First and Second Editions © 1995 Krister Sundelin

The Storyteller System is © 1991 Mark Rein·Hagen

Credits

Author Krister Sundelin

Helping Hand Rasmus Hansson

Bold enough to allow dragons in his campaign, Fredrik Einarsson

Cover Michael Whelan

The Storyteller system was designed by Mark Rein·Hagen

HTML conversion by Rasmus Hansson, 96-07-20 First Edition HTML-conversion by

Rasmus Hansson, 95-05-24

Dedication
To all those who dared to gaze into the eyes of the Dragon, to the friends that share my
dreams, and to those who wields the magick of perception and creation

Disclaimer
This document is contains the full text of Dragon: the Waking Wrath originally published
online as a free download by Krister Sundelin in 1995. No words have been changed or
omitted with the exception of correcting typos, reorganizing tables for clarity and adding
page numbers to the Contents.

You are encouraged to make copies and print-outs as needed. This PDF has been
published as a free download – if you are asked to pay for it you have been a victim of
fraud.

Illustrations
The art used in this book was formatted by Laura “Tamara” Henson in 2009. All
illustrations with the exception of the cover art comes from three sources, most are © Dee
Dreslough 1996-2008 www.dreslough.com, the rest is from Simply Software’s Sci-Fi &
Fantasy Clipart 3 and Witches and Wizards Clipart both edited by Jon Gustafson and ©
1997-2008, No Hassle Home. The Borders and Dividers are from Microsoft Word 2003.

Printing Instructions: Print the front page and this page single sided, print the remainder
of the document double sided. The last page should printed single sided and used as the
back cover.

2
 Contents
1: The Dragonkin 4
2: First Flight 21
3: Traits 24
4: Magick 37
5: Combat 43
6: Relations 49
7: Last Words 57

3
The Dragons have mystified mankind through the centuries. Some think of them as
monsters, others as a superior and more beautiful race. Whatever they are, they are not
going to fall into such simplifications as "good" or "evil". This text introduces the
Dragonkin into the World of Darkness.

What you need

This is what you need to make use of this text:

 At least one of the Storyteller games. We would suggest that you got Vampire:
The Masquerade and Werewolf: The Apocalypse. These games contain most of
the rules needed. You will find the few other rules you need in this text. These
other rules mainly concern magic, aerial combat and dragon society. All other
rules are to be found in either Vampire or Werewolf.
 One computer equipped with a printer, preferably a Postscript printer to print the
neat character sheets.
 A bunch of dice.
 Some friends. We would suggest that these friends are open-minded and have a
lot of role-playing experience, since playing a dragon or having one's character
meet a dragon requires a lot of skill.
 All other useful role-playing equipment.

In the beginning...

Author's note: As many other things, there is a beginning. This beginning is so far away
in the past that Mankind will not remember it. For my part, it began with a ball you
know, that kind of party where there are no men or women, just gentlemen who wear
suits or uniforms and ladies who wear elaborate dresses, when the main event is waltzing
where I met a charming lady that called herself Rithka.

4
Something happened this night that still puzzles me, something lady Rithka did. I wanted
to know how it was done, and the lady disappeared. Six months later, a letter arrived.
When I opened it, I found a letter from the lady at the ball and a bunch of paper. I was
even more puzzled when I recalled that I never told her where I lived. Then I started to
read...

My friend,

Our conversation six months ago is still intriguing my mind. Smiling, I recall your words;
"It is like magic. How are you doing it"? And when I avoided the question, you asked for
the truth. Then we parted, not on the best terms.

The Truth, that ungraspable thing you asked for it and I could not give it to you. The
truth, only the truth and all of the truth. There's so much to tell you. I remember the plains
of Ukraine, several thousand years before the name was conceived. I recall your kin,
barely able to communicate. And now, you have harnessed powers that you barely
comprehend. It is astonishing to see your kin develop so rapidly.

But forgive me, I am stalling.

The truth is, that there are worlds within worlds. There are legends and lore, and
somewhere in the inner core of the legends, there is a small grain of truth.
I am the truth of the legend. I am of the Dragonkin. I can see your face as you are reading
this believe me, I do see it! It is a simple thing to conjure an image of the future when
you will receive this letter. You are, right now, slowly putting your glass of that dark
brown, bubbly beverage down on the table, fully concentrated on this letter to the point
that you will not notice that the glass will fall to the floor.

I apologize for the inconvenience this surprise will cause you when you will have to
clean the floor at your desk. Alas! now that I have put doubt in your conscious and
scientific mind, let me proceed. I have the full consent of my superiors, lady Sinyé, her
ally lord Draconis Vermithrax, and the sovereign of our Court, lady Alaria, in writing
this. I will here explain the nature of myself, our purpose and our actions. I cannot prove
all that will be here revealed, at least not in writing, but if it is proof you want, I will tell
you how to find them.

Now, turn the page and read the Truth of the Dragonkin, the Truth that you requested.

Author's note: When I turned the page, I found a long text describing the nature, origin
and strength of the Dragonkin. It was not easy to read, written by hand in old English
(late 18th century, by my best guess). When I was finished, I decided to let others share

5
this knowledge. I did not care whether I played along with the plans of the Dragonkin or
not, I simply wanted to pass on this knowledge. But to whom?

When I thought of it, I found that if I simply passed the text on, it would be perceived as
a piece of fiction. Then all my role-playing experience flowed through my head, and I
decided to re-write all of it to fit some role-playing system. It is better, I thought, to
present a truth within a lie than something that will be perceived as a lie within the truth.
The choice of game fell on the Storyteller system, and this is the result.
Enjoy!

The Covenant
Once upon a time…

With those words, many a story have begun as will this. Once upon a time, briefly after
the Flood and before the First Covenant, all the Immortal Races gathered at Mount Ararat
to discuss the future of the world they were inhabiting. The Immortal was struck with a
crisis there was no way that all of them could inhabit the world and roam freely as before.
Some of them said that the Flood was the result of God's Wrath upon them that the
Immortal was the target of the Flood. Whatever the reason of the Flood was, the
Immortals were paradoxically dying.

This was debated over and over again legend says that the debate went on constantly for
seven weeks, and that the sun did not show itself during the gathering. It was a dark time
for the world, and it ended with a new dawn for the Earth, the First Covenant.

At that time, it was the only Covenant and thus The Covenant. The Covenant was simple
all the Immortal Races should withdraw from the world, limiting themselves as much as
possible in action as well as in numbers. The Covenant was to be supervised by the
most powerful of the Immortal Races, the dragons.

The Watching
The dragons assumed their role as the guardians of the Covenant, and pooled their
immense powers together. One of their kin should always be awake, harnessing the
Power and the Authority as the Guardian. The Authority was passed from dragon to
dragon, century after century, until Christendom came.

Sometime during the early Dark Ages, Europe was christened. In the mythology of the
Christians, the dragons were servants of Evil, all-engulfing world-destroyers in the time
of Armageddon, battling among the Legions of Darkness. So, when a Christian warrior
found a live dragon in his vicinity somewhere on the borderlands of Caledonia and
Britain he rode to it and challenged it. With faith, steel and the Wrath of God, the dragon
was slain.

6
The slaying of the Guardian was never reckoned with. At that time, the Guardian was the
only dragon awake, and the event passed... unnoticed.

Until recently.

The Awakening
Somewhere east of the land-mass known to man as America, a dragon awakened in the
late nineteen-eighties. Her human name was Alaria if ever a dragon's name or sex is
relevant, this particular dragon was more female than male, and her name would be
conceived as Alaria among humans and she had been asleep for more than six thousand
years.

She stretched out with her senses, searching for the Guardian to learn of the world. She
found nothing. Except for a lot of humans, of course, but she never reckoned them to be a
threat. Several years were spent, looking for the Guardian, but Alaria never found it. She
gathered knowledge of the Mortal world as she looked, learning their language, and
eventually, she knew that the Guardian was not only dead, the other Immortal Races was
spreading around the world like a disease.

This enraged the newly awakened dragon's mind, and her body woke as well. She drifted
to the nearest shore and walked, in human form, up on a moonlit beach. On this beach,
there were only one living being, and one dead. The vampire was feeding on the human,
and before Alaria recognized the event, the human died.

7
Alaria understood, but not the vampire. The vampire thought the naked woman was but
another victim and approached her with blooded fangs and gleaming eyes, trying to
dominate her and seduce her to take her blood as well. Alaria was astonished. Never had
a vampire ever tried to feed on the Dragonkin, and here one came trying to do this. And if
this was not enough, he was also trying to control her mind.

The vampire quickly learned a lesson that night "never stare into the eyes of a dragon".
Alaria stared back, paralyzing the vampire with her gaze. The vampire stopped in his
tracks with a silly-looking face.

Alaria dropped her guise, spread the golden-red wings in the night and accelerated, partly
by flapping, partly by magick, and grabbed the vampire in her fangs. She flew to the roof
of a tall human-built building and landed.

You, Alaria said, speaking for the first time in millenniums, who are you to ignore the
Covenant? Know you not the Strictures? And who are you to dare to Embrace one of our
kin?

"Say again?" the vampire asked.

The Covenant strictly forbids your kin to move as openly as you do, she continued. The
Covenant forbids your kin to raise challenge towards the Guardians. These are written in
the Strictures of the Covenant, and your kin agreed to join it or be destroyed. Now, you
dare to break them, and even claim ignorance of their existence?

"Hey, man, look..." the vampire stalled. "I follow the rules, like. I ain't broken the
Masquerade. I didn't hunt outside me turf. I ain't broken the Prince's laws."

You lie, Alaria's mind roared. The Strictures are broken. The Dragonkin will not look
lightly on this.

"The what?" the vampire exclaimed and continued whispering "The dragonkin? Like,
there are more of you?"

Yes. And Alaria raised her long slender neck to the moon and sung. It was a complex
song, beautiful and horrific beyond belief, almost imperceptible for the human ear and
unencompassable for the human mind. The song was beautiful, the vampire could not
stand it, and with the end of the song, every dragon was awake.

You shall present me to your Prince, Alaria said.

"No way, man," the vampire answered, "he'll kill me, like."

You shall present me to your Prince, Alaria repeated, else you will not exist to see the
next night.

8
"I don't mean to make you angry or disappointed, lady," the vampire insisted, "but I ain't
introducing you to the Prince. See, I like my neck. I don't know if you can destroy me
here and now, but I know sure as hell that he can."

I see, Alaria said almost regretfully.

Then she grabbed the vampire, and flung herself to the skies. She gained altitude quickly,
rose above the clouds and stayed hovering in the air. Do you think you would survive a
fall from here? she asked. Or have your kin forgotten the dragonkin's breath?

She exhaled a long breath of fire, rendering the vampire struck by panic. She held him
still with both claws until he became calm again. Or should we stay here until the sun
rises, Childe of Cain? Do you still not know I could destroy you as the bug you are?

"Okay, okay," the vampire begged. "Just don't hurt me, okay? I'll show you to the Prince,
and then you let me go, okay?"

I will give that event a thought, Alaria answered and sunk herself to the sleeping city.

The Second Covenant

The Prince met Alaria, and as the vampire caught had said, he was hostile. The Prince
had bested all other supernaturals that he had met, from Garou to Mages. He was certain
that one more could be bested, especially this foreign naked lady. This attitude is
certainly not the best to wear when talking to a dragon. Before the night was passed, the
city was in need of a new Prince and Alaria had left with the vampire she had caught.

The arrogance of the Kindred convinced Alaria that her decision was right. She called a
Gathering of the Dragonkin to discuss the events. The Dragons came, one by one, to
Mount Ararat as before, and one year after the Waking, there was the Second Gathering.

The debate went on for a night and a day, the air filled with the strange and eerie sound of
dragonsong. The vampire could tell of the strange debate, four hundred naked men and
women standing, sitting or lying on the ground. No sound could be heard, and the people
gathered spoke only with their minds. Some of the dragon thoughts leaked to the vampire
and he thought it resembled song.

