Draco

Draco is one of the moons orbitting Dragon III. It is one of the only moons in the Web of Worlds that is natively capable of supporting life, and it is the only moon with a vibrant and dynamic ecosystem. There are no land-bound gates linking Draco with any other dimension. It is suspected that the Scandians have some method of reaching Draco without space travel -- perhaps by way of Merge League Time Magic Portals.

Land

Draco is much, much smaller than most of the inhabited worlds of the Web. As a moon, it has not even half the land area of many of the earth-type bodies that support the bulk of the Web's population. Like most naturally habitable worlds, Draco is mostly ocean, with small arctic and antarctic regions. A chain of islands runs the length of the moon, stretching from pole to pole along one side. It is on these large islands that Draco's native life occurs.

Population

Draco's principle inhabitants are the True Dragons, but they are not the only sapients who live here. Each clan of dragons rules over small populations of vassal races -- humanoid communities (of the non-human races found on Dragon III) that live to serve the Dragons and cater to their needs.

Religion

Only three gods are worshipped with any degree of frequency on Draco: Io, the Ninefold Dragon and creator of Dragonkind; Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon and patron of the Metallic Dragon races, and Tiamat, Dragon Fiend of Air and sponsor of the Chromatic Dragon races.

It should be said that Dragons do not worship deities the same way that humans might. While shrines to Io dot the islands that the Dragons call home, Dragons (as beings of great power) do not look upon their gods as sources of help or divine inspiration. Dragons learn, as they evolve and grow in size, strength and magical capability, that most of the problems they face are well within their capacity to deal with themselves. Indeed, as the Dragons have grown into their positions as lords over the Vassal Clans, many have come to think of themselves as god-like, as their vassals are the ones calling to them for aid before they call for any god to intervene.

It's hard to describe, then, what kind of religion the Dragons of Draco actually have.

Economy

As powerful as the Dragons are, their economy is an anachronism in the age of capitalism and giant robots. Dragons are noted for hoarding wealth and treasures, and a number of the troves of the more powerful clans of True Dragons are replete with plundered wealth and magical items from Dragon III circa the Time of Titans. These items typically do not move through Draco's economy, except in the rare case where a Dragon bestows a gift from its hoard to a favored vassal.

The bulk of Draco's economy is conducted as barter between various vassal villages. Vassals trade among themselves, depending on where they are located: the most common trade routes exist between vassal villages within the same dragon clan's domain. Rarer is the trade that is conducted across domain borders: the Metallic dragons seem to have more tolerance for border crossings than do the Chromatics. Gem dragons will typically allow their vassals to trade with villages in allied domains, but such arrangements are always worked out in advance between the various Dragon Lords.

Law

Law varies from domain to domain across Draco; laws that apply to all domains and all dragons, as handed down by the Council of Wyrms, are rare. Generally speaking, the humanoid vassal races are never accorded the full rights that Dragons are. Vassals are treated in the law as anything ranging from mere second-class citizens to outright slaves, depending on the domain in question.

Government

Draco is ruled planetwide by the Council of Wyrms, a body of ancient Dragons (Wyrms and Great Wyrms) that meet to resolve disputes between dragons and (rarely) decide on laws that affect all clans and all domains. The Council is situated on a central island called All Clans Isle, on an enormous aerie built to accomodate thousands of dragons at the same time.

When the Council is in session, it is chaired by a Great Wyrm who holds the rank of Grand Custodian. Typically this is a Gem Dragon (since they are almost always seen as impartial in the disputes between the Metallic and Chromatic races), and thus almost always an Amethyst (since they are among the wisest, strongest and most respected of Gems).

Internal Politics

With the lack of real contact with the outside Web of Worlds, Draco is all about internal politics -- and the particulars thereof are far too numerous to outline here. The domains and clans of ancient and powerful Dragons constantly war and scheme against one another. Common rivalries include Reds and Silvers, Blues and Brasses, Whites and Crystals, Bronzes and Topazes. Gold dragons typically will require little excuse to make war on a neighboring Chromatic clan; the same can be said of Reds, who greatly enjoy harrying Metallic clans and vassals.

