Dragons have soared through the skies of the world
and roamed the far reaches of the cosmos since the
earliest days of creation. They are the greatest of
mortal creatures, although few in number compared
to the myriad hosts of hu mankind or the numberless
hordes ofgoblins or ores. Although scores, perhaps
hundreds, of dragons are remembered in the myths
and the legendary histories of the mortal world, only
a handful of sages know the tale of the world's first
dragons.
FIRST DRAGONS
In the beginning of the world, the gods gave life
to the naked substance of the world forged by the
primordials. During the days of creation, the gods
forged countless mortal vessels, giving rise to all the
races, beasts, and plants that would populate the
world. But the deity To chose to bend his will toward
creating mortal vessels that would not only live in
the world of elements, but would give life and soul
to the elements themselves. To contain the awesome
power of elements given life, To had to shape mortal
vessels of tremendous strength and hardiness. And
so he created the most powerful of all mortal crea-
tures: the dragons.
Learned metallic dragons believe that each time
To created new dragons, he was in a different mood.
The god's demeanor laid the seeds that determined
what those dragons would eventually become. When
To was filled with compassion and the desire to help
others, he created dragons that transformed into
metallics after his death. When In spawned dragons
to sate his avaricious or destructive impulses, the
god's dark emotions eventually warped those dragons
into the first chromatic and catastrophic dragons.
In the ages following To's death, these seeds altered
dragonkind into its various kindreds.
Naturally, catastrophic and chromatic dragons
do not hold with this version of To's story. Scourge
dragons like it even less—according to this legend,
scourge dragons are poor imitations of true dragons.
THE LEGEND OF PERFECTION
Though most dragons believe the different types of dragons
arose after lo's death, many metallic dragons claim oth-
erwise. According to the tales they favor, to created each
kindred In turn, growing in skill and understanding with
each effort. The catastrophic dragons were fn's first effort to
shape mortal vessels that could incorporate living elemental
power. They were slaves to their own elemental natures; the
elements within warped and twisted the draconic vessel.
In set them aside and shaped the chromatic dragons next.
CHAPTER 1 I Dragon Lore
created by jealous godlings that lacked la's secret of
fusing elemental energy with mortal form and soul.
Scourge dragons detest this ages-old "slander," and
deal harshly with any sage or scholar they find propa-
gating the tale.
CHILDREN OF 10
Foremost among the gods in valor and physical
power. To fought and defeated many primordials in
the Dawn War. Similarly, his mighty children stood
at the Forefront of all mortal beings in the fight to
preserve creation from the unchecked elemental
forces of the angry primordials. But To finally met
an enemy who was his match: the primordial Erek-
Hus, the King ofTerror. The King of Terror slew lo,
and the primordials seemed on the verge of victory.
Then, from Io's shattered body. two new gods arose:
Bahamut, the Platinum Dragon, and Tiamat, the
Chromatic Dragon.
Bahamut and Tiamat together defeated the King
of Terror, but then Tiamat turned against the noble
Bahamut and attempted to seize dominion over all
dragons. To was a deity who incorporated both honor
and fury, ambition and resolve, a love of beauty and
a desire to possess it. Tiamat inherited many of Io's
darker traits, and she could not suffer the existence
of an equal or allow any other creature to reign over
dragonkind. Bahamut obtained more of To's noble
qualities and the greater part of to's strength. The
Platinum Dragon defeated Tiamat, and she retreated
to the dark depths ofTythcrion. She took little part in
the rest of the war against the primordials. Bahamut
went on to become a champion for the gods nearly as
noble and powerful as To had been.
THE WAR OF DRAGONS
The bitter strife between To's heirs carried over to all
of dragonkind. For a long age of the world, chromatic
dragons battled furiously to throw down Bahamut
and elevate Tiamat as the Queen of All Dragons.