The Gathering was more of a council of war. Try to imagine the frustration of lady Alaria
when she in her regal position founds herself cheated of the throne of the Covenant. And
imagine her asking the most noble of the Dragonkin if she would raise the bloody flag to
reconquer it and with conscience could make this claim. Imagine the pride of the regal
dragon when all of the dragons accepted her as their sovereign. One may think that the
Swan from Avon was psychic when he described the council of war that Henry V of
England held before the war against France.

9
And at the end of the Gathering, the Second Covenant was settled. Much of the
Dragonkin's power had been invested in the Guardian. The Guardian had been slain and
the invested power was lost. Once again, the Dragonkin had to pool their resources
together. This time, the power should not be concentrated. The Dragonkin would not risk
another loss.

Three strictures formed the Second Covenant. The three Strictures are called the Prides,
the Quest and the Custos.

The Prides

The Dragonkin was split into eight fractions that night, called the Prides, all named after
one of the eight dragons of the Second Waking who shared the Pride's thoughts. The
eight prides immediately started to debate among them in what way the Second Covenant
should be introduced to the world.

The Quest

As for the lost power of the Guardian, this should be quested for. Some would quest for it
to release all the power and restore the Dragonkin's former might. Others would quest for
it to gain all of that power for themselves. All would, however, quest for the Power.

The Custos

The last stricture of the Second Covenant was the Custos. Alaria prompted for the
Dragonkin to resume their role as Guardians of the First Covenant, and several of the
Prides agreed. But not all. Some of the Prides do not wish to chain the other kin to a
covenant long lost and no longer remembered, especially since the Earth has survived
more than one and a half millennium without a guardian.

Other prides claim that something is happening. The Immortal Races are changing,
rapidly growing in numbers. The Guardians are again needed. The Custos will ensure that
the growth is controlled.

The Eyes of the Dragon

What does a dragon look like? It is a very hard question to answer, since no dragon is
exactly alike any other dragon. There is also a great difference between the dragons of the
court of Alaria and those of the Eastern Court.

10
All dragons have at least two forms, the human form and the dragon form.
The Mortal form looks exactly like a human. It has exactly the same anatomy, to the
point that it is possible to treat a dragon in mortal form with modern medical science and
get a predictable result. The mortal form is better than the average human, but still not
different.

The only difference lies in the eyes. Being the eyes of

the dragon, the whites are too white, the irises too
clear in color and often too wide not exactly inhuman,
just alien. This gives ordinary mortals (and other
supernatural creatures too, such as vampires) the
creeps, since it is quite clear that the being in front of
them is a little different. Add to this the sensation of
power that lies in the gaze of a dragon. This does not
identify a dragon in mortal form it only gives a
sensation of being in the wrong end of something
extremely powerful.

It is possible to identify a dragon by looking at the

shadow, which still is the shadow of a dragon, not
that of a human. Some dragons create an illusory
shadow, or changes it's shadow, to resemble that of a
human, but many supernatural creatures can sense
this use of dragon magick and point out the dragon by this.

Since dragons do not dress in dragon form, they seldom dress in human form either.
Instead, they create an illusion of clothes, which fools mere mortals but seldom
supernaturals.

The dragon form is impressive; it is a combination of lethality and beauty. It has a slender
body, not the clumsy lizardlike body of old stories but more that of a bird or dinosaur,
with two strong back legs and two more slim forelegs that doubles as hands. The hands
and feet are clawed. There is a third pair of appendages, the wings. Although the wings
are sometimes used for propulsion, the dragons are more likely to use their magick to
propel them through the air and the wings only for lift and maneuver. Thus, it is possible
for dragons to fly at supersonic speeds and with a maneuverability that surpasses most
modern jet fighters.

A typical dragon is forty feet long and has a wing span of sixty to eighty feet. Of this
length, one third is neck, one sixth is body and one half is tail. The tail ends in a spiked
growth, much like the one of a flail. The back of the dragon is covered with lethal spikes,
which makes sitting on the back of the dragon very uncomfortable, not to mention falling
onto it. If a dragon ever carries a human passenger, the passenger would prefer to be
carried in the dragon's forelegs, and the dragon would not like to have a human on its
(relatively) vulnerable neck anyway.

11
The head is small in comparison to the
body and is far from the crocodile head so
common in fantasy art. It looks more of a
bird's beak than that of a reptile. The eyes
of the dragon are a chapter of its own.
They are narrow and ovoid in shape. They
are protected by two sets of eyelids, the
inner closing horizontally and the outer
closing vertically. There are no pupils, and
those who think there are often mistakes
the half-shut inner eyelids, which shuts
from the sides, as pupils. The eyes reflect
light much like those of a cat, creating an
illusion of glowing eyes. Staring into the
eyes of a dragon is to stare through the
gates of Magick itself the eyes reflect the
nature of the dragon's soul as pure
incarnated magic, the very essence and
fabric of space.

The color of a dragon varies. Some are simple-coloured, others have elaborate patterns of
colors, and still others shift colors like gasoline in a puddle of water. There is no
connection between the dragon's power and its color.

Dragons do not need to eat, sleep or breathe. They may fall into a great Sleep that may
last for centuries, but when they are awake, they are awake for a millennium or so. Food
and air are unimportant to a being that is nutrified by the flows of Magick in the world.
They may eat for the fun of it, they do breathe if they speak the mortal's tongues and they
may sleep (or at least meditate or simulate), but none of these are necessary. Dragons
may well survive in a submerged cave for centuries without food or air.

Although dragons are sexless in dragon form, they have a gender in mortal form. Since
there are no sexless humans, there are no sexless dragons in human form. The mortal
gender is more of a function of the dragon's attitude. A dragon that behaves "female"
often has a female mortal gender. The dragon "language" does not have any gender, but
in "translations", the dragon's mortal gender is often used. Thus, a mortal would address
Alaria and perceive her name when presented to her as "lady Alaria", even if she's in the
sexless dragon form.

The dragon in human form is capable of having and enjoying sex. It is possible for a
female dragon in mortal form to get pregnant, as well as a male may reproduce with
human females. Any offspring from human form is always all human, even if both
parents are dragons in human form no "dragon genes" will ever appear in the offspring.

12
The dragon has always one great secret their name. They take a name which humans can
pronounce, but each of them has a True Name. If "spoken", a True Name would resemble
a song or a complex harmony. This is a secret that a dragon would never reveal to any
mortal (nor any other being, and certainly not a dragon), since knowing one's Name will
give the mortal a powerful device to control a dragon.

The Origin of the Dragons

The dragons are not creatures of the world. It is said that they are what remains of the
Nephilim, that they are angels outcast and fallen to Hell, or spawn of Satan himself, that
they come from Beyond or from Heaven (or the Heavens), that they are mortals who have
eaten a dragon pearl, and a thousand other theories.

The truth is this; dragons are incarnations of Magick. As

long as there is magick in the world, there will be
dragons, and as long as there are dragons, there will be
magick. If either is lost, then the other is gone forever.

When the Guardian was slain a long time ago, the

magick in the world faded away and fell into sleep as the
dragons were asleep as well. But magick did not vanish.
It faded and was almost gone in the world, but not
entirely.

As the magick faded, so did all those who lived on the magick forces. The Order of
Hermes lost its power. Mages was forced to abide the laws of Paradox or move their
magick to the spirit world, as did the Garou. The Tremere bound its magick to that of
blood.

But lately, the number of supernatural creatures has greatly increased, also increasing the
flow of magick in the world, to the point that the most powerful of the sleeping dragons
could wake. Now, lady Alaria has wakened the other of the Dragonkin and assembled
them to her court. Now, the magick is returning to the world.

It took eight hundred years for the magic to fade away when the last dragon awake was
slain. Now, when all four hundred and nine dragons are awake, the magick will return in
a little less than two years.

His Master's Voice

The dragon's language is in form of the Dragonsong. It is the voice of the fabric of magic,
the way that a dragon persuades the universe to conform to its will. It may be spoken,
sung or thought that does not matter to the dragon, nor to the universe.

13
This language can be fairly well transcribed into Enochian that is, rather poor, but still
better than any other mortal language but this has not been done for several thousand
years of some reasons. When listening to the actual spoken language it would resemble
music in the richness and volume that only a symphonic orchestra can produce.

It is good to think of classic music or to various film scores when describing dragonsong.

When the dragon is... Think...

Changing Form and Growing Angry: John Williams; "Incident at Isla Nublar" (Jurassic
Park)

Closing In: Trevor Jones; "Main Title" (Last of the Mohicans)

Content: Ludwig van Beethoven; "Ninth Symphony, Fourth Movement"

Divine: Elliot Goldenthal; "Agnus Dei" or "Lento" (Alien 3)

Flying: Trevor Jones; "The Elk Hunt" (Last of the Mohicans)

Furious: Elliot Goldenthal; the first part of "Explosion and Aftermath" (Alien 3)

Generous: John Williams; "Theme from Jurassic Park" (Jurassic Park)

Majestic: John Williams; "Arrival of the Emperor" (Return of the Jedi)

Present: Elliot Goldenthal; "The Dragon" (Alien 3)

Performing Magick: Jerry Goldsmith; "The Shadow" ... or Jerry Goldsmith; "Warlock" ...
or Modest Moussorgsky; "Night at the Bald Mountain" ... or Alan Silvestri; "Bud on the
Ledge" or "Back on the Air" or "Finale" (The Abyss)

Seductive (dragons love romance): Trevor Jones; "The Kiss" (Last of the Mohicans)

Surprisingly Changing Form: Andrew Lloyd Webber; the overture of "Phantom of the
Opera"

Thinking: Trevor Jones; "Sarah" (Labyrinth)

Threatening: John Williams; "Imperial March" (Empire Strikes Back)

Violent: Jerry Goldsmith; almost the entire "Alien" soundtrack ... or Elliot Goldenthal;
"Wreckage and Rape" (Alien 3)

14
When a dragon talks, it is not in the simple tongue of the common folk today. It is more
like the regal speak of Shakespeare's dramas. Not even the playful dragons of lady
Sinyé's court speak like simple folk, if it does not serve their purpose.

The Court
When Alaria was recognized as the sovereign of the
Dragonkin, she created herself a throne. It is located
in the northwest of Austria, in a castle that she called
from the very living rock, shrouded in mysteries and
in mists, not to be beheld by mortal
eyes. Here, in this magnificent Castle Dragon, crafted
by Dragon Magick, lady Alaria resides with her most
trusted advisers, the lords and ladies of the eight
Prides, and her train of forty trusted minor members
of the Dragonkin. Here she has greeted ambassadors
from the other immortal races. From here, she will
rule the Covenant through her servants of the eight
Prides.

Castle Dragon is enormous, created to not only fit mere humans but also the huge dragon
forms. The Royal Hall of the Castle alone is full one thousand feet long, three hundred
feet wide and the ceiling is two hundred feet tall. From the ceiling hangs four hundred
and ten great banners, each bearing the coat-of-arms of one of the Dragonkin. Above the
throne hangs the greatest of all, that of Lady Alaria herself. Then comes the eight banners
of the lords and ladies of the Prides. Further back in the hall hangs the four hundred
banners of the living dragons in order of their rank from Wake, Name and Pride. At the
far wall of the hall hangs the Black Banner, the one of the dragon that were slain to
mortal hands, to remember him and his failure.

The Dragonkin has adopted the custom of having a coat-of-arms from the mortals. Lady
Alaria was intrigued by the idea of having a symbol for every royal and noble family and
thus adopted the custom for the Dragonkin as a symbol of their nobility of the other
species. The Dragonkin has not adopted the rules and laws of heraldry and blazonry they
simply created a coat-of-arms that they liked. The lords of the Lyon Court of Scotland
Scotland's highest instance for heraldry would turn into rage if they ever saw some of the
banners that hangs in the ceiling of the Royal Hall.

