Dragon Illustration Story Magic  - Victoria_Borodinova / Pixabay

Dragons of Easthalen

“Her golden scales shone like a beacon in the noon day sun, her wings spread wide as if to harness the solar energy. Those that had gathered had suspected she was a dragon, and it filled their hearts to see she was gold. Their delights turned to panic and screams when she ulleashed her potent breath weapon apon them for defying her orders…” 

 – The Golden Judgement (short tale, author unkown)

 Dragons and found in many worlds. In some they are only mere tales told to children, in others, they are avatars to the deities themselves.  One thing they all seem to share is that there are various types, some metallic, some chromatic, with some worlds even telling tales of dragons with an aspect of gemstones.  Easthalen is no exception, but the dragons that reside there have a curious nature that can catch those who visit from other worlds off guard.  In the other worlds, as mentioned above, the dragons are divided into various categories, metallic (gold, silver etc) , chromatic (red, blue etc) and so on. The so-called metallic dragons tend to be good-aligned, even if some might look down on “lesser” beings in an arrogant fashion they would still not commit evil acts upon the,, with the chromatic being the opposite. In Easthalen however, all dragons are treated as one species and one group. This has the effects listed below, broken down into various aspects.  

From this point on, references to dragons, unless otherwise stated, refer to Halenic dragons and not those that might be found elsewhere in the multiverse. 

Personality/Alignment

 As a sentient species, Halanic dragons have the full range of personality and alignments that any other species might have. This is not limited to their “type”. A red dragon, for example, might be kind and compassionate, if not a little bit quick to express their emotions. A Gold dragon might be cruel and ruthless, silver might be hyper-aggressive towards mortals and a black dragon might enjoy the company of a certain species above all else.  This has caught many an off-worlder from other realms off guard, assuming that a metallic would be “on their side” and so on.   

Hatching/Breeding

 As dragons are technically one species, one “type” may be laid or hatched by another. A Silver may lay an egg that hatches a red, or a Brass and so on. Each egg has the chance or being different types, but within bloodlines, certain types are more common. To expand on what eas mentioned above, silver is more likely to hatch another silver,  red is more likely to hatch another red and so on.  Those from worlds that take note of such things believe this is the result of genetics and bloodlines being stronger in one aspect than others.  This has lead to curious events and superstitions amongst the dragons, especially on large egg clutches. One legend among dragon kind is of 12 dragons hatched in the same batch, a rare event in of itself, but with each egg hatching a different colour or metal type. It is believed that these dragons share a particular strong familial bond with each other, but many scholars believe this to be a myth nothing more.  

Breath Weapons

 For the vast majority of dragons, their breath weapon matches their “type”. Red, for example, has the classic breath of fire. However, due to the quirk of their nature, in about 1% of dragons, their breath weapons can be different.  Like other aspects, the dragons of Easthalen have caught many a would-be slayer off guard when they prepare for one breath type only to find their foe uses another.    

Humanoid Appearance

 A common thing that all dragons can do is the ability to shapeshift or morph into a humanoid. This humanoid form is, for the most part, fixed and is quite often the first form they mastered. Femmine dragons would typically have feminine humanoid forms, the same with the masculine versions. Non-binary dragons (NB) would have a form they feel best matches them and so on.  Whatever their humanoid form, however, some aspect of their draconic heritage shows through. This normally manifests in the eyes, but it can be skin tone, hair colouration and so forth. Due to the vast variety of skin tones and life forms in Easthalen, this is not as much of a hindrance as one might think – People seeing an individual like this would generally notice them, but then carry on with their day. One recent surfaced story tells of a purple-skinned individual believing they are in fact a dragon trapped in a humanoid form – This might be big news in other locations around the multiverse, but in Easthalen it’s dismissed as ramblings of a bard telling a tale to try and impress the locals.

 

World Anvil Page for the item listed above can be found HERE.

My World Anvil page/game world, Easthalen, can be found HERE. It is updated often , as and when I can.

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