Chromagaia's time moves forward with ours! Today's date is:
Astresday, Yahataidh 25, 1133 LE

O, ye Divine Prisms, ye treasures on the pedestal of God. Ye whose passing dictates the geometry of Ages, who breathe life to worlds and take it all away just as quickly. The once-gods, the overlords, ye who cannot help but put thyselves at the top of all orders. Thy strength is envied and stolen, and you cannot do the same in turn.

Dragons are the most widespread and populous race in the entire universe, with their influence stretching across most worlds of the Seventeen Suns and some of the rogue scrap between. On Keppel, they have influenced history since long before the dawn of humanity and continue to shape it alongside them.

Divinely ordained as the inheritors and stewards of the universe, dragons are something of an immortal species. They are entirely exempt from evolution, have magical capabilities so inherent to their nature that "magic" did not become a cultural idea under them, and are specialized to thrive in environments they themselves predate. Their social order remains dominant throughout the vast majority of the cosmos, with their absence around Vaalgrota and Glauryuz being perhaps more notable than their existence everywhere else. Even the unwieldy logistics of transportation are conquered by the nature of these beings, the first people. Their language is known to them without being taught, and it is one of their kind who holds the key to the rules of the universe.

The island ecosystems, found on worlds throughout Chromagaia, are no stranger to dragons. Everywhere one appears, dragons flock to it and manifest on there. The only ones that could be thought to exist without interference are those crafted by Regalion in the Settling Times tens of millions of years ago. Should any species learn to travel beyond its sphere, they will find dragons at their every destination to welcome them. Or perhaps turn them away. Regardless, it is the dragons' stable and predictable power that has shaped the order of the universe throughout its seventy million year history.

Origin

Shortly after the Suns went forever dormant, the first dragons manifested by the will of the Silent Song, the pervasive emptiness that fills the universe’s space. These dragons were twice-bound to the conceptual ideal of space, and are what we now call Orchid dragons. Shortly thereafter – a relative statement, since it was in fact many millennia – another Draconic Manifestation occurred. These dragons were twice-bound to the ideal of fire, and are known now as the Scarlet dragons. When this happened, two hybrid clans of dragons, bound to space and flame, also sprung into existence. These were Sun and Star dragons, which first began to formalize the methods of dragon classification we have now.

This process repeated itself four more times in relatively rapid succession, increasing the number of clans to be the square of the number of Disciplines. At the time, this meant that six Disciplines yielded thirty-six clans. It has happened four more times since then, though at much more erratic and distant intervals. Draconic Manifestation happens at the whims of the Silent Song, and cannot be predicted. What concept may be formed into a new set of dragons next can only be guessed at, and it is unlikely this will happen again for many hundreds of thousands of years, if at all.

The Draconic Manifestations are directly related to the Silent Song's perception of physical matter and the post-Time universe. Taking a physical "element", be it a particle type or a uniquely behaving phase of matter, and binding it to an odhiric color representative of some action, the Draconic or Difaceted Elements were made. Each of these is the origin of a draconic Discipline. The ten Draconic Manifestations are considered a complete set. The tenth and most recent, the manifestation of the Necrotic Dragons, bound a new decay-state of Lífnium, and therefore dead organic matter, to the conceptual ideal of Cessation. This "end-state" theming throughout has made it widely thought to be the last Draconic Manifestation, that no more will ever be created.

Distribution

The Draconic Disciplines are not all universal, though the majority of them are present on most habitable worlds across the universe.

Celestial dragons are most unilateral, existing not just on most worlds, but between them. As their original manifestation used space to form, they have never had issue manifesting. Infernal dragons exist on most worlds as well, but thrive on hotter worlds and those with flammable materials. As the flame used to manifest them is quite evenly spread, so too the infernal dragons are widely known. Atmospheric dragons, quite intuitively, exist on just about every habitable world in the universe. As an atmosphere is needed for a livable world and to have air to manifest the dragons, their creation echoed to the corners of the universe. Lithospheric dragons, similarly, can be found on most habitable rocky bodies. The stone their bodies were initially formed from is abundant on these worlds, as their surfaces are stone. Aquatic dragons, obviously, are found on worlds with bodies of water present. Voltaic dragons are often comorbid with aquatic dragons, as seas tend to fuel the storms needed for the lightning that manifested the first voltaic dragons. Vivacious dragons have independently manifested the most times in history, appearing wherever a corporeal ecosystem grows on a world. Umbral dragons, initially made from spirits and shadow, have a widespread presence across the universe as well. Technological dragons are the great exception to this universality, existing solely on the planet Keppel, where technology was advanced enough for the Silent Song to take note. Necrotic dragons, the most recent Discipline, manifested once across the whole of creation, comorbid now with the vivacious dragons. Where life lives, death follows.

Physiology

Physical Commonalities

Dragons generally have similar lifespans, averaging out at around 300 years. They have four digits to end off their hind limbs, while their forelimbs have five, one of which is an opposable thumb. All dragons have horns protruding from their skull and a tail. Besides a few outliers, most clans of dragons stand at roughly 3-5 meters (10-16 feet) tall on average. However, the heights of individuals vary quite a bit, and some dragons may be as short as 2 meters (~6 feet) on all fours, whilst others may exceed 6 (20 ft).

Dragons, though their altered forms may give some illusion of it, are less sexually dimorphic than most species in the universe. On Keppel, where most races descend from humans, who have at least a few general trends, one can rarely tell the sex of a dragon unless they themselves advertise it.

There are not many traits that can be said to apply to dragons as a whole. Their variation comes in body coverage (feathers/fur/scales), body type, size, coloration, number of legs, wings, eyes, and more. They are still considered one cohesive race because of their ability to interbreed with any other clan of dragon.

Coloration is also not necessarily predicted by a dragon’s clan. While the vast majority do have typical coloration for their clan, there is a small chance that a dragon will be atypically colored. This can range from albinism to a differing hue to patterning not normally present in their clan.

Sustenance

Dragons are omnivorous creatures, but their diets in the modern era are something of a happy accident retrofitted into their biology after the Seventh Draconic Manifestation and the engineering of life throughout the universe. It isn’t too common on Keppel, where food of all varieties is abundant, but dragons are capable of consuming the “elemental matter” of their Discipline and Aspect. Within their bodies, this matter is transmuted into the components of their clan's dragonflesh.

Celestial dragons, being attuned to empty space, are sustained more with fewer particles around them. Infernal dragons can consume elemental fire to sustain themselves. Atmospheric and lithospheric dragons have the most leeway, being able to survive off of any gases or minerals respectively. Elemental Air and Earth have the broadest binding categories among the Difacets. Aquatic dragons can be fully sustained on the mass of water, and voltaic dragons on the bits of lightning mass that accompany frictional charge clouds. Umbral dragons prove the materiality of the phenomenon of shadow by their consumption of it. Vivacious and necrotic dragons only have this ability on a technicality, since their “elemental matter” is organic biomass and the new elements produced by it. Technological dragons, though best sustained by metal, can integrate any matter into their body this way.

Dragons are very sensitive to their environment. While in the short-term, dragons appear very hardy, their bodies are built to absorb energy from specific elemental environments. An infernal dragon in a blizzard can survive without much trouble, but it’s incredibly rare to find one near the poles. The consequences for a mismatched climate in the long term include an increased need for food, general physical unwellness, a sense of unrest, and lethargy.

Magic

Dragons have a soul component of 50%, the highest naturally-occurring of any corporeal being and lower than any spirit. This seems to also regulate itself, and attempts to raise or lower it fail. Eclipses cause the excess to turn to Dracynstone, and starmetal implants degrade and crumble. Their prowess with internal bodily manipulation and odhiric authority suggest that they are at an intersection between corporeal and spiritual.

Dragons are notorious for their powerful Sunstep magic, which is granted to them by the nature of their clan. Dragons have incredible power and access to a full 50% of the capacity of their soul for energy. This is not without cost, however. Dragons cannot use Sunstep outside of their clan-given ability, as their souls automatically refine odhir, formally known as spiritual energy, into the ideals to which they are bound.

Dragons, being directly created by the Silent Song, seem to be granted some form of authority over their domain in the universe. The constant refinement of odhir within them creates a faint aura around them, and they are able through their Sunstep to take hold of vast amounts of matter and energy at a time. An as of yet unknown principle seems to be skewed in their favor, allowing efficiency and responsiveness to draconic magic unlike that of any other beings.

While Sunstep is the most common and powerful magic that dragons use, they are not incapable of other forms of it. They do tend to struggle a bit with picking up the fundamental theories of magic, since it comes to them as an instinct and not something to study. Draconic Starstep is a little different than most other Starstep, since they don’t have raw odhir to work with. It tends to warp what they manipulate in some slight way and can even lead to certain soul corruptions of materials.

Compression-Shapeshifting

Dragons, having so much overlap between their soul and body, have remarkable control over their physical forms. By compressing their mass into a denser state, they are able to alter aspects of their body. The circulation of odhir needed to maintain a compressed form actually acts in opposition to gravity, making them weigh less the more their mass is compressed. However, they still retain their full mass, so force they exert in combat hits much harder than one would expect. Most Keppelian dragons use this to take on a humanoid body plan, and a similar size to them as well. Some go even further and practice mimicry, which is the art of shapeshifting to look more like another race.

Besides bipedalism, common alterations to the draconic form include reduction of spinal ridges, removal of some or all sets of wings, and body frame adjustments to be more in line with other races’ social expectations. These are usually done in compressed form to accommodate non-draconic clothing and for personal aesthetic appeal. The finer control over a dragon's form is directly related to how compressed their body is. Naturally larger dragons have much more freedom to alter their body when compressed to the size of a human than smaller dragons would.

The dangers and limits of compression shapeshifting arise mostly from the density of mass involved. Dragons attempting to “decompress” to a larger size than their default would be torn apart at a cellular level, unable to fill in the missing space. Ember dragons are notably never found in humanoid forms due to this. On the opposite end, at a certain point, compression burns so much odhir that it’s not feasible to keep up and may result in spontaneous return to the dragon’s original shape, size, and most devastatingly, weight. Titan dragons are very rarely found compressed at all for this limitation.

Reproduction

Dragons of different disciplines and aspects can interbreed. When the aspect is the only difference, it will be decided at random between the parents’ aspects. When disciplines differ, however, the children will hatch with the mother’s discipline and father’s discipline as the aspect. The ten clans of dragons with the same discipline and aspect are known as the Prismatic clans. New Prismatic dragons are born rarely from pairs of dragons that have different disciplines, if the parents have each other’s discipline as their aspects (e.g. sun and star dragons, river and swamp dragons).

Dragon eggs hatch after roughly three years. The patterning and texture subtly differs depending on the hatchling’s clan, which is an easy way for discerning dragons to tell what the child will be. They are tough from the outside and surprisingly resistant to all sorts of environmental factors.

Despite maturing fully at between 14 and 20 years (save for Titan dragons, which take about a century), most dragons do not have children before the age of 80. Periods of their life throughout the ages of 90-170 are dotted with episodes of “nesting frenzy” where the dragon in question is stricken with urges to construct a safe den or home of some kind. This usually coincides with heightened reproductive instincts, though this has become less common in modern times.

Sociality

Dragons are not a solitary race, and most prefer living in communities. The family units that humans stratify themselves into have been adopted by some Keppelian tribes of dragons, though the vast majority throughout the universe and some draconic enclaves on Keppel retain their original social structures. Usually, a dragon’s community is based around the environment they live in rather than clan. Multiple clans that require the same environment, or even individuals who just prefer the climate, live together in large loosely-organized tribes. Some groups decide to segregate further, like the desert dragon tribes of the Starshattered Desert, who have claimed the entire region as their indisputable territory. However, one commonality is that the Prismatic clans hold a soft status as being higher-class than the other clans of their Discipline. This doesn’t usually amount to much tangibly, but the Prismatic clans are the ones usually consulted for wisdom on their Discipline’s element.

Dragons hold grudges and recall a clear “balance” of favors more so than the other races. This internal ledger is known as the drekaskuld, held at an instinctual level regardless of the dragon's thoughts on the concept. These take decades or even centuries of dedicated training, therapy, and spiritual discipline to overcome without being repaid. For this reason, material exchanges as apologies and relationship building are common. An argumentative dragon may indeed have a large hoard of gifts once used to sate their anger. For smaller slights, reciprocity is a cheaper option. People unfamiliar with this mechanism of draconic sociality may find themselves deeply unlikeable in their presence.

Dragons are inscribed with knowledge of their language, Eudraconic, at age five. Across the universe, dragons have learned and created many other languages, but Eudraconic is the closest thing to a universal common language that exists.

Keppelian dragons, for the most part, do wear full outfits. This trend was adopted during the rise of human civilization and the increased integration between the two species. Elsewhere in the universe, where non-draconic life may not exist in any form, dragons are much more often without even the concept of clothing. Draconic fashion is as varied as the clans themselves, but the popularity of compression-shapeshifting into a more humanoid form has created some standardizations. It is usually suited for flexibility and range of motion. Dragon clothes usually have a partially or completely open back to accommodate wings, as well as room to fit a tail through whatever leg-coverings they wear. The forelimbs usually are not covered by sleeves. Instead of being suspended from the shoulders, topwear is typically held up by a metal band that is attached around the base of the neck. Common accessories include metal or mineral bands worn on the limbs (including tail), ornamental necklaces, and ear piercings.

The Clans

The varieties of dragon are referred to as clans, which are sorted by their Discipline into the ten Disciplines. The number of clans is always the square of the number of Disciplines, and so there are now one hundred clans of dragon. A clan is defined by the two Disciplines to which its members are aligned. Dragons all fall under a primary Discipline, which the majority of their odhir is refined to. Most clans have a different Discipline’s element within them as well, which the remaining (smaller) fraction of their odhir is refined to. The smaller portion is called the dragon’s Aspect. This combination of internal elemental odhir determines the clan that a dragon will be part of. Clans are not social units, but function more as subspecies. Dragons with the same Discipline and Aspect have 100% of their odhir refined to the same elemental concept, and are known as the Prismatic clans.

Note that two dragons can have the same two Disciplinary alignments, but still be different clans by virtue of which one is dominant. For example, thunder dragons and crystal dragons both have lithospheric and voltaic odhir created by their souls, but thunder dragons have the voltaic element as their Discipline, while crystal dragons have it as their Aspect. Crystal dragons have the lithospheric element as their Discipline, while thunder dragons have it as their Aspect. These relationships of clans are called inverses, though the term is rarely used.

Draconic clans are granted two boons by virtue of their alignments, from their Discipline and Aspect. A Sky dragon would be granted the boons of the atmospheric and celestial Disciplines, for example.

The clans can be said to represent different parts of the universe, and are most often named for what they believe they are closest to. Certain Disciplines have a correlation for their clan names, like the lithospheric dragons tending to be named after biomes, or the technological dragons being entirely named after metals. The Prismatic clans themselves are all named for a hue closest to their own.

The Draconic Clans
Orchid	Sun	Sky	Quake	Ocean	Rumbling	Titan	Horizon	Tantalum	Entropic
Star	Scarlet	Haze	Desert	Geyser	Plasma	Ember	Dusk	Copper	Cinder
Aurora	Blast	Glaucous	Tundra	Frost	Ion	Silk	Lull	Lithium	Plague
Moon	Magma	Cloud	Umber	River	Thunder	Floral	Sunken	Tungsten	Bone
Night	Ash	Rain	Swamp	Cobalt	Maelstrom	Reef	Veil	Osmium	Blood
Ghost	Hell	Tempest	Crystal	Monsoon	Amber	Blur	Interference	Zirconium	Surge
Dream	Hearth	Song	Forest	Spring	Glitter	Emerald	Shade	Bismuth	Revenant
Nihil	Dawn	Echo	Cavern	Lake	Current	Visage	Onyx	Iridium	Phantom
Wandering	Forge	Vacuum	Quarry	Hadal	Magnet	Patchwork	Silhouette	Platinum	Heir
Firmament	Purgatory	Fell	Crypt	Cistern	Gamma	Rot	Whisper	Niobium	Nacre

Celestial

Celestial dragons, the first Discipline, are aligned to the ideal of space. Sustained by contact with empty void, they are most commonly found in high elevations and in the far reaches of space. The celestial alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon some limited resistance to pressure changes, freedom from the need to breathe, and a lighter weight than their physical mass would normally have. This is usually about a reduction by half. Common traits between celestial dragons include multiple glowing pairs of eyes, violet coloration, and a lengthy body.

Orchid Dragons

A typical orchid dragon

"...Ye who first saw Galaxios turn..."

