Age of Dragons: Forest Dragons
Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Forest Dragons
Contents
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 Forest Dragons
With their short lives, it is uncommon for Forest Dragons to pursue more than one (or at most two) Paths over their entire lives. Forest Dragons don't tend to seek to master every field of endeavour, but rather pick one role that suits them.
Generally a single family unit will have a particular preference of Lifepath, which most family members will follow, simply because they have easy access to mentors from that path and are exposed to it from an early age.
The Physical Adepts of the Forest Dragons see their calling as gaining harmony with nature, both by understanding their physical forms and by wearing the skins of other animal races. Because of this, families of Forest Dragons on this path often describe that they are responding to the Call of Harmony. These families will often maintain nests that share territory with animals and mortals, and seek to coexist rather than to dominate or rule.
In contrast, Sky Dancer families are fairly uninterested in the world below the canopy, and instead focus on closeness to the Mother Goddess high in the skies. Forest Dragons on this path describe that they hear the Call of Clouds. They represent the exuberance and joyfulness that is the best aspect of the youthful culture of the Forest Dragons.
Finally, families which follow the path of the Beast Unbound seek to dominate their environments, and tend to be amongst the most vicious and feral of their breed. They describe that they have listened to the Call of Thorns, and believe that a short life should find joy in spilt blood and ferocious struggle. Such philosophies are more prevalent the further you head South in the Forest.
Outside the family-based structure of society are the Seers of the Green, who almost universally follow the lifepath of the Animist Adepts. Traditionally, in a brood of four or more hatchlings, the youngest will seek out the Seers to join their number. Often, the Seers will pick out these youngest siblings at Gathers, and guide them into choosing to join their number.
Because Forest Dragons have no standing army, Choosing the Warmaster lifepath is never a trivial decision. Mostly, Dragons take up this path only when the Seers send out a call to arms. Most will return to their previous lifepaths once the battle is over and done, though a few will find a liking for the warrior life, and join the Emerald Branch - a brotherhood of champions who choose to dedicate themselves to the Seers' service, travelling with them as bodyguards or soldiers. It is almost unheard of for a Forest Dragon to become a Warmaster without first trying another Lifepath, and the Emerald Branch themselves do not accept any Dragon who has not at the very least spent twenty five years in a normal life.
Scholar-Sages and Ambassador-Courtier are also uncommon, as their roles are for the most part covered by the Seers of the Green. Only where the Seers have no authority (such as in the snow covered pinewoods to the North) do these paths emerge: indeed, most Jade Dragons will naturally gravitate towards these lifepaths, finding that their strong arcane affinity and predisposition towards cunning and manipulation serves them well in these directions.
Outlook
Wisdom-of-the-Young, is a respected Seer, and shares the thoughts of his people:
- Pure Dragons - "Children of desert, as we are children of forest. The Mother gave us different gifts, but I think ours was the better."
- Argent Dragons - "The humans of Arrantis have learnt to stop at the border of the Forest, knowing that they have no authority beyond where the trees begin. The wise Argent should know the same."
- Solar Dragons - "For all their claims of sibling empathy, they can never truly understand us. We are not part of their grand society - the Forest breed stand apart."
- Hunter Dragons - "They almost understand - almost. But they have seized onto one aspect of the mysteries of life, and lost track of the others."
- Storm Dragons - "They are to be respected, and feared. The duty out Mother gave them is a difficult one, and they serve it well."
- Ashen Dragons - "They think themselves so superior in intellect, but for all their knowledge they have little true wisdom."
- Velvet Dragons - "Their beauty is like that of a marble statue - ancient, unchanging and artificial. Our beauty is that of living youth - one that they can never match."
- Chimerical Dragons - "They have insights, these ones, that even we Seers cannot match. But I fear where their insights come from - the dream realm was not meant to be explored, or conquered."
- Ghost Dragons - "Death-cultists of the worse sort, whose very presence makes nature recoil. They will find no refuge in our forests."
- Blood Dragons - "Time and time again they have sought to burn us out of our woods - time and time again, we have driven them off. They all deserve death."
- Sable Dragons - "The force they worship is evil, but it is just a powerful spirit rather than a true deity. Endless Night could never threaten the Heart Forest."
