Dragons

Dragons are mythical creatures that, according to legend, existed before and during the Age of Deception, and were guardians of the Alitheian Empire.

History
As legend has it, in ancient times, dragons were created and shaped by Tiamat, one of the Ascended who gained favor with The Creator by crossing the Astral Sea. There, Tiamat planted a Great Tree to connect to her followers in the material plane.

For as long as they existed, the dragons retained their love of their maker, Tiamat, although could not remain obedient to her wishes. During a great civil war, Tiamat's dragons tipped the balance in her favor. But when several dragons defected to Immaru the Deceiver, he ruthlessly killed the rest of the dragons.

The dragons who followed Immaru were reshaped into guardians of man, sent to the material plane to protect and act as stewards of the Glorious Empire. To keep their loyalty, Immaru sterilized them so they could not reproduce, and changed their very desires to mold them into stalwart defenders of his abominations. They served faithfully for nearly a thousand years until their rebellion against Immaru spelled his downfall, ending the Age of Deception.

During that fall, the four knights who crusaded to destroy the Great Trees -- St. Thoril, St. Alelion, St. Kolyani, and St. Aelena -- battled and defeated Tiamat, destroying her Great Tree. This severed the connection between Tiamat and her creations, and destroyed the dragons forever.

Breeds
According to legend, dragons came in five breeds, corresponding to different metals. Immaru the Deceiver charged each breed with stewardship of a nation within the material plane:

-Silver (Alitheia)

-Gold (Merdrona)

-Copper (Sek Tanar)

-Bronze (Xenasi)

-Brass (Galadreth)

During the great civil war among the Ascended, the bronze and brass dragons were destroyed, leaving only three breeds, all of whom were loyal to Immaru for a time.

Heretical Theories
It had been rumored by some heretical scholars who claimed to have viewed rare, early writings that eventually were included in the Book of Axiom, that it was the dragons -- not the Four Knights -- who instigated the rebellion against Immaru.

According to these heretical and discredited early versions of the holy writings, the remaining three breeds of dragons had meticulously planned for centuries to kill Immaru, and came to the conclusion that killing Tiamat -- and therefore, themselves -- was the only way to rid the world of Immaru's deception. These writings state that it was actually the dragons -- as opposed to the prophets St. Roderick and St. Andrew -- who sought out the Four Knights to help them with their task.

Yet another theory holds that the Bronze and Brass dragons were not exterminated at all, but instead faked their own extinction as the first phase in the centuries-long plan to destroy Immaru.