Age of Dragons: Storm Dragons
Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Storm Dragons
Contents
Guardians of The Second Sky
The Storm Dragons will tell you that there are two worlds, and that one is far larger than the other.
One world is the Mother's Gift, which is the world as others know it. The world above is the sky, the land and the air. It is the domain of Dragons, and of the mortal races, and was formed when the Goddess exhaled it into being.
The other world is the Endless, which is the ocean of the rest of existence. It has existed forever, and what other dragon's laughably call the Realm is nothing more than a single island within its endless reaches.
The Storm Dragons know that beyond the (relatively) small area of land, there lies an infinite expanse of water. Not only does this enclose the land, it also encloses the sky itself, with all the air that surrounds the realm little more than the contents of the bubble that the Goddess created for her children.
They do not have so much hubris as to believe that the sea is the domain of their breed though. The Storm Dragons recognise that they patrol only the borderline where the Mother's Gift encounters the Endless, and that the best they can do is to keep the Endless at bay.
Against them are railed the Outer Gods of the Endless, who are legion and who individually are almost as strong as the Mother Goddess herself. The Storm Dragons battle the massive Kraken of the Drowned Abyss, each of whom is many times the size of a dragon, but who are little more than the frontline soldiers of the Outer Gods' oceanic armies.
The Outer Gods want to destroy the Mother's Gift and reclaim it into the Endless. The Storm Dragons are all that stand in their way...
Character Creation: Game Rules
Sphere Ratings
Dragons of this breed are Sophis-Dominant. Their Sophis must be at least 1 point higher than one other Sphere at character generation.
Birthrights
Breathing the Endless - Storm Dragons can breathe underwater as easily as if they were in air. Also, they can swim as fast as most dragons can fly, whereas most dragons are not well suited to propel themselves underwater.
Echo Location - Storm Dragons can use a bat-like system of sonar-location to "see" their surroundings, even in absolute darkness. Underwater, this is just as effective and detailed as their sight. Out of water, it is less effective, and only half as accurate as their sight.
Breed Weakness
Ocean Douses Flame - Storm Dragons cannot use any magic with the pyromancy keyword, including the universal power firebreathing.
Call of the Second Sky - A Storm Dragon who spends less than ten years per century in the ocean will start to go mad, losing 1 Sophis permanently. This is cumulative for each century spent away from the ocean.
Physical Appearance
Storm Dragons are blue scaled, and are divided in appearance according to the ocean depth they dwell at. Those that spend most time by shore or in sky tend to have light blue scales, whereas those who spend most of their time in the deep have dark blue scales, with "horizon breakers" somewhere inbetween. Unlike Forest Dragons, however, this appearance is not fixed by heredity, but rather shifts gradually according to where the Storm Dragon spends most time. A dark-hued "seeker in darkness" who spends a century on dry land will lighten in hue till he is indistinguishable from a "horizon breaker", and a century later in the same environment will appear as light as a true "cloud swimmer". In contrast, Storm Dragon eyes that vary in diametric opposition with their skin hue - a dark scaled dragon will have light blue eyes, and vice versa. Storm Dragons also vary anatomically from the other breeds in many other ways: all have gills on the side of their neck, allowing them their amphibious lives, and many also have fish-like fins and long dolphin-like faces. Male Storm Dragons do not have horns as such, but rather just a series of keratinous ridges in a crown around their temple.
Society and Culture
While the other breeds recognise that Storm Dragons of different ocean depths have different scale hue and titles, they do not often realise that each of the three demarcations (Seeker in Darkness, Horizon Breaker and Cloud Swimmer) represents an entirely different segment of Storm Dragon society.
