The Dragon Gods

The Dragon Gods, also known as the elemental Gods, each embody and command a fundamental element of the natural world. Unlike the humanoid deities, Dragon Gods possess a different relationship with mortals, viewing them much like humans view animals, with a mixture of fondness, indifference, or hostility depending on the context.

Even without their magical abilities, Dragon Gods possess tremendous physical strength, resilience, and natural weapons. In terms of raw combat ability, they are often regarded as the most powerful forces in the world.

Dragon Gods often claim regions as their personal domains, expecting acknowledgment and tribute from those who dwell within or pass through. While Dragon Gods prioritize their own agendas and interests, their unwavering hatred of demonic forces has proven to be an incredible benefit to humanity. Each Dragon God plays a crucial role in maintaining the elemental balance of Endros and defending it against otherworldly threats.

The Role of Dragon Gods

The Dragon Gods serve as guardians to the peoples of Endros. Their elemental powers help maintain the natural balance of the world, while their hatred of demons makes them valuable allies in humanity's struggle for survival. However, their alien perspectives and capricious natures mean that mortals must approach them with caution and respect.

Understanding the temperament and preferences of each Dragon God is crucial for those living within or traveling through their territories. Appropriate tributes, respectful behavior, and awareness of their particular taboos can mean the difference between receiving their blessing or facing their wrath. Despite the challenges they sometimes present, the presence of the Dragon Gods remains vital to Endros's continued existence in the face of demonic threats.

Terra, Goddess of Earth

Terra is a 12-meter dragon with scales resembling hardened stone, who spends much of her time asleep. She claims the domain of underground realms, caves, and mineral deposits of Gaia. The Feyweave and its potent, wild energies are particularly interesting to her. Though she has many lairs hidden throughout Endros, many reach deep into the mountains or into the deepest levels of Onyx where the Feyweave can be felt.

Terra is appreciative of beautiful aesthetics, especially in earthen architecture. She adores lavish, extravagant furnishings and takes great pleasure in underground tunnels and lairs, which she considers part of her vast territory. Her core motivation is to build and enrich subterranean realms, transforming them into marvels of beauty and ingenuity. She has assisted the Dwarves in many of their major excavation projects, especially those that interconnect back to Onyx and her most precious lairs.

Powers and Abilities

Terra possesses powerful earth magic that manipulates the land, especially as it relates to excavation, shaping, and fortification. Her powers are more constructive than destructive under normal circumstances, yet she would be the hardest creature in all of Gaia to kill. In addition to an extremely durable body, Terra can effortlessly retreat into the earth, accessing a medium unavailable to her adversaries. In combat, Terra burrows through the earth and tears into her enemies from unexpected angles. Her claws and grip strength are lethal to all but the most powerful demons. Her cave-ins, sinkholes, landslides, and earthquakes are even more terrifying when she's sufficiently motivated and willing to commit the essence.

Treasure and Resources

Terra is known for hoarding beauty in hidden caches and lairs, often in the form of precious materials and treasures. Raiders who come across these lairs may be capable of extracting great wealth, but could face her wrath if discovered. However, Terra maintains many forms of trade throughout Endros, including contracting services from mortals. She employs and trades regularly with Dwarves, Kobolds, and the major Guilds, whom she can reward with a variety of rare treasures. She has a reputation for being the most directly involved Dragon God in mortal affairs.

Terra frequently works with Aedron, the God of Crafting, on major infrastructure, making her an essential participant in many World Wonders. She has commissioned several golems from Aedron to aid in building and maintaining her underground domains, further solidifying her influence on the architectural wonders beneath Endros.

Tempest, God of Air

Tempest is a powerful, 13-meter yellow dragon whose personality is tumultuous and unpredictable. He delights in the thrill of storms and high altitudes, and can often be seen flying over Endros where the winds are strong. In the presence of storms, he habitually intensifies the effect, finding amusement as mortals struggle against his elements. In calmer winds, his personality tends to pacify.

Tempest claims the central mountain range of Endros as his domain. Though his actions often stir trouble, they are more indifferent than malevolent.

Powers and Abilities

Tempest can summon overwhelming blasts of wind with deadly concussive force. He wields his great power in storms, where he can conjure localized phenomena, navigate through the fiercest winds unimpeded, and strike foes with lightning at considerable distances. The air responds so quickly to his will that he can form large protective barriers of wind or destructive vortices in moments.

During flight, Tempest can reach speeds of 200 kilometers per hour in normal conditions. In optimal conditions, such as during heavy windstorms, he can achieve speeds upwards of 320 kilometers per hour.

Rivalry with Pyros

Tempest has an ongoing, legendary rivalry with Pyros, the Dragon God of Fire. Pyros has much more reliable destructive power, but Tempest's uncontested air superiority makes for an interesting asymmetrical balance of power. Though they clash over territorial disputes and contests of combat superiority, there is an underpinning of camaraderie between them. They have been known to rescue each other in combat against demons, using these occasions to relentlessly mock each other afterward.