Orchid dragons are the first clan of dragons to exist in the universe, and are the Prismatic clan of the celestial dragons. Named for their deep shifting orchid color, they represent the stage of space that the rest of the universe relies on. Their clan-given Sunstep is total control of space. They are able to stretch and deform space itself, creating distortions in distance, gravity, and size. Advanced applications of this ability include severing a chunk of space temporarily from its surroundings, telekinesis via warping of space, and transposition of small regions of space. Orchid dragons progress their skill with this ability by training their “second sight”, which is an advanced form of depth perception and spatial awareness. Most space-related magic is developed using the study of orchid dragons and their Sunstep.

Although orchid dragons don’t need to breathe, one would assume they are unable to vocalize in the void of space. This is not actually the case. Celestial dragons have a variety of ways to communicate in the absence of an atmosphere, producing “sound” via different means. Orchid dragons do this by expanding and contracting space on a microscopic scale to create vibrations carried through the listener’s body. It can be directed specifically towards an individual and contained to them, or projected omnidirectionally. These gravitational waves act as a sort of telepathy, though the recipient must be in line of sight.

Orchid dragons have used their power to spread through the vast distances between the suns. They can be found on almost any world in the universe, and the structures they have built dot landscapes far beyond the reach of any other civilization, whether as ruins or as still-breathing cities. They have a natural propensity for travel, and it’s decently uncommon for any orchid dragon to have only lived on one world. They also usually levitate, using a small fraction of their power to render themselves weightless most of the time rather than walking.

Star Dragons

A typical star dragon

"...In gaoled death still left luminous..."

Star dragons are the celestial clan that carries the infernal aspect. They represent the thousands of stars that float through the night sky between the suns. They have an ability that is reminiscent of several other branches of magic. They can project out several orbs of light that they can manipulate and align together. They have very little potential on their own, but do absorb odhir, spiritual energy, pretty efficiently. Star dragons’ wings show the real positions of stars behind them as if looking into the night sky. This shows them even underground or when blocked by obstacles. When chaining these orbs together to match real collections of stars, they can channel odhir between them and create sustained bursts of both odhir and physical energy. With astremantic principles, the chains of light can imbue simple properties into their focused arrays of energy. These effects are not dependent on the size of the arrangement. Rather, the number of “stars” used in it determines the potency of the spell, while the position and geometries used to connect them alters the actual effect. Their arrangements do not need to match real stars, but the absorption of raw odhir is boosted if in tandem with the actual position of them.

Star dragons communicate in the absence of air by copying the positions of the stars in orbit around Eumrakh, the sun most associated with communication. By doing this, they can mimic the ability to project thoughtforms out through odhir pressure rather than a physical pressure wave. Additionally, they have a shorthand gesture language using their “stars”.

Star dragons have been a major source of inspiration and development for one practice of Moonstride magic, known as Astremancy. The properties of their Sunstep seem mirrored in the azurate gems used in Astremancy, and their natural star-mapping qualities are an immensely useful resource for practicing the magic. As the stars drift over the course of days, both Astremancers and star dragons need to readjust for the new positions. Star dragons have a substantial presence in the Ocean of Flame, the region where Astremancy is most common.

Aurora Dragons

A typical aurora dragon

"...Now forsaken kings of worlds unseen..."

Aurora dragons, the celestial clan that holds the atmospheric aspect, are one of the most passively dangerous clans of dragon to be around. Their clan represents a variety of transmuted high-energy particles that appear in upper atmosphere and intersolar conditions. With less shadow to prevent immense physical and spiritual irradiation, thin gases can be forced to take on mundane and esoteric charge and temporarily become violently and enchantingly powerful. As such, aurora dragons can create and control rippling waves of these charged particles in azure-violet arrangements. They usually release these particles through their breath. Aurora dragons have no wings, and cannot fully fly. They can, however, use their auroras as platforms to walk on.

The danger with aurora dragons comes from their abnormal sight. Aurora dragons see light in a second perpendicular wheel of physical Color, rather than the one known by most as visible light. The intersecting hues of purely physical hue they can see are precisely aquamarine turqoise and alizarin crimson. They also see odhir's spectrum much more clearly than any unaugmented being, able to resolve some basic information about a spell's function or properties just from the visible spectrum of its radiating odhir. However, this means their worlds are mostly dark until they use their Sunstep. Aurora dragons emit a steady “fog” of esoterically charged particles from their mouths to bounce off of surfaces and illuminate the space around them. Most organic matter is not compatible with constant exposure to ionizing radiation, and so long-term contact with aurora dragons is ill-advised.

In the void of space, which is especially dark for them, aurora dragons communicate by flashing their auroras and vibrating them against the recipients. The pressure from it reverberates through the body as a faint sound, but longer-distance communication is possible simply by a code of flashes and dimmings of the aurora.

What is learned from aurora dragons is the multifaceted nature of color. While most physical light is on a simple cycle of hues and intensities, there are potentially many auxiliary spectra in the same range of circular hue, and potentially those with linear or other structures. Non-visible light is not an objective statement, though the ring structure to a spectrum's hue may be necessary for the classical structure of mortal vision to perceive it. All data points across species point to an inability to see the corrupted ultraviolet and infrared spectra, dangerous and strange forms of light also produced as byproducts of the processes aurora dragons represent.

Moon Dragons

A typical moon dragon

"...And dreamed of blades' tarnished might..."

Moon dragons bear the lithospheric aspect within the celestial Discipline. Their clan represents the solid celestial bodies that orbit the suns, planets and moons both. The distinction of orbiting a sun or a star or another planet doesn’t matter, magically speaking. Moon dragons solidify and crystallize light and energy into a solid form, specifically lightweight luminous mauve crystals. They make up some of the mass from gases and dust in the air. They are capable of controlling the crystals to some extent after forming them, though they only last a few minutes if not being actively maintained. Moon dragon crystals, sometimes known as ryksinite, are brittle against sudden forces but are able to withstand immense weights if gradually applied.

Moon dragons communicate in space through an application of their Sunstep, though it requires a bit of setup. They can attach one of their crystals to whoever they wish to speak to and force it to pulse and create the “noise” directly in the body of the recipient. This has applications in long-distance communication, though moon dragons cannot maintain their crystals from further than about three miles away and cannot create new ones at a distance from themselves.

Back when humans were just starting to construct their first cities, moon dragons aided in planning and construction of shelters. Their Sunstep allowed ancient humans to plan out buildings and scaffold with ease. Several groups of them likely followed along during the Great Human Diaspora, seeing how many large ruined once-cities pepper the planet.

Night Dragons

A typical night dragon

"...Rejects the Light that granulates..."

Night dragons are the celestial clan that carries the aquatic aspect. Their clan represents the obscuring and empty qualities of space. To match this, they have the ability to remove sensory information from an area, a target individual, or prevent it from passing through wispy barriers of thin shadow. For example, a night dragon can turn a person entirely blind and deaf, render an entire area around them immune to pain or touch, or keep sound from propagating out from a designated radius around them. Night dragons can additionally enter a false-space within shadows and be stored within them. The telltale sign of a night dragon lurking in a shadow is their six pale eyes and a twisting chromatic aberration around its edges.

Like about a sixth of the clans, night dragons have wings protruding from their hips, which brings some logistical issues with clothing. They tend to favor pants and other bottomwear that has openings in the sides or the ability to slide their wings through gaps in the fabric. Many that live mostly in compressed form opt to remove their wings from their form entirely, and some others have chosen to ignore convention and not wear anything on their hindquarters at all.

The Sunstep that night dragons possess is antithetical to the idea of adding communication channels. In space, they communicate with a relatively simple sign language. This language is additionally used by the deaf among many races of Keppel.

They were once feared worldwide by humans and their descendant races, seeming to be embodiments of their fear of the darkness. Their uneven gaits and slow, fluid flight that resembles swimming certainly contribute to their mysterious aura. It is, ultimately, a consequence of their Sunstep that earned them that reputation. Every shadow is a place for night dragons to hide, and every sense you have might be suppressed to hide them further. However, in the increasingly busy cities of the world, where information is over-plenty and the bustle never stops, night dragons can offer a rare sort of peace and privacy.

Ghost Dragons

A typical ghost dragon

"...And in simplicity the Multitude reveal'd..."

Ghost dragons hold the voltaic aspect within the celestial Discipline. Their clan represents the strange inaccessible space within solids that seems repulsive in nature due to how physical matter arranges itself, as well as some fringe particles science has yet to rediscover. Their bodies have a unique composition not seen in any other draconic clan. Ghost dragons are made of a dense cohesive gel, with only a few bones suspended within. This makes them effectively immune to physical attacks, so long as they are not dismembered. They can move their eyes throughout their body independently of anything else, and thus can see from any part of their body if they need to. However, their actual Sunstep takes their strange bodies further. Ghost dragons are capable of splitting their bodies into up to four parts. The only requirement is that one of their eyes is in each copy, which can be used by them to avoid any consequences for being cleaved into multiple parts. The gel is less dense when the bodies are split. Additionally, they can phase their bodies through solid matter. This process is not instantaneous and requires some effort.

Ghost dragons are the same individual consciousness when split, and they are able to remain stable no matter how far their pieces are apart. They can communicate across the entire universe in an instant, theoretically. When in space, they conduct vibrations they create in their body into their recipient, whether through sending a clone to touch them or just by being there.

Ghost dragons were a great unknown in terms of clan representations for most of history. Dragons can only really guess at what their ability means, and a few cases have been puzzling to figure out. Most theories before the ancient discovery of the porous structure of all matter posited that ghost dragons represent some property of intersolar space, or were similar to aurora dragons in that they represented cosmic interference. The name “ghost dragon” comes both from the nature of their ability and the mystery that surrounded what facet of creation they represented.

Dream Dragons

A typical dream dragon

"...Wishing for things which cannot yet be..."

Dream dragons are the celestial clan that holds the vivacious aspect. They represent the false-space of dreams and the wonder of space. Their clan-given Sunstep is the opposite of the night dragons’; whereas night dragons take real sensory information away from the universe and obstruct its path, dream dragons can create new illusory stimuli. They can create all sorts of illusions that take advantage of every major and minor sense. These illusions can be applied to a specific individual or group, or they can be sent out as “broad” illusions that are perceivable by everything. Additionally, dream dragons are capable of observing and influencing the dreams of others.

Dream dragons have the easiest time communicating in space. They can simply produce illusory sound however they wish. If they have a close connection with someone, they can enter their dreams from afar as well.

While dream dragons can see into the dreams of others, they are themselves incapable of dreaming. They find dreams captivating and compelling, and have earned a reputation for stalking the night for dreamers and being serial home-invaders. They usually don’t mean any harm, though, and getting caught is often the beginning of a new relationship for them. The ability to alter dreams is also sought after by those who suffer from nightmares and night terrors.

The magic crafted after the abilities of the dream dragons has much more to do with psychology and the warfare thereof than anything else. Illusions might have use in presentations and information sharing, planning of construction, communications, or any other number of practical fields, but what excites the mages obsessed with dream dragons is their unique ability to penetrate the minds of sleeping people and insert themselves there. It is a truly hideous fixation which has only produced machines for amplifying nightmares and persecution for the troubled minds of the accused.

Nihil Dragons

A typical nihil dragon

"...For in stability, you forget Creation..."

Nihil dragons are the celestial clan that carries the umbral aspect. They represent the unobserved, the darkness and occultation of all celestial bodies, the literal symmetry to the night dragons' obfuscation and an imitation of what it misses. Some have called them "void dragons" or "abyss dragons", but the dissonance between their expression of power and the actual potential that Void displays has prevented these monikers from sticking. Nihil dragons have the ability to turn any pair of disconnected shadows into a portal between the two, where anything attempting to step on the surface of one will fall out through the surface of the other. The limits of these portals are mostly constrained to the size and size difference between the two shadows, requiring exponentially more odhir the larger a set of shadows are and how different their areas are. Distance is rarely a concern, though the dragon in question has to be aware of a shadow that would be at a location at that point in time.

In space, nihil dragons use their own bodies as shadows against the stars and suns to capture energy and transmit messages. This is one of the least effective or efficient communication methods of the celestial dragons. In open area at night, they are almost entirely useless without a light source to separate shadows from one another. If half the surface of a planet is the surface area of the shadow they wish to control, the cost is immense and they would exhaust themselves before anything would happen. This means that despite being umbrally aspected, nihil dragons are most typically active during the day.

Wandering Dragons

A typical wandering dragon

"...And as the mind betrayed you, you ceased to forget..."

Wandering dragons are the celestial clan that carries the technological aspect. They represent memory and information, which is almost endlessly abundant throughout space. They have perfect memories, retaining every moment that they experience through their lives. It would be accurate to say that they are unable to forget these, as the information is inscribed in some core network of their bodies rather than just their brains. Wandering dragons can produce shining holographic planes to project these memories or directly transfer them to others via touch. Additionally, they have postcognitive abilities, able to learn the history of an object by touch and meditation.

Wandering dragons speak in space via stitching together memories of words and sounds and projecting them out. The older ones have a much easier time with this, particularly with natural-sounding tone shifts, having experienced more language in action. This requires the stitched memories being put together into a holographic plane and shot into the recipient.

Many people are wary of the postcognition of wandering dragons. They themselves have been extremely powerful in the field of archaeology and the study of prehistory, but the idea that any action or conversation, any betrayal or mistake, can be irreversibly uncovered from the wrong object falling into a dragon’s hands gives a sense of existential dread about ever doing wrong. Their place in more centralized societies is tenuous. While they are sometimes lauded as bringers of justice, able to literally see crimes after they occur, it is often the case that nobility has secrets they don’t want uncovered.

Firmament Dragons

A typical firmament dragon

"...And imprisoned in one word, 'everything' is thus defined..."

Firmament dragons are the celestial clan that bears the necrotic aspect. They represent the border of reality, that great Firmament for which the Silent Song created súla to enact its own completion. While they are quite rare to see, firmament dragons have an incredible presence throughout orbital space. The ability of this clan is quite simple, the ability to create a shaped boundary or force field. These barriers hold up immensely well, being forged from an esoteric arrangement of energy somewhere between a fluid, an energy plasma, and a crystal. They can be generally impressive or made totally impermeable to specified forms of energy. The parameters of these boundaries are determined by the dragon themself, though how much odhir they can pour into the conceptual circuits of what to stop defines the limits of their ability.

Firmament dragons communicate through a variety of methods whilst in space. Physically writing words out with their barriers is one of them, as Eudraconic runes are known to all dragons past the age of five. Wearable communicative bands of their force fields can also be passed on for vibration to transmit messages later.

Whereas mages first regarded the magic of firmament dragons as redundant, a simple copy of moon dragons' own crystal, the subtle differences have led to an immensely prominent variety of barrier spells and techniques in the modern era. Firmament dragons' barriers are massless, requiring no matter to be manipulated or created. As pure energetic expressions, they are as rigid or flexible as one needs them to be and can be arbitrarily assigned properties and logic without having internality regarding them. A barrier can block heat but allow flame through, neutralize temperature and pressure but allow matter to pass by unimpeded, or close off light and sound at the caster's behest. Moon-based barrier spells, rooted in physicality and difficulty to dispel, have taken on nicher roles, while the boundaries represented by Firmament-based barrier spells have diversified into applications one might not even know is built upon their principles.

Infernal

The second Discipline, infernal dragons are attuned to the ideal of fire. They are sustained by heat and flame, and are most commonly found in hotter regions of the world or tectonically active locations. The infernal alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon high resistance to heat and an extremely nonflammable body. Infernal dragons are known to withstand temperatures of thousands of degrees for hours at a time. Common traits between infernal dragons include a tendency toward red and orange coloration and a more muscular frame.

Some infernal clans have flame as a part of their body, either projected out from extremities or as a structural component on some of their limbs. This fire is distinct from normal elemental fire in its density, inertia, and ability to hold its shape against pressure. While not transmutatively distinct from normal flame, the allotrope of it is exclusive to living beings, such as infernal dragons, the Tanmar, and the Cindurans. This denser, more stable form of fire is often called ánnfyre.

Scarlet Dragons

A typical scarlet dragon

"...Now set upon the suns to burn..."

Scarlet dragons are the Prismatic clan of the infernal Discipline. Named after the vibrant scarlet color of both their scales and their flames, they represent the pure heat of the universe and all flames within it. Their Sunstep ability is an extremely widespread control of fire. Their internal reservoirs of odhir are, by nature of heat and fire, able to be used extremely effectively. To fully expend their energy, a fully matured scarlet dragon would have to expel enough fire to burn down a small city-state. Their control over fire is able to overpower most other uses of magic, too. Even well-constructed artifacts meant to hold power over flames lose to particularly stubborn scarlet dragons in terms of authority. Their usage of this Sunstep very rarely comes to these extremes of power, however. It’s much more common for scarlet dragons to use their magic to do mundane tasks like cooking or lighting their way.

