Age of Dragons: Forest Dragons

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

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A Mother's Blessing

It is said that when the world was young, the first Forest Dragon turned to his mother and asked her to explain the secrets of life to him. He said that he was frustrated by the fact that dragons seemed not to be truly alive, living above and around the natural world rather than as a part of it. He had the insight to recognise that even the smallest animal in the forests below had a greater connection to the harmonious patterns of Lifeforce.

The Mother Goddess told him he was wise, and that she would grant him insight if he wished, though he might not thank her for it. The Forest Dragon promised that he would be grateful and promised her that he would never be bitter for any gift of wisdom.

She smiled, and breathed over him, and in doing so blessed him with the gift of mortality. No longer would the Forest Dragon or his breed exist as other dragons do, fearing multiplication and eventually calcifying into stone. Instead, from that day on, Forest Dragons would age and die as all mortal animals must.

The Forest Dragons are thankful for the blessing that the Mother Goddess gave them, and over the millennia have kept their promise to be grateful. Each year a Forest Dragon will offer a prayer of devotion to her for her gift, and as a Forest Dragon dies he will whisper his thanks to his Mother for the blessings she has given them.

Hand in hand mortality (and a shortened lifespan) the Forest Dragons have won freedom from the curse of Birthing Sickness, and gained insight into the cycles of life in a way that only a mortal creature can. They pity the other breeds who are unable to enjoy the blessings of a short life, lived fully. They forever stand apart from the other breeds, living in their own way, in their own realm.

Character Creation: Game Rules

Sphere Ratings

• Soma 3
• Sophis 4
• Pneuma 5

Birthrights

Freedom of Fertility - Forest Dragons do not suffer the birthing sickness as other dragons do.

Vitality - Forest Dragons roll one additional dice on any dice roll to cast Life-aligned magic. Also, they fear death less than other dragons, and roll one additional dice on any test of courage regarding threats to life or limb.

The sub-breed of Jade Dragons do not gain the two birthrights above, having "freed" themselves from the Mother's blessings.

Breed Weakness

The Mother's Blessing - Forest Dragons do not grow more powerful as they age, instead entering senescence at the age of 250. Instead of gaining Sphere rating at 250 years, they instead lose -1 from Pneuma, Soma and Sophis, and lose a further -1 each 3D6 years afterwards. When any score hits zero, they die of old age. In Senescence, a Forest Dragon ceases to be fertile.

The sub-breed of Jade Dragons do not gain the above flaw, and instead age as other breeds of dragons do. Instead they have the flaw below:

The Withered Soul - Jade Dragons have reduced fertility. Their Pneuma is reduced by -3 for the purposes of breeding rolls.

Physical Appearance

Forest Dragons are predominantly green-scaled, though their shade and patterning varies greatly. The majority of Forest Dragons (who dwell in the vast Heartswood) have leaf-green scales with dappled brown patches, and are slight and aerobatic in frame. In contrast the less numerous Jungle Dragons are a subspecies that have far darker green colouration, are much more heavily built, and oftem have thin red and yellow bands running along their torso. Finally, the rare Jade Dragons of the cold north have almost translucent pale-green skin that is entirely unpatterned, and have red eyes in contrast to the yellow eyes of the southern Forest Dragons. Horns vary also within the Breed, with long horns, spiral horns and other variations found across all the various subspecies.

Society and Culture

The Heart Forest runs the entire North-South length of the realm, covering its Western border. It varies from frozen pine forests in the northwest, to steaming jungles in the southwest, with temperate forest and other forms of woodland inbetween.

Forest Dragons are found throughout the Heart Forest, with different societal structures. The Northern Jade Dragons tend to more solitary, feeling uncomfortable in the presence of other dragons, even those of their own breed. The Southern Jungle Dragons are similarly solitary, but their's is a more aggressive and alien lifestyle, centred on respect for masculine strength and a bull-dragon's territory, and the "possession" and rape of female breeding stock. The vast majority of the Breed, however, are part of the meta-civilisation that encompasses the Forest Dragons proper.

The Heart Forest Dragons tend to dwell in small family units of six to twelve, mostly peacably but occasionally with self contained feuds between neighbours. Most Heart Forest Dragon families will centre themselves on a single "nest", at the centre of a few hundred square miles of forest domain. The forest is vast though, and many Forest Dragon nests do not have any contact with the rest of their breed at all.