It might be worth noting that Silver dragons are the only Draconic race that actively lobbies for more rights for the vassal races. Within Silver dragon domains, vassals are accorded near equality with their dragon masters, and frequently vassals that escape from poor conditions in other domains (such as Red, Green or Black domains) can be sure to find assylum among the Silvers.

Foreign Politics

The only offworld relations that the Dragons maintain are with the Scandian League. The Council of Wyrms has made an arrangement with Travin Rumanski to provide protection for their moon against enemies from the stars, and guarding the secret of their race's hideaway from the rest of the Web. It has not yet been revealed what promises Travin has secured from the Dragons in return for this service.

Military

The Dragons have no true military. Each domain is defended by small militias comprised of the vassal humanoids -- armed with weapons little better than spears, swords, axes and longbows. Oh, but I suppose one might consider the thousands of enormous and powerful dragons that live on the planet as a sort of natural defensive feature.

People

Agoron is an adult Silver Dragon of Clan Cloudwalker. A relatively young dragon, he is known among his clan for being adventurous and somewhat rash. Agoron is the nephew of Gekar the Silver Wyrm.

Larala is Agoron's favored Krydion vassal. She accompanies him where ever the noble Silver Dragon goes.

Mykell is an Amethyst Great Wyrm of Clan Starratiel, and the Grand Custodian of the Council of Wyrms. She is effectively the leader of Dragonkind on Draco, and its representative in dealing with the Scandian League.

Snowfire is an adult White Dragon of Clan Frostwind. He has formed an unlikely friendship with Agoron Cloudwalker, as the two were hatched together in the nurseries on All Clans Isle, and often accompanies the Silver and his vassal Larala on adventures throughout the island. He is not as thoroughly evil as others of his kind, but neither does he have Agoron's strong moral compass.

Suza the Brass is a mature adult Brass Dragon of clan Dewfeast. She has been assigned by the Grand Custodian as the liaison with the Scandian League. When she travels to Scande, she appears as a middle-aged human woman with dark skin and brass-colored hair and eyes.

Clan Lists

Gold Dragon Clans

• Baraster
• Exaudron
• Justice
• Resplendence
• Sunblaze
• Triumph

Silver Dragon Clans

• Brightscale
• Cloudwalker
• Coldwing
• Fog
• Pinnacle
• Summit

Bronze Dragon Clans

• Battlewing
• Cliffwalker
• Seaview
• Tempest
• Waveflier

Copper Dragon Clans

• Becubard
• Clawstrike
• Cutharn
• Fastwing
• Highjump
• Rockclaw
• Stoneproud
• Sunleap

Brass Dragon Clans

• Blisterclaw
• Dewfeast
• Drywing
• Dustspinner
• Hotwind
• Sandtail
• Sungazer

Amethyst Dragon Clans

• Corum
• Majyst
• Regalen
• Starratiel

Sapphire Dragon Clans

• Battlecry
• Boldtail
• Glitterwing
• Phlare
• Warclaw

Emerald Dragon Clans

• Firelake
• Flamestrider
• Maragdus
• Sharpwail
• Sonis

Topaz Dragon Clans

• Deepwater
• Dryair
• Pazus
• Seaspray

Crystal Dragon Clans

• Coldshard
• Luckwing
• Moonlight
• Sparkle
• Starlight
• Sunlight

Red Dragon Clans

• Bloodtide
• Firetongue
• Magma
• Scorch
• Vermillion

Blue Dragon Clans

• Clearsky
• Jagtail
• Lightningwing
• Sandshaper
• Sharpbolt
• Swiftclaw

Green Dragon Clans

• Darkcloud
• Murkwood
• Foulgrove
• Jadress
• Treesplitter
• Vertise

Black Dragon Clans

• Blackmoon
• Blackwater
• Boghold
• Lurker
• Mire
• Nighthunt
• Nightscream

White Dragon Clans

• Chillblood
• Coldfire
• Desolate
• Everwinter
• Frostwind
• Glare
• Iceteeth
• Illsnow