No roads lead to the Castle, and it appears on no maps. They only way in or out is the
wings of the dragons.

Gaining Rank

15
It is possible that the dragon's Name will raise during the game. This happens when a
dragon performs an action that all dragons consider to be praiseworthy. If the Name trait
ever raises to four, the dragon will be asked to work for the lords and ladies of the Prides,
being their ambassador to the mortal world. If the Name should raise to five, lady Alaria
herself will propose to the dragon that he will become her personal ambassador.

With such a Name, the dragon's banner will be moved forward in the Royal Hall. His
words will be listened to with great care, and his friendship to the lords and ladies of the
Prides and lady Alaria is guaranteed as long as the dragon stays loyal. Wake is also
considered when speaking of rank, as is Pride to a lesser degree, but first of all loyalty to
the Court and Name is considered.

When being a trusted councilor, the dragon will inevitably be drawn into the royal
politics of the Dragonkin, and if he works as an ambassador, he will also be drawn into
the Machiavellian politics of the other kins. This will be somewhat confusing for a
dragon. When the conspiratorial politics of, for example, the Camarilla resembles that of
the Illuminati combined with that of the Cosa Nostra and an early Italian city state, the
politics of the Court resembles that of a medieval king's. The plots are still there, as are
the conspiracies, but it is sweetened with etiquette, manners and noble behavior. There
are seldom false alliances and theater in dragon court. Enmity is open and sometimes
leads to duels, instead of conspiring in the background against your enemy while being
sweet and gentle and above all, false.

This fashion of court politics derives from the dragon tongue remember that there is
always truth in the words of a dragon. It also explains why dragons are so poor when
conspiring within the Camarilla.

Prides
There are eight prides among dragons, signifying their relation to the mortal and
supernatural world. Each pride shares basically the same opinions as their leaders. The
prides are not a "lineage" they are much more of a political party.

The prides are more or less significant to lady Alaria. Since she is the leader and
sovereign of the Dragonkin, her opinions of the ranking of the prides counts very high in
the Court.

The prides do not accept anyone. Since there is no lies in Dragonspeak, only truth, it is
impossible to join a pride which do not share goals and motivations with the aspiring
member. It is possible to change pride later in the game, but this must be
role-played out.

Vermithrax: Lord of Order

16
Draconis Vermithrax is most of all interested in maintaining the Third Stricture, the
Custos, and in that assumes the highest regarded position at lady Alarias court. The
dragons of this pride joins lord Vermithrax in supporting the Custos and the Order of the
Second Covenant. They act as ambassadors and envoys to the other Immortal kins.

Alexis: Lady of Chaos

Directly opposed to lord Vermithrax stands lady Alexis. The world has maintained their
controlled chaos for one and a half millennium without our supervision, she says. It is a
proof that the chaos of the world is balancing in its own ways. Let it be that way, she
says. Alexis sees no need to get involved in the politics between the Immortal races, at
least not as guardians. It might be amusing to enter the Game for amusement only, and
perhaps to add some of the chaos which in the end will balance itself.

Rekhem: The Wielder

Lord Rekhem stands allied to Vermithrax as his executive arm. Although Rekhem would
rather see the Dragonkin standing alone against all other Immortals, he also knows that
the present day is unfit for attacking the lower creatures. Thus, he is allied with
Vermithrax, as Vermithrax is the most powerful pride of Dragonkin, and Rekhem's
station as Vermithrax's armed branch gives him opportunity to slay some of the
Immortals from time to time.

Morkeleb: Lord of Darkness

Lord Morkeleb was a great friend (if that concept is ever possible in the minds of
dragons) of the dragon that had the Authority and was slain, fifteen hundred years ago.
He sees the mortals as his sole enemy. The other Immortal races are dependent on the
mortals, he reasons, so wiping the mortal existence out will also wipe out the Immortal
races. This makes him unofficially allied with lord Rekhem, and there is an uneasy
alliance between Morkeleb and Khuril. That alliance will probably end if Khuril ever
reaches his goals.

Sinye: Lady of Light

Lady Sinyé is, in the eyes of the other dragons, immature. She thinks that this new
amazing world is a great experience with great amusement potentials. In that she is the
wildcard of lady Alaria's court, since she supports those who she for the moment thinks
poses the greatest possibility for fun.

17
Sinyé is active among all the Immortal races. She, and the dragons of her Pride, are
connoisseurs and artists and joins with mortals and Immortals alike, to explore the
pleasures of their world. In this, Sinyé is allied with Vermithrax.

Thrakhinde: Lord of the Air

Lord Thrakhinde supports a fraction of the Dragons who think that the world has passed
them. Thrakhinde has an idea of his own to leave this world for another one, more fit for
the desires of Dragonkin. This would take the effort of all the Dragonkin he would not be
able to leave alone.

There are those who are frantically opposing this idea. Among these are lady Sinyé, who
believes the Dragonkin to be a part of this world. Without the presence of the Dragonkin,
the magic in the world would die, and with it, all things created.

Khuril: Lord of the Mortals

Lord Khuril believes that the dragons are superior to every other kin on Earth. He refuses
to use the word "immortal" of any other creature but the Dragonkin. He thinks that the
Dragonkin are the natural lords of Earth, and would like to put all other kins under their
rule. His greatest ally is for the moment lord Morkeleb, who would like to slay all
mortals. It is easier to slay the oppressed, Morkeleb thinks, and thus has joined lord
Khuril

Khanara: The Hermit

Lord Khanara's only position in lady Alaria's court is that of the court mage. The few
followers he has are seclusive hermits and viziers. Their magical powers are unmatched,
but they are very few. Furthermore, they are not trusted by anyone but lady Alaria
herself, and that trust is extended to only lord Khanara and only in times of need.
Khanara is not loyal to anyone, save lady Alaria.

The Prideless

A few of the Dragonkin do not submit themselves to any of the eight Prides. They are
referred to as Prideless, and are both regarded with respect, as they choose to stand by
themselves, and shunned as they choose to stand outside Dragon society. They are
regarded as wildcards, traitors, lone wolves and mavericks, mostly all at the same time.
Most dragons distrust them unless they have a strong Name. Lady Alaria sometimes uses
them for her own purpose, but mostly they are ignored. Unless they have something very
important to say.

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The Embassy
He wills you in the name of God Almighty,
That you divest himself, and lay apart
The borrow'd glories, that by gift of Heaven,
By law of nature, and of nations, 'long
To him, and to his heirs ; namely, the crown.
[...] He bids you to resign
Your crown and kingdom, indirectly held
From him, the native and true challenger.
William Shakespeare; Henry V

The Court of lady Alaria has sent ambassadors to other immortal races, declaring the
revival of the Covenant and demanding their obedience to it. Some have complied of
recognition of the Covenant or abiding a time to wreak it others have refused.

So far, the Embassy has resulted in sorting out to lady Alaria who will be her allies and
who will be her enemies and most important, who will stay behind and wait to see the
result of this royal battle. This is as purposed.

The Quest
The Quest for Power is something that all dragons participate. Some do it out of greed,
others out of loyalty to their sovereigns and still others of fear of misuse of the Power.
What all dragons search for is a physical object, namely the Badge of Office a chain of
gold crafted of magick alone. When found, the Badge will release all of its power to the
finder.

The Badge of Office will not be tamed by mortal hands. Even if a mortal found it, he
would not be able to use it as anything greater than a power source for magic. As such, it
would give power almost eternally but not unlimited power. Everything taken from the
Badge would have to be restored, even from the mortal's soul if necessary.

However, if a dragon found it, it would give him a bonus of fifteen extra dots to distribute
among any and all of the dragon's traits. This bonus may be distributed as the dragon
wishes, but it takes one hour to move one dot from one trait to another.

A dragon would be able to destroy the Badge of Office with his fiery breath and magick.
If that would happen, all dragons would gain one extra dot to all Powers and Elements,
but the dragon who destroyed the Badge would not be able to draw from its powers any
more. The bonus is thus gone.

The dragon that finds the Badge will have his Name increased by one dot. He may create
his own Pride if he wishes with a rating of his current Pride plus one. This Pride will be
named after the dragon. The Wisdom/Wrath circle will instantly be filled. If a dragon

19
destroys the Badge and releases its powers his Name will rise with one additional dot and
instantly gain 50 experience points.

If a dragon would have Name raised to 5 and Pride to 5 or 6 because of his success in the
Quest, Lady Alaria would if challenged face that dragon in mortal combat, a royal battle
for the throne. There is another possibility, and that is that the dragon may ask to become
Lady Alarias consort and king. The third possibility and the one that most other dragons
would prefer is that the dragon still would bow to Lady Alaria and accept her as his
sovereign and queen. A fourth possibility is that the dragon would surrender the Badge to
lady Alaria or the Lord of its Pride.

It is not very likely that any dragon would find the Badge of Office. It has been lost for
one thousand five hundred years and will probably not appear in broad daylight. A quest
for the Badge of Office would easily become a story of the same magnitude as a
Vampires search for Golconda.

20
Creating a Dragon
Wide awake
I'm wide awake
I'm not sleeping
U2; "Bad"

Although the Dragonkin is a bit too powerful to use dragons as player characters, it is still
possible for a player to play a dragon character, especially if he is experienced or if the
campaign has been going for a while and the other characters have become more
powerful.

This section is for those players who would like to play one of the Dragonkin, but to do
this, you need your Storytellers explicit permission you'll have to ask him, and he'll have
to agree, knowing what he is to unleash.

Character Generation Outline

 Step One: Character Concept
 Step Two: Select Attributes What are your basic capabilities?
 Prioritize three categories; Physical, Social & Mental (7/5/3)
 Prioritize the three Add-on categories; again Physical, Social or Mental (4/2/0)
 Step Three: Select Abilities What do you know? Prioritize your three categories;
Talents, Skills & Knowledge (13/9/5)
 Step Four: Select Advantages In what way are you unique?
 Choose Powers (5), Elements (5) and Backgrounds (4)
 Step Five: Last Touches
 Distribute Freebie Points (15)

Step One: Character Concept

Sit down for a minute and put this text aside for a short time. Think what kind of dragon
you want to play. It could be a good idea to look at the different Prides to find what group

21
you would like to belong to. If you can't find any Pride that suits you imagined dragon,
don't worry. It is possible to play a prideless dragon.

Think about how the dragon would act in certain situations. Will it try to rule the other
players? Perhaps a Judge demeanor or nature should suit the dragon. Is it reclusive and
doesn't care about the mere mortals? The Hermit should fit fine for you. Does your
dragon want to enjoy the Mortal World before judgement is passed? Choose Bon Vivant
as demeanor and Judge as nature. There are a total of four hundred and nine dragons and
each of them is unique. Think of this when you are designing your dragon.

Step Two: Select Attributes

As in the previous storyteller games you should decide in which category you are best,
which one you are second best and which one you are worst in. Then you are to divide a
number of dots within the categories. The difference is that this is done twice; once for
your Mortal form and once for your Dragon form.

As you may have noticed, each attribute has two groups of circles for marking your dots.
The first one, with the already filled dot, is for your Mortal form. The second, without a
filled dot, is for you Dragon form. When in Dragon form, the two rows are added
together to one dice pool, so if you have a Strength rating of four in Human form and
another three in Dragon form, you should roll seven dice for a Strength feat.

Note that if one group is selected as Primary in Mortal form, it has not to be Primary in
Dragon form too. It could as well be Secondary or even Tertiary.