The fire on the spines and tails of scarlet dragons doesn’t necessarily burn everything it touches. Without any intervention, the flames burn at around 700 degrees C. They are capable of reducing its temperature to just above 45 degrees C, which is cool enough to not set everything around them ablaze. This is one of the first things scarlet dragon hatchlings learn to do besides compression shapeshifting.

Infernal dragons as a Discipline have very split records for metrics of best pyrokinetic ability. In terms of stamina, raw output, fire temperature, and control, there are different clans that excel in each individual area. Scarlet dragons do not beat any of these “specialist” clans at their specialties, but they get close in all categories. Scarlet dragons are extremely powerful because they are all-rounders with their pyrokinesis, and because of their special authority over fire.

Sun Dragons

A typical citrine sun dragon. Their color variation is more common than most clans.

"...Ye new-gods, mocking the spoils of wrath..."

Sun dragons are the infernal clan that carries with them the celestial aspect. Their clan represents the seventeen suns of the universe, the only known truly stationary fixtures in all creation. Much like the stable and eternally burning nature of the suns, sun dragons’ Sunstep manifests as a singular burning sphere of fire. They have excellent control over it, but all of their pyrokinetic ability is contained within that sphere. Normally, their sun spheres are about 25-30 cm in diameter. With diligent training, sun dragons can alter the properties of their sun sphere by infusing it with properties of space. This specialization makes most dedicated sun dragon mages unique. Some opt to work with the elastic nature of their flaming sphere instead of using spatial properties. Sun dragons have the second highest authority over fire, only overpowered in control by scarlet dragons.

Sun dragons cannot control any other fire beyond their sun sphere. If they attempt to do so, it will be subsumed into the sphere and refuel them as if they had eaten the flames. This has some application in cleanup and wildfire management, but more commonly acts as a hindrance. However, because of the hard-limited output of odhir and this quick replenishment of it, sun dragons are uncontested in magical stamina among all dragons. To whittle a sun dragon down requires a war of attrition no matter the situation.

Sun dragons, like scarlet dragons, have a constant mane of flames along their back and tail. Their wings are similarly made of ánnfyre. While this burns normally at around 1200 degrees C, they are capable of cooling it down to only 35 degrees C. When in a compressed form, their fire looks less like a solar corona and more like typical fire or even like luminous feathers.

Sun dragons have a much higher rate of unusual coloration than other dragon clans. About ten percent of sun dragons are a color besides the typical citrine gold. This can be any color imaginable, and it affects the color of their sun sphere as well. It is theorized that this is a reflection of the suns’ various colors, but the bias towards citrine is still unexplained. It may be a local phenomenon, and sun dragons elsewhere might tend towards the color of the sun they were born nearest to. It may well also just be that their natural coloration is dictated by their infernal alignment, and any reflection of the suns has to be lucky to get through. Some groups of sun dragons treat these colorations as spiritually significant, but those cultures are a slim minority.

Blast Dragons

A typical blast dragon

"...And fury, deceptive, is still ne'er controlled..."

Blast dragons are the infernal clan with the atmospheric aspect. Their clan represents explosions, detonations, and other uncontrolled sudden conflagrations. Their ability is one of the least controllable of all draconic abilities, and is certainly the least controlled among infernal dragons. Blast dragons have the ability to force matter to explode, which usually requires direct contact to activate. Otherwise, their roars bring omnidirectional destruction around them. The mechanics behind the crimson explosions are reliant on odhir being injected into matter, where it then expands and detonates. The issue comes with the lack of delay that blast dragons have. Some trained ones hold and condense it in their spines, horns, and claws and release it only in the last possible moment. Others have had some success with imagining a path for it to arc through, which concentrates the force of it into a line.

Astremancy’s basic first principle is the condensation of energy into a liquid flux. Blast dragons, for at least as long as Astremancy has been developing, have been learning how to manage this condensation of their own Sunstep. A few experienced ones are capable of creating a flux of liquid fire, which can seep into objects and be detonated by application of external force or by the will of the blast dragon who created it. Blast dragons are only capable of producing this from their horns, claws, and similar spines.

Magma Dragons

A typical magma dragon

"...And harken to the blood of the worlds..."

Magma dragons have the lithospheric aspect with their infernal Discipline. They represent molten rock and volcanism, and have a Sunstep ability befitting that. Magma dragons can directly inject heat into rocks and stone, and control it as well as an extension of their own body once it is melted. Their control of lava flows may seem unstoppable, but it requires constant reheating of the lava as they move it through the comparatively cold environment. Magma dragons have to worry about the efficiency of both moving the material and keeping it warm enough to be malleable.

Magma dragons have the highest resting internal temperature for infernal dragons. While most infernal dragons are at least warm to the touch, magma dragons are consistently above 40 degrees C on the outside, and their core temperature is usually at 57 degrees. When using their Sunstep, their temperature spikes as well, sometimes reaching up to water’s boiling point.

Cities built with the help of magma dragons are built on extremely strong foundations. Able to melt stone to flatten it out and hold its shape as it crystallizes, those knowledgeable about geology can create maximally-powerful rocks to build on. Several prosperous city-states come from igneous beginnings. Magma dragons are often called upon to help fill in sinkholes or repair road damage after earthquakes. Their highest population density is on the eastern volcanic ridges of Koeya.

Ash Dragons

A typical ash dragon

"...For those born from the aftermath of war..."

Ash dragons are the infernal clan that holds the aquatic aspect. Their clan represents the aftermath of burned materials, the ash and powders left behind. They have a very weak and dim silver flame. However, ash dragons use this not to burn on its own, but to produce what their ability actually controls. They can inject the heat from this fire into ash and soot to move it around. While inherently weaker than most pyrokinetic abilities, the Sunstep of ash dragons has the widest range of control. The manipulation is lower maintenance than that of magma dragons, since ash is lighter and doesn’t solidify into stone when left unattended. When controlled, it can be constructed into brittle objects or platforms for mobility. Ash dragons can further use the toxic nature of ash particles to choke out fires before they can spread. They are, of course, immune to the toxins themselves.

Ash dragons do not have tough scales like most other infernal dragons. Their body is covered by a relatively thin and almost skin-like set of scales. They move with less weight and much more flexibility. Experienced ash dragons tend to travel with layers of their ash underfoot, letting them take some of the physical strain off with their magic. Their bodies tend to be more flexible than most other dragons, and it’s not uncommon for them to have bizarre sitting or sleeping positions.

Due to some unique property of the balance of their biology and spectrology, ash dragons benefit more directly from consuming burnt biomatter than either regularly cooked food or fire itself. The palate of most ash dragons seems to align with this as well, and many use charred meat and grains as bases for some of their unique cuisine. The dishes are widely unpopular with most people besides ash dragons themselves.

Hell Dragons

A typical hell dragon

"...Pretention which carries reward of irony..."

Hell dragons are the infernal clan that carries the voltaic aspect. Despite the rather evocative name, their clan represents the dangerous aspects of intense fires, including volcanic lightning and firestorms. They have only moderate control over their flames, but the highest firepower output of any infernal clan. Their orange-gold flames arc like lightning and rapidly react with gases in the air around them, creating unstable and often flammable compounds. When directed beyond a critical mass of fire, this creates explosive conflagrations before the flame has the chance to hit a solid target. Hell dragons are known for using their breaths to condense and propel the flame towards an intended target, rather than letting it spread its violence outward. They cannot sustain their fire for long, though. The condensed odhir, spiritual energy, they unleash drains much faster than other clans as an exchange for the incredible power they possess.

The aftermath of a hell dragon attack lasts for years. The arcing chains of flame react with the gases their charged nature create and expand the burn to hundreds of times the original radius. Temperatures of these fire whirls can reach well over 3000 degrees C, the hottest temperatures achieved by any fire-related magic without substantive magical engineering and lab conditions. This is hot enough to melt all metals besides particularly stubborn tungsten. On top of this, the rapid combustion chain creates toxic microparticles that rain down afterwards as a sooty snow of death. Inhaling these particles is guaranteed to cause some damage to the respiratory system, and exposure is considered to be lethal. It can take up to a decade for the particulates to be cleared out by weather and lifted up into the upper atmosphere, where solar radiation breaks them down into benign compounds again.

Hell dragons generally try not to rely on their ability for day-to-day use, since the byproducts it creates are so dangerous and even a small slip in focus can result in a disaster. They are susceptible to the toxins they create as well, and unsafe disposal practices can put hell dragons at risk of their own magic. A few have managed to lower the output and increase dispersion of their flame enough that it doesn’t cause the toxic chain reaction, but it requires decades of training to consistently pull off. Because they are able to be affected by their own toxic aftermath, hell dragons have historically focused their battle strategies on rapid fly-by attacks that unleash as much of their odhir at once as they can manage.

Hearth Dragons

A typical hearth dragon

"...'Til those not blessed with Dominion sought to rule..."

Hearth dragons take the vivacious aspect into the infernal Discipline. They represent domesticated fire, that which is used as a tool for light and storytelling and cooking and warmth. Their ability manifests entirely from their lantern-like tail. The coiling flame they hold there can be projected out into living flame constructs that the hearth dragon has total control over. These flame constructs usually take the form of some kind of creature, though they never appear draconic in nature. Hearth-flame constructs have been cited as taking humanoid shapes, the forms of large birds or canids, and even fish and whales. While these constructs work to carry out the orders given to them, they do have weak minds of their own. They are prone to adapting over time and slowly mutating if not extinguished, or simply refusing to complete orders they are unable to do. They have a two-way telepathic link with their hearth dragon.

Hearth dragons can spawn off legions of these constructs, but their direct control is limited. When too many constructs are active, hearth dragons spread their active control between them all and lose some authority over them. One of the most dangerous limits to pass is the point where a hearth dragon can no longer order a construct to extinguish itself. If this is passed, the will of the construct may just reject the order. Rejected extinguishing orders may cause the construct to question its place and even sever ties with its hearth dragon. Independent constructs become more homogeneous and humanoid, forming a race known as the Tanmar. Tanmar can be created in a couple of other ways, but the hearth dragons have been the source of them for longer than any other.

Hearth dragons become temporarily unable to use their Sunstep if the lantern-flame on their tail is extinguished. Any constructs they have active at the time instantly have their connections severed, mass-producing Tanmar as a result.

Dawn Dragons

A typical dawn dragon

"...The rage sleeps in the gentle, but burns undying..."

Dawn dragons are the infernal clan that contains the umbral aspect. They represent the coming light and the preconception of heat before the flame. The flame that dawn dragons control is released in a dormant state, asleep in its black-sunset warmth until suffused into an object and released. When released, the "awakened" dawn-flame burns what it was forced inside, reaching temperatures well above the capacity of normal fire. If not released and simply left inside, the dawn-flame acts as a sort of protective ward, acting to be deformed and extinguished in place of physical damage. In this way it can be both the sword and shield, the rejuvenating warmth and the blinding first light.

Dawn dragons are widely regarded as one of the most benign and helpful of the infernal clans, with their warm black flame not presenting the same immediate danger as those of the other clans. This single step away from danger by their hand is enough to warp the perception of their clan, but such a fickle illusion is fitting for their umbral aspect. Their scales are among the softer of the infernal clans', not able to fully stop mundane blades from piercing their bodies.

Dawn flame is one of the most heavily studied aspected fires, as its properties allow many useful tools like stored combustibles and warded packaging for transportation. The passive warmth allows for automatically heated caravans for winter travel in elevated polar regions, a necessity for survival in many cases. Despite this, dawn-flame, like most other draconic fires, is difficult to directly reproduce. Successful attempts have been unable to safely defuse the flame, requiring its explosive burn before the object can be emptied of it.

Forge Dragons

A typical forge dragon

"...So in hubris, you reduce the god to its prayers..."

Forge dragons are the infernal clan that holds the technological aspect. They are representations of the conquest and taming of fire as a true tool rather than a friend. They are considered a sister-clan to the hearth dragons, bearing a different philosophy on their shoulders. Forge dragons cause fire they control to take on an odd geometric form and a mint-azure range of hues, as if they were burning copper. They have supremely precise control over fire and heat, able to adjust temperatures within a fraction of a degree and shape it into intricate models of complex objects. Their Sunstep does not have the scalability of some of the other infernal clans, nor does their raw total firepower come out to an exceptional measure. They are granted the third most authority over fire, only falling behind scarlet and sun dragons.

The control of forge dragons is capable of compressing fire into a dense infernal quasi-crystal, more structured and stable than ánnfyre and more self-organizing than a fluid. This dense state makes the flames take on a mass and density capable of interacting with and pushing solid objects. The heat and pressure contained within this matter has to be released slowly, or else it will explode. If not directly acted against, this explosive backdraft occurs when the quasi-crystal flare is struck with sudden force as well. For the forge dragons of the world who take up arms with their Sunstep, the explosive impact of their flame constructs is one of their main fighting styles.

Forge dragons have flames as a part of their body, similarly to several other infernal dragons. This fire normally burns at 900 degrees C, but they are capable of reducing its temperature to even below freezing if they wish. Most opt to keep it warm to the touch, using as little effort as possible to not burn the world with their bodies.

Purgatory Dragons

A typical purgatory dragon

"...And for the kind, mercy and wrath carry no discernment..."

Purgatory dragons are the infernal clan that bears the necrotic aspect, the flame kindled and ignited by the actions of the Red Army during the Vermillion Wars. In this way they are a product of draconic will, infernal movements, and the consequence of world-altering politics. They are closest in representation to the unfired flame of Tsannahr, which scorches the gods and ignites the suns, as well as carrying aspects of equalization and purity. Their pastel-white flames are unique in their reactivity, almost entirely ignoring the physical world. Though they burn, they burn cold, latching onto odhir and subsuming it into itself. Shifting its odhiric color, the purgatory flame essentially destroys magic and can become an infectious unquenchable flame. It burns objects' souls, and does so faster the more it is packed with odhir of any rawness or refinement. While this results in a different kind of physical damage than regular burning, the key advantage is that it cannot be extinguished by any mundane means.

Purgatory dragons have a great deviance from the other infernal dragons in their ability to actually burn objects. Their flame degrades matter from its soul, but never goes hotter than room temperature. Fundamentally, this disallows them the ability to cook or heat things via magic, both of which are much more useful than the mage-suppressing capabilities it grants them. Even though most infernal dragons do poorly in cold temperatures, they still tend to be able to regulate themselves via magic. Purgatory dragons have no such safeguard, relying entirely on their feathers to insulate them.

Purgatory dragons and their flame has been heavily studied, as its spiritual nature makes any derived spells incredibly valuable in efforts against spirits or rogue mages. Though attempts to reverse engineer the flame have largely been unsuccessful and the leading method of countering magic usage still seems to be attaining the Stellar or Lunar Enlightenments, flame allotropes that burn cold have been developed thanks to the study of the fire of purgation.

Atmospheric

Atmospheric dragons are the third Discipline, and they represent the ideal of air. They are sustained by any sort of gaseous matter, and are the most widespread Discipline in the world. The atmospheric alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon enhanced observational skills and more powerful senses. Common traits between atmospheric dragons include a tendency towards pale blue or cyan coloration and a coat of feathers.

Glaucous Dragons

A typical glaucous dragon

"...And through the dusts ye weaved the skies..."

Glaucous dragons are the Prismatic clan of the atmospheric Discipline. They are named for their pale grey-azure color, and their clan represents air and wind. Glaucous dragons have supreme control over wind, able to summon hurricane-force gales at their whim. Their precise control leaves a little to be desired; they cannot use their winds to pick up and manipulate small objects, but not many seem bothered by that. The raw power they command when compared to the other atmospheric clans seems disproportionate, as glaucous dragons can redirect entire weather systems through sheer force. Unlike certain other Prismatic clans, the matter set in motion by glaucous dragons has complex reactions that keep it going long after the dragon stops controlling it. This gives the glaucous dragons the appearance of having much more odhir, spiritual energy, reserved than they really do. They usually gesture with their wings when using their magic, similar in fashion to how most Sunstep mages of other races use their arms and hands. When in a compressed form, this habit remains, and the ones who forgo wings when compressed tend to avoid using their magic at all.

Glaucous dragons, like the other Prismatic clans, have the highest authority over their element. They are able to rip through the active Sunsteps of other atmospheric dragons with less resistance than most magic. This authority and their greater raw power has given the clan a cultural authority and more concrete higher status within their Discipline.

