Age of Dragons: Jade Dragons
Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Jade Dragons
Contents
The Refusers of the Curse
The Forest Dragons of the Heart Forest tell of a legend in which the Mother Goddess "blessed" the first of their kind with the ability to die of old age and to have short life like a mortal creature.
The Jade Dragons accept that this event happened, but they also recall that three of the Forest Dragon's grandchildren saw through the talk of "wisdom through brief lives" and recognised the Mother Goddess' work for what it was - a horrific curse.
They saw that the First Forest Dragon had been seeking knowledge and arcane lore, and that was on the verge of gaining secrets that would make him as powerful as his Mother. She saw this, and cursed him with mortal senescence to destroy his mind and body. The magic she cast was launched out of nothing but spite of fear.
These three grandchildren strived all their years to thwart the curse, and they failed. Their descendants fought the curse as well, and also failed.
It was only at the end of the First Age, just after the Mother Goddess left the realm that a small cabal of Forest Dragons found a way to break the curse. By infusing their pneuma with death energy they were able to break the Mother's malicious enchantment, and in doing so they became something greater - Jade Dragons.
Character Creation: Game Rules
The above rules and background details apply to the sub-breed of "Jade Dragons".
The progenitor breed of Forest Dragons are covered separately, as are the atavistic Jungle Dragons.
Sphere Ratings
- Soma 3
- Sophis 4
- Pneuma 5
Birthrights
Re-aligned Pneuma - Jade Dragons count as Death-aligned dragons rather than as Life-aligned Dragons.
Body of Jade - Jade Dragons gain +1 to any dice rolls relating to the casting of magic. Note the
Breed Weakness
Withered Souls - Jade Dragons have exceptionally poor fertility. They are at -4 dice to dice pools relating to conception or fertility.
Disconcerting Presence - Jade Dragons are at -2 dice to any dice pools relating to any positve socialisation (though attempts to intimidate or disturb are not affected). This effect is doubled when relating to other Jade Dragons (to -4 dice).
Physical Appearance
Jade Dragons are not scaled or made of ordinary flesh, but instead their skin is made of a smooth hard jade-like substance, with a similarly coloured pale green liquid in place of blood and a strong jade tint to all their viscera. Their skin and flesh has a disconcerting translucent quality to it, and their eyes are just dark red pinpricks. Though they have no scales, their Jade skin has all the supernatural benefits that scales afford, such as immunity to heat and fire.
Society and Culture
Jade Dragons are found mostly in the cold pine forests of the North. Throughout much of this woodland, the trees are long dead and petrified, and those that do grow are withered looking. They have abandoned the ways of their parent breed, and tend towards a solitary existence. Part of this is from a desire to be as different as possible from the Forest Dragons, and part is from the sense of disconcertion that Jade Dragons experience in each others company.
Their solitary lifestyle combined with their low fertility means that Jade Dragons are declining in population numbers as each century passes. Courting and reproduction are seen as a tactical necessity rather than as a pleasure.
Around two thirds of Jade Dragons have found their way to the Ascendancy (where they are valued for their sorcerous acumen), with the remainder leading isolated existences far from any faction. To date, there are no Jade Dragons in the Alliance, though this is likely due to geographic distance more than anything else.
Lifepaths and the Jade 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.
Three major philosophies exist within the Kindreds, though there are also many smaller ones:
The Call of Harmony follow the Lifepath of Physical Adepts and see their calling as gaining unity with nature, both by understanding their physical forms and by wearing the skins of other animal races. 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, Call of Clouds kindreds favour the Lifepath of the Sky Dancer and are fairly uninterested in the world below the canopy, instead preferring the skies above where they can be closer to the Pneuma of the Goddess. They represent the exuberance and joyfulness that is the best aspect of the youthful culture of the Forest Dragons.
Finally, families which follow the Call of Thorns tend to follow the path of the Beast Unbound. They seek to dominate their environments, and tend to be amongst the most vicious and feral of their breed. They believe that a short life should find joy in spilt blood and ferocious struggle.
Outside the Kindred-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. A small force of Warmasters called the Emerald Branch also 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 normal life within a Kindred.
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."
