Age of Dragons: Argent Dragons

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Argent Dragons

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The Hierarchy of Scales

The Argent Dragons have Order in their blood. For them, Order is not about harmony, inner peace or mere faith to a higher power - it is about each Dragon knowing his place in the world, obeying his superiors and being obeyed by his inferiors.

An Argent Dragon knows that the system works, and he knows his place within the system.

That less disciplined breeds have a hard time grasping this concept is a source of much frustration for the Argent Dragon. To the Argent mindset, disobedience of proper authority is sinful and wrong, and anarchy is hell on earth. Responsibility is more important than freedom. Honour is greater than personal satisfaction. Duty and loyalty are the two greatest qualities that a Dragon can aspire to.

Character Creation: Game Rules

For the purposes of the below Birthrights and Breed Weakness, a hierarchical superior or inferior is considered to be someone in the same organisation, in the same chain of command. This is open to some GM interpretation, and is in a large part due to perception. For example, a War Dragon who is part of a military force places himself within that hierarchy. Broadly, most Argent Dragons consider themselves to be part of the hierarchical organisation that is the Argent Breed itself (with elders considered to be superiors by default unless of lower rank in some other way) and also a member of their political faction (usually the Alliance of Light).

Birthright

Loyalty Unto Death - If an Argent Dragon is obeying orders from his hierarchical superiors, he is hard to sway from his purpose. He gains +1 dice to any defensive Sophis or Pneuma check to resist being swayed from completing his orders.

Confidence in Command - Argent Dragon commanders instinctively know the best way to inspire their soldiers. An Argent Dragon gains +1 dice to any Sophis or Pneuma check relating to giving commands to his hierarchical inferiors.

Breed Weakness

Oaths of Obedience - Conversely, Argent Dragons find it very hard to resist orders given to them by their hierarchical superiors. An Argent Dragon must make a Sophis check to disobey his superiors. The Argent Dragon's TN for this check is 6+ for most orders, 5+ for an order that is against his conscience or code of morality, or 4+ for an order that is aborrhent or obviously suicidal. The roll is competed by an appropriate command check from the superior. If the Argent Dragon equals or exceeds the superior's successes, he may disobey the order, otherwise he must follow it without question.

Physical Appearance

Argent Dragons are called "silver scaled" by other dragons, but in actuality a single dragon with have scales varying from the gleaming silver-white colour of mythril, to the dark and shiny black-greys of graphite. Dorsal surfaces (especially the heavy back armour plates) tend to be brighter coloured, while wing membranes and undersurfaces tend to darker silvers. Blue-grey shades tend to be the norm for Argent Dragon eyes, with a distinct blac central pupil. Like Pure Dragons, Argent males have longitudinally aligned horns, though their horns are teardrop shaped in cross section, with the "edge" downwards. Their facial features and body structures are best described as "military", with a certain heaviness and solidity of torso even in females, and often accessory rows of spines along the back.

Society and Culture

The Argent Dragons rule over the mostly human Empire of Arrantis that lies in the southwest of the Realm. The Empire consists of two dozen City States that are governed by human princes, but who owe allegiance in turn to the Silver City where the Argent Dragons rule. The Silver City (and Arrantis) is ultimately governed by the Emperor of the Hierarchy of Scales - a title passed down in heriditary fashion from eldest son to eldest son of an Imperial line of dragons. The first Emperor was none other than the first Argent Dragon.

As all Argent Dragons are descended from the first Emperor, they all claim royal blood. Over the generations different descendant bloodlines have named themselves as various Noble Houses. The Imperial line is known as Silverscale, while other Houses Major include Brightwater, Ironheart and Flametalon. Argent Dragons are not so crude as to incorporate their House names into their own names, but all neonate dragons are able to recite the various bloodlines from an early age.

Outlook

Honour-Through-Duty, Argent Weaponmaster of the House Ironheart, speaks of comrades and enemies:

• Pure Dragons - ".."
• Solar Dragons - ".."
• Hunter Dragons - ".."
• Forest Dragons - ".."
• Storm Dragons - ".."
• Ashen Dragons - "..
• Velvet Dragons - ".."
• Chimerical Dragons - ".."
• Ghost Dragons - ".."
• Blood Dragons - ".."
• Sable Dragons - ".."

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