Each atmospheric clan has a slightly different texture to their feathers. Glaucous dragons are known to be very soft to the touch, but their coat is decently firm and holds its shape well. The feathers on their underside are considerably softer, however, and are good at maintaining heat. The feathers on their wings are sturdier than the rest.

Sky Dragons

A typical sky dragon

"...By Lunar light, hear where the Song is deaf..."

Sky dragons are the atmospheric clan that holds the celestial aspect. Their clan is the precision to the glaucous dragons’ power, representing the variety of gases that make up the atmospheres of all worlds. However identical two skies may look and smell, they may yet be composed of entirely different materials. This is what the sky dragons control. Arguably one of the most powerful Sunstep abilities in existence, their magic allows them to transmute gases in the atmosphere at their leisure. Their aerokinetic strength is relatively weak compared to the other atmospheric clans – at least the ones that can directly control wind. However, their transmutative Sunstep is capable of rendering entire areas uninhabitable over time. Alternatively, it is capable of eternally refreshing someone’s supply of breathable air, such as in a sealed room or submerged cave. This ability is energy-inefficient, as it often requires creation or destruction of matter, and always inputs energy into matter enough to force it to transmute. These are the two most energy-intensive known uses of magic. Sky dragons have to worry more than most clans about managing their odhir and taking the most efficient path with their ability.

With the advent of industrialization in the 700s AT, the atmosphere of Keppel was at risk of impact. Combustion power from condensed wood-fire released massive loads of artificial gases into the air that could drastically alter the climate in a few short centuries. A few tribes of sky dragons worked incredibly hard to fight against this and keep the atmosphere’s composition stable. They collaborated with artifice to automate the process somewhat, and “clean-air transmutation filters” now remain in some city ruins as reminders of the dangers of expansionism. The sky filters can only do specific pre-set transmutations, and need to be swapped out if different kinds of waste gas are produced. After the Vermillion Wars, sky dragons played an instrumental role in preventing total volcanic winter from collapsing what was left of Keppel's ecosystems.

Haze Dragons

A typical haze dragon

"...A dance where no one moves..."

Haze dragons are the atmospheric clan that carries the infernal aspect. They represent the refractive distortions caused by the atmosphere. Haze dragons have control over density and temperature of the air around them, which they use to create distortions and illusions. Some advanced applications of this ability can cause vertigo, heatstroke, and other adverse effects. However, their Sunstep is unusual in the sense that it takes a lot more practice to control accurately than most other draconic clans. They do have the instincts to cause distortions and mirages with low levels of fidelity, but even adult haze dragons don’t always have the experience to make detailed illusions. A common use of the haze dragons’ power is warping light rays around themselves to render them nearly invisible. The tighter they can make the temperature and pressure gradients around their body, the harder it is for someone to detect them.

Haze dragons have feathers that curl, with some of the strongest structural integrity of any feathered creature. This volume is useful for dispersing and directing heat, and it is for this reason that haze dragons usually propagate their mirages from their own bodies. Due to their heat-dispersing property, haze dragons’ feathers usually feel cool to the touch, like metal. While not the softest texture, they do have gorgeous refractive properties. From certain angles, the fibers of the feathers act as a sort of prism and mirror, returning a diffracted specular reflection that appears different hues depending on a more specific viewing angle. This is what gives haze dragons their signature rainbow sheen, and it is a useful property for their Sunstep as well. Splitting white light into other colors passively, haze dragons have on their bodies a whole array of color to work into their mirages.

Cloud Dragons

A typical cloud dragon

"...Yet in embraces we can be crushed..."

Cloud dragons are the atmospheric clan with the lithospheric aspect. Their clan represents clouds, mists, and other suspended and condensed vapors. True to their name, cloud dragons have the ability to create and control all types of clouds. Their nephelokinesis is generally considered one of the least destructive draconic Sunsteps. Their range of control is wide, and they have relatively high stamina with their ability as well. Their odhir, given emergent properties from the combining of draconic Air and Earth, has a much wider radiation of authority than most others, allowing it to pull on mists much more efficiently.

Cloud dragons can, if circumstances require it, pack their clouds into a denser, almost solid form. These thick fogs can suffocate people in seconds and sometimes even be used to support a person or object’s weight. They can store these solid clouds in enclosed chambers for later. Certain materials have been used to weave these clouds into ultra-soft fabrics, and cloud-silk is a common material in draconic clothing.

Cloud dragons have very large and puffy layers of feathers that give them an extremely rotund shape. Their bodies below the soft grey feathers are quite slim and lithe on average, but that is a rare sight. The feathers of cloud dragons are the softest of any atmospheric dragon. Layered in a way to trap as much air between them as possible, they are also more compressible than most feathers. While they are rather downy, the feathers do hold their form more rigidly than an average atmospheric dragon’s would. Some people have described the feeling as itchy within the fluff.

Rain Dragons

A typical rain dragon

"...And pulling away leaves a symbol of faintness..."

Rain dragons are the atmospheric clan that holds the aquatic aspect. Their clan represents all forms of precipitation, primarily rain. Their ability is often considered a grim omen in the more temperate regions of the world, but arid areas revere them for the resource they represent. Rain dragons can call upon rains by reducing the air pressure in a vast region, the widest-reaching Sunstep of any atmospheric clan. They do of course need to wait for clouds to gather, but once there are some overhead they can grip the moisture out of them and call rain down upon their general area. Rain dragons have a wide enough range to cover an entire city-state, and the actual rains they control have enough precision to form cohesive spears of hail or water. They can’t seem to maintain their downpours for very long, though.

The major drawback of rain dragons’ Sunstep is the reliance on nearby water vapor to gather into their pressure wells. If not enough humidity exists to form cohesive clouds, they won’t have anything to call upon for their actual rainstorms. The other major drawback is the sheer amount of energy that it takes to bring down and shape the rain. While spears of water from the heavens are an incredible offense or defense, they are difficult to shape from that far away and while moving that quickly. Most rain dragons, in combat scenarios, opt to alter air pressure in a more concentrated region instead. Even without concentrating for combat, the air pressure differential causes nearby people to tear up when rain dragons use their Sunstep.

Rain dragons appear wet at all times, even when dry. Their feathers are thick and heavy, and tend to droop as if wet. Their feathers are hydrophobic as well, funneling water off of them like palm leaves. The texture of their feathers is rather smooth, but not nearly as soft as some of the other atmospheric clans. Some of the feathers of rain dragons have the same bioluminescence as some tropical ocean bacteria, giving them the same azure glow in unique patterns.

Rain dragons are given more cultural connotations and associated stereotypes across the world than any other atmospheric dragon. The common depiction of them across northern Remna is gloomy and omens of death or tragedy. The High West specifically associates them more with snow and winter due to the altitude. The northern half of Koeya, being a very arid region, sees them as a sign of wealth and prosperity. Regardless of location, rain dragons have to navigate being a symbol as well as an individual in most non-dragon settlements. It’s no wonder that they have a reputation for being irritable.

Tempest Dragons

A typical tempest dragon

"...In truth, power often spoke loudest..."

Tempest dragons are the vessel of the voltaic aspect within the atmospheric Discipline. They are representative of thunderstorms, to the best estimates of theorists so far. Tempest dragons are one of the most envied draconic clans of them all for their Sunstep. It happens that the harmony between the odhir of their atmospheric Discipline and their voltaic aspect keeps the two from mixing almost at all, and thus they seem to have two separate Sunsteps. Tempest dragons are able to spew forth raging sharp winds and azure lightning in the same breath. Their range of control is much less than glaucous dragons, and their energy seems to run out faster as well, but they are able to conjure stronger wind forces at much quicker rates. They can only manipulate electricity by expelling it outward or by directly touching it.

Tempest dragons not inherently having a combined use-case for their two flavors of odhir is an incredible advantage. Where most dragons are thought of as completely static Sunstep-wise, tempest dragons can actually innovate on their ability with unique combinations of their Sunsteps. They can use air currents to build up electricity to empower their lightning, infuse properties of one element into the other, and much more. Weather-related magic has been pioneered by those working with tempest dragons.

The dark feathers of a tempest dragon are more rigid than average, sleek and formed to give them a good flight-ready coat. They are able to redirect electricity without passing it below the surface, enabling any shed feathers to be used in primitive grounding mechanisms. The storing of static within them does mean that touching a tempest dragon is likely to yield at least some electric shock. It’s advised to have grounding devices around for them to use.

Song Dragons

A typical song dragon

"...So strength by one alone is failure to gather strength..."

Song dragons are the atmospheric clan that holds the vivacious aspect. They represent sound, alongside thunder dragons. The two represent different aspects of sound, however, and song dragons represent the communicative and informative part of sound. Their ability is the most worthy of the atmospheric name, as they can manipulate weather systems in their entirety with pinpoint accuracy. Their range is about half that of rain dragons’, able to cover much of a city with precision. The catch is that song dragons need to communicate this intent via a melody. Most opt to train their voices to do a draconic form of throat-singing via roars. Some, especially those in more populated areas, choose instead to mediate their Sunstep via whistling. Their precision is the greatest of any atmospheric dragon; song dragons are able to pick up and manipulate small objects with wind currents in the same way that one would use their hands.

Song dragons normally have pretty low stamina in terms of their Sunstep, but they are known worldwide for their unfathomably powerful uses of it. How can this be? As it turns out, bardic Starstep is a seamless supplement to the Sunstep of song dragons. They already communicate intent via their songs, so all that is required is an appreciation for the skies they intend to change and an extra intent of cooperation. This massively reduces the amount of odhir needed to do even complex rearrangements of weather patterns.

Song dragons have somewhat wavy feathers, which constitute a thinner coat than most atmospheric dragons. They are rather downy, save for the feather fan on their tails. Instead of wings, they have eye-patterned feathers protruding from their shoulderblades. A certain forest-dwelling bird has evolved to mimic this patterning.

Echo Dragons

A typical echo dragon

"...Packs up the world to process but one thought..."

Echo dragons are the atmospheric clan that carries the umbral aspect. They represent pressure waves and the compressibility of gas, as well as the reverberations caused by acoustic environments. Echo dragons have a relatively unassuming Sunstep, though it can be devastating if used to its full effect. Echo dragons have the ability to store varying forms of energy in unstable "surfaces", reflecting it out later. The limit of this storage is purely umbral in nature, requiring a fraction of it to be proportionally "matched" to increase its capacity. The length of time an echo surface can be held is consistent with the dragon's own authority and the excess of odhir poured into the rift, something that echo dragons can increase over their lifespans. In collaboration with titan dragons, they can utilize this to create powerful seals on stores of energy that last for centuries.

The refractive properties of the echo dragons' Sunstep has some similarities to astremancy, though their capabilities are much simpler. Unable to truly store the energy in a medium like a flux, their ability is much more useful analyzed as a delay mechanism or for redirection. Truly advanced echo dragon mages have managed to start basic filtering of types of energy bu modulating the umbral component of their Sunstep independently of the rest of it. The use of imitation to "polarize" their surfaces to absorb certain types of energy and allow others through could theoretically be used to break constructed spells in transit, selectively reduce strain on machinery, or to extrapolate prisms for odhiric spectroscopy to analyze how evocative Sunstep is really done. However, the practical use of such techniques would require centuries longer to master than their lifespans, and would better be reconstructed through Abyssal magitech.

Vacuum Dragons

A typical vacuum dragon

"...Ye who yet thought conquering 'nothing' would conquer all..."

Vacuum dragons are the atmospheric clan that contains the technological aspect. They represent some form of pressure differential, though what exactly is still heavily debated. One popular theory is that the use of vacuum tubes in light bulbs and other electronic components influenced their appearance, though again this has yet to be proven. Vacuum dragons can, as their name implies, form a complete vacuum in the form of a sphere. It was theorized at first that this was done via destroying the air within the bubble, but it’s known now that they force all air within it to orbit the outskirts of it. These vacuum spheres generate enormous amounts of negative pressure and can gather massive wind force if moved correctly. Spiral or arc formations seem to yield the best results, and controlled environment testing has led to a much more comprehensive understanding of gaseous physics than before.

The actual surface of these vacuum bubbles contains an enormously potent vortex of air currents, spinning faster the closer to the boundary of the vacuum they are in order to resist falling in. direct contact with one of these would be akin to being cut by thousands of rotating saws in all directions, as if a blade could be shaped into a sphere. Any being trapped inside the vacuum is unable to leave without being shredded for this reason, though the shockwave from the vacuum being released may end up causing massive damage anyway.

Vacuum dragons are unique in the fact that they are not entirely covered in feathers. Only their wings and undersides are fully coated in rigid, angular feathers. Their manes and tail fans hold their shape much like steel wool would, and the texture has been described as nearing painful, like the corner of a freshly cut sheet of paper. The rest of their bodies are covered with the signature hexagonal scales that all dragons with the technological Discipline or aspect have.

Fell Dragons

A typical fell dragon

"...The pre-storm silence always rings quietly grim..."

Fell dragons are the atmospheric clan that bears the necrotic aspect. They represent the bare winds of famine and drought, the air that is the last sustaining matter one ingests while starving. Befitting this, fell dragons have a Sunstep in the form of a pale piercing wind, somehow both all-permeating and tangible. While their wind has a similar, albeit lesser, usability to that of the glaucous dragons, its unique properties make the fell clan truly worthy of their eerie harbinger reputation. The wind of a fell dragon can sap the energy and nutrition from

Lithospheric

The fourth Discipline is the lithospheric one, consisting of dragons which are attuned to the elemental ideal of earth. They can sustain themselves from stones, metals, and soil, and are found across a vast variety of biomes. The lithospheric alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon increased physical strength and a stronger connection to their preferred environment. This connection decreases the resistance against their magic and gives them some extrasensory awareness of their territory. Common traits between lithospheric dragons include a bulkier frame and very patterned or textured bodies.

Umber Dragons

A typical umber dragon

"...Disparate matter the Song harmonized..."

Umber dragons are the Prismatic clan of the lithospheric Discipline. They are named for their deep umber color, and represent rocks and stone. Umber dragons have supreme geokinetic abilities, with power unrivaled over soil and sterile lava-rock alike. Out of the Prismatic clans, their Sunstep requires the most odhir to use. Due to their increased mass, however, umber dragons have the greatest reserves of odhir of the Prismatic clans. They are able to construct cities within only a few days out of stone, elaborate detail in each structure included. This scenario is assuming the plans had been laid out beforehand. The range of control on their ability is decent as well, and almost everything within visible range of an umber dragon is fair game for its Sunstep. Structural stability is a must when it comes to geokinesis, and preventing unwanted cave-ins or landslides is difficult for untrained umber dragons.

Umber dragons are the largest dragon clan on average, save for the mountain-sized titan dragons, which are an outlier and should not be counted. Their horns have the texture of howlite, and their scales are thick and tough. Their territories are not restricted to any one biome, and they are among the most widespread clans of dragons in the world. Likewise, they have control over just about every form of solid earth that exists, be it stone, soil, sand, mud, or permafrost. Their authority as a Prismatic clan extends above those of the other lithospheric clans, allowing them to take and manipulate earth in defiance of opposition within their Discipline.

Quake Dragons

A typical quake dragon

"...What bonds break by which lines drawn..."

Quake dragons are the lithospheric clan that contains the celestial aspect. Their clan represents the great shifting of the surface of the world that build just about every landform in the world. Tremors and fault lines, the evidence for this great shifting, are the aspects of the world that quake dragons control. They can induce shockwaves or faults in any stone they touch, and force these to propagate until the object breaks. While they usually use this to destroy things, the Sunstep can be used to force a lot of kinetic buildup and launch stones at near the speed of sound. More experienced quake dragons are able to break the limitations of their Sunstep, however.

A quake dragon that has awakened their Sunstep is able to force faults and tremors through anything, not just matter within their Discipline of “earth”. They can splinter air as though it were solid matter, part seas and cause tidal disruptions, and even shatter flesh like glass. They do require a direct touch to start the fractures even after gaining this heightened ability. Quake dragons that have awakened these have a visual tell when they use their Sunstep in the form of silver cracks of light that spread through whatever they use their magic on.

Quake dragons have horns and spines made out of quartz and similar minerals. If not living by their draconic right and consuming their Discipline’s elemental matter for fuel, they require a very high proportion of silicates in their diet to maintain these horns. In the rare event that one of these crystals is broken off, they are traditionally shaped into powerful foci, as they retain the 50% soul component from being part of a dragon’s body. This is more than most crystal foci have and thus “dragonquartz” is a powerful resource for Voidstride magic.

Desert Dragons

A typical desert dragon

"...For love of the shifting creates its own stasis..."

