Age of Dragons: Chimerical Dragons
Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Chimerical Dragons
Contents
The Dreaming Madness
The Chimericals have greater things on their mind than the mere physical world. The Mother Goddess gave them mental sight into Dreaming Madness, and this gift and curse guides every aspect of their life and society.
The Dreaming Madness is a world that doesn't exist - an insane mirror that only the broken-minded perceive and which has no consequence to true reality. It is the place where minds go when they sleep, but can be perceived by the waking mind only as a barrage of dissonant images and clashing concepts.
Because the Dreaming Madness is in their blood the Chimericals don't really exist either, or so they believe. They'll tell you that they're dreaming the world, or that the world is dreaming them. They'll tell you that nothing matters except for dream, and that's because dreams don't matter at all.
Ephemeral, ethereal, blessed of great insight, brilliant... these are all euphemisms that the other breeds use because they can't accept the simple truth.
The Chimericals are insane.
Character Creation: Game Rules
Sphere Ratings
- Soma 3
- Sophis 5
- Pneuma 4
Birthrights
Dreamsight - Chimerical Dragons "see" strange patterns atop reality, in a mix of synaesthesia and intrusive symbolic thoughts. These make little sense, but alter the way which Chimericals react to situations, allowing them counter-intuitive leaps of intuition. In game terms, on any Sophis or Pneuma based roll, any dice that tolls a "6" is counted as 2 successes instead of 1.
Dreamweaving - Chimerical Dragons sometimes turn up with unusual resources in their possession, such as new spells, unusual equipment, mortal followers, island lairs, etc. They can't account for how they came to possess these things - they just turn up, as if in a dream. The GM sets how and when these resources turn up.
Ephemeral - A Chimerical Dragon viewed from a distance can seem translucent and ephemeral, especially if he is either on his own or just in the company of other Chimerical Dragons. This has no in game effect, other than adding to the Chimericals general air of oddness and mystery.
Breed Weakness
The Fractured Mind - Chimericals are at the mercy of madness, and at any one time will have a single compulsion, hallucination or delusion which they cannot resist. This is set by the GM, but should resonate with the current circumstances in some way. If more than one Chimerical is in the same vicinity, they always share the same madness. Madnesses can change at any time, lasting anything from a few minutes to a few centuries, but a Chimerical is never without madness.
Physical Appearance
Chimerical Dragons are rainbow-scaled, with each scale shifting in colour according to how the light falls on it, giving them a shifting irridescent appearance when viewed as a whole. Their entire appearance tends towards the ethereal, with fey thin limbs, enigmatic multi-coloured eyes and gossamer-like wing membranes. Other breeds often joke and comment that the appearance of the Chimericals is such that one expects them to blow away at the next strong breeze, or fade away when the sun next rises. They are oft-named as the Dragons of Dream, as they seem so ephemeral.
Society and Culture
The Chimericals lair themselves at the Dream Archipelago and the Dream Isles that lie just beyond the Solar Coast, and just short of the territory of the Storm Dragons. This territory is one that exists and does not exist at the same time - sometimes it is easy to find, and at others it seems to vanish from the coastline altogether. They have no society as such, as they believe that they are themselves nothing but fragments of a dream.
Chimericals can sometimes be found beyond their island homes, but this is a rarity, and there are not always clear reasons why they travel. They are infuriatingly enigmatic, and seemingly disinterested in the affairs of the world.
Despite this, those who have made it to the islands often describe that the Chimericals appear to have an advanced society and culture. They describe vast stepped pyramids amidst jungle covered islands, cities made of gold and glass, and huge temple structures that seem like they ought to be impossible to construct. There are mortal races their too, though they are also limited to the isles and seem as enigmatic as the dragons there. Some visitors have reported nothing but savage tribes of humans, others have described lizardman emperors, birdman sorcerors and other strangenesses.
To the Chimericals, the strangeness of their home makes perfect sense. The world is just a dream, they say, why should it make sense?
Lifepaths and the Velvet Dragons
By far the most popular Lifepath for a Velvet Dragon is that of the Ambassador-Courtier, which allows them to play their games of intrigue in a social mileu. Almost universally this will be within the courts of the Ascendancy. Harpies play games of social one-upmanship within the Shadow Courts. Companions work to gain the favour of more powerful dragons through their seductive wiles. Persuaders operate in foreign lands to act as the pleasing face of the Ascendancy - mostly within the Ashen Kingdoms and the unaligned breeds rather than in the Alliance.
Also favoured is the role of the Physical Adept. Velvets appreciate the versatility of polymorphing, and are more than happy to work behind layers of false identity to achieve the goals of their Sable masters. Whether spying deep in Alliance territory, or subtly corrupting and manipulating a mortal king, the Velvets are adept at using disguise and deception to achieve their goals. The Ascendancy's main espionage branch is called The Faceless, and most of their number are Velvet Dragons.
Other lifepaths are more rarer and more unusual: Velvet Dragons have sufficiently strong pneuma to be Scholar-Sages they often lack the motivation for such a path. Still, those that do choose this path (the so called "Velvet Shadowmagi") often command extremely puissant sorceries.
Finally some Velvets are forcibly co-opted into a Fecund Breeder program. Only the most deranged and insecure would enter a Hive voluntarily, but Endless Night has recognised that the Velvet's ability to inspire lust makes them quite useful for this purpose. The breed as a whole have not objected to this abuse of some of their number - if nothing else it is helping the Velvets close the population gap...
Outlook
Shames-The-Sunset is a regular sight in the Ascendancy' Courts, and all listen to what he has to say:
- Pure Dragons - "A challenging quarry for seduction, as they seem immune to our beauty. It just makes the chase more fun though..."
- Argent Dragons - "Its hard to make one of these soldier-knights betray his ideals for a kiss... hard, but not impossible."
- Solar Dragons - "Of all the Alliance Dragons, these ones are the easiest to work on. It's almost endearing how easily they fall for a few little lies."
- Hunter Dragons - "The trick is to appeal to the animal lust inside - clever words just infuriate them, but promise them rutting, and they'll follow you like puppy dogs."
- Forest Dragons - "Young flesh is so supple, though I prefer more mature lovers for pleasure. On the other hand, young minds are so much easier to influence..."
- Storm Dragons - "They have this grand martyr complex going on - pander to that, and they can be manipulated easily."
- Ashen Dragons - "An Ashen was the most experimental lover I ever had. Good times."
- Chimerical Dragons - "Fellow dragons of chaos, though obsessed with the cerebral and spiritual. They should learn to appreciate the physical and emotional a little more."
- Ghost Dragons - "With their endless wittering about doom and gloom they ruined every party. I'm glad they've gone."
- Blood Dragons - "The blood dragon is a creature of insatiable appetites. We can but try our best..."
- Sable Dragons - "Our Lords and Masters. They like to be in control, and to dominate. That's ok - I can do submissive."
