In my Shine Cycle, dragons are more often heard of than seen. Even only a century into the world’s history, within living memory of man’s first steps on the two continents, dragons already seem to be more creatures of myth than of life, of the mists of legend more than the green lands with which my tales are usually concerned. But, as Aragorn put it in The Two Towers, “may not a man do both?”---walk on the green earth, yet meet with legends?

It’s not that dragons are born ancient; rather, it’s that the dragons that first settled the hills and mountains of the Shine and Wild Continents and their surrounding islands, scarcely as soon as the War of the Rebellion had ceased to deform the shape of the land, were already old. A few younger and greedier individuals strayed too close to Tashere’s prison and were ensnared, and it is from those, now utterly bent and largely exhausted of power, that the Dragon Empire took its name.

But we shouldn't let the few examples of twisted beings---not all of which were brought under Tashere’s direct control---convince us that every dragon is evil. Most---and particularly the older, wiser ones---desired nothing more than to live in peace, making what profit they could, but content to let the world pass them by, as other worlds had. And indeed, some who found themselves within the lands that Tashere’s power claimed for him withdrew from the world entirely until his might had failed there.

Of course, there are not simply “good” dragons and “bent” dragons. There are also those that give the kind a bad name, who are little more than beasts, and as such a grave danger to anyone and anything nearby. Under the influence of an old and powerful dragon, these lesser breeds can sometimes be tamed to some extent, but usually they are simply driven off into the wilderness or, if this proves futile, they are hunted and put down.

A dragon---at least, a free, wise dragon---is almost a force of nature. The usual way of things need not necessarily apply to or around it; there are enough tales of lightning striking dragon-hunting parties from a clear sky, or mountain passes closing up, or climate patterns changing to form glaciers, to give any sensible person pause. Not that any of these things happened lightly, or because the dragon “didn’t know its own strength,” but trusting that a creature is wise, just, and honorable does not mean that it is safe to deal with capriciously. Dragons can be firm and useful allies; one alone can be the equal of a fortified hill, after all. But they do not necessarily think the way that humans, or even Great Fairies, do. Some of the oldest and wisest dragons feel their closest kinship of mind and spirit to the greatest of the Vaynar.

Dragons tend to accumulate color, texture, and even to some extent personality from the surroundings in which they place themselves, by chance or design. The longer one has been in an area, the harder it is to find when it does not wish to be found. Each dragon also eventually finds itself seeking something---for “bent” dragons this is generally power, and for younger and more foolish dragons for a time it may well be money. But many are driven to find rarities, or knowledge, or artifacts of the Power, and a few even seek companionship. When these desires are not bent, they are often for a purpose: several times in the history of the Shine and Wild Empire and its allies, a neighboring dragon has opened its hoard and by giving generously averted disaster, whether defeat in war or famine.

Any questions or thoughts?

Wow, I absolutely loved that. You've obviously done a great deal of planning for your stories, something which strengthens their foundation. I like the fact that you include different types of dragons, some being good, others "bent", and others interested only in seeking their own gain. It helps make them stand out from the prototypical dragons you're used to encountering in fantasy. The line about "trusting that a creature is wise, just, and honorable does not mean that it is safe to deal with capriciously" reminded me of Aslan from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Having no knowledge of your world, I would ask who Tashere is.

You mentioned that the dragons settled the hills and mountains, but where did the dragons originate from? Or are the chronicles vague on that point?

Note that these aren't really different "types" of dragons any more than "virtuous" and "amoral" name different "types" of human beings. I dithered as to whether this thread belonged in the Bestiary or in Peoples, Races, and Tribes---because dragons are (especially as they continue to mature) sort of like a cross between a "race" and forces of nature.

My modus operandi in worldbuilding is often to adopt some of the standard tropes, and turn others on their heads ... for another example, see my thread on dwarves.

That may even have been where I got the idea


He's sort-of, almost like the equivalent of Satan---except that until quite late in the world's history he's the temporal ruler (dictator) of what's called the Dragon Empire.


The thing about the world of the Shine Cycle is that just about everybody and everything above a certain level came from some other world. (Lots of kinds of ordinary plants and animals didn't---and that's one of the areas where my worldbuilding is weakest at present---but all the races and most of the intelligent creatures did.) At the start, there were lots of portals, gates, thin places, etc., such that a family here, a wagon train there, a dragon over there, etc., would just stumble through and find themselves in this new world. But as the world ages these places become much less common.

I like your dragons, especially these traits:


And:



What do the dragons eat?

Thank you.

That I don't know. Their basic diet is probably that of the apex predator of their preferred habitats, I suspect, possibly adjusted because they're not quite in the same categories as other creatures, but that's purely speculation. (I might have something about this question buried in my notes somewhere, but if so I haven't looked at it in a year or so.)

They're sentient, but they're sort of like the Talking Animals, only even more foreign/alien. And dragons are traditional entries in a "bestiary."


That's the idea ...


In a fragmentary draft of one of the later stories, the characters immediately deduce that an invasion of an allied country was just a feint because the attacking force was destroyed with no trouble by a friendly dragon who lived near the border.


I haven't seen those books before; something that might have made me think of this is that in Mercedes Lackey's "Five Hundred Kingdoms" series (The Fairy Godmother and sequels), we eventually meet some "Bookwyrms," which are dragons who collect books instead of other treasure.

These are really neat! I like your dragons. They remind me a bit of my elves..