Desert dragons are the lithospheric clan with the infernal aspect. They represent arid regions of land and the sands that cover them. They tend to live in and around the more hot and arid regions of the world, where their bodies are most suited for. Desert dragons have geokinetic abilities that extend only to sand, dust, and fine gravel. This alone is powerful, especially in the veritable seas of it that they mostly inhabit. However, desert dragons also have the ability to shock the heat out of matter. The way it works is via aligning the thermal energy into a single kinetic blast and sending that rippling through whatever they bat at to cool it down. A small shockwave is produced at the other side of whatever has been cooled, and its temperature drops dramatically. The record for the most change in temperature for a given stone by one application of this ability is a reduction of over 75 degrees C. This heat shock is something of an inverse to their inverse clan, the magma dragons, who inject heat into solid matter to melt it.

Desert dragons, being infernally aspected, have a very high resistance to heat. However, large communities of them are found on tropical shorelines and in river valleys rather than deep in the hot dunes of the world. Part of this is just that bodies of water serve as useful landmarks, but many desert dragons actually just prefer not to spend their time in their clan’s home biome. The Starshattered Desert, the second largest hot desert in the world, is claimed in its entirety by desert dragon tribes, but very few of them spend any of their time inland in it. The main difference between who stays closer to coastlines and bodies of water and which ones subsist off of the true desertic lifestyle seems to be divided along preferences for community versus solitude.

Tundra Dragons

A typical tundra dragon with its summer coat

"...And love of the still warps yet the soul..."

Tundra dragons are the lithospheric clan with the atmospheric aspect. They represent the cold biomes near the poles of the world, with their permafrost ground and lichen-populated ecosystems. Tundra dragons’ Sunstep seems to be related more to the esoteric aspects of their clan’s habitats, such as stillness and isolation. Their ability takes the form of a luminous pale gold fog, and it drains the motion and energy from that which is caught in its grasp. At full concentration, it can hold air itself still like a crystal and counteract gravity to leave things levitating. On its own, this Sunstep requires creative thinking to be anything but defensive, but the wingless tundra dragons have used their power to achieve a form of flight. Some have gained enough control over their Sunstep to lift objects that have been permeated by their fog, most commonly the permafrost ground of their homes.

The true potential of the stasis fog of the tundra dragons lies with Voidstride, specifically harmonic circles. The mostly-theoretical “writing on air” magic of thaumaturgy can be performed by anything capable of stabilizing air into a crystal form. When focused to a point, the fog Sunstep of a tundra dragon does just that. The only other requirement is writing out a runic inscription for a spell with that stabilized air. In practice, a few studious tundra dragons have been able to use their Sunstep to do these Voidstride invocations, making them among the few hundred thaumaturges in the entire world.

Tundra dragons are one of the only three dragon clans to have fur rather than scales or feathers, and are the only clan to be fully furred. Their coat is usually warm tones to match the fiery lichen species that live where they do, but in winter it turns an icy grey speckled with earth tones, making their clan the only one to have seasonal variation in appearance as well.

Swamp Dragons

A typical swamp dragon

"...And the Multitude contains harsh learning..."

Swamp dragons are the lithospheric clan that contains the aquatic aspect. They represent the humid climates of the world, especially in tropical regions, where the ground tends to be more packed mud than cohesive soil. They mostly live around jungles and marshes, but their territories have a pretty wide latitudinal range. Swamp dragons are blessed with the ability to create various toxins and acids and control them. By seeping them into the ground, they can drag it along with their poisons. Being aquatically aspected, they are immune to many of the ingestible toxins that they create, but corrosive acids can still damage their bodies.

Swamp dragons have access to most of the poisons and toxins they are resistant to innately, but most of the chemicals they can create have to be applied to them first before their body can recall how to generate it. Swamp dragons usually learn most of their array of poisons and acids from their communities, being scalded time and time again by their elders to build up their variety of tools. Combining multiple of these may result in unique reactions, which can be unpredictable or even explosive. The milder-mannered among the swamp dragons prefer to use weak acids to get a hold of mud for constructive purposes.

Swamp dragons have been a part of chemical research for thousands of years, standing in alchemical communities as some of the most prolific minds in the field and the greatest suppliers in the world. Capable of producing any dangerous fluid their body has had enough contact with, they are basically living chemical plants. The relationship is mutually beneficial, since the alchemical labs that swamp dragons often find themselves offered work at are basically wells of knowledge collected by swamp dragons for generations. Any swamp dragon that’s worked in the field of alchemy for a long time likely has access to several thousand solutions they can produce at any time, and knowledge of each of their properties.

Crystal Dragons

A typical crystal dragon. This one has opal growths, but they can have any gemstone as their body's.

"...Ye who find chaos in order, and into order weave the rebel..."

Crystal dragons are the lithospheric clan that holds the voltaic aspect. They represent the pristine crystal structures that can form within rocks, and both their appearance and Sunstep reflect this immaculately. Crystal dragons have the power to induce crystal growth in any solid earth. More experienced ones can even sift through sand and mud, permafrost or even wood to find the minerals needed for their crystals to grow. The use of their Sunstep produces a signature buzzing and arcs of rainbow electric light. The types of crystals they can grow are limited by the available elements in the source, so forms of quartz and aluminosilicates like kyanite are the most common. In wetter regions, it’s more common for them to grow opals instead. Crystal dragons tend to live in rockier and volcanic areas, where mineral density is greater.

Crystal dragons can apply their Sunstep to their own bodies as well, given the crystal-plated scales across much of their bodies as well as their horns. Outgrowths from their body require no specific materials, but burn their internal reservoir of food instead. As a lithospheric clan, crystal dragons can therefore efficiently convert any mineral they consume into whatever mineral they happen to have as a part of their body. While their appearance is similar to boulder opals in patterning between the regular and crystallized scales, their actual crystal makeup can be any form of precious gem. The example profile uses a boulder opal crystal dragon for simplicity, but they can have anything from jades to rubies to sodalites and lapis lazuli, to even weaker gems like fluorite. Their direct outgrowths have their same 50% soul component, but tend to warp over time and end up losing that strength of bond to become mundane crystals once no longer attached to the dragon in question.

Forest Dragons

A typical forest dragon

"...Yet for lack of love, you never changed..."

Forest dragons are the lithospheric clan with the vivacious aspect. They represent more mild climates, and range from tropical savannahs to temperate prairies and forests to some subpolar and alpine climates. Their Sunstep is one of reinforcement, allowing them to harden and strengthen stone and wood to a great degree. These “wards” typically wear off after a few days, but dedication and consistent reapplication can end up making them permanent. A sharpened and reinforced plank of wood can cut through metal with ease. The more experienced forest dragons can use selective reinforcement to break a shape out of a larger piece of stone or wood.

Forest dragons tend to be extremely tactile, especially those who focus on their Sunstep more. Shape and facets tend to be things that they notice a lot, and they learn more about structure by feeling it out than just looking. They make excellent consultants for aspiring artificers, as they usually have some knowledge of how structural integrity works and can strengthen some of the more common materials that (primarily Abyssal) artificers use in their projects.

Forest dragons are one of the three draconic clans that has fur, but they are not completely covered by it. Their backs are covered by dense armored scales instead, allowing them some flexible defense for their otherwise soft bodies. The coloration of both their scales and fur depends on the region they hatched in, but tends to stay warm earth-tones, with the scales being redder than their fur. Their horn shape is also one of the few with great variation within their clan, as they branch like antlers in unique patterns for each dragon.

Cavern Dragons

A typical cavern dragon

"...To know all from an unobtrusive vantage..."

Quarry Dragons

A typical quarry dragon

"...What principles make emerge, none can know..."

Quarry dragons are the lithospheric clan that is a vessel for the technological aspect. They represent a mastery over the variety of materials found in the ground, and have one of the most versatile Sunsteps of all dragonkind. Their manifestation may have been influenced by the large-scale mining projects undertaken by advanced states just before the Vermillion Wars broke out. Quarry dragons have no specific biome they favor and exist in most regions of the world. Their Sunstep allows them to sort and rearrange solids on a molecular level, reconstructing matter just about however they please. This is a very taxing process for them, and is limited by the composition of the world around them. However, quarry dragons can utilize this Sunstep to bypass many time-consuming and difficult processes for manufacturing. Smelting can be done via removing the metals from a chunk of ore and leaving the other stone behind. Construction can be done by reshaping a block of stone into the necessary building blocks. Metals can be de-alloyed or welded together more perfectly than any current techniques.

The use of a quarry dragon’s Sunstep leaves behind rectangular scuffs in the material they alter. It’s not known exactly why this happens, but some researchers suggest that it is so the excess odhir not used in the process of changing the matter can escape. Others believe it’s part of the imperfect calculations in the brains of quarry dragons, simply the mathematical errors of living beings. Regardless of reason, many artists and architects take care to sands these marks down. The public perception of quarry-constructed works skews towards being unsightly in many places, which really says more about their priorities than the actual appearance of the aftereffects.

Crypt Dragons

A typical crypt dragon

"...At last, in memory, we find respect..."

Aquatic

Aquatic dragons manifested fifth, connected to the ideal of water. Water is the most common liquid in the universe, not including molten stones. They can sustain themselves on water alone, and usually reside in or near bodies of water. The aquatic alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon the ability to breathe in water and resistance to poisons. Common traits between aquatic dragons include a tendency towards deep blue coloration, fins, and flexible smooth scales.

Cobalt Dragons

A typical cobalt dragon

"...'Til vapors' seas then did collect..."

Cobalt dragons are the Prismatic clan of the aquatic Discipline. They are named for their rich cobalt blue color, and represent the elemental ideal of water. Cobalt dragons have supreme authority over water, and are able to control it at a wide enough scale to drench deserts and terraform them. They tend to use physical motions in tandem with their magic to get a better grip on the flow of the water they manipulate. Unlike some of the other Prismatic clans, cobalt dragons have the greatest precision of their Discipline’s clans, and can control water by the drop if they require to do so. However, they are not so precise as to be able to purify the water they control. Impurities are on such a scale that they can only really be filtered out by vapor distillation.

Cobalt dragons tend to have very fluid expressions and move their tails to counterbalance just about every gesture they do. In addition to their way of moving, cobalt dragons also have other unique ways of presentation. Their spinal fin, which extends to their tails, causes some complications with tighter or heavier clothing, so they usually opt for skirt-like lower garments or ones that attach through the fin via magnet link. On occasion, cobalt dragons do get holes pierced in their fins to allow them to directly link up and connect their clothes without obstruction. This is an uncommon practice, however, and usually indicates a level of dependence on human society.

Cobalt dragons, like most aquatic dragons, require a certain level of humidity to survive long-term. It’s most common to find them at or around coasts, but they exist just about anywhere that isn’t an arid climate. They thrive around most bodies of water, but in most civilized areas they tend to favor water-heavy structures or gardens with high transpiration rates. Despite being able to breathe underwater, cobalt dragons can’t go too deep into the ocean. The pressure becomes a problem below about 100-150 meters for them, about the limit for most other waterborne races. It’s not uncommon to see them living alongside these underwater cities, though.

Ocean Dragons

A typical ocean dragon

"...O, all things warped yet by fear..."

Ocean dragons are the aquatic clan that contains the celestial aspect. They represent the vast seas, both in depth and breadth. They seem to be connected to the vast black seas of the heavens as well, a connection from the generally powerful celestial aspect they inherit. Ocean dragons have a complicated set of uses from their Sunstep, but to start, their raw hydrokinetic potential is weak. An ocean dragon can only normally manage to control about a 4-liter cube of water for a minute by making it hover. If spread into vapors or mists, they can control water more easily, but the fight against gravity is immensely difficult for them. When a space is entirely enclosed in a barrier of water, however, ocean dragons can activate their full capabilities by casting an Abyss. This invocation of their Sunstep gives them full control over the concepts of scale, distance, and fear within their barrier. The landscape within their Abyss takes on a primordial ocean environment, and their hydrokinesis becomes absolute. The energy required to maintain the barrier and their control over the space within is immense, and most ocean dragons burn out completely after just a few minutes of using it. Another limitation on casting this is the hand seals that they require. Ocean dragons are the only clan known to require hand seals to use their Sunstep, though experience determines how many of their forelimbs they need to use for their Abyss. Novices require all four, but an ocean dragon that only requires one hand for their Abyss is one to be truly feared. They normally do other hydrokinesis accompanied by tail gestures as a habit to keep their forepaws open.

Ocean dragons require a decent level of humidity to survive. Additionally, they need to consume salt to maintain a proper balance within their bodies. While the elemental transmutation of dragons dictates they can just drink pure water for this, it has delayed effects and can be very uncomfortable. Most ocean dragons live near or in the sea, with a large population existing in the Acharaean Sea of Remna and in the multitudinous islands of Greater Aegyrrya.

The eyes of an ocean dragon can inflict a sense of vertigo and intimidation on people that directly look into them, though this seems to be a passive consequence of their aura. Within their Abyss, however, ocean dragons emit a constant radiation of this fear. Survival instincts of all beings, even other dragons, activate and tell the inflicted ones to flee. Most ocean dragons wear some form of eye covering outside of their homes.

Geyser Dragons

A typical geyser dragon

"...On broken shores you hid inside yourself..."

Geyser dragons are the aquatic clan with the infernal aspect. They are one of two clans that represent geothermal springs, and specifically represent the scalding pressures and churning exchanges of water within them. Geyser dragons have a miraculous Sunstep that creates water and expels it from their mouths, making them among the few clans that can actually create new matter. This high-pressure stream of water is usually above 150 degrees Celsius, and quickly evaporates outwards into scalding vapor once released. Still, the Sunstep’s water can remain pressurized for up to 30 meters before separating out into a boiling steam. The geyser dragons involved can reduce the energy used creating all of this water by drinking and storing it in a special set of organs they have. Inside the large chests of geyser dragons, there are a set of chambers by their lungs that compress and heat up water they store. These “boiler chambers” are essential for maintaining the spiritual stamina of the dragon, as creating matter is the most energy-intensive use of odhir. Without an internal reservoir, a geyser dragon will burn out and be unable to continue to use their Sunstep within only a minute or two.

Geyser dragons tend to cohabitate in volcanic regions of the world with spring dragons, the other aquatic clan who represents the geothermal springs of the world. The two clans look remarkably similar, differentiated mostly by the size of their chests, variation in horn shape, and their hue. Geyser dragons need to be almost constantly immersed in humidity to survive, and usually don’t leave their home basins for long at all. However, their raw hydrokinesis is able to cover them for some time, and moisture-absorbing fabrics can keep them liveably damp for hours.

Frost Dragons

A typical frost dragon

"....So oft is opposition left unfair..."

Frost dragons are the aquatic clan that carries the atmospheric aspect. They represent cold and ice, and are the most aberrant aquatic clan despite representing the vast majority of the universe’s water. Far from the thin spheres of the suns’ temperate zones, most water is actually bound up in frozen ice worlds and comets sailing through Galaxios. Frost dragons control ice, but their cryokinesis seems to extend into a true induction of conceptual cold into material itself. Able to turn even the slightest atmospheric humidity into rigid structures of snow and ice, they are regarded with caution as masters of creativity. Frost dragons have relatively brittle constructs unless actively pouring more odhir into their structure, but the initial creation takes the bulk of the energy required. A well-trained frost dragon can maintain even footing with tools enhanced by forest dragon wards for hours before exhausting their supply of odhir. Even more deadly is direct contact with the Sunstep itself, as the heat in one’s body can simply be extinguished, or perhaps neutralized, by raw cold inflicted upon them. For most creatures, this is instantly fatal.

Frost dragons don’t require humidity to survive any more than the average land-bound lifeform would. This is a unique trait among the aquatic clans, and gives them their wide territory across the polar regions of the world. Frost dragons have trouble dealing with heat, and tend to cohabitate with tundra dragons. They are one of the three draconic clans to have fur, and the only one to have a combination of fur, scales, and feathers. The scales on their bodies are thin and flexible, but give way to tufts of fur around their faces and elbows. A mane of feathers runs down their spine, and their tails have a tuft of feathers instead of the usual fin most aquatic dragons have.

River Dragons

A typical river dragon

"...Ye bound to chaos' deceptive order, imposing one more layer..."