Attributes:
Mortal Form: 6/5/3
Dragon Form: 4/2/0

Step Three: Select Abilities

Now it is time to choose what you know and what you can perform. The abilities are
divided into three groups, Talents, Skills and Knowledge. You will have to choose one
group as Primary, one as Secondary and the remaining will become Tertiary. You will get
thirteen dots to divide among the Primary abilities, nine to the Secondary and five to the
Tertiary. No ability may be raised above 3 with the dots provided now. They may be
raised above 3 using experience or freebie points. Dragons have no maximum rating of
their traits.

Some of the abilities are marked with an asterisk ("*"). These are abilities that have been
developed or changed during the last millennia. Since you have just recently woken, you
have not learned or re-learned them. No dots may be divided among these abilities and
you may not place any experience points here during game, with these two exceptions:
you may place dots or experience points here, but the rating in the ability may never

22
exceed your rating in the Wisdom trait. You may also spend freebie points to buy these
abilities.

Abilities: 13/9/5

Step Four: Select Advantages

You have five dots to divide among the three Powers; Song, Art and Might. You also
have five more dots to divide among the Elements, and four dots to divide among the
Backgrounds.

Powers: 5
Elements: 7
Backgrounds: 4

Step Five: Last Touches

Your Wisdom trait is equal to your Name rating, and your Wrath trait is equal to your
Wake rating. These ratings may be increased with freebie points.

You have fifteen freebie points to divide to your liking. The dots cost a certain number of
freebie points, depending on were you place them.

Point pool cost

Powers 7 points per dot
Elements 5 points per dot
Attributes 5 points per dot
Abilities 2 points per dot
Backgrounds 2 point per dot
Wrath 1 point per dot
Wisdom 1 point per dot

This is a good time to design a coat-of-arms for your

dragon. There is a box provided for this on the
character sheet. Do not worry if you don't know the
rules of heraldry and blazonry. Most dragons don't
know either, they simply design a coat-of-arms that
they are fond of. (Note: The box for the Coat-of-Arms
is only provided on the LHA-packed Postscript version
of the character sheet. The ASCII version does not have
any box, but it has some space that may be used for the
Coat-of-Arms.)

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There are several different traits that are unique to the dragonkin. Other traits are
described in one of the Storyteller games but not any other. All traits that do not appear in
all Storyteller games are described here.

Attributes
Remember that it is possible for a dragon in dragon form to get a total of nine dots in one
attribute, and there is no upper limit if you use freebie points to raise traits. This makes
the dragons sort of powerful. The entire score is rolled for when using such an extreme
attribute, but in addition to that, all dots above the first five gives some extra effects.
Some of these effects can be translated into Vampire disciplines, and since most
Storyteller players started with the Storyteller system in Vampire: The Masquerade, we
refer to the vampiric disciplines when possible.

Attribute above five Equals

Strength Potence equal to Strength – 5
Dexterity Celerity equal to Dexterity - 5
Stamina Extra health levels (see below)
Charisma Dominate equal to Charisma – 5
Appearance Presence equal to Appearance – 5
Perception Auspex equal to Perception – 5

The extra health levels from a high Stamina lie between Bruised and Hurt. There is five
extra circles on the character sheet, after Bruised on the Health tracks, that are to be used
for such purposes. These health levels do not disappear if the dragon changes form to
mortal and thus loses his extra health levels, nor are they added to the higher wounds.
They are simply dormant until the dragon resumes it dragon form again.

24
Abilities
Some of the abilities in Dragon: The Waking Wrath are not described in Vampire: The
Masquerade. We provide a short description of them here, mostly taken from other
Storyteller games (Werewolf: The Apocalypse and Mage: The Ascension). All abilities
that are described in Vampire: The Masquerade are omitted from this text.

Talents
Awareness

This Talent represents a character's ability to detect things that are not of the physical
world. Sensing things that are not of the physical world often requires a roll of Perception
+ Awareness.

 Novice: You can see strange things out of the corner of your eye.
 Practiced: Odd things are revealed to you.
 Competent: All things have a deathly aura that you can easily identify.
 Expert: You could find a lucky four-leaf clover in seconds.
Master: You can see the bizarre everywhere.
Possessed by: Paranormal Investigators, Gypsies, Psychics

Specialties: Animals, Magic, Supernatural creatures

Expression

The Expression Ability represents your ability to get your point across through speaking
or writing, whether you're writing a book or debating social issues. Characters with high
Expression are unforgettable, but only in their ability convey their feelings; intelligent or
meaningful expression is the purview of other Traits. Expression at its highest form can
be art.

 Novice: Tabloid reporter

 Practiced: College debate team captain
25
 Competent: Successful comedian
 Expert: Best-selling novelist
 Master: William Shakespeare
Possessed by: Orators, Politicians, Novelists, Actors, Demagogues, Protesters

Specialties: Poetry, Impromptu, Radical, Innuendo, Meetings

Intuition

The Talent of Intuition reflects a character's ability to guess correctly and follow her "gut
feelings". Intuition is kind of a safety net for characters, and it is up to the Storyteller to
keep it from being abused. High level of this Talent also indicates some aptitude in
certain areas of ESP, like precognition. A rating in Intuition means that the character
probably can guess the result of a coin toss more often than not. She might also have a
sense of when someone is lying to her.

 Novice: You have good instincts.

 Practiced: Always go with your first answer.
 Competent: You're a con man's nightmare
 Expert: A sixth sense seems to tell you when something's amiss.
 Master: You could bankrupt Vegas and Atlantic City.
Possessed by: Fortunetellers, Gamblers, Entrepreneurs, Bodyguards

Specialties: Horse Races, Ambushes, Dice, Honesty

Skills
Flight

The ability to fly by your own power, usually by using wings or magic. You may use this
skill with some machines, like hang gliders, parafoils or jet packs, but usually not and
always with high difficulties.

26
 Novice: You can land without scrubbing your knees.
 Practiced: You can land on an aircraft carrier in full storm at night.
 Competent: Top Gun graduates are amateurs compared to you.
 Expert: You are competing with the Red Arrows.
 Master: Baron von Richthofen.
Possessed by: Dragons, birds, bats and other free-flying creatures

Specialties: Aerobatics, air combat maneuvers, gliding, nap-of-earth

Meditation

Meditation is the Skill of calming the emotions, controlling the mind, and relaxing the
physical body. Meditation is usually performed in a special position, like the lotus
position, but with practice, it can be performed in a variety of situations or positions.
Meditation can be used to isolate the mind from distractions, allowing the character to
focus on matters of importance. Meditation can also be used to catch up on lost sleep, if
you need sleep, a Stamina + Meditation roll (difficulty 8) determines how many effective
hours of sleep are gained per hour of meditation.

 Novice: You can sit in one spot for a while without fidgeting
 Practiced: You can sit still and attain peaceful state of mind
 Competent: You can relax in any position
 Expert: People have to go out of their way to break your concentration
 Master: You could stand on you head in gunfire and approach inner calm
Possessed by: Martial Artists, Monks, Athletes, Psychologists

Specialties: Relaxation, Focusing, Memory, Zen, Centering

Research

27
Every good student or seeker of knowledge knows how to find information he needs or
desires, In the civilized world much of this information is available through libraries. A
successful roll with this Skill means a character has ascertained where to get the
information she requires. It doesn't necessarily mean that the information has been
gained, though that is usually the case (especially at libraries, although even then the
required book may be missing).

 Novice: The Dewey Decimal system has been mastered.

 Practiced: You know the workings of most standard reference resources.
 Competent: You have access to many private libraries.
 Expert: Given time, you could find almost any reference material.
 Master: If it's been written, you know where it is.
Possessed by: Writers, Scientists, Editors, Lawyers, Librarians

Specialties: Philosophy, History, German

Technology

The Skill provides practical knowledge concerning the function and repair of
technological items of all sorts cars and security systems, and computers.

 Novice: The on-off switch is no problems.

 Practiced: You know all the basics.
 Competent: You can figure out nearly anything given enough time.
 Expert: You understand many complicated machines and devices.
 Master: If man made it, then you can use it.
Possessed by: Repair, Security Experts, Hardware designers, Inventors

Specialties: Electronics, Computers, Cars, Security Systems

Knowledge

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Culture

Understanding the behavior, beliefs, art, institutions and general thought patterns of a
society is part of this Knowledge. Possessing such information allows more than just
knowledge of how people act, but why as well. This is extremely important if a person
wishes to interact with a culture, or, as many powerful character wish, to change or
influence a culture. This Knowledge provides an understanding of past and present
cultures, an ability to quickly pick up cultural details of a new society, and indicates a
talent for blending into the local society.

 Student: You know a few taboos of the culture.

 College: You probably won't get lynched.
 Masters: You can understand all levels of many cultures.
 Doctorate: You can recount the past and predict the future of a culture.
 Scholar: Indiana Jones
Possessed by: Archeologists, Pollsters, Artists, Politicians

Specialties: Religion, Politics, Ancient Rome, Faerie, Garou, Kindred

Enigmas

Puzzles and problems occupy your imagination in fact, you may even enjoy being
perplexed. Solving riddles of all sorts is a passion, and this interest has given you a knack
for piecing together and remembering information vital to many kinds of problem-
solving. The Enigma Knowledge assists players in solving the mysteries created by the
Storyteller. It is essential for the divining secret pathways to lost realms, answering the
riddles of mystical guardians, or riddling of one's soul a malevolent spirit.

 Student: You can put together a 100-piece jigsaw puzzle.

 College: You can guess the outcome of a mystery novel.
 Masters: You can do Rubik's Cube in an hour.
 Doctorate: You'd have whipped Gollum without hobbit trickery.
 Scholar: You understand the deepest mysteries
29
Possessed by: Crossword Puzzle Devotees, Zen Enthusiasts, Game Players, Mystics

Specialties: Ancient, Riddles, Visual, Verbal

Notes on some abilities

There are some abilities that must be mentioned. All abilities marked with an asterisk (*)
are limited for dragons they must have a Wisdom trait equal to or greater than the score
in these abilities.

If the dragon does not wish to be forced to use Dragonspeak in which no lies is possible
and nobody is able to misunderstand, but also very revealing of the dragon's nature and
telepathy, the dragon must pick at least one dot in Linguistics. This is popular among the
prides Vermithrax and Sinyé, but there are others that scorn this habit, Khuril and Alexis
for example.

Politics is a good ability to have, because of the workings of the Court. Flight is also a
good ability to possess, but not necessary. All dragons have an innate ability to fly, but
some are more practiced than others.

Melee has quickly become a fashion of the Court. Many duels are resolved with the
rapier, and many dragons show great skill in using archaic weapons like swords. Besides,
skills in close combat will put the dragon in a better position when dealing with
the Immortals of the Shadow War.

Backgrounds
Dragonkin only have four Background traits. These are Pride, Wake, Name and Form.

Pride

The Pride is the group or fraction to which you belong. The more dots you place in this
trait, the greater your name becomes. If you want to convince another dragon, you often
have to succeed with a roll of Pride + Name, against a difficulty based on your relation to
the other dragon's Pride and the feat you want the other dragon to perform. You will
almost never use Intimidation, Leadership or Subterfuge against another dragon. First of
all, your Pride and Name exceeds the mortal skills, and second, there are no lies in
Dragon Talk.

30
It is almost impossible to raise your Pride score. This must be done through being
accepted by another pride, and acceptance is not lightly taken. It is almost impossible to
trick one's way into a pride, since there are no lies in Dragonspeak.

If your dragon is Prideless, he stands alone. It is possible to join a pride later on, but the
dragon must prove that he agrees with the views of the Pride, or more specifically, its
Lord or Lady. A few prideless dragons have come to act as lady Alarias personal
ambassadors, envoys and escort. This craves a Name rating of 5 or in a few cases 4, but
these dragons are still regarded as Prideless. It is their Name that makes them accepted
among other dragons.

0 Prideless

 Khanara
 Thrakhinde, Khuril
 Sinyé, Morkeleb
 Alexis, Rekhem
 Vermithrax
Wake

The order in which you were awakened are important to Dragons. Since Alaria was
powerful enough to not only wake all other sleeping dragons but also powerful enough to
wake herself, she is the most powerful dragon of all. She is also the only dragon of the
First Waking. All other dragons came awake in order of their power.