Pyros, God of Fire

Pyros is a majestic, 15-meter fire-breathing dragon with shiny, crimson scales that spends much of his time fighting on the eastern warfront against the demonic hordes. He lives at the peak of Hearth, a source of volcanic activity that was superficially created by the Dwarves and enhanced through his own efforts. During the day, he can sometimes be seen flying at low elevations across eastern Endros, regions that he has claimed as his territory.

Pyros's personality is intense and volatile, filled with aggression and lacking compassion when angered. During the summer months, his anger flares, and his demands for tribute intensify. He becomes inclined to punish those who fail to meet his expectations, sometimes leading him to set villages ablaze when unsatisfied with tribute.

Powers and Abilities

Pyros channels devastating fire breath, producing infernos that burn everything in their path. During flight, Pyros reaches speeds of approximately 95 kilometers per hour, though his speed is dependent on wind and heat. He cannot sustain high altitudes. At night, with his power diminished, Pyros is unable to sustain flight.

The Volcanic Dive

Despite his temper and destructive tendencies, some followers seek a direct audience with Pyros in hopes of reward. Though the Orckin are more likely to appease Pyros and be deemed worthy of his attention, a sufficient tribute and proper etiquette can usually suffice for a conversation. Offending Pyros is a very bad idea, and often ends in a swift or painful death.

Nautilus, God of Water

Nautilus is a massive, underwater cerulean dragon, over 35 meters long with a girth up to 6 meters across, significantly larger than all of the other Dragon Gods. He has unparalleled rule over the seas and oceans surrounding Endros, and considers the Northern Gulf and its extended regions to be his personal territory.

Nautilus is prideful and territorial, spending most of his time hunting down and killing aquatic Chimerans and other demonic entities that enter his domain. He is responsible for slaying more demons than any other creature in history. Maritime cultures respect Nautilus's demands for tribute when making passage by sea.

Powers and Abilities

Despite his enormous size, Nautilus moves through water with unmatched speed and agility. He wields water sorcery of incomparable power, applying overwhelming crushing force to enemies. Even Titan-class demons struggle to endure his casual attacks. Few of his kills, however, require any magical effort; simply grabbing an enemy, ramming it, or biting through it is typically sufficient. Killing demons is rarely something he considers to be combat; it is viewed more as a routine maintenance of his domain.

Role in Endros

Without Nautilus to protect its borders, the Navy would be overwhelmed with Titan-class demons, threatening to collapse nearly all sea trade. Shadowlands would quickly overwhelm the inland territories, potentially ending humanity in centuries. This truth is well understood by Endrosians; there was a dark period of history where Nautilus was killed and spent decades recovering in the divine realm.

Relationship with Merfolk

Nautilus is generally on good terms with the Merfolk, but he does consider them a delicacy. He has been known to dine on those that have displeased him. If Nautilus loses a battle and is forced to retreat, he has been known to go on a rampage of consuming magical Merfolk in an apparent attempt to overcome his weaknesses. At times, these behaviors have resulted in uncomfortable tensions with Ursula, Goddess of the Sea, and her Merfolk colonies.

Sylvara, Goddess of Nature

Sylvara is a majestic 10-meter green dragon with leafy emerald scales. She claims the enchanted forests of Rune, Skywood, and Wyrm as her primary domains. She rarely stays in a region for more than a few months, traveling between Dryad colonies and other notable destinations. Much of her time is spent basking in Sleeping Groves, enchanted forests, and magical gardens.

Sylvara's deep-seated hatred for demonic entities fuels relentless aggression toward their encroachment on her domains. However, she avoids shadowlands due to an intense discomfort with their presence, limiting her exposure to demonic forces by comparison to the other Dragon Gods.

Powers and Abilities

While Sylvara possesses considerable destructive capability, her powers are primarily constructive. She wields unparalleled mastery over the natural world, infusing the terrain with an abundance of Vitae. This promotes the presence of magical fauna and flora, and inspires the growth of rare and valuable alchemy ingredients.

In combat, the forest becomes her weapon. Trees, roots, and plants act as extensions of her will to a greater degree than any enchanted forest can manage itself. As the world comes alive around her, she overwhelms enemies by ensnaring, entangling, and burying enemies through rapid growth of vegetation.

Relationship with Mortals

Sylvara's interactions with mortals are often transactional. She particularly values humanity's culinary arts, expecting tributes in the form of large, vegetarian dishes using world-class alchemical ingredients. She associates most frequently with Druids, Alchemists, and those connected to the wild, such as Elves and the Beastkin in Varga's domain. Farming communities and magical gardeners often reap the benefits of her presence, as she is known to pass through areas that are responsible for bountiful harvests.