River dragons are the aquatic clan that holds the lithospheric aspect. Representing the flow of water in orderly streams from the highest ridges down to the basins and seas of the world, they have been at the forefront of most budding civilizations throughout history. River dragons, as their name implies, tend to live in or around rivers and their carved valleys. Their Sunstep is somewhat of a mirror to the hearth dragons of the infernal Discipline, though it takes a different direction. River dragons create autonomous constructs out of water, in a fashion similar to one shaping a machine part from clay. These constructs can operate on the simple instructions they are given, but have no ability to adapt or think on their own. Oftentimes their construction will be in conflict with the orders they are given, and they will simply destabilize and break down into a puddle. The length of time these aquatic automata can operate before dissolving back into regular water is not actually determined by the odhir poured into them by the river dragon who created them, but by the density of sediment deposited within the water. The oldest still-working construct is just over 200 years old, and its creator passed away in 1109 LE.

River dragons require some moisture to survive, and tend to not stray far from the waterways they inhabit. However, looking at a map of rivers across the world shows that this really only divides them by the regions of drainage basins across the world. They are easily capable of traveling upstream and downstream and navigating the branching paths to reach much of the continent they live on. Regional differences in culture do exist between these drainage basins, notably. Salt irritates the scales of river dragons, but they are capable of short trips through coastal waters to reach disconnected river branches in their region. Because of how often humans have lived with river dragons throughout history, cultural divides seem to be exaggerated along the same lines that divide the territories of the river dragons.

Monsoon Dragons

A typical monsoon dragon

"...And now who reject the Line and know the Lie-Truth of Cycles..."

Monsoon dragons are the aquatic clan that contains the voltaic aspect. They represent the cyclic nature and circulation of water, as well as the seasonal storms brought on by large swellings in the ocean. Monsoon dragons have unparalleled control over the circulation of water, which is all they can control. Stagnant water is nearly impossible for a monsoon dragon to lift or bend in any way, but the eddies and currents within can quickly become their strongest weapon. Pressurized into spinning sheets and blades of water, the weaponry of a monsoon dragon is a nigh-unstoppable force. It is rumored that one old dragon mastered this Sunstep and severed an entire mountain with one motion. While stagnant water seems to be the key weakness of a monsoon dragon, it only takes a small disturbance in it for them to begin circulating it and taking control over it. Because their Sunstep applies to the spin of the water instead of the mass itself, it actually takes very little odhir compared to a spell that might control the same amount.

Monsoon dragons require some humidity and salinity, though not as much of either as ocean dragons. They tend to live closer to the coasts, where the rhythmic waves are a readily accessible source of circulating water for them to use. They are known for being generally temperamental among dragons, and are seen as ill omens when traveling. There are more than a few developing cities looking to use their Sunstep as a temporary source of water power, however.

Spring Dragons

A typical spring dragon

"...From whence emerged becomes the cradle..."

Spring dragons are the aquatic clan that brings the vivacious aspect into their Discipline. They are one of two clans that represent geothermal springs, the other one being geyser dragons. Spring dragons seem to represent the healing and tenderizing aspects of the waters, however, a phenomenon recognized by most cultures in the many tectonically active regions of the world. Spring dragons have pretty typical hydrokinetic power, but their Sunstep inflicts a certain healing property on the waters they control. Far from the exhaustive cell regeneration of current typical magics, spring dragon waters seem to be free of consequence for the one it is used on, and can heal even lethal wounds if tended to quickly enough. If ingested, the waters of a spring dragon can even help to battle illness. Their water retains a pleasant warmth, though it never gets hot enough to burn most races. The Sunstep of spring dragons seems to operate transmutatively, though how it determines injury and broken tissue from healthy tissue is still a large unknown in the magical world.

Spring dragons, though they do not have the infernal resistance to heat, live in the same geothermal springs as geyser dragons. Generally unable to defend themselves with their Sunstep (except via drowning assailants), they rely on their sister clan to handle combat. Spring dragons withstand the scalding waters by utilizing their vivacious aspect’s draconic birthright, slowly adapting to gain resistance to the heat throughout their early lives from the day they first hatch. Spring dragons look very similar to geyser dragons, only really differentiated by hue, some horn differences, and the lack of the geyser dragons’ prominent chests.

Lake Dragons

A typical lake dragon

"...And for every loss of treasure, a some foul myth becomes..."

Hadal Dragons

A typical hadal dragon

"...So the Sung ones subsume the Unsung others of their clade..."

Hadal dragons are the aquatic clan that holds the technological aspect. They represent the study and variety of fluids beyond just water. Since their manifestation with the technological Discipline, the oceans have been better mapped than once ever possible. Hadal dragons are uniquely suited amongst aquatic dragons to venture to the seafloor at even the deepest trenches of the ocean. The majority of their population is rumored to exist in colonies on the ocean floor, where the water they breathe sustains them by their Discipline’s right. Being able to exist in all depths of the sea, the hadal dragons were the ones who discovered the trench-dwelling Bathyrons.

The Sunstep of hadal dragons is developed within them, an oily nacreous fluid that they create and control from inside a special organ of theirs. This fluid is named “hadramine” by the associations who have opted to study it. Via their Sunstep, they can manipulate it to give it the properties of any fluid they have previously analyzed. Fluid analysis is done by mixing their own liquid with the substance they wish to analyze. Bizarre and even contradictory sets of properties can be granted to the hadramine, and they can be swapped out at will. The more complex the form a hadal dragon gives to their fluid, the quicker it drains away their odhir. They usually try to keep the mass of the hadramine they use low to be more efficient in whatever they try to do.

Cistern Dragons

A typical cistern dragon

"...And from thy beginning, thy end remains..."

Voltaic

The sixth Discipline to manifest, and the last for a long time, was the voltaic dragons. They are attuned to the ideal of lightning, and sustain themselves off of electric charges. Voltaic dragons are most populous in equatorial regions, where the most natural thunderstorms take place. The voltaic alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon electroreception as an additional sense, as well as high resistance to electrocution. Common traits between voltaic dragons include a tendency towards yellow coloration, ridged or coiled horns, and a sharper and muscular frame.

Amber Dragons

A typical amber dragon

"...And rage of storms roar and reject..."

Amber dragons are the Prismatic clan of the voltaic Discipline. They are named for their vibrant amber-gold hue, and represent the elemental ideal of lightning. Amber dragons have supreme power over electricity, and are able to conjure enough force to put any natural thunderstorm to shame with a single bolt. Unlike most of the other voltaic clans, amber dragons are able to manipulate natural electricity without directly touching it. The range of their control seems reduced compared to other Prismatic clans, but the sheer reaction time and force required to grasp active lightning may be the limiting factor there. While natural lightning is close to white in most cases, it immediately takes on the vivid hue of the amber dragons’ power once it is under their control. In the event that an amber dragon redirects a spell involving lightning, the other odhir components of the spell act as resistance to their control. If successfully taken over (as they can do to the Sunsteps of the other voltaic clans), the lightning will briefly emit an undirected aura of the rest of the odhir that was channeled with it. These chromatic flashes can spell danger for anything nearby.

Amber dragons have gained much more notoriety as of the industrialization of much of the civilized world. Electric lights and engines for simple machines are in many cities across the world, and so the “power” associated with the voltaic Discipline has gained a secondary meaning in modern times. Amber dragons, able to touch on the subtler tones of lightning, are often looked at in more developed cities as a source of free energy. In cities where this reductionist view of their clan-given Sunstep is particularly prevalent, amber dragons (and most other voltaic dragons) have become much less common.

Rumbling Dragons

A typical rumbling dragon

"...Ye who found power uncontested..."

Rumbling dragons are the voltaic clan that holds the celestial aspect. Their clan represents the vacuous connective form of lightning, and so their Sunstep is equally as esoteric. They have the ability to emit an iridescent violet-gold lightning that passes through any and all matter harmlessly, except for its intended target. This lightning has a “node” placed in whatever the dragon wishes to hit, and the guiding stroke curves towards that node. Rumbling dragons cannot use their lightning without a clear intended target in mind. Without anything else to transfer the energy to, the full energy poured into the lightning is transferred to the target, a nigh-lossless process that is coveted by engineers and Voidstride practitioners. Even more miraculous is the fact that this electricity does not need to pass through any sort of medium like air or water. All other lightning magic, including the other voltaic Sunsteps, is still bound to the physical conduction of lightning. The rumbling dragons’ Sunstep is the only one capable of traveling through empty space, reminiscent of the sun Sechmas’ crimson cosmic discharges.

Rumbling dragons are capable, for brief periods of only a few seconds, of seeing through solid objects. This ability cannot be used in quick succession, but it allows the dragon to target things accurately that may be obscured from their field of vision. Notably, attempts to recreate the Sunstep of rumbling dragons via runic inscription produce this transparency effect instead of any form of directed lightning. Magitech in the medical field has used rumbling dragon inspired spells to make locating internal infections or wounds much easier, though complex sets of conditions are usually added to make sure the labyrinth of tissue inside the body shows the anomaly most clearly.

Rumbling dragons have the greatest innate advantage with abyssal artifice of any living being. Most foci run off of electricity discharged into them, which necessitates the creation of a proper artifact Receptacle. Rumbling dragons, being able to inject electricity entirely and precisely into their target, can activate any focus they can see. With foci simply worn on their bodies, they can access as many spells as they can acquire with no danger to themselves.

Plasma Dragons

A typical plasma dragon

"...Yea, in failure, new paths are born..."

Plasma dragons are the voltaic clan that contains the infernal aspect. They are representative of the fringe expressions of charged particles, such as ball lightning and sprites. Their control over their Sunstep is looser than most dragons’, but the forms of lightning they control work well with this. Ball lightning, a particular favorite of the plasma dragons, has a primitive animacy in the way it organizes and operates. Much of the odhir expended by the Sunstep is spent agitating and breaking apart the air into energized plasmas. The form of the energy used differs subtly depending on atmospheric conditions and the intended final form of the lightning. Plasma dragons tend to get friendly with one or two sky dragons to coordinate themselves like this, as there is nothing more embarrassing than misreading the weather and sending out a pulse of filaments that was meant to be a coherent web of plasma. Charge time is a large factor in the discharged power of plasma dragons, and it remains one of their greatest liabilities.

Plasma dragons tend to be one of the most passively dangerous clans to be around. Their bodies are usually surrounded by a slight haze of charged particles, which is especially visible and concentrated around their wings, horns, and spines. This haze allows them to build up their plasmas more efficiently, but it also poses threats of burns and nerve damage to living beings around them. In long-term cases, this can cause forms of skin and deep-tissue cancer. This passive deadliness is matched only really by aurora dragons. The danger is amplified by atmospheric composition, as higher densities of noble gases make their plasmatic auras more prominent. Compounds such as water vapor and carbon monoxide can absorb some of this energy, making the plasma dragons in humid areas slightly safer to be around.

Ion Dragons

A typical ion dragon

"...So in envy, you thought to measure the world in heartbeats..."

Ion dragons are the voltaic clan that carries the atmospheric aspect. As a clan, they represent the precursor to lightning found in thunderclouds, the separated cations and anions within the storm. Just as these charges release themselves in quick flashing bolts, ion dragons have the ability to release their energy in such a fashion. Able to turn their own bodies into fast-traveling lightning, they are the swiftest clan of dragons in existence. The lightning form of the ion dragons travels at around 70% the actual speed of lightning, about 300,000 km/h. Their form has mass, which renders everything they crash into whilst in their electrified body to a fine sizzling dust. In this form, they retain less than 0.1% of their mass, but the impact speed alone is enough to vaporize anything they come into contact with. The air splits in front of them to make way, leaving trailing screeching thunder in their wake.

Ion dragons aren’t propelled in the same way normal matter is. Electric forces push their body forward in accordance with their alignment while they remain in their lightning forms. To make any significant or sudden changes in direction, they have to return to their default state. Doing so stops them almost instantly, rather than keeping with the mechanics of inertia. The theories as to this effect are loose, as they tend to be with matters of luminary magics. Some prominent theories stipulate that ion dragons turn a part of their mass into kinetic energy, which is held constant by their Sunstep and reconstituted when it ends. That kinetic energy would be then lost as it was converted back to matter, giving the appearance of a sudden stop. Like most dragons, ion dragons operate their Sunstep almost exclusively off of instinct and are not good at explaining it.

Thunder Dragons

A typical thunder dragon

"...The words never enough, power only felt..."

Thunder dragons are the voltaic clan that holds the lithospheric aspect. They represent sound, being one of two clans to do so. Unlike their counterparts, the song dragons, thunder dragons represent the disorienting and explosive qualities of it. Thunder dragons have extremely short-range electrokinesis, collecting lightning together in dense filaments that shatter into a thunderous shockwave. They have the ability to control these shockwaves and resulting echoes of it. The initial release of a dragon’s thunderclap is the most easily controlled, and the most experienced among them can focus its direction into single circular planes or even lines. These focused thunderclaps glow a bright ochre as they travel and can shatter stone. However, even unfocused releases pose a threat. The initial peal can already cause hearing damage and bruising, but the horns of thunder dragons resonate afterwards with a droning rumble that can then be pulled out and amplified for continued effect. If left to fade, this rumble sounds like how a massive wind chime would if it was continually lengthened, only more disorganized. Thunder dragons can, for a short while, pick up the vibrations left through an object by their sounds and amplify them further, causing more internal damage and rupturing it. Alternatively, they can dampen or even completely mute their thunderclaps, nullifying their effects entirely. Their bodies seem to do this internally unless otherwise controlled. If actively redirecting sounds, their vibrations move at around half their normal speed.

The physical strength granted to thunder dragons by their lithospheric aspect combined with their already tough scales from their voltaic Discipline grants them the single hardest body of any draconic clan. Their eardrums in particular are nigh-impossible to damage, a necessity to make their Sunstep viable for them. Thunder dragons that require surgical procedures often have to use their own Sunstep to crack open the part of their body that needs fixing. It is for this reason that many of them live in volcanic regions, where the miraculous healing of spring dragons is in closer reach.

Maelstrom Dragons

A typical maelstrom dragon

"...And the rope that frays itself snaps quick..."

Maelstrom dragons are the voltaic clan that contains the aquatic aspect. Their clan represents the violent preference of lightning towards water. Truthfully, it is because of the primordial seas and weather of the early planets that voltaic dragons even exist. The thunderheads that gave lightning such presence in reality that even the Silent Song could not ignore it persisted by the will of water and other such liquids. Maelstrom dragons, something of a symbol of this unity, have command over a special form of hydrophilic lightning. Their white-hot condensed streaks of power only conduct through water and atmospheric vapor. Theirs is the hottest and most violent of the voltaic clans’, branching erratically around the steam each bolt produces. Maelstrom lightning is much more conducive to forming webs and cages than focused emanations of power, but getting struck by it is almost certainly lethal. It arcs through the water of the body only, so death by electrocution is not the risk. Instead, the rapid heating and explosive expansion of the wet interior of the body is what kills.

Maelstrom dragons can stabilize moisture by advanced applications of their Sunstep, and in doing so walk on water. They are an outlier as the only non-winged voltaic clan, but their Sunstep is commonly used to literally run across the sky on thin platforms of electrified moisture. This is also conducive to barrier forming, and if the dragon in question is particularly strict about the range of their lightning they may be able to make simple armor out of it.

Maelstrom dragons, obviously, have a glaring weakness in the function of their lightning. As it can only be conducted through water, arid areas see them significantly weaker than other parts of the world. In the great deserts of the world, there isn’t enough atmospheric water vapor for maelstrom dragons to use their Sunstep at all. The refuge from their monstrous ability is balanced out by a recent twist of fate, that being the conditional strength of the zirconium dragons’ Sunstep. Where one is weaker, the other gains power.

Glitter Dragons

A typical glitter dragon

"...In hate you found peace, measured by sun-lengths..."

Glitter dragons are the voltaic clan with the vivacious aspect. They represent light, mostly as the flash of all lightning, though recent scientific study shows other connections between light and electric potential. Glitter dragons have control of light, a remarkably quiet ability compared to most voltaic dragons. Beyond base uses of illuminating areas and blinding potential threats, glitter dragons need to be creative to unlock their potential. Advances in the study of light have given rise to more advanced techniques of refraction that rival the haze dragons’ own illusions, focused application of lasers, and using light to indirectly manipulate heat. All these and more make up the vast collection of techniques at the glitter dragons’ disposal, but they are not what the clan is primarily known for. By far the most iconic display of their power is an exotic substance, a solid form of light that can be warped into any form imaginable. This hard light takes a ridiculous amount of odhir to maintain, and even these dragons have to be efficient with their use of it. A human attempting the same Sunstep application would run out of odhir within seconds controlling just a blade-sized shard of the stuff.