The eight founders of the Prides are dragons of the Second Waking. All other dragons fall
into the Third to Eighth Waking, indicating the importance and power of the dragon.
Almost two hundred dragons belong to the Eighth Waking. Around one hundred dragons
are of the Seventh Waking, fifty of the Sixth Waking, twenty-two of the Fifth Waking,
eighteen of the Fourth Waking and only ten of the Third Waking.

0 Eighth Waking

 Seventh Waking
 Sixth Waking
 Fifth Waking
31
 Fourth Waking
 Third Waking
The Wake rate is used when speaking at the Gathering use your Wake + Name to get a
dice pool. Second, your initial Wrath rating equals you Wake rating. Wake may never be
raised, but it is possible to raise wrath.

Name

Your Name is a rating of how well the other dragons think of your name, and is one of
many factors that establishes your position in Dragon society. All other dragons know of
your name this trait represents how much they respect you.

You are above the mere Mortals, but still as low as the other Immortal races. Your Name
is scorned at, and you are unworthy of calling yourself a true Dragon.

 You are accepted among Dragonkin as one of the populace. You are not noteworthy of
anything special, but you are at least accepted.

 Your feats are remembered; the ones with lesser Names bow to you.
 Your name is respected and your opinions will be listened to by the Higher Ones.
 Your advices are of weight when the Council takes decision regarding all
Dragonkin. Your name but not necessarily your nature may even be known to other
Immortal.

 When you talk, all other dragons fall into silence. Dragons parts to let you pass,
and even the royal Alaria herself invites you to council her.

Your initial Wisdom is equal to your Name rating. It is possible to raise the worth of your
Name, but this is left to the Storyteller's discretion. The dragon will have to prove himself
worthy of the higher rank.

Form

The Form rating indicates not only how easily you slip between your Mortal and your
Dragon form, but how many different Mortal forms you may hold. It also governs astral
body's damage resistance when traveling in the Umbra.

32
If your Form rating is two or more, some of your forms may be of non-human shape, for
instance Crinos or Vampire forms.

0 One form

 Two forms
 Three forms, one being non-human
 Four forms, one being non-human
 Five forms, two being non-human
 Six forms, two being non-human
What about the other Backgrounds?

What about them? A dragon has little interest in Resources or Allies. A dragon has no
needs to cover financially. If a dragon would need money, however unlikely, he could
easily create some gold or take the money that he needs. And allies? Not petty mortals
anyway. Contacts? Magick can provide all information needed. Or if magick doesn't
work, how about sheer physical intimidation? Nobody would refuse a request from forty
feet of incarnated magick.

Powers
One part of the dragons' magick is the Powers. The Powers governs how the Magick will
be crafted. There are three Powers; Song, Art and Might.

Song

The first of the Powers of Dragon Magic, the Song is the base of vocal enchantments. It
is also with the Song that the dragons speak among themselves and sometimes to others.
The Song is always true no lies could ever be spoken in a Song. The Song is mainly used
for communication.

The rating of the Song trait does not only measure the dragon's ability to use the
supernatural forces of the Song, but also how the music sounds in itself. The trait could
be used to perform music, but no human musician would ever be able to place it.

33
 The Song is of the simplest tune, and very little control is provided
 The Song contains more harmony.
 The Song contains complex harmonies.
 The Song is so complex, so harmonic and so spontaneous, it no longer can be
achieved on any single human instrument. It is possible to recreate that kind of music
with a full symphony orchestra or a very complex synthesizer.

 The Song surpasses any physical instrument ever created. It is impossible to
recreate with human instruments or to record at all.

Specialties: Perception, Communication, Singing, Performance, Beethoven etc.

Art

The Art is used for crafting magic. Unlike Songs, which are active only as long as the
Song lasts, works of Art last practically forever. The works of Art are often crafted into
the existence with such skill that it is almost impossible to find them. One of the most
obvious Arts is Stonehenge. Art is used for creating.

Specialties: Healing, Crafting, Creating Water, Creating Food etc.

Might

The Might is the strength of the mind and the origin of sayings like "never gaze into the
eyes of the dragon". Might is used for changing or control.

Specialties: Mind control, Levitation, Changing, Air control, Invisibility, Illusions etc.

Elements
The five Elements are the second part that forms the Magick of Dragonkin. They are
always combined with one of the powers they seldom stand alone. The exceptions are
listed below.

Air

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The Air element is mainly used for flying. It is added to all rolls for Speed or
Maneuverability. When used in dragon magick, Air represents not only the element of
Air, but also the ether, spirit world, communication, and images.

Fire
Fire is used for the fiery breath of the dragon. The damage from a fire is equal to three,
plus the Fire element rating, sustained for a number of rounds equal to Fire rating +1.
This damage is soaked with a difficulty of nine (equal to chemical fire). The rating is also
added to Stamina when soaking fire, including fire from another dragon. Fire in magick
sense also includes the soul of Man, the fire within his heart.

Water
The Water element is used the same way as Air is used, but below the water surface. It is
added to all rolls for Speed and Maneuverability. The Water element is used in Magick
for scrying the Future and remembering the Past. It is also used for cleansings.

Earth
Earth is used as Fortitude to resist physical damage, for instance from blade weapons or
projectiles that is, added to the Soak rolls. Earth within magick also includes the body.

Quintessence
The fifth element is Quintessence. Quintessence is the fabric of reality, the very basis of
our existence. Quintessence is used with Perception to notice, see and understand
supernatural phenomena. It is also why it is so hard to scry any information regarding
dragons or why you almost never can fool a dragon. Your supernatural senses are but
equal to those of a mortal.

 You are able to smell and see death in means of poison, magic or normal traps or in
weapons. Your intentions can never be seen through supernatural senses.

 You may see lay-lines or streams of magick in the world. When someone is
performing magick, you see it and understand its nature. You may disguise your own
alignment.

 You may feel a person's soul and its general alignment. Basic emotions may be felt
at touch. If you are concentrating, you may not be detected by magic.

 You can see a person's soul, its alignment and emotions. Magick and spirits do not
note you thus magic traps will not spring on you.

 No illusions may ever fool you. You are in such control of the magick that you are
practically invulnerable to magick unless the mage spends Quintessence.

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Other Traits
There are two traits that are used for measuring the enlightenment of the dragon, Wisdom
and Wrath. The traits are rated with a circle; if every one of the twenty dots in the circle
is filled, the dragon has realized his potential and freed himself from the weariness from
the long sleep. He is from that point in full control of his mental as well as his physical
powers.

Either Wisdom or Wrath can be used in the same manner as Willpower, but Wrath is
used for physical actions and Wisdom is used for intellectual actions. Wrath may also be
used as a Garou might use his Rage. If the circle is filled, it may be broken wherever the
dragon wishes. The first used points of the broken circle may be used as either Wisdom
or Wrath according to the dragon's wishes.

Wisdom and Wrath may be regained as Willpower. All Wisdom and Wrath are recovered
to the extent of the characters' level at the end of a story. It may be gained through nature
and demeanor, with the addition that the trait gained is the one that suits best for the
action. Usually, the dragon's demeanor is used for Wisdom and its nature is used for
Wrath, but this is not always the case.

Wisdom and Wrath may be raised permanently through experience points. They may also
be lost permanently as with Willpower, that is, when a botch occurs from a roll from a
roll for Wisdom or Wrath.

Whenever you are to roll for Willpower in any other Storyteller game, you roll for either
Wrath and Wisdom, whichever is highest. Thus, there's no use for Willpower a dragon
wouldn't bend anyway and there's no need to calculate beginning Willpower.

Experience
Experience is gained as in Vampire: The Masquerade and may be used in the same way.
As in Vampire, backgrounds may not change through experience points. Wrath and
Wisdom are explained above.

New Ability 3
Wrath or Wisdom Current rating
Ability Current rating x 2
Mortal Attribute Current rating x 4
Dragon Attribute Add Current rating x 6
Power or Element Current rating x 5

36
When working dragon's magick, you always combine one of the Powers with one of the
Elements to get a dice pool. Every effect desired has a difficulty, ranging normally from
2 to 10 as usual.

Since there are a lot of possible effects, we provide only guidelines for deciding the
difficulty number. Note that dragon's magick is extremely powerful. This is intentionally,
since dragons are extremely powerful. If you think these dragons are powerful, then think
of how powerful a dragon that has completed the Quest and restored the authority as the
Guardian must be. Then again think of how much luck or faith St George must have had
when he slayed the Guardian 1500 years ago.

As said before, there are few limitations of dragon's magick. As the Storyteller, you may
do almost whatever you like and find appropriate. Most Kindred or Garou don't stand a
chance against an enwrathed dragon a few ancient ones may stand even in an encounter
with a dragon. Mages would not like to be in the wrong end of a creature of pure magic
incarnated, which wields it freely as one would wield a sword and is not limited by forces
as Paradox.

As a player, you will have to think in dragon terms when crafting magick. Although you
as a dragon has incredible powers, you would stand alone if you unleashed them, since no
dragon in the Court of Alaria would aid you. It would end in that the entire mortal world
would turn against you, as would the supernatural world. And not even a dragon would
stand a chance against the combined forces of an army of mortals as well as vampires,
Garou, mages etc.

Thus, a dragon is more interested in being subtle. The dragon does not wish to be
exposed. As a player, you must remember this. Use your dragon's magick in a more
subtle, clever and creative way instead of burning down everything in your way. The idea
of suffocating a jet fighter's engines using Might + Air to control the air current instead of
simply tearing the fighter into small metal pieces is a very good example of creative use
of magick.

37
Successes

One success is all that is needed to activate a magickal effect. If it is possible to create a
greater effect with more successes, then each success gives an extra effect equal to
creating the magickal effect once more. For example, gaining three successes while
healing heals three wound levels. Gaining four successes while causing damage causes
four wound levels, et cetera.

You only get the effects you declared. If you get more successes than needed, these are
wasted and may be used only on resisted rolls. If you get fewer successes than needed, no
effects will appear at all.

Example: Rithka is flying in dragon form and suddenly realizes that she is clearly visible
when two F-16 fighters moves in to attack. She decides to vanish, at least for the eyes and
radar of the fighter jocks and any other mortal including the radar crew on the ground.

This is two sources of perception (vision and radar), which craves two successes. The
difficulty number is 6, and Rithka will have to use Might + Air. The dice hits the table,
and she comes up with three successes. Since she only needs two successes, one is
wasted. The resulting effect is however that Rithka vanishes before the eyes of the fighter
pilots, much like a klingon Bird of Prey.

Resistance

If another person is directly affected, this can be resisted with a roll for Willpower with
difficulty equal to the dragon's Might + Wrath. If the successes from the Willpower roll is
greater than the successes from the Magick, the Magick is resisted and nothing happens.
Except that the dragon might get upset and uses a more physical approach to get its will
done.

Example: Rithka would like to incinerate a vampire while she is still in human form. She
could use Art + Fire to light the vampire directly, but the vampire could resist this with a
roll for Willpower with a difficulty of 8 (Rithka's Might score of 4 plus her Wrath of 4).
Rithka decides on an indirect approach; she lights the bed in which the vampire is lying
instead. Thus, the vampire cannot resist the effect.

Multiple spells

A dragon may concentrate of a number of effects equal to its Intelligence score. Each roll
for successes equals one "slot" that is, if two effects are gained with two or more
successes in one single roll, this counts as one "slot". The effects may be of any kind, but
only one of them may be of Art Magick. There can be as many effects of the Song or
Might type as there are slots.

38
Example: As Rithka holds one effect to make her invisible (one slot), she decides to joke
with the pilots. She creates an illusion of a naked woman sitting on the nose of the
aircraft. This fills one more slot. Since she has an Intelligence of 3, this means that Rithka
has one more slot to fill.

