Draconic Mythology

Creation and the First Gods: According to the dragon myth, the world was created by the powerful dragon-god Asgorath as a gift to a potential consort, Fate. Fate accepted the gift, and bore many children for Asgorath. These children were given the task of shaping the world to their mother's will, and joined their parents in the pantheon known as the Draconic Gods. To entertain their children, Fate and Asgorath created the dragons and set them free to roam the face of Asgor.

Each of the children of Fate and Asgorath found themselves concentrating upon different aspects of their new toys, the dragons. Task and Astilabor, for example, immediately joined in a contest to possess as many of the dragons as possible. Tamara, ever the enemy of Task, set to freeing the dragons from bonds that any of the gods (even Fate) put them in. Kereska first set to attempting to create dragons of her own, then to teaching the dragons themselves to create. Garyx began to destroy the dragons, or to push them to destroy one another. Lendys developed rules for them to follow, and soon began to enforce those rules with rewards and punishments. Hlal would play what some would call cruel jokes upon the dragons (and upon her siblings), rarely hurting them, but making their lives much more difficult. Zorquan attempted to impress upon the dragons what he considered proper behavior (in other words, he tried to teach them to act like him). The youngest child, Null, found no place left for him with these new creatures, so he remained close to his parents, whom he loved deeply.

The Separation: Eventually, as women do, Fate became bored with Asgorath, and turned her attention (and her affections) elsewhere. Asgorath was saddened to see her go, but his greatest sadness was in the loss of Asgor. Although he had given the world to Fate, Asgorath had become rather proud of his creation, and didn't want to leave it. Fate insisted, however, and Asgorath reluctantly agreed to leave, but he refused to let Fate win.

The Mortal Spirits and the Divine Confict: Within the heavens existed millions of tiny spirits, so small that most of the gods overlooked them. Before Asgorath left his beloved world for the last time, he invited these tiny spirits, known as mortals, into Asgor. Hundreds upon thousands of these mortal spirits came to inhabit the world, and soon they outnumbered even the great dragons. More importantly, since they were put upon the world without the approval of Fate, the mortals were not under her complete control.

In her anger, Fate called for the dragons to drive this "infestation" from her world. Many of the dragons followe the call, but some (mostly those that were given free will by Tamara) refused to attack the defenseless mortals, and in many cases even aided the mortal spirits. This division prevented the dragons from prevailing against the mortals. Next, Fate turned to her children to rid her world of the mortals. She did not predict the responses she received.

Only three of Fate's children honored her request. Zorquan, her oldest child, was the first. He saw himself as the role model that the dragons must follow, and, as such, he wanted to set a good example for them. Garyx soon joined, primarily because he loved any chance to destroy anything. Astilabor, always trying to gain status in his mother's eyes, followed shortly after.

The first of Fate's children to deny her request was Null. Having been deeply scarred by the separation of his parents, Null refused to take sides in their dispute. He left the world, choosing to spend his time between Asgor and the heavens, where he could visit either of his parents. While there, he found himself acting as a guide to lost spirits (both mortal and dragon) that were returning to the heavens from Asgor. He soon became known among both mortals and dragons as the Guardian of the Lost.

Hlal also denied her mother's request. She was extremely bored with the whole issue of the mortal spirits. On one hand, they weren't any fun to play jokes on (as they did not take themselves as seriously as the dragons or gods did), while on the other hand, Hlal never found much enjoyment in wanton destruction. She, too, chose to remain neutral.

The most vocal of Fate's children against her request was Tamara. Not only did she refuse to destroy the mortals, but Tamara actually assisted them. She felt that mercy was not something that should be reserved for dragons, and was willing to stand up to her mother to fight for it. Fate lashed out angrily at Tamara, and soon a terrible struggle broke out between mother and daughter.

The Judgement and Lendys's Rule: Lendys, who was loyal both to his mother and to Tamara (whom he had taken for a mate), finally intervened. He appealed to all the gods to calmly discuss the situation to determine if the mortals truly had the right to remain on Asgor. The gods agreed, but the discussion was far from calm.

The first to speak up was Task, who insisted that the mortals had stolen their space on the world from the dragons. Tamara asserted that the mortals had stolen nothing, as their space was given to them by Asgorath. Fate argued that Asgorath had no right to give any space on Asgor to the mortal spirits, as he had given the world to her after creation. Kereska said that the world was her father's work of art, and that only the artist himself can judge when a work is complete. She maintained that the world was not given to Fate, but performed for her.

When the dust cleared, Lendys gave his judgement. First, he agreed with Kereska that the mortals were justly invited into the world; however, since Fate now owned the world, she could act to remove them if she so desired. More importantly, he proclaimed that, while none of Fate's children had the right to directly oppose her, she did not have the right to force any of them to destroy their father's artwork. All of the gods reluctantly agreed, and most immediately declared themselves neutral.

Xymor and the Loopholes: There were many loopholes in Lendys's laws, whether he knew so or not. The wholesale slaughter of mortal spirits by the dragons (and by those children of Fate who supported her) was finally brought to an end by the most important of these loopholes -- Xymor.

The child of Lendys and Tamara, Xymor was the only god who could effectively argue points of law with his father. As such, he was capable of working around his father's mandates. Like his mother, Xymor cared for the well-being of the mortal spirits; however, unlike his mother, he was not bound to neutrality, as the rule against direct intervention by "Fate's children" did not apply to Xymor, Fate's grandchild. The young god could not stand against the will of Fate alone, though, so he set to gaining support from the other gods.

Although the children of Fate were banned from directly opposing their mother, they were free to work through indirect means. Tamara was already taking advantage of this loophole by teaching the merciful dragons that followed her to oppose the destructive dragons that fought for her mother. Xymor simply encouraged more indirect opposition in the remaining gods. He convinced Kereska to encourage her magic-wielding dragons to spread their art among the mortals, thereby giving them the magic they needed to defend themselves. Xymor convinced the ever-greedy Task that the mortal spirits were worth owning, but that, because of Lendys's rule, Task could only own them indirectly through his dragon subjects. Task then sent his dragons to own (and, indirectly, to protect) the mortal spirits. More impressive even than this was Xymor's request of Hlal.

The Great Joke and the New Gods: According to Hlal, the mortal spirits were not worth bothering with. Dragons and gods took themselves much more seriously, and were therefore much more fun to torment. Xymor showed the mortals to Hlal in a different light. Instead of looking upon the mortals as the target of the joke, Xymor suggested that Hlal use them as tools for the greatest joke of all -- a prank against Fate herself. As Fate would not let her children aid the mortals, Hlal could do nothing directly; however, if Hlal were to open the gates of the heavens to allow other gods to come to Asgor, these new gods would not be constrained by Lendys's rule. Xymor presented this to Hlal as the ultimate practical joke to play upon Fate, and Hlal took the bait. Soon, the gates were open, and new gods came to the world. These new gods offered their protection to the mortals in exchange for worship and servitude, and soon the mortals flocked to these new religions. As the new gods began to shape the mortals in their own images, the races of Asgor were born.

The Power of Mortality: With the coming of the new gods, the strength of the mortals grew, and soon Fate was forced to accept them in her world. The dragons were condemned either to learn to live with the mortals or to die by their hands. Very few of them managed the former.

As the wants and needs of the mortals grew, more gods came to Asgor to fill the gaps. Some came at the request of the dragon gods, while others came of their own volition. Although most gods held fairly undisputed roles, some (such as Loki and Mask) competed for similar portfolios.