The requirements of glitter dragon hardlight are taxing enough that counterintuitive workarounds become common sense. Rather than making a structurally sound construct, most glitter dragons opt for thin “outlines” of what they intend to create, manually holding its shape with willpower alone. Even for blunt force jobs, blades and wires of the stuff are applied to get maximum force out of the least matter. Partial releases of hard light objects are used for extra propulsion as well, often leaving a gleaming trail behind the objects as they are systematically dissolved for quicker cuts. And really, cutting is the name of the game with hard light combat. The mage or dragon who makes a club out of light is the one who dies in disgrace.

Current Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Voltaic-Current.png

A typical current dragon

"...Woe, for all yearn for forgotten homes..."

Magnet Dragons

A typical magnet dragon

"...What lingers may repeat itself..."

Magnet dragons are the voltaic clan that contains the technological aspect. They represent the interactions lightning has with the associated force of charge, the interaction that forces it to twist and turn. Magnet dragons represent the rotational currents bound in magnetism, the coil to electricity’s bolt. Magnet dragons have a second sight that allows them to see another set of “colors” denoting magnetic flow and direction. They have an extremely difficult time articulating its visuals, but it is a separate visual property in the same way hue and brightness are. Their Sunstep is mostly visible to other magnet dragons, though its effects can be felt by any electroreceptive beings. Magnet dragons warp and twist these magnetic fields to induce motion, force, and even raw electric charge in anything that will respond. Strong use of this magnetic force can rip the air apart and render it into a cold plasma, leaving recombining charges to create an aftershock of pure lightning. This is energy-intensive, however, and much better applications exist.

Magnet dragons most often work with ferromagnetic materials, as their properties on the practical scale work best to align directly with their fields. Iron, steel, cobalt, nickel, and a few metals that barely exist in the world are the main materials used as tools by them. Using particles of metal sand is a common go-to method for the magnet dragons. Another use of these is in a reverse electromagnet, aligning the fields in the same way one would see around a lightning bolt to create a building electric charge. If done swiftly enough, a brilliant iridescent line of charge is created and released, giving magnet dragons a roundabout way to claim their Discipline’s iconic power. Many generators can run off of magnetic induction, so a contraption designed to turn that power into freeform lightning would also work.

Gamma Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Voltaic-Gamma.png

A typical gamma dragon

"...And you could not see what blinded you still..."

Vivacious

Vivacious dragons were the first new Discipline after many millions of years of dormancy, and are attuned to the ideal of life. They are sustained by biomatter, and are found most in the environment their specific clan is best suited for. The vivacious alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon the ability to subtly adapt to long-term struggles such as temperature or toxins. Vivacious dragons have the least common traits between their clans, seemingly maximizing the meaning of their Aspect instead. They have a tendency towards green coloration.

Emerald Dragons

A rarely seen unaltered emerald dragon

"...And the undesigned now walk among..."

Emerald dragons are the prismatic clan of the vivacious Discipline. They are named after their vibrant emerald hue, and represent as a clan the pure elemental ideal of life. They have full control over their body’s shape, with fewer limits on size than normal draconic compression-shifting. While they retain the upper limit on size, they can be fluid in form and rearrange their mass however they wish. Normally, dragons need to shrink down to the size of a human for much of these same freedoms, but emerald dragons can do it at full size. An example of an unaltered emerald dragon is extremely rare to come by. Self-expression becomes second nature when such things as horn shape, proportions, number of limbs and eyes, and innumerable other characteristics are changeable. This is, however, only the passive freedom their clan provides them.

The active Sunstep emerald dragons have is one of evolution and adaptation. Visually it appears to be a simple branching wave of light, but this radiative magic is one of the most complex Sunsteps of any dragon’s. Adaptations, either for a desired phenotypical trait or towards some ability, can be enforced on a living being by emerald dragons. In terms of evolution, it turns changes that would take thousands of generations to emerge into a matter of only a few seconds. The body is altered entirely at the cellular and genetic level, and any new traits introduced make the changed individual less like their original species. For purposes of creating a new lifeform, emerald dragons tend to use groups of organisms so they can still reproduce. However, many people across the world seek changes to their bodies and forms, which these dragons can provide. The process is painful at first, but most seeking this level of change are willing to go through it.

The ecosystems of the world emerged and became how they are today in only ten million years since the emergence of multicellular life. It is likely that the ancient emerald dragons, needing to eat this early life to survive, used their Sunstep to make it spread faster and wider, become more diverse and better suited to survival, and be more palatable to them specifically. Once this need was met, emerald dragons began their long shift into the twisted creatives they are known as today.

Titan Dragons

A typical titan dragon, albeit without the typical microbiome on its back

"...In sacred paths ye live and die alone..."

Titan dragons are the vivacious clan that holds the celestial aspect. They take on the celestial Discipline’s higher meaning of “facilitation”, and represent the vastness of all things and all things possible. Titan dragons, first of all, are the largest clan of dragons in existence. Standing at the height of small mountains, they stick mostly to uninhabited areas and open plains, as well as the shallow seas of the world. They are capable of moving frighteningly quickly, but take care not to for the consequences that would cause. Titan dragons have plenty of time to move like this, too, as they live for upwards of 20,000 years. They are capable of surviving in space, though they require some amount of living matter to consume. Extant colonies of titan dragons may exist only on any other planets that have native life, of which none are known to date.

If one spends any time cloud watching, they may notice one of the myriad floating islands dotting the skies. These islands are, in fact, corpses. The bodies of titan dragons are so massive that their soul takes weeks to filter out into inanimate súla. During this period of time, an excess of odhir can cause their heart muscle to be corrupted into the levitating mineral caelite, which hoists their decaying corpse into the sky for eternity. As time goes on, the body of this dragon breaks apart and becomes the basis for a floating island. As titan dragons are prone to having microbiome growths on their backs, this often creates entirely new ecosystems.

The active Sunstep that titan dragons use is difficult to notice on its own. Through spherical domains, they can change the “resistance” most matter and energy has to magic and willpower. Usually, this is used to lower it to the point that raw thought can convince the world to reshape itself, giving them a sort of pseudo-telekinesis. Alternatively, they are able to raise the resistance in an area to the point that magic becomes basically impossible. Odhir can still be released, of course, but its chromatic sputtering will do almost nothing to the environment. They can be more specific with conditions if they are versed in Starstep, gaining access to a dimension of who has more sway than others. A final application rarely seen is to temporarily bestow a person the same environmental authority that dragons hold. It’s a well known fact that dragons have an easier time manipulating matter and energy through Sunstep, and for a few short hours, titan dragons can give that authority to others. It’s just that most mortals are so small that they never build that kind of relationship with a living titan dragon.

Ember Dragons

A typical ember dragon

"...And in profanity you find your true self sticks beyond compare..."

Ember dragons are the vivacious clan that contains the infernal aspect. They represent the infernal Discipline’s higher principle of “consumption” and the circular flow of biomass through the ecosystem. They have the ability to reproduce an effect or trait of anything they’ve eaten. By activating their Sunstep, the remnant essence of their meals stored in their bodies is released. Ember dragons can usually choose whether to apply the effect to themselves or to project it out. For example, an ember dragon that’s eaten a bird may temporarily give themselves enhanced flight or manifest a transient avatar of the bird to act to their will for a few minutes. After a meal is used, it cannot be used again until the same thing is eaten. The patterns along their wings are usually clues to what they have stocked in their bodies, but they have a habit of consuming camouflage-bearing animals to disguise this stock. They have the ability to gain nourishment from whatever they eat, no matter how poisonous or toxic, and have even been seen eating metal and lava to store their properties for later.

Ember dragons are the smallest clan of dragon, standing at about just 30-40 centimeters tall at their withers and only about a meter long from head to tail. Due to this, they are never seen using compression-shapeshifting. They would need to be the size of a rodent to make significant changes to their own body plans. Their inconvenient scale makes them a rare find in any cities, and they are most often found in denser rainforest environments and volcanic islands.

Silk Dragons

A typical silk dragon

"...To lose oneself in the raging sea-watch..."

Silk dragons are the vivacious clan that holds the atmospheric aspect. They represent the atmospheric Discipline’s ideal of “observation” and detachment. Silk dragons have incredibly acute senses, extending beyond just the main five into precise balance, sense of pressure, temperature, and humidity, and several other minor ones. Their eyes have uniquely Difaceted vision, with the ability to see colors of light both on the conventional spectrum and three offset spectra, intersecting at yellow/indigo, crimson/cyan, and lime/violet. Each of these works with the other spectra to produce what may be the most extensive clear vision of color in the universe. Silk dragons’ eyes are essential for their Sunstep, as their advanced senses can be pushed further with magic to give them an actual vision of the future. This ability only extends forward in time by a few seconds, as the non-deterministic nature of fate means the universe gets really hazy when peered into, and the act of observing a distant future changes the present conditions enough that it may prevent it. The markings under the silk dragon’s eyes contract as they look further, with them becoming basically lines as the dragon reaches their limit. While they can train this, no silk dragon has extended their future sight beyond 20 seconds. They are capable of disappearing from each other’s sight by using their Sunstep as well.

The eye markings are only a subtle tell for how far into the future they are peering. The actual visual tell that a silk dragon is using their Sunstep is their special eye seals. Their regular irises and pupils become contorted into pseudo-runic seals as they use their Sunstep, which has no bearing on their normal vision. The seal is unique to the dragon, and while they don’t have any particular effect on ability, there are some cultural practices related to the shape of the seal. Some silk dragons bleed from their seals when using their Sunstep, which only presents minor disadvantages after its use. It’s unclear what exactly causes this bleeding.

Floral Dragons

A typical floral dragon, with symbiotic plants

"...Ye who knew the names of things not yet born..."

Floral dragons are the vivacious clan that holds the lithospheric aspect. They are attuned to the lithospheric Discipline’s principle of “synchronization” and represent the kingdom of plants. They have near total control over plant life, able to bend it to their will. They have a sense for the message networks of plants and some fungi, and can tap into the mycelial networks beneath great forests to gather information quickly. Their Sunstep directly manipulates plants, allowing them to grow and activate different parts of their life cycle. This consumes atmospheric gases and water vapor, and requires an existing plant to manipulate. Transmuting these materials according to the design of their plants requires a lot of odhir, and so floral dragons tend to exhaust themselves quickly if they aren’t careful. They tend towards more humid regions for this reason, but there are some desert communities with many floral dragons.

To carry plants with them, and to have a much easier time with their transmutative Sunstep, floral dragons often have plants growing out of them, feeding on their blood. This has a mild mutagenic effect on the plants, and several new species of “dragon plants” have been recorded throughout history, usually named for the dragon they first originated in. Floral dragons can transmute their thick blood into plant matter much more easily, and so can grow and utilize their plants much more efficiently. The drawback to this is that the cost to their Sunstep becomes physically debilitating as well as spiritually draining, and they can pass out from anemia if relying too heavily on their blood. Another alternative method to growing plants that floral dragons use is changing their structure. Taking root mass to create thorns, strengthening grasses to be sharp and rigid, and even bending trees like vipers to suit their needs are all use cases of their ability that offer more efficiency than growth and less drawbacks than substituting blood for water.

Reef Dragons

A typical reef dragon

"...Though you told them all you swore off your wicked ways..."

Reef dragons are the vivacious clan with the aquatic aspect. They represent the aquatic Discipline’s higher principle of “domination”. Reef dragons have a force of will that can be imposed on others via their Sunstep. Anything that makes eye contact with them is a potential target. Projected through their gaze is a suggestion of submission. With no training, this simply makes targets of this Sunstep feel less inclined to enter conflicts with the reef dragon. More experienced ones are strong enough to turn their targets into subordinates, gaining suggestive power over them in the way one might acquire by hiring a stranger they met on the road. Advanced reef dragons can implant specific orders or suggestions into their hypnotism, to the point of making people hallucinate or have a complete change in personality. The simplest way to circumvent a reef dragon’s Sunstep is to not look, but some spend decades learning how to enhance their voices to carry the power of suggestion as well. It’s much less efficient and needs to be tailored to the individual they are trying to hypnotize, but it works.

True to their name, reef dragons tend to live in the coral reefs of the world. Their natural camouflage is a perfect fit for those environments, and many cities across Keppel have been founded in and around those locations by them. These cities are dragon-majority, and tend to have both an above-water and underwater level to them. Coral-spun clothing is common, but the differing environments are weathering enough that these reef cities sometimes forego clothes entirely. Even among other dragons and other races, reef dragons tend to be seen with an air of caution and mystery. These cultural wedges are not entirely unfounded. Most people don’t like the idea that their minds could be overpowered by magic.

Blur Dragons

A typical blur dragon

"...What rent itself astray from the Path..."

Blur dragons are the vivacious clan that holds the voltaic aspect. They represent the voltaic Discipline’s higher principle of “excitation”. Already the fastest running clan by physiology (again, save for titan dragons, who are outliers), blur dragons have a Sunstep that lets them ignore inertia and change direction or suddenly accelerate or stop however they please. Their minds are briefly accelerated whenever they use this, and for a few seconds they can dilate their perception of time to take up to a minute. Obviously, this counteracts the appeal of their speed, and most blur dragons actively suppress this mental acceleration when traveling. In stressful situations, however, blur dragons will often twitch back and forth to boost their mental speed so they can manage situations as deftly as possible. While their wings are small compared to their body size, a rapid boost in speed can give them enough lift to fly decent distances.

In terms of fighting, blur dragons make for unpredictable and powerful opponents. The ability to read or react to their movements is never guaranteed, though two or three layers of feints is usually the furthest they will go. Blur dragons are easily bored by repetition, and so will rarely go for the same move more than twice. Matching their speed is next to impossible, but making moves that require hair-splitting defenses consistently is a reliable way to get them to burn their odhir on mental acceleration. They can only maintain their speed within the limits of aerodynamics, and while their bodies are certainly built for that, it’s possible to force them into situations where they have to act slower than their maximum speed.

Visage Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Vivacious-Visage.png

A typical visage dragon

"...And the meekest of all shall inherit Nonexistence, infinity beyond Creation..."

Patchwork Dragons

A rarely seen patchwork dragon without grafted limbs

"...But all pieces come from some older Intent..."

Patchwork dragons are the vivacious clan that contains the technological aspect. They are attuned to the technological Discipline’s principle of “innovation” and represent the connections within the body. Patchwork dragons are feared and revered worldwide for their gruesome ability. The Sunstep they wield is an incredibly useful one that can save lives and mend tragic accidents. Able to connect body parts to each other and perfectly integrate them, one would think that patchwork dragons would be sought after in the medical field for limb reattachments and other surgeries. It is theoretically possible for them to even cure paralysis by cutting a patient in half at the point of paralysis and reconnecting them together. Gruesome, yes, but useful. However, patchwork dragons tend to graft the parts of other species onto themselves and others, creating many-limbed chimeras and other such abominations. Their long, finger-like wings serve as cover for whatever horrors they may have committed against their own bodies, as well as serving as extra points to grab their victims.

Patchwork dragons rarely go without a few extra limbs themselves, usually taken from other dragons. They’re capable of working with corpses, provided they are fresh, and so their hidden enclaves often recycle parts throughout generations of their own kind. For passing them along, patchwork dragons can actually remove limbs safely, the ends being sealed off harmlessly into stumps. Of course, the part without a heart or brain will die quickly, but they usually solve that by using themselves as temporary storage. The common code of obscenity most races share is twisted by this clan, and whether this reflects on that system of values or the dragons that lie outside of it remains to be seen.

Rot Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Vivacious-Rot.png

A typical rot dragon

"...None believed your words, the truth biding its time..."

Umbral

The Umbral Discipline, eighth in the order of their arrival, manifested as the wrathful annihilation of Haerox's unruly shades of spirits within Rrataradn, the only time the Silent Song's interference via draconic manifestation directly undermined the remnant suns' activities. The umbral Discipline is attuned to the ideal of shadow, and they feast on the elemental matter of shadow produced by all súla, dense enough to drink when not directly in line of sight to the great light sources that are the suns. The umbral alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, gives a dragon the ability to see perfectly in total darkness and immunity to visual illusions. Common traits between most umbral dragons include a tendency towards black or very dark colors, smooth scaled bodies, luminescent patterns, four eyes, and rows of dull barbs along their backs.

Onyx Dragons

A typical onyx dragon

"...So spirits mimic and hunt their young..."

Onyx dragons are the Prismatic clan of the umbral Dsicipline, representing the pure ideal, matter, and force of shadows. Their name comes from their deep onyx hue, a black tinged with the faintest hints of indigo. Onyx dragons have a uniquely tangible control over the force and form of shadow, making its emanation manifest as a vaporous or even taut fluid form. They can force matter to emit and produce more shadow than it normally would, or draw upon the pooling shadows of objects to gain their writhing black mass that they control. Because all non-luminary objects cast these denser pooling shadows, they have a vast abundance of their matter at the ready whenever they require, having enough precision and range of control to completely overwhelm most opponents. These shadows can be made into all manner of constructs and objects, able to take on a range of properties depending on their motion and density, owing to shadow's principle of imitation.