The Seekers in Darkness make up at least ninety percent of the Storm Dragon population, and consider themselves Storm Dragon society proper. They are militaristic, as suits a people at constant war, and driven by their duty to protect the Mother's Gift from the Outer Gods and their Kraken servants. Their deep ocean cities are built on a scale far larger than dry land settlements, but also tend to be far more thinly populated, with perhaps a thousand merfolk living alongside a dozen dragons in each city, when the same space above ground would house thirty thousand humans. The mortal and draconic inhabitants of this city alike are used to living under siege from the darkness beyond. Because noise travels so far underwater, and because stealth is part of an existence of warfare, most Seekers speak only rarely and quietly, earning the underwater realm the nickname of "The Domain of the Silent Cities."
Horizon Breakers account for about two percent of the population, but they are considered to be the Storm Dragons' point of communication to the other breeds. Other breeds might find it hard to believe that these tactiturn, quiet souls are considered to be the wildest and most vociferous members of society. They trade with the other breeds as necessary (particularly the Chimericals, who they have a long friendship with), usually seeking to acquire arcane knowledge and arms in exchange for the treasures and secrets of the sea.
Cloud Swimmers, on the other hand, are not considered to be part of Storm Dragon society at all. Rather they are those who shirk the guardian duty that has been given to them. It is not in the nature of Storm Dragons to berate though, so for the most part the Cloud Swimmers are politely ignored and not spoken of, with the silent expectation that one day they will grow up and return to their duties. At that time nothing more will be said of that time, save perhaps obliquely as "your short sabbatical" or "my momentary lapse".
Lifepaths and the Storm Dragons
As a militaristic society, the Seekers-in-Darkness have a large number of Warmasters, though the nature of their war necessitates that they often work solo or in small groups for extended periods rather than in the battle-flights of other breeds. The primary military organisation is the Guardian Knights - a brotherhood of draconic knights driven by their code of duty of protection, and renowned for their bravery.
A small number of Animist Adepts support the Guardians, though their emphasis on the military role often has them dubbed Guardian Summoners. Likewise, Guardian Magi concentrate on the combat magic aspects of the Scholar-Sage Lifepath. Its not uncommon for both Summoners and Magi to train as a Knight first.
The Horizon-Breakers tend to be Ambassador-Courtiers (dubbed the Voices of the Storm) or infiltrating Physical Adepts (dubbed Eyes of the Storm) who use Polymorphing to spy invisibly on the rest of Dragonkind.
With Cloud-Swimmers, societal roles tend to be abandoned in favour of whatever takes a dragon's individual fancy. With their inclination towards sophistry, many pursue the more academic aspects of the Scholar-Sage Lifepath.
Outlook
City-Swimmer, a Horizon-Breaker and Eye of the Storm, shares his observations:
- Pure Dragons - "Their devotion to the Mother is admirable, though truly they should learn to act on their faith rather than just talk about it."
- Argent Dragons - "Brave soldiers - a shame they cannot join us in the Kraken wars."
- Solar Dragons - "They don't understand that we have greater concerns than a mere Dragonwar on the Mother's Gift. We have a deeper duty that cannot be abandoned."
- Hunter Dragons - "Their ways are so directionless, and so easy. I envy their freedom, but understand that I can never join them in their life of simplicity."
- Forest Dragons - "The young are so joyful in their innocence. Little do they know how precarious their lifestyle and their world is."
- Ashen Dragons - "Claim dominion over your little domain if you will, Ashen Dragon, but you should never believe that is of any true consequence."
- Velvet Dragons - "I met one of their spies in Kalarn once, and we shared information. They can be dealt with, carefully."
- Chimerical Dragons - "Our friends on the dream isles, and our greatest trading partners. More than any others, they understand us."
- Ghost Dragons - "They fear extinction and have reason to be frightened. What they do not recognise is who they should be fearing."
- Blood Dragons - "Their ferocity would serve well in the Kraken war, but ultimately dragonflame counts for nothing in the deep ocean. They are insignificant."
- Sable Dragons - "We Storm Dragons fight to defend against demons from the deep, yet the Sables invite one to rule over them. It is a shame that we do not have the resources or time to fight this threat - Endless Night is but one demon amongst many."