Despite their disparate and scattered existences, the Forest Dragons (excluding Jungle and Jade sub-breeds) do have a shared culture and history, mostly thanks to the efforts of the Seers of the Green, a society of druidic animist adepts who function as priests, arbitrators, leaders and messengers across the Forest. The Seers have a tradition of oral storytelling that stretches back to the dawn of history, and lead the Forest Dragons in prayer and ritual. It is because of the Seers that the Forest Dragons all keep a sacred grove in each Nest, and plant a birth-tree for each newborn. It is through the Seers that the centennial Gathers are organised, when Forest Dragons tend to find new mates, catch up on news and join in celebration. Only the Seers can officiate over family-bindings (the closest thing Forest Dragons have to marriage), can give a wandering Forest Dragon leave to move beyond the Heart Forest, or insist that a stranger be given free passage through another's territory. The Seers themselves are factionalised of course, and have no single leadership or agenda save for the continuation of their traditions.

Because Forest Dragons are an insular breed, it is rare for them to be seen beyond the Heart Forest. It is suspected that their numbers equal those of the other breeds combined, but it is unusual for Forest Dragons to wander far from home. Those that do are usually either malcontents and outcasts, or working directly on the instructions of the Seers to achieve a particular goal before returning home.

The Forest Dragons have shown no interest in joining the Alliance, and have no spokespersons to allow the breed as a whole to join anyway. Some displaced individuals have found a place there, but they are the exception rather than the rule.

The Forest Dragons have even less interest in joining the Ascendancy, as the Ascendancy's religion and ethics run counter to Forest Dragon thinking. The exception to this rule is the Jade Dragons, of whom approximately half have joined the Ascendancy, usually to pursue arcane knowledge. The Forest breed proper bears no hatred or ill will for the Jade sub-breed, but does see them as fallen from grace, and worthy of pity. In return, the Jade Dragons see the main Forest breed as fools who bear a horrific curse of shortened lives, and who don't even realise they are cursed.

Lifepaths and the Pure Dragons

Without thinking, the majority of Hunters will follow the Lifepath of the Beast Unbound, simply because it is in their nature to do so. In fact, most Hunters do not recognise this as a particular lifechoice or calling at all, simply seeing it as the way things should be.

The depredations of war sometimes drives Hunter Dragons to work become Redtooth Berserkers, as the pain of loss and the frustration of defeat is channelled into rage and anger. Though berserkers are respected for their martial might, other Hunters pity them as having fallen into despair.

At the other end of the spectrum are those who choose the path of the Animist Adept. Animists act as shamans and spirit guides amongst the sky tribes, though never as tribal leaders. They officiate over ceremony (such as coming of age, or marriage) and are seen as the wisest of the breed, looked to for sage guidance, though always a little outside the tribe, and outside of the pack.

Amongst the Alliance, seven of the twelve Talons of Open Sky have chosen to serve the war effort as Far-Sky Rangers - a role which allows them to balance their nomadic nature and their desire to fight the Ascendancy.

Outlook

Tooth and Claw, Hunter from the Wall Breaker Sky Tribe, tells it like it is:

• Pure Dragons - "The Mother Goddess is on the wind that lifts my wings, in the joy of the hunt and in the blood of prey. Where she is not, is within their little temple buildings."
• Argent Dragons - "Nature has only one law - survival of the fittest, and the rule of the strong. I have no use for their petty codes of conduct."
• Solar Dragons - "They try to fly with our tribes, so to draw us into their war against the North. We have our own war to fight and it is a far older and closer one."
• Forest Dragons - "Young cousins to the west, rulers of their domain as we rule ours. They keep to their lands, and we to ours, as it should be."
• Storm Dragons - "I have never seen a Storm Dragon, but I hear they live in the underwater realm. Is such a thing even possible?"
• Ashen Dragons - "Defiling scum! They will perish beneath my bloodied claws!"
• Velvet Dragons - "Pretty to look at, but soft, weak and useless - just liek civilisation."
• Chimerical Dragons - "I don't pretend to understand them. Are they even dragons?"
• Ghost Dragons - "They make me shiver, these creatures. I am glad that they did not stop in our lands, as I want nothing to do with them."
• Blood Dragons - "They are almost wise, in that they recognise the beast within. They are fools though, because they have fallen into atavism."
• Sable Dragons - "A distant threat, to the far North. They know betetr than to cross our skies. They fear us."

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