Onyx dragons are very sensitive to light, often preferring to remain in total darkness or in nocturnal communities with other races that prefer the night.

Horizon Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Horizon.png

A typical horizon dragon

Dusk Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Dusk.png

A typical dusk dragon

Lull Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Lull.png

A typical lull dragon

Sunken Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Sunken.png

A typical sunken dragon

Veil Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Veil.png

A typical veil dragon

Interference Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Interference.png

A typical interference dragon

Shade Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Shade.png

A typical shade dragon

Silhouette Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Silhouette.png

A typical silhouette dragon

Whisper Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Umbral-Whisper.png

A typical whisper dragon

Technological

Technological dragons, the ninth Discipline, arose around nineteen hundred years ago, and are attuned to the ideal of technology. They control deeper principles behind many of the other elements, and are sustained by metals and complex compounds used in machinery. They are most commonly found in cities and areas with high technological development. The technological alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon the ability to assimilate consumed matter into their body more efficiently, either as physical qualities or skills. Common traits between technological dragons include hexagonal scales, mechanical parts as a part of their bodies, and glowing accents.

Platinum Dragons

A typical platinum dragon which has not adapted itself by its Sunstep

"...Now what was made exceeds all things..."

Platinum dragons are the Prismatic clan of the technological Discipline. They are named for their chrome platinum hue, and they represent the conceptual ideal of technology and innovation. Their Sunstep is a deceptively simple-looking one. Any system of parts, be it a machine or plant or just a hunk of ore, can be rearranged by platinum dragons to be more “efficient”. What this means relates to the purpose of the object, and what purpose an object serves is quite subjective. Their own cognition and personal truth of what something’s purpose is allows them to somewhat direct how the system is altered. For things with an intended use, platinum dragons can barely define parameters beyond its designed use case to change it. For other inanimate matter, they have an easier time assigning it a purpose. The process is almost completely autonomous, and platinum dragons primarily control it by timing when to stop. They cannot apply their Sunstep to anything living, but experienced ones are able to change their own bodies with it. This is dangerous, however, as it will always alter them in the direction they see as their life purpose. Undoing it requires enormous practice with visualization, and even then the results will not be exact.

Platinum dragons are fully robotic. Though they are sapient in the same way soul tech becomes sapient, their bodies contain no organic matter. Their lifespans could theoretically extend forever as long as their bodies are maintained. Still, only 150 years have passed since they first appeared, which is only half a normal dragon’s lifespan. Despite not being organic lifeforms, they can still reproduce with any other dragon. This is a valuable revelation into dragon life cycles and implies that they reproduce spiritually rather than by any biological means.

Tantalum Dragons

A typical tantalum dragon

Tantalum dragons are the technological clan that contains the celestial aspect. They represent the concept of motion and velocity, that facilitated by the dimensionality of both Space and its complementary Time. Tantalum dragons have the ability to alter the velocities of any objects they can see however they wish. Their brains have a section dedicated just to mathematical computation, which allows them to rapidly change forces on objects enough to pass as telekinetic magic. The cognition and math required to replicate a tantalum dragon’s Sunstep makes it unwise to try. There have been historically easier ways of creating the same effects, though they are not nearly as powerful and all-encompassing as the tantalum dragons. Their field of vision, which dictates what they are capable of manipulating, extends to a full omnidirectional sight most of the time. The screens on their wings and tail and down the sides of their bodies serve as additional viewports, which combine to give them easy access to most of their immediate surroundings.

Tantalum dragons have to take on an opposing force to the one they apply to an object. Being dragons, their natural weight is enough to mitigate a lot of this. But tantalum dragons attempting to lift a large boulder would end up taking on its weight as they did, and may be crushed. Fortunately, the gyroscopes on their wings can take most of the force transferred to their bodies via rotation. This only works up to a certain limit, and beyond that the tantalum dragon must either take the full weight of their force or risk damaging their wings. Other living beings do not have this physiological advantage, which is another reason their Sunstep should never be replicated by Sunstep. Voidstride, specifically with artifacts that have these gyroscopes built in, is the only real feasible way to have a usable version of it. Even then, the calculation requirement is not met. For such a simple-looking Sunstep, it is remarkably difficult to study.

Copper Dragons

A typical copper dragon

Copper dragons are the technological clan that holds the infernal aspect. They represent heat flow and control, the consumption and decay of other energy into Fire's progenitor. Normally, copper dragons feel cold to the touch. This is a byproduct of their physiology, designed to absorb and retain heat as much as possible. Their Sunstep has a low-energy passive effect that is constantly active unless they actively fight it, which moves heat through their bodies to an internal chamber and holds it there. They regenerate odhir faster than this process burns it, but it makes their general rate of regaining it much slower than most other Keppelian beings. But what is all this stored heat used for? Their Sunstep is best at converging and concentrating thermal energy into a powerful cyan-yellow flame. Through a series of pipes throughout their bodies, copper dragons redirect this fire and compress it to create immense propulsive power. Through an opening and lens in their mouths, they can release it as an extremely concentrated breath attack, one that borders on laser energy. They have several engines on their wings and on their tail, which they can also direct their flame through to propel themselves to almost the speed of sound in flight. Experienced ones use their Sunstep to keep focusing their flame after releasing it, turning it into a versatile implement for either welding or laser-cutting.

Copper dragons can actively draw in heat from their environment or cause it to converge to a point outside themselves as well. Imagine, for clarity, the heat around a table being forced to migrate to the wick of a candle. The flame ignites, but the bottom of the table is cold enough to start frosting over. Copper dragons can use this convergence to consume fire as well, quickly building up their internal storage of fuel for later. Being one of the few clans to rely on an internal store of fuel, they are some of the most industrious types of dragon.

Lithium Dragons

A typical lithium dragon

Lithium dragons are the technological clan that carries the atmospheric aspect. They represent reactivity, the willingness of particles to undergo chemical changes, the looseness that lets matter transmute from just being observed. Lithium dragons have the power to act as a living catalyst, speeding up the natural reactions in the world and artificially increasing the reactivity of anything they desire. This could be seen as the physical counterpart to the Sunstep of the titan dragons, something of a spiritual successor to it. This is often cited as a piece of evidence that the technological dragons’ appearances and abilities were influenced by how human civilization and science developed.

Their lungs are the most advanced of any living being, able to store more oxygen in them for longer than almost anything. Their organs are optimized for this use, so they end up having more oxygen in their body than they usually need. The reason for this, as is the case with technological dragons, is related to their Sunstep. Catalyzing a material or area depletes their internal reservoir of oxygen, so they need to keep a “cushion” of extra air in their lungs so they don’t suffer from using their power. Some of the panels on the lithium dragons’ necks can actually open extra airways directly into their lungs, allowing them to cycle through gases rapidly for intensive situations.

While definitely a useful resource in the world of alchemy, which often relies on waiting hours or days for reactions to finish, the dangers of carelessness are amplified a thousandfold when relying on this reactivity. Exothermic reactions can easily become explosive if not prepared for, and endothermic reactions can simply be stunted without a reliable source of heat. Fumes will be produced at a rate that some modern filters and disposal methods cannot handle, and there is much less time to fix mistakes in ratios and ingredients.

Tungsten Dragons

A typical tungsten dragon

Tungsten dragons are the technological clan with the lithospheric aspect. Their clan represents molecular bonds, the smallest form of connections between matter and that which lets them synchronize to form larger constructs. Their Sunstep allows them to break these bonds, reducing matter to its base elements. This usually takes the form of scattered fissures and disintegration, but more learned ones can be more elegant about it. Through study, some tungsten dragons have gained rudimentary sorting capabilities and have demonstrated “reverse alloying”, where they take a heavily blended sheet of metal and render it out into its constituent pure parts. This results in piles of metal sand rather than contiguous ingots, but the ability to separate out materials like that has been a blessing for many metalworking organizations across the world.

The process of breaking these molecular bonds releases the energy contained within them, which the Sunstep tungsten dragons use converts entirely into visible light. Having screens for eyes and adjustable vision mechanisms behind it, they are immune to the blinding light large-scale applications of their power unleashes. Most technological dragons are similarly safe from the forbidden light, but those working with tungsten dragons must remember eye protection.

By focusing the fissile ability they have, some tungsten dragons have also made an application they call “the hidden dagger of Annrava”, named after the azure-violet sun that bears the concept of fragmentation. It acts like a typical planoform spell, with its effect being a neat molecular divide of everything it comes into contact with. While thought of as the perfect cutting implement, the spell itself loses odhir quickly as it travels, even to the air it travels through. The more experienced users of the “blade of Annrava” choose to coat their claws with it, maintaining its use at close range while still keeping ready to send a slash flying if they need to.

Osmium Dragons

A typical osmium dragon

Osmium dragons are the technological clan that holds the aquatic aspect. They represent the principle of weight, a property often associated with the element of water and a necessary precursor dominance to compress gas into liquid. Osmium dragons quite simply control the weight of objects, including themselves. They apply this Sunstep by adding positive or negative virtual mass into whatever they touch. Visually, this appears to be stored in their bodies as different colors of fluid. Blue liquid in their chambers corresponds to positive weight, while pink corresponds to negative weight. There is also a violet fluid within them, which is either a mediator or variable fluid that is able to be turned into the others. The purple version of this fluid fills their circulatory systems as well. When they release their ability, the luminous fluid spreads as a vapor until it reaches the target, at which point it is subsumed into the object and an aura appears around it. As the odhir burns out, this aura weakens and the object returns to its original weight. Osmium dragons need to drink water to replenish their supplies of this liquid, and if they run out of it their circulation may be compromised. Still, they have plenty to spare and get more efficient as they train.

The limits on how much weight an osmium dragon can add or remove to an object is dependent on practice, first and foremost. Ones that rarely use their Sunstep may only be able to manage a change of 3-5 kg, but the dedicated souls who have been honing their Sunstep since the first generation of technological dragons a hundred and fifty years ago can manage to add or remove several thousand kilograms to a mass. More experienced ones have also been sighted inflicting their ability on an area, indirectly changing the local strength of gravity with a massive aura of their vapor.

Zirconium Dragons

A typical zirconium dragon

Zirconium dragons are the technological clan that contains the voltaic aspect. They represent the twin charges of electricity and the buildup of static, the prime particles that govern an important excitation of matter. They have the ability to directly pull charges apart, inducing static electricity in whatever they wish. This is not usually noticeable until it is released in a great flash of lightning, all the charge discrepancies resolving at once. Voltaic dragons and voltaically-aspected dragons can sense it happening via their electroreception. This ability to separate charges requires very little odhir, and they can allow unnaturally large deformities in the electric field before releasing their ability. Zirconium dragons are known to be able to induce rapid repulsive force in their bodies by applying their Sunstep as well, letting them bounce off of any surface with minimal static buildup. Their free-air charges can be dispersed with water and humidity, though salt water is conductive and may be targeted first. Zirconium dragons tend towards more arid regions for this reason, and anyone looking to escape their stealthy wrath by living in wetter areas will have the opposite problem to contend with in the maelstrom dragons.

Zirconium dragons are able to, by directly moving charges, recharge any sort of battery they touch. With no free-floating aerial charges, they don’t have the ability to release these with lightning, but it gives them an incredible advantage with Voidstride artifacts. Since those artifacts usually run off of electricity, they can substitute their own vast store of odhir for the time it would take to recharge the artifact and cast spells through them for much longer.

Bismuth Dragons

A typical bismuth dragon

Bismuth dragons are the technological clan that bears the vivacious aspect. They represent cellular science and microbiology, the adaptation that can be done within a contiguous body without mutation, and are regarded by the Radiant Hive as a blasphemous clan. Bismuth dragons have a wireless telepathic connection to trillions of tiny micromachines inside their bodies, produced alongside a universally sterile fluid in a special organ they have. They are able to release these through the hollow needle in the end of their tongues, and control them inside the bodies of other creatures for as long as they wish. Bismuth dragons can assess internal disease or disorder more accurately than any doctor, as well as work to treat it (provided their patient ingests the required material). Their communicative abilities extend to their nanoparticles as well, and by sending them to the brain of a being, they can telepathically send messages directly into the memory or senses of anyone who has their particles inside them. Bismuth dragon particles can be removed from a person if they ingest caelite, which is the mineral formed from the hearts of some long-dead titan dragons. Caelite is very rare, however, and most bismuth dragons opt to just leave their particles dormant or manually remove them via the digestive tract.

While a bond with a bismuth dragon via particles has many potential benefits, it has risks as well. The more malevolent among the bismuth dragons can twist a person’s senses to make them hallucinate however they please. This is actually an uncommon application used for “holographic” communication as well, but the more uncouth among them use it to torment their subjects. Especially vile individual bismuth dragons have made such alterations to their subjects’ minds as to render them an extension of themselves. Formation of a hivemind in this way is legally treated as murder and corpse desecration in most civilized areas, though some south Remnan cities have a stipulation for a written will. Theoretically, bismuth dragons can form entire armies this way, but they tend to mentally short out if their consciousness is spread too thin. This applies to simply having their nanites active in many locations at once, and most bismuth dragons can only keep tabs on about twenty people’s bodies at once before overloading from information.

Iridium Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Technological-Iridium.png

A typical iridium dragon

Niobium Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Technological-Niobium.png

A typical niobium dragon

Necrotic

The Necrotic dragons, tenth and final Discipline, arose eerily soon after the technological dragons, appearing around twelve hundred years ago during the final omnicidal stages of the Vermillion Wars. They are attuned to the ideal of death and cessation. They are sustained by dead things and the bodies of spirits, so most of the time regular Keppelian food is simply extra nourishing for them. They are found in most places across the world, albeit sparsely. The necrotic alignment, in Discipline or Aspect, grants a dragon unusual charisma and a general decrease in need for food, water, and air. Common traits between necrotic dragons include feathers, a tendency towards white or very pale coloration, wings on the hips, dull claws and horns, and a lack of claws on their hindpaws.

Nacre Dragons

A typical nacre dragon

"...And mortals, in death, ignite the mark of the kings..."

Entropic Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Entropic.png

A typical entropic dragon

Cinder Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Cinder.png

A typical cinder dragon

Plague Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Plague.png

A typical plague dragon

Bone Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Bone.png

A typical bone dragon

Blood Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Blood.png

A typical blood dragon

Surge Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Surge.png

A typical surge dragon

Revenant Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Revenant.png

A typical revenant dragon

Phantom Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Phantom.png

A typical phantom dragon

Heir Dragons

File:Dragon-Profile-Necrotic-Heir.png

A typical heir dragon

History

Umakh and the Radiant Hive

The Radiant Hive is the largest organism in the universe in terms of physical mass and brainpower. It has subsumed countless individuals into its collective mind as “Vessels”. Their identities are lost, but the sole privilege of individuality is granted to the first one the Hive took. Umakh, an Orchid dragon who lived back before even the infernal Discipline was manifested, was the first being to enter the hivemind. Being the only existing Vessel, he still maintained his identity fully. Umakh gained the privilege of being connected to the sunstuff, and was able every seven thousand years to relay a request to the higher powers in the universe. His first request was the crystallization of his language into an objective force for the dragons, and thus Eudraconic as a language came to be. For being the first of the many-few-one, Umakh retains his individuality within the connected mass of Vessels. His body perished and decomposed millions of years ago, but his consciousness remains in the Radiant Hive, making him the oldest still-living individual in the entire universe.

Sun Dragons’ Folly

The ability of Sun dragons was, until 1 LE, a mass-control of fire and the power to imbue it with additional properties. This was crucial to the draconic side of the Vermillion Wars, and made up the majority of their destructive firepower alongside Scarlet and Hell dragons. General Black-Sun Dymuniras Cyntaf-Haul, in a bid for more power, made a request of the Radiant Hive to re-interpret the celestial aspect of the clan. Umakh, ever the trickster, gave Dymuniras one chance to clarify his wish. Dymuniras declined, leaving his fate, and that of all Sun dragons, in the hands of the Hive.

The following changes were made to the Sunstep of the Sun dragons; their flames were confined to an orb in the likeness of the bodies of the suns, their enchantment was limited to aspects and properties of space, and any flames they took hold of would be subsumed into the orb and regenerate their odhir as if they were consumed into the body. Their ability to exert energy through this Sunstep magic was limited to a rate so slow that they became virtually inexhaustible, but they were no longer able to be at the forefronts of the civilization-destroying Vermillion Wars. This loss in firepower cost the draconic side the war and ensured the survival of human life on Keppel.