Blood Dragon vampires also hunt dragons, desperately seeking an end to their curse by drinking dragon blood. Most of the remaining dragons have taken refuge in distant mountains and caverns beneath the earth, where they spend their time in deep slumber and dream of days long past. This, again, is a trait they share with the dragon ogres. As time has moved forward, dragons have slept for longer periods, and have proven more and more difficult to rouse. There is some speculation this may be due to the ending of the ice age and change in climate caused by the Old Ones.

At the dawn of time a dying dragon would fly to the Plain of Bones to die. This created a huge cemetery filled with skeletons of enormous proportions. With the Coming of Chaos some of the skeletons were re-animated as undead monsters and the disgusted dragons no longer go there.

Dragons are greatly feared on the battlefield. Even the least powerful dragons are quite capable of crushing entire armies, and of setting fleets and cities aflame. In the past, the Dragon Princes of Caledor each rode a dragon into battle, making them an extremely formidable force. However due to the fading and slumber of the dragons, those days are long past. The Dragon Princes now ride sturdy elven warhorses. However some worthy champions are still able to ride a dragon into war. These include High Elf Princes, Dark Elf Nobles, Dragon Mages, Chaos Lords and the Glade Lords of the Wood Elves. Indeed it seems the elves have a great affinity for the race of dragons, in contrast to the dwarfs who are instead famous for despising and slaying the creatures.

Of Dwarfs and Dragons

Dragons are an ancient race, older than even the Dwarfs. The two have much in common, despite their obvious differences, and this has led to a bitter history between them, fraught with death and destruction. Dragons, or "drakk" as they are known in the Khazalid, make their lairs deep in the mountains, near the heart of the world where it is warm and dry. As is their wont, Dwarfs will ever dig deep into the earth and there have been many occasions when the lair of a dragon has been discovered and the inevitable vying for territory begins.[4a]

Much like Dwarfs, dragons covet gold and hoard it, making their nests of it. The Dwarf hunger for gold is well documented and this has led many an expedition into the domain of such a beast in search of treasure and riches. As they are such formidable and deadly creatures, dragons are often sought out by devotees of the Slayer Cult in their quest to meet a worthy end. There are numerous accounts of such dawi being granted their wish when undertaking this perilous task.[4a]

So old is the enmity between Dwarfs and dragons, and the frequency with which the two races have clashed bloodily, that runesmiths have devised many magic runes to slay, and protect against, dragons. The Master Rune of Dragon Slaying was forged long ago and since legend purports that one of Grimnir's axes bore it, only one of the ancestor gods could have first inscribed it. There are many others, such as the Rune of the Furnace, which offers proof against the ravages of dragon fire - all arcane mysteries that baffle even the scholars of the Imperial Colleges of Magic.[4a]

Slaying a Dragon is a great and mighty achievement. Few have done it, yet there are several known instances. The Karaz-a-Karak Book of Days recounts the tale of Dorin Heldour and how he slew the dragon, Fyskar. Its skin was taken to High King Finn Sourscowl, who had his runesmith, Heganbor, fashion it into a runic cloak. After the great city of Karak Azgal - then Karak Izril - fell it became inhabited by the dragon Graug the Terrible. The creature was the spawn of Skaladrak the Incarnadine that once tormented the northern hold of Karak Kadrin. After many failed attempts by the knights of Bretonnia, Graug was slain by Skalf Dragonslayer who assumed kingship of Karak Azgal, now Dragon Crag, but Skalf made no effort to resettle it and instead established a small town in its foothills. Rumour persists that it is still inhabited by a dragon to this day, one of Graug's offspring that Skalf overlooked.[4a][4b]

Over the years, Dwarfs have learned to make a great many things from the slain carcasses of dragons. They do so proudly and such items are a measure of the Dwarfs' defiance towards the beasts. Drognel, a form of thick stew; dragon-scale shields and cloaks; bone helmets and even dragon-tooth necklaces are all fashioned from dead dragons.[4b]

Regarding the Old Ones

When the Old Ones first came to the world, a yet more ancient race already dwelled there -- the Dragons. As the world's orbit was shifted the Dragons retreated into hibernation, hating the warmth so beloved of the Old Ones. Many still slumber, awaiting a colder age, dreaming of a time when the creations of the Old Ones will be but a memory, and the Dragons will rule the skies once more.[3a]

Types of Dragons

Normally, when using age as the mesaurement, Dragons can be divided into:

  • Young Dragon
  • Dragon
  • Great Dragon
  • Emperor Dragon - May be another name for Star Dragons or they could be an older, even more powerful generation.

But for the High Elves, they have their own concepts:

  • Sun Dragon - The most common Dragon, best known for their red scales and breathing fire.
  • Star Dragon - The most ancient and mightiest of all Dragons.