More than once, metallic dragons established wise
giving them bodies better suited to containing the elemen-
tal energy without being changed by It. But these dragons,
while true to the physical form that lo intended, had souls
that could not master the base passions of their own ele-
mental nature. These too lo set aside. Finally lo forged the
metallic dragons, now perfected in both body and soul to
be masters of their nature, and not slaves to it. Naturally,
the metallic dragons are la's last and finest creation—or sa
the old and proud among metallic dragons claim.
and justly ruled kingdoms over the lesser mortals
of the world only to watch their realms destroyed
by furious hordes led by wrathful flights of chro-
matic dragons. But in time, the battles of dragon
against dragon grew sporadic, and then ebbed to a
rarely remembered collection of old challenges and
vendettas. Dragons had grown fewer in number,
and those that remained grew more strong-willed,
more suspicious, and more self-absorbed as the ages
passed. to had made dragonkind too strong, too
proud, to surrender its will to any cause for long, or
to acknowledge the dominion of others—even their
own kind.
Dragons have rarely united for any great cause.
Old rivalries and suspicions dating back to the earli-
est days of Bahamut and Tiamat's war divide the
races of dragonkind irreparably. Although the fiercest
feuds are between chromatic and metallic dragons,
plenty of suspicions exist between different varieties
within each family. Silver dragons hate red dragons,
but they also distrust the imperial ambitions of gold
dragons and dislike the avarice of copper dragons.
White dragons hate and fear the much stronger silver
dragons, which often push them out of their chosen
territory, but they are just as wary around red drag-
ons, which are likely to demand tribute or kill them.
In fact, for many dragons, their worst enemies are
other dragons of their own color or kind_
10'S CHARGE
Tiamat's drive for dominion over dragonkind is not
the only cause of strife between the various types of
dragons. Metallic dragons see the world and their
place in it differently from how their chromatic or
catastrophic cousins do. They remember the words
of lo and the stories of his deeds, and discern in them
a great purpose for dragonkind. Metallic dragons
believe that lo created dragons with their awesome
strength, intelligence, and magical might in order to
inspire and protect all the lesser mortals of the world.
They believe that dragonkind is charged with defend-
ing the world against primordial forces that would
destroy it, leading mortal civilization, and shaping
the world's affairs to someday create the world that to
decreed long ago. Metallic dragons refer to this high
purpose as lo's Charge—a great philosophy of exis-
tence shaped by ancient prophecies and revelations.
Not all metallic dragons know of Io's Charge, and
some that do know of it don't care. Iron, adaman-
tine, and cobalt dragons lead savage and reclusive
existences and have little knowledge of the ancient
history of their own kind. These dragons make their
way in the world by their own wit, power, and judg-
ment, seizing whatever territory or treasure they can
and holding it for as long as possible. Other metallics
regard Io's Charge as a dream of childlike naïveté,
long ago poisoned by Tiamat's greed and ainbition
and lost forever in the sundering of d ragonkind. The
cynical among metallic dragons ignore Io's Charge
outright, seeing no reason why they should exert
themselves on any other creature's behalf. But though
some dragons have forgotten it and others have aban-
doned it, In's Charge still guides the actions of many
of the world's most powerful metallic dragons. Gold,
silver. mithral, and orium dragons are especially
likely to honor Io's Charge and allow its ancient
wisdom to inform their actions.
Those dragons that accept In's Charge differ
greatly (and sometimes violently) on what exactly it
means and how it should be met. Gold dragons often
interpret In's Charge as a mandate to rule over lesser
CHAPTER f I Dragon Lore
creatures as a just monarch. Steel dragons tend to
believe that To's Charge is best served by safeguard-
ing the freedom of lesser mortals to find their own
path. Some dragons think that lo's Charge requires
them to crusade mercilessly against races, societies,
or institutions they find objectionable. Others believe
that Io's Charge is best answered through providing
guidance and inspiring examples to the other races of
the world.