Song Magick
The dragonsong is not only the language of the
dragonkin, but also the basis for all forms of Song
magick, the perception and communication magick in
the dragon's own language. It need not be spoken, but
all people with some kind of supernatural senses
(clairvoyance, Auspex, Heightened senses etc) will
hear the Dragonsong anyway. If aimed at one person,
this person does not need any supernatural senses to
"hear" the Dragonsong. Supernatural senses or not,
nobody is able to lie using Dragonsong and nobody will
ever be able to misunderstand a dragon using
Dragonsong.

Song magick usually has a duration of Concentration,

that is, it lasts as long as the dragon thinks of it. Song
magick is used for communication or perception.

Song + Air

2 Listen to the whispering conversation at the next table

4 Listen to radio broadcasts, without receiver
6 See television broadcasts, without receiver. Listen to the echo of the song as a radar.
10 Listen to conversations on the other side of the earth

Song + Fire

2 Dragon speak
3 Silent communication
5 See a specific soul, wherever it is Willpower Receptive telepathy, eye contact
Willpower + 3 Receptive telepathy, regardless of position

Song + Water
2 Listen to a dolphin
4 Remembering the past, looking into a bucket of water
6 Scrying a riddle describing the future in a cup of water

39
8 Listen to a crawfish at the bottom of the Marianer-grave, while at the springs of
Mississippi
10 Scrying a clear picture of the future

Song + Earth
2 See footprints on the rock
6 Find a person's body somewhere on Earth
10 Talk to the Eternal Fire in the centre of the Earth

Song + Quintessence

2 See traps and things that are intended to bring harm or death upon you.
4 See and understand a spell before it is cast. See into the Umbra.
6 See the true nature of a person. Call and communicate with spirits.
8 See through any illusion of any kind. Call a dragon from the Sleep.

Art Magick
Art Magick is based on creation or destruction. Art Magick usually has a Permanent
duration. It lasts virtually forever or until destroyed. The dragon must touch whatever he
is working on, but when the magick is complete, it stands forever. Remember that "what's
said is said". The dragon can only work on one Art Magick at one time. He may hold
Song or Might magick at the same time, but no more than one Art may be crafted at the
same time. The Art Magick only fills its slot while it is crafted. When it is complete, the
slot is free for use again.

Art + Air

2 Create a light breeze

10 Call a tornado

Art + Fire

2 Light a match
10 Incinerate a building

Art + Water

2 Fill a glass with water

10 Fill a building with water

40
Art + Earth

2 Create a handfull of dirt

4 Create a steel hand weapon of moderate quality (broadsword, mace, cudgel, flail)
5 Create a steel hand weapon of superior quality (rapier, katana)
6 Heal one level of damage, cause one level of damage
8 Create a steel weapon with complex machinery and high quality materials (any firearm;
requires knowledge of firearms constructions)
10 Raise a mountain

Art + Quintessence

4 Heal one level of damage on a dragon.

6 Create or destroy Tas.
8 Create or destroy a caern or node. Cause one level of damage on a dragon or a spirit
(resisted).
10 Create a new dragon. Note: this has not been done since before the Awakening, and
even before, it was rarely done. It is more likely that dragons spontaneously created
themselves, just as quantum theory says that small universes "pops" spontaneously out of
nothing all the time. Willpower-2 Extinguish a "normal" magickal effect (that is, a Mage
magickal effect) so it never existed. Dragon magick is not affected in this way.

Might Magick
Might Magick has a duration of Concentration, as for Song Magick. It ranges as far as the
dragon can see. Might Magick is based on control and changes.

Might + Air

2 Blow away fumes of perfume or toxic gases

4 Blow a person into the wall, create a lightly distorted illusion (roll Intelligence +
Awareness difficulty 6 against Might + Air)
6 Control the winds to suffocate a jet engine, make one unnoticable to one source of
perception (vision, radar, heat, smell, hearing etc)
8 Create a perfect illusion
10 Make one completely invisible

Might + Fire

2 Control a candle flame to dance

10 Control a volcano

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Willpower+4 Tame a person's soul

Might + Water

2 Making a puddle of water to return to the bucket

5 Raising a mile high pillar of water
10 Raising a five mile high tsunami to drown New York

Might + Earth

2 Making a rock lift

5 Lifting Stonehenge
6 Change one's appearance
10 Forming a mountain to a castle
Willpower-2 Levitate someone's body
Willpower Control a person's body
N x 3 Add N actions to the round (2 extra actions equals a difficulty of 6)

Might + Quintessence

Gauntlet-2 Enter the Umbra.

Willpower-4 Deflect a magical effect.
Willpower Turn a magickal effect against its caster.

Spells
Oh, by the way, dragons never use "spells". Dragons are beyond the boundaries of that
simple concept. As the dragons are incarnation of Magick, they have no need to limit
themselves with that.

The closest concept to a "spell" that a dragon may go is a favorite use of magick. It does
not simplify anything in game terms it is just a favored use of magick. However, "spells"
makes the game flow more easily and consistent. We encourage players to write down
such favorite "spells", just to simplify things for the Storyteller.

Furthermore, these "spells" may be used as a secretive way of communication with the
Storyteller if the dragon does not wish to expose himself using magick. Instead of saying
"I'll try to make myself invisible. Should be a Might plus Air, right? What's the
difficulty?", which make it very obvious to the other players what's happening, the player
may instead use a code word or phrase, like "well, Seattle is a nice place" or "I've been to

42
Munich once" Exactly how the code words are used are up to the player and storyteller,
but in this example, the city names are used as code names. The use of several code
names per "spell" makes it very hard to ever notice that the dragon is performing magick.

Of course, this means that the Storyteller has to roll the dice and tell the player the result
in code as well. If it works, he might just say "right", and if it doesn't work, the answer
could be "Nah, I prefer Vancouver" or "Never been in Munich".

Used correctly, any of the other players will never know what's happened. At most, they
will know that something has happened, but not what.

Paradox

Paradox is a kind of inertia in the reality created by the common subconscious of Man.
As such, it does not concern dragons. Even if paradox spirits do appear, they will have to
yield before the dragon. So, if you play Mage: The Ascension and are concerned about
how dragons' Paradox is measured, forget about the whole thing! Paradox is for petty
mortals, not for dragons.

Although dragons mostly prefer to solve problems in other ways than physical combat
any fool can be a great warrior, but it craves much more to be a conqueror it is very likely
that a dragon will have to defend its status as being superior to any other creature.

Fiery Breath
The dragon's most offensive weapon is their flame. The fire is in form of a long flame,
much like the one from an incinerator but much larger and hotter. Its range is up to 90
feet and it may be set to cover a 15° arc is the dragon wishes a little more than 20 feet
wide at longest range. If the flame touches anything it sticks to it and burns for a short

43
while. It can only be projected while in dragon form, the human form lacks the organs
needed to produce the flame.

There is no need to roll to hit when using the flame. If the dragon may want to avoid to
hit something, a roll for Dexterity + Fire may be made with a difficulty of 6. If the object
avoided is larger, the difficulty is higher, and vice versa.

Dragon Breath damage: 3 + Fire element score, sustained for 1 round + Fire element
score. Difficulty to soak: 9.

Injuries
The dragon does never take any aggravated wounds, not even in mortal form. If the
dragon is Incapacitated or worse, it lies unable to move and take any physical action. It is
possible to send it to Eternal Death when the dragon is unconscious with a good blow
through the heart, neck or head. If this does not happen, the dragon will start to heal. It is
sent back to Sleep within a day and stays sleeping if not called this might be done with
Song or if knowing the dragon's True Name. A truly desperate dragon may actually share
its Name to a mortal so that he may call the dragon to the Waking world. Another dragon
may use Song + Quintessence against a difficulty of 8 to call a sleeping dragon back to
the Waking World.

The Sleep will last for two thousand years, minus one hundred year for every dot in either
Wrath or Wisdom. A dragon with a full circle does not fall into Sleep, any other dragon is
effectively out of the game for at least one century. Lady Alaria will see to it that any
killed or Sleeping dragon is removed from the Mortal World. It is not very good to prove
to men that there are dragons. If necessary, the dragons will erase the memories of those
mortals involved, so that they have never seen any dragons.

Any wound that does not send the dragon to Sleep will heal one wound level per day
resting, even in mortal form. If the dragon does anything but laying still and almost
motionless, it heals one wound level per week.

44
It is possible for a dragon to heal itself, or for one dragon to heal another one, through
magick (Art + Quintessence). This is limited to one try per day. A mage may invest
Quintessence to heal a dragon one wound level per point.

The actual wounds on a dragon will heal quite quickly in a matter of minutes, whether
magick is used or not. The time-consuming part of the healing is for the dragon to realign
itself to the flow of magick the healing greatly disturbs the flow.

Aerial Combat
It is possible that a dragon may come in a position of air-to-air combat with a fighter or
another dragon. These rules are used to solve most such situations.

Initiative
To gain initiative, you need to maneuver into position. This is done in the same way as
rolling for Initiative, though the difficulty is based on the position of the combatants and
the maneuverability of the aircraft. The one that gains initiative does not only act first,
but also puts himself in a better position in relation to the enemy.

Position: Difficulty
Enemy dead ahead 4
Enemy ahead and at the side 5
Enemy at the side 6
Enemy aft and at the side 7
Enemy behind 8

Distance Diff Mod Typical Weapon Used

Gun Distance; less than 1000 m +1 (Dragon flame, Vulcan guns)
Close Distance; 1000-3000 m ±0 (AIM-9 Sidewinders)
Medium Distance; 5 km-10 km ±0 (Sparrow)
Long Distance; 10 km- 20 km -1 (AMRAAM)
Extreamly Long; 20 km or more -2 (Phoenix)

Maneuverability Diff Mod

Dragon ±0
Large commercial or cargo aircraft, eg a C-5 Galaxy, Boeing 747 +6
Commercial or cargo aircraft, eg C-130 Hercules, Boeing 707 +4
Small cargo aircraft,eg Cessna, Piper Cub, Lear jet +2
WWII fighter aircraft, eg Spitfire, Mustang -1
1950 fighter aircraft, eg F-4 Phantom, F-104 Starfighter, MiG 19,MiG-21 +1
1960-1970 jet fighteraircraft, eg F-14 Tomcat,MiG-23 Flogger,Saab 37 Viggen ±0
1980 jet fighter aircraft, eg F-16 Falcon, F/A-18 Hornet, MiG-29 Fulcrum -1
1990 jet fighter aircraft,eg F-22 Lightning II,Saab 39 Gripen, EFA, Eurofighter -2

45
Both combatants roll for Wits + Flight (dragons) or Wits + Piloting (aircraft pilots), with
difficulty defined by the tables for Position and Maneuverability above. Also modify the
difficulty number regarding to the speed of the aircraft this figure is gained from the table
below. If either side is flying in formation, only the wing leader makes this roll. The wing
man stays behind the leader. This formation may be split at any time, when the rolls
becomes separate for all combatants.

Speed Difficulty Modifier

200 km/h (WWI Fighter) -3
300 km/h (attack helicopter) -2
500 km/h (Cargo or commercial aircraft, WWII fighter) -1
700 km/h (Dragon, fighter/ bomber speed) ±0
900 km/h (Typical attack combat speed) +1
1100 km/h (just below Mach 1) +2
1300 km/h (just above Mach 1) +3
1800 km/h +5
2400 km/h (Mach 2) +7
2800 km/h +9

The combatant that wins this opposed roll gains initiative and may act first. He also
improves his position. A "better position" is defined by distance and relative position. As
the one that gains initiative, an attacker can choose to alter the opponents position relative
to him, his own position in relation to the opponent, or, if engaged in air combat
maneuvers, the distance. See "Speed" below.