Dragons by species:

  • Fire Dragon - are hot-tempered and intolerant beasts whose flaming breath and ready rage have long since passed into legend as being synonymous with Dragonkind.
    • Doomfire Dragon - (Emperor Fire Dragon) Potent fire-breathers capable of casting spells of Aqshy. They are swift to wrath and take an abiding joy in setting alight the towns and fortresses of lesser races as well.
  • Forest Dragon - Dragons that are known to live mostly in forested regions of the world (Athel Loren in particular) and to breathe soporific fumes instead of fire.
    • Venom Dragon - (Emperor Forest Dragon) The oldest and most powerful Forest Dragon.
  • Frost Dragon - A species of Dragon that prefers the cold.
    • Ice Dragon - (Emperor Frost Dragon) A lazier but also deadlier variant of the Frost Dragon.
  • Storm Dragon - A species of Dragon that can breathe lightning.
    • Great Storm Dragon - (Emperor Storm Dragon) The wildest and most unpredicatable Storm Dragon
  • Chaos Dragon - A Dragon mutated by the powers of Chaos.
    • Frost Wyrm - A species of Chaos Dragon native to the frozen tundras of Troll Country (Chaos corrupted Ice Dragons).
  • Sea Dragon - An aquatic species of Dragon known to be used by the Dark Elves to pull their dreaded ships.
    • Helldrake - Sea Dragons that live in the Western Ocean.
  • Toad Dragon - A mutated off-shoot of Dragon which lives in the otherworldy fens of Cold Mire.
  • Shard Dragon - A degenerate subterranean off-shoot of the Dragon race.
  • Magma Dragon - A sub-species of Dragon known to live in volcanic regions of the world.
  • Oriental Dragon - (sometimes called Gold Dragon or Celestial Dragon) A species of Dragon that lives in the far east.
  • Merwyrm - A species of marintime creatures that are distant relatives to dragons.
    • Pagowyrm - A albino sub-species of merwyrm that dwells in the frigid seas of Naggaroth.
    • Sciowyrm - A black sub-species of merwyrm that dwells in the deepest ocean trenches.  

Famous Dragons

  • Aggraunir - First Sea Dragon to be captured by the Dark Elves.
  • Aragnir - Mount of Bel-Alhor, son of Finubar.
  • Azorgaron - An ancient and powerful Black Dragon worshipped as a god by the Drakk Cultists.
  • Begeir Seun - Forest Dragon mount of Glade Lord Edrael.
  • Ceithin-Har - Dragon of the Sisters of Twilight, Naestra and Arahan.
  • Draugnir - the World Dragon, fabled father of Dragonkind according to the Elves.
  • Mergaste - A mighty Wyrm slain by King Baudoin of Bretonnia.
  • Nightfang - Mount of Mentheus of Caledor
  • Ostermark Ice Dragon - Slain by Markus Wulfhart.
  • Sulekh - First dragon of Malekith, slain by Caledor I.
  • Urmskaladrak - Disputed Father of Dragons that was killed by Grimnir. May be related to Kalgalanos or Draugnir.
  • Ymirdrak - Ice drake so powerful it froze an entire Ogre tribe.

Sources

  • 1 Storm of Magic (Expansion)
    • 1a: pg. 120
  • 1 Old World Bestiary (2nd Edition Fantasy Roleplay)
    • 2a: pg. 52
    • 2b: pg. 53
    • 2c: pg. 54
  • 3: Warhammer Armies: Lizardmen (7th Edition)
    • 3a: pg. 33
  • 4: Grudgelore
    • 4a: pg. 23
    • 4b: pg. 24
  • Warhammer Battle Bestiary (4th Edition)
    • pg. 54-55
  • Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (4th Edition)
    • pg. 55
  • Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (7th Edition)
    • pg. 57
  • Warhammer Armies: Dark Elves (8th Edition)
    • pg. 50
  • Warhammer Armies: Dogs of War (5th Edition)
    • pgs. 42 - 43
  • Warhammer Armies: High Elves (4th Edition)
    • pg. 70
  • Warhammer Armies: High Elves (5th Edition)
    • pg. 57
  • Warhammer Armies: High Elves (7th Edition)
    • pg. 62
  • Warhammer Armies: Storm of Magic (8th Edition)
    • pgs. 120 - 121
  • Warhammer Armies: The Empire (8th Edition)
    • pg. 34
  • Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (7th Edition)
    • pg. 55
  • Warhammer Armies: Vampire Counts (8th Edition)
    • pg. 49
  • Warhammer Armies: Warriors of Chaos (7th Edition)
    • pg. 35
    • pg. 70
  • Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (4th Edition)
    • pg. 69
  • Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (6th Edition)
    • pg. 31
  • Warhammer Armies: Wood Elves (8th Edition)
    • pg. 59
  • Warhammer Fantasy RPG 2nd Edition: Old World Bestiary
    • pgs. 52 - 54
  • Warhammer Expansion: Monstrous Arcanum
    • pgs. 30 - 31, 72, 80, 82
  • Citadel Miniatures Catalogue - Part One (1988)
    • pgs. 801 - 806
  • Citadel Miniatures Catalogue - Part One (1989)
    • pgs. 801 - 806
  • Caledor (Novel), by Gaven Thorpe
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