The other families of dragonkind have different
views of To's Charge. Catastrophic dragons regard the
whole idea as pure Fancy (if they've heard of it at all)
and believe that To left no great philosophy to guide
dragonkind. Chromatic dragons and scourge drag-
ons, on the other hand, believe that the great purpose
of dragons is to do as they please with the world and
its people. In their view, might makes right, and lo
made them the most powerful creatures in the world
so that they could subjugate, plunder, and destroy
to their hearts' content. When chromatic dragons
debate philosophy (a rare occasion, but it's been
known to happen), they argue that metallic dragons
have fatally misinterpreted and embellished the pure
and simple purpose of lo's Charge, which is nothing
more or less than the divine mandate to dominate the
world and revel in its riches.
GOOD AND EVIL
Given their drive to dominion, the age-old war
against chromatic dragons. and the complexities of
To's Charge, metallic dragons play many roles on the
world stage. They are kings, counselors, and teach-
ers that seek to bring out the best in others: prophets.
visionaries, and oracles that steer the course ofevents
to come; meddlers and manipulators, toying with the
Fates of ki ngdoms; protectors and guardians, some-
times benevolent and sometimes absolutely ruthless;
gluttons and misers; tyrants and destroyers; great
champions and wicked schemers. Just as humans
and members of other mortal races do, dragons walk
many paths in life.
More so than most other types of dragons. metal-
lies discover and pursue great causes and high
purposes. Some are just as brutish and shortsighted
as the worst chromatics, of course, but most seek
something more than comfortable lairs and plenti-
ful food. Ofcourse, the combination of powerful.
long-lived, highly rational beings and great purposes
is not necessarily beneficial for the rest of the world.
It's unusual for metallic dragons to embrace wan-
tonly evil causes, but many of the purposes they do
conceive can be callous, ruthless, destructive, or
tyrannical in the eyes of the lesser creatures caught
up in draconic dreams.
Metallic dragons are much more likely than other
dragons to incorporate humans and members of
other sentient races in their machinations. An old,
powerful red wyrm might look at a rich dwarven
kingdom and plan to despoil it, but a gold wyrm
might plot something potentially worse: ways in
which it can seize control of that realm for centuries
to come and direct its growth and resources to the
dragon's purposes. The red wyrm eventually leaves,
but the gold wyrm might never finish its work.
With this example in mind, the three salient
truths that one should keep in mind about the so-
called "good" metallic dragons are these:
1. Not all metallic dragons are good.
Some metallic dragons are, in fact, of evil or chaotic
evil alignment. Silver and gold dragons are not often
evil, but it's not uncommon to find truly evil repre-
sentatives of the baser metallic dragons, such as iron
or cobalt dragons. Some evil metallic dragons regard
weaker creatures as miserable rabble to be enslaved,
plundered. or toyed with on a whim. Other evil
metallic dragons harbor a twisted view of Io's Charge
and shape human realms to fit their own dark
desires, using whatever means are effective.
2. Unaligned metallic dragons often pursue dan-
gerous objectives.
Dragons that aren't committed servants of evil might
prove just as dangerous as those that are. Many of
the more brutish dragons are highly territorial, quick
to anger, or easily lured into hostile actions by the
promise of rich rewards. Others regard the power
and fortunes of their favored human tribes or realms
to be a reflection of their own power. They build up
the strongest, most loyal kingdoms to govern, whether
these realms are savage, oppressive, warlike, cor-
rupt, or decadent. Wiser, more patient dragons might
easily become caught up in the game of toying with
kingdoms and history, often to the great detriment of
the people who attract their interest.
3. Even good dragons can be terrible enemies.
Powerful metallic dragons that serve good in the
world can still pose threats to heroic characters. A
good dragon might choose to destroy a band of heroes
to defend some site or artifact, to fulfill an ancient
oath, or to prevent a great evil. Given their long
lives and their overwhelming pride and confidence,
dragons think little of making the hard choices for
lesser creatures and sacrificing the few for the good
of the many. True compassion is rare indeed among
dragonkind.

CHAPTER I Dragon Lore