Remember that dragon characters may add their Air score to their dice pools.

Example:

As Rithka flies to England above the Atlantic

Ocean, two F-14s decide to check out the
strange and unidentified object. They gain
visual contact at a range of twenty miles,
thanks to their long range video sensor, and
decides to move closer as they "can't identify
the target" (honestly, if you were a naval air
force pilot, would you report that you had a
positive ID of a dragon?).

About this time, Rithka decides to play with the Tomcats. She turns towards them, and
the air combat maneuvers begin at long range. The Tomcat pilots arm their weapons, but
before they can get a lock, Rithka is upon them.

The F-14s have a Wits of 3 and a Pilot skill of 4 (specialty: carrier based fighters), total
of 7. Their difficulty is 4 (dead ahead), modified with -1 (long distance) and +1 (attack

46
speed) for a total of 4. Rithka has a Wits of 4 plus a Flight of 4 (specialty: aerobatics),
and because she is adept with the Air element, another 2 for that score, total of 10. Her
difficulty is 6 (enemy at her side) -1 (long distance), total of 5. No other modifiers apply.

In the opposed roll, the F-14s gets 4 successes, while Rithka gets 5 successes. She gains
initiative and also chooses to overshoot a bit, making the F-14s shot a bit harder. This
makes her position relative the F-14s "Ahead and side". The distance closes
automatically one pip to Medium range (see below).

Distance
Distance may be changed at will only when dogfighting. If both combatants are heading
towards each other, distance is decreased two pips every round. If one craft is flying
towards the side of the other, distance is decreased one pip every round. If the distance
ever gets closer than "close", the crafts have passed each other and must engage anew
with the enemy behind. If one craft is trying to disengage, a pursuit situation occurs and
resulted with an opposed roll for speed. Use either Strength + Flight (dragons) or Wits +
Piloting (aircraft) with a difficulty from the table below. Again, dragons may add their
Air score to the dice pool. The winner of this roll may choose to reduce or increase the
distance one pip, or to keep the distance.

Speed Difficulty
WWI Fighter, heavy commercial aircraft 10
Cargo or commercial aircraft 8
Attack helicopter 9
Fast attack helicopter (AH-64 Apache) 8
Dragon 6
WWII fighter 8
Supersonic aircraft, eg Concorde, 1950 jet fighter 5
Mach 2 fighter (1960 +) 4
Mach 3 aircraft, eg XB-70 Valkyrie, SR-71 Blackbird 3
Aurora spyplane, Shuttle orbiter, any anti-aircraft missile 2

Example:

The F-14s closes in on Rithka. Although she out-maneuvers them and moves into a worse
position (from the F-14s point of view), they are suddenly within Medium range, since
they are flying towards Rithkas side. At that distance, they are quite clear of what they
are facing. This information is beamed back to the carrier via their JTIDS data link, who
in return clears the fighters request for permission to fire.

Attacks

47
Attacks are made in the usual way. Roll to hit, and if you hit, calculate damage. Jet
fighters, although rigidly constructed, are sensitive to damage; most hits from a modern
air-to-air combat system will render the craft useless. Fortunately, direct hits are rare. For
any aircraft without a turreted weapon, the enemy must be ahead of the attacker to hit.
Turreted weapons have a fire arc; WWII bombers usually have a 360° by 180° or 90° by
90² fire arc for each machine gun, attack helicopters and dragons have a 180° by 45° fire
arc.

To hit, roll Dexterity + Flight (dragons) or Wits + Aircraft Gunnery (fighters). The roll
may be opposed with evasive maneuvers roll for maneuver as described in Initiative
above.

To hit, the attacker must get more successes than his target. If using a guided weapon
(most modern missile systems), you don't get a lock if the roll to hit fail and the weapon
is never launched. If you get a lock, the weapon is fired.

Difficulties for Different Weapons

Machine gun or auto-cannon, one second spray (Vulcan gun) 8
IR homing missile (Sidewinder) 6
Semi-active radar homing missile (AMRAAM) 5
Fire and forget radar missile (Phoenix) 4

Target is jamming radar, dropping chaff (SARH or radar homing only) +2

Target is dropping flares (IR homing only) +2
Target is "cold" (helicopters, combustion engine or turboprop, +2
dragons; IR homing only)
Target is stealthed (stealth fighters or bombers, +2
dragons; radar homing only)

All missile weapons have a travel time to the target, based on the distance. During this
travel time, the target may try to take evasive actions. The roll is Wits + Piloting (aircraft)
or Wits + Flight + Air (dragons), with a difficulty of 8 modified by maneuverability and
speed. There is a -1 modifier of the difficulty for dropping chaff or flares, and additional -
1 if the target is "cold" or "stealthed", depending on the nature of the missile.

If the target gets more successes than the attacker got in his launch, the weapon is evaded
and the target is clear of the weapon's lock.

Distance Travel time

Gun distance No travel time
Close 1 round
Medium range 2 rounds
Long range 3 rounds
Extreme long range 4 rounds or more

48
Example:

The next round, the F-14s gain initiative and moves in for the kill. They have her dead
ahead, and they're flying towards her side. They closes in one pip to Close range and the
wing leader gets an IR lock (clattering dice behind the Storyteller's screen, gaining two
successes) at Rithka with an ASRAAM and launches the weapon. At close range, the
weapon will take one round until it hits the dragon.

Next round, Rithka folds her wings and turns towards the sea in an attempt to avoid the
flaming spear launched at her. She knows that the weapon will hit her in this round, so
she concentrates entirely on evading, hoping to fool it. She has a total of ten dice in the
pool, and a difficulty of 7 (8 as base difficulty, modified with -1 for being "cold"). The
player rolls the dice, and gains four successes! The ASRAAM overshoots and misses,
and Rithka decides to vanish. The next round, she uses her magick to disappear from
radar, vision and heat.

The F-14s scan the area for a while, finding nothing, and then turns back to their carrier
while listening to the extensive chat between USS Nimitz and CINCLANT (Commander-
In-Chief Atlantic ocean). When the wheels of the undercarriage touch the flight deck of
Nimitz, two DIA agents are already waiting aboard the carrier to debrief the two pilots
and their radar officers of their UFO encounter.

As the Dragonkin awakened, they cast themselves headlong into the politics of the other
supernatural races. It is difficult for a race that has been absent for fifteen hundred years
to resume their former position in the politics, but they are doing what they can, taking
one step at a time and slowly gaining a foothold in the supernatural political world.

Vampires

49
The relations between Dragonkin and the vampires are strained at best. The vampires do
not remember the Covenant. Most of them refuse to recognize and reenter the Covenant.
The Camarilla plots against the Dragonkin while acting innocent a falseness that the
Dragonkin despises. The Sabbath is somewhat easier to handle. Since they are open
enemies to the Dragonkin, the dragons know where they have the Sabbath. In fact, there
have been occasional alliances between Dragonkin and the Sabbath against the Camarilla.

Garou

Garou was never but an honorary member of the Covenant, but still they have held to its
strictures longer than any other kin. They still remember some of the Strictures, such as
the Impergium that was declared over the mortals long ago. They do not remember the
Covenant itself, but is that surprising for a basically mortal but powerful species?

The Dragonkin and the Garou work quite well together. There is no official alliance
between them, but the Garou has kept the door open. The Garou will not submit
themselves to the rule of the Dragonkin, but neither do they oppose them.

Mortals

Hrmf.

Immortals

There are several different immortal kins. The Immortals of the Shadow Wars have been
speaking of the dragonkin and sometimes remember them. Most are of recent origin and
behave like most humans when they hear of dragons they think of them as creatures of
legend and lore. Basically, the dragonkin thinks them to be mortals with an extremely
long life and a stupid habit to cut each others heads off.

Mummies did not exist by the time of the First Covenant and are thus not covered by it.
Since the mummies were created, the Dragonkin have been working to have them join
the Covenant. So far, they have not succeeded. The mummies have not joined, but on the
other hand, they do not work against the Dragonkin either.

The Fair Folk is a different case. They did join the Covenant, but by the time the
Dragonkin was sleeping, they left the Earth. They are returning as the dragons are, but
unlike the dragons, these Immortal creatures fear a banality. So, they usually align
themselves with anything that is not ordinary which includes the Dragonkin. They like
the regal manners of the dragons, but do not care about the politics. Thus, the Fair Folk
are a source of annoyance or amusement, sometimes both at the same time.

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The Dead

The Dragonkin has little to do with the Dead. Dragons don't die at least not easily. They
sometimes commune with spirits, wraiths and other phantoms, but they do not involve
themselves in the politics of the Dead. So far, they are ignored as they pose
no threat to the Covenant.

There are some dragons who actually find the Dead very interesting. Since the Guardian
died, the Dead may know where he is. Some dragons even travel the Shadowlands in
order to find him and solve the riddle of the Quest.

Mages

Mages (dragons usually call these "magi") are looked upon with contempt. Their strife
for power leads to a destructive path. They must not be allowed to proceed in their
misdirected ways. It makes little difference to the Dragonkin that they actually oppose the
Technocracy, since the dragons see all wielders of magick as potential enemies. The
Dragonkin knows that the Magick has declined and will return with them. If magi of the
present day are as powerful as they are, what would they not be if the learned to use the
full power of Magick restored?

However, some dragons may actually cooperate with magi to prevent the Technocracy to
gain control and to gain a powerful ally against the Kindred.

Eastern Court

The Eastern Court of dragons was never under the sleep. Neither did they ever pool their
powers to a guardian. They have stayed on their territory for so long and respected the
boundaries even when the dragonkin were asleep. Lady Alaria and her court will return
that favor. There is a diplomatic exchange between the dragons of East and West. Alaria
is very well aware that the Eastern Dragons has formed a Court to match hers out of
courtesy and slight regard of the Western kin, but since it simplifies communication
between East and West, she swallows her pride and ignores the insult. It will be paid back
in full and with interest in time.

Conflicts
There are several possible and actual conflicts for the Dragonkin. Below is a list of some
of the possibilities.

Dragons vs Dragons

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Khuril wandered around in the Great Hall while speaking. His wandering halted by the
same time as his speech, as he paused and gestured towards his arch-enemy. "Lord
Rekhem, in his weakness, has allowed himself to be held in a leach by Lord Vermithrax.
As the poor fool he is..."

Rekhem rose to his feet, wrath reddening his human face, and interrupted Khuril.

"What?! Speak once more like that and I will..."

"No more talks, Lord Rekhem" Khuril said, regaining initiative. He placed his right hand
on the hilt of his rapier. "Or are you too shy to face a naked blade?" With a bright flash,
both dragon lords drew their weapons.

"Hold, both of you!" Alaria rose to her feet, equally enraged. Both of the dragon lords
stopped.

"As you wish, milady" Khuril said after a few seconds. With a poisonous voice, he added
a small but effective provocation against Rekhem. "And I am certain that the weakness of
Lord Rekhem will have him to obey your command as well."

"Why, you cur..." Rekhem roared as he leaped forward and the two swords crashed
together.

Lady Sinyé's diary of a typical debate in Castle Dragon.

Dragons work for power among themselves. This means

that dragons will be opposed to other dragons, which in
turn will lead to internal conflicts among the Dragonkin.
Lady Alaria tries to keep the troops in line, since she
knows that a civil war will severely weaken the
Dragonkin. She tries hard to find an external enemy
towards whom she can direct the wrath of the dragons. It
seems that the vampiric species and mages are selected as
the new arch-enemy of the Dragonkin.

This does not prevent internal conflicts and occasional

combat and bloodshed between dragons. Lord Draconis
Vermithrax and Lord Rekhem stands opposed to Lady
Alexis, Lord Morkeleb and Lord Khuril more than once
has this opposition led to a duel; luckily, no duel so far
has ended with death.

There are three possible reasons for conflict between dragons. The first is a political
opposition. The second is a matter of pride step on the wrong toes and he will step back.
The third is power. Since most dragons want to rise in power in the Court, this means that
somebody will lose from it, and this somebody is bound to fight back.

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Camarilla vs Dragons

"A new force has arrived. The Dragonkin has already killed the Prince of Miami, gained
control of several kindred and threatened us to join a Covenant which only they and the
Methuselah remember. They are powerful. Their powers are matched only by the
strongest of mages, they have their innate ability to breathe fire, and they are strong in
mind as well as in body. We should not strike at them, but avoid them."
Racjel DaSari of the Ventrue

This sums up the Camarilla's thoughts of the Dragonkin. The Covenant seems
unnecessary for the Camarilla and do not want to rejoin it. On the other hand, they know
that unless they attack a dragon en masse, they would hardly match a dragon in fight. The
Camarilla has decided to leave the Dragonkin untouched... for now.

Sabbath vs Dragons

"What?! A new enemy? And they want us to join their Covenant with other Kindred?
How amusing I think it's time to teach those lizards a lesson, boys!"
Linda Mendez, Sabbath Brujah

Unlike the Camarilla, Sabbath thinks of Dragonkin as a new opponent on the stage. They
may be allied with (for a shorter time), but since the Dragonkin seek control of the
supernatural world, Sabbath's ultimate goal is to get rid of these upcomers. Their open
enmity against the Dragonkin makes the dragons trust the Sabbath more than the
Camarilla since they know where the Sabbath stands.

Mortals vs Dragons

"Look, Commander, I know what I saw up there. The tapes from the camera should well
prove my case. It was about forty feet long and organic. You don't like the word 'dragon'?
Fine, it's no dragon, but whatever it was it was forty feet long, organic and
flying in Mach oh-point-nine."

"Flight Lieutenant, listen carefully; you fly a long range patrol, gets an object on visual
that the Nimitz can't even see on the radar, and identifies it as a creature of lore and
legend and lands here with a tape that proves you're right? How am I supposed to present
this report to CINCLANT without me losing my command of the Nimitz and without you
losing your Tomcat? I'd like to believe you especially after watching this tape but I can't.
At least not officially. For the sake of both our best interests, I think you should forget the
entire incident. Understood?"

"Understood, sir."

53
 Flight Lieutenant W. T. Patrick and Captain Warren, USS Nimitz

The mortal world, or at least its military organisations and intelligence agencies, know of
the Dragonkin's existence from several encounters when the dragons became awake en
masse. 1991, there was a total of 670 dragon sightings within NATO alone, all classified
most utterly top secret. Since then, the number of dragon sightings has clearly dropped to
a mere fifty sightings a year. The few intelligence analysts who have studied the
phenomenon have come to the conclusion that the dragons are learning to hide from the
mortal world's electronic and biologic eyes.

The American FBI, DIA and NSA know that something is stirring up the Undead society
and have concluded that this "something" probably is the Dragonkin. The British JIC
have confirmed this through its contacts with one of the Dragonkin who has settled in
Scotland not at Loch Ness if you thought that. It is an information exchange only no
alliance is so far settled. It is possible (and to some extent likely) that the MSB (ex-KGB)
has made contact with one dragon in Siberia, but this is unconfirmed.

NSA have been monitoring of the Middle-East with the Keyhole satellites, and believes
that Mossad has indirect contact with the Dragonkin

Mages vs Dragons

Dragonkin does not like mages, since they are one of the few dangerous threats to the
dragons. Also, the nature of magick has changed during the Sleep, and the paths have
turned away from those that the Dragonkin knew. Thus, mages are looked upon as a
wildcard and potential enemy.

Mages, on the other hand, are unaware of the nature of dragons. Mages have forgotten the
ancient Race and were never joined to the Covenant anyway. They do not know what
they really are, only that dragons are extremely powerful creatures.

Some of the Dragonkin accept mages outside the Technocracy, others dislike all mages,
Technocrats or not. The Dragonkin tries to hide themselves from mages, but mages have
recently learned that the Dragonkin have returned and they do not know how to interpret
this.

The Lords and Ladies of the Court

How powerful are the lords and ladies of the Court? Well, we're not going to tell you.
This much could be told Alaria probably has attributes of 16/14/12 plus 15/13/11, 8 or 9
in all Powers and Elements, Pride 6 (herself), Wake 7 (first) and Name 10 (or maybe
more). She also has some 500 or so freebie points, 35/30/25 in abilities and full circle of

54
Wisdom and Wrath. The other lords and ladies of the Prides are not that far behind. They
should have Wake 6 (second) and Name 9 the rest is guesswork.

If you make it possible for player dragons to test their strength against the above said
dragons, you are using Dragon: The Waking Wrath in the wrong way.

Interaction
Since Dragon: The Waking Wrath is based on the Storyteller system and the World in
Darkness, it is easy to integrate it with the other Storyteller games. However, it will
probably work best standing by itself, allowing players to enter the royal intrigues at the
Castle Dragon in Austria. In that case, Dragon: The Waking Wrath may be used with
more than one player dragon. In all other cases, we recommend one or at most two
dragons but never more.

Dragon: The Waking Wrath fits best in a high level Vampire: The Masquerade campaign
more based on role-playing and intrigue than conflict. Dragons fit equally well in both
the Camarilla and the Sabbath. Dragons have two powerful weapons their flame and their
magic but these are balanced by the vampire's sheer numbers and their complicated
politics.

It is possible to combine Dragon with Werewolf: The Apocalypse, but this is only
partially tested. The dragon is physically very strong and superior to even the Crinos
form of the Garou, so the dragon does easily take the alpha position of a Garou pack. The
rest of the pack may become pawns of the dragon if the players and the storyteller are not
careful.

It is much harder to combine Dragon with Wraith: The Oblivion, because of the non
physical Shadowlands and the barrier between it and the physical world. Add to this that
neither dragons nor wraiths are interested in each other's politics. In fact, it is hard to
combine any Storyteller game with Wraith because of this.

The combination of Mage and Dragon has not been fully tested, but it might be possible
to create an alliance between dragons and mages against the Technocracy.

Finally, there are a lot of Storyteller adds available on electronic media, written by fans
of the World in Darkness and the Storyteller system (like Dragon: The Waking Wrath).
There are at least two versions of Immortal, describing immortals of the kind that appear
in Highlander, which does not disturb the Dragonkin that much. There are several adds
for Vampire, including one that imports magic from Ars Magica to Storyteller. Since
there has been a decline in magic, I have assumed that this magic will be useful in the
medieval world (to around 1300 A.D.) and after the return of the Dragonkin.

There is a text describing a kind of Dragonlords from Tibet, called Drukpa. Because of
the nature of the dragons described here and the relation between the Drukpa and their

55
dragons, it must be assumed that the dragons of the Drukpa are of a different court they
are not anyone of the four hundred and nine dragons of the court of Alaria, nor will any
dragon of the Western Court ever allow themselves to be submitted to mere mortals.

In addition to Dragon: The Waking Wrath, there is another text dealing with dragons,
called Dragon: The Redemption. This text is an addition to Mage: The Ascension. I was
sort of disappointed when I read this text, some time after I had finished my own work on
Dragon: The Waking Wrath's first edition these dragons were not as I had imagined this
powerful species. You could try it out for yourself and see which one you prefer.

Rasmus Hansson has also written Dragon: The Eastern Harmonies, a text dealing with
oriental dragons. It fits well into the sub-World of Darkness described in Dragon: The
Waking Wrath, and should be regarded as a "sister supplement" to The Waking Wrath.

There is also one text describing Faeries, called Changeling: The Eternal Game. As they
are described, these Faeries will come in opposition to the court of Alaria and will make
excellent opponents. However, The Eternal Game stand in opposition to Changeling: The
Dreaming, where the Fair Folk are playful, "Peter Pan"-ish creatures who try to avoid the
ordinary as hard as they can. In the first edition of Dragon: The Waking Wrath, Faeries
were modeled after The Eternal Game, but now as I have The Dreaming, I had to remake
the entire relation between Dragons and Faerie.

However, remember that The Waking Wrath is fan material. It is not official in any way
(though I hope it will be regarded as such), and as far as I know, WW is not interested of
making The Waking Wrath official.
Sources
Robert Asprin M.Y.T.H.Inc. Link

Terry Brooks Magic Kingdom For Sale - Sold!

Robert C. Fleet White Horse, Dark Dragon

Esther M. Friesner Take Me Out to the Ball Game in the anthology Dragon Fantastic

Barbara Hambly Dragonsbane

Tanya Huff Shing Li-Ung in the anthology Dragon Fantastic

I. Edelfelt & M. Karlin Bröllopet i Marsipanien

Donn Kushner A Book Dragon

Ursula K. LeGuin Earthsea Quartet

The Rule of Names in the anthology The Wind's Twelve Quarters

56
R.A. MacAvoy Tea with the Black Dragon

Anne McCaffrey Dragonriders of Pern especially Mnementh and Canth

Evelyn E. Smith Gerda in the anthology Dragon Tales

J.R.R. Tolkien The Hobbit

Patricia C. Wrede Dealing with Dragons & Searching for Dragons

Roger Zelazny The George Business in the anthology Dragons of Light

There is of course a lot more to say about the Dragonkin. Like, the Quest. Is it possible
that the Authority is already restored? And how will the return of the dragonkin and
magic affect the world? Will the supernatural races be joined in the Second Covenant,
and how will this affect the world? Good questions, all of them. But you won't get an
answer, not now. Time will tell.

Of course, little of the Dragonkin will ever be noticed, at least not by the mortals and not
in the beginning. It is possible that the world will turn into a dark fantastic future where
magic and technology will exist side by side, but I find this unlikely. The Dragonkin will
work to prevent this, since it is harder to gain control of the Covenant if the magic is
unleashed. And that is what almost all of the Prides wants control, direct or indirect, in
one form or another.

But the dragons won't stay in the shrouded shadows of mysteries forever. Sooner or later,
the veil will be lifted and the dragon's presence announced. It is possible that Mankind
will pose a great threat to the Dragonkin, possibly even going to war against the dragons.
It is possible that the dragons already have a firm control of the mortal world at that time,

57
and that nothing will happen. It is possible that another race will challenge the authority
of the Dragonkin and use the Earth as their battlefield.

But rest assured, the Dragonkin are already here, hiding silently among the shadows,
spreading their wings among the supernaturals and gaining influences in the mortal world
as well. Eventually, the Second Covenant will apply to all.

Eventually, you will hear from us.

Yours sincerely,

Rithka

PS: If you do not believe me, just look out through the window. You will see something
that will convince you.

Author's note: Lady Rithka never described what the dragon looked like, and I have never
seen a dragon in Dragon Form. The appearance that I have described above is based on a
cover painting by Michael Whelan a scanned image accompanies this text as the "front
cover" and descriptions in the book "Dragonsbane" by Barbara Hambly.

I did see lady Rithka long after the ball. She was (of course) no longer dressed in the ball
gown (knowing now what I did not knew then, I wonder if she was ever dressed at all, all
her clothes being mere illusions), but in more casual and everyday clothes. She had been
reading the First Edition of Dragon: The Waking Wrath and pointed out some errors and
gave a few hints of things I've forgotten. The letter above was her parting words in
the package she sent to me we have been discussing much since then.

Me, I have been... illuminated... by the discussions with Rithka. I still do not know my
part of their grand plan, but it seems as if I - knowingly or not - am doing my part quite
well and I think I can perceive the scheme behind.

Did I look out through the window? Oh, yes, I did. My curiosity sparked, I opened the
window and watched at the nighted sky. I saw nothing but trees, stars, the full moon and
the lights from my home town. Then, suddenly, in a short instance, something covered
the moon. Something huge, with large flapping wings, a long tail and a slender neck. For
a short time, there was a flame in the sky.

Then, nothing.

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59