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An opening essay by Loremaster Esiwyss Wyrmblood in her Dragonomicon (unfinished)

(translators note: The library at New Myabra has numerous artifacts signed by this Loremaster Esiwyss across an incredible range of years. The entry from which this essay comes seems to be a work in progress which itself pulls from many different eras of research. While their research (where it can be verified) seems above reproach, all records of this individual seem to be second hand and inevitably via the account of someone long dead. Whether it is a pen-name used by a hidden society of dragon loving historians or a reclusive and long-lived real person is unknown.)

The colors we know today were rare, dragons evolved with a much more muted variation of colors until gaining intelligence and then the gifts of Apsu and Tiamat. Back then Tiamat was less hateful and the two held a steady truce representing the opposing forces of creation and destruction necessary for a living universe. Their gifts brought these already incredible beings into the greatness we see today. Pinnacle beings of nature blessed with direct contact to the elemental planes.

Long ago dragons were mostly grays and browns though as they aged many of them would pick up a kind of undersheen of color to their scales. Thus color became an indicator of age and of power. But even the oldest and most powerful of these ancient dragons were nothing like the brilliant reds or golds that exist today. I have seen one of the oldest scale artifacts, a single scale the size of my palm. Only the base edge is truly red, fading quickly into rust and browns, though also seeming to shine more reddish in bright light. The ancient one who shared this with me also told me of its place in this history as they knew it. They believed that only three such scales exist from before the pact (which I will get to later), that red one and a pair of smaller golden ones. They told me that as dragon mastery of magic got stronger so did the colors more vivid. How much that was a natural progression and how much was magical artifice is left to speculation. The story passed to them wasn’t able to say, and natural progression would become moot in any case. Like color, the legendary breath weapons that almost define a dragon today were also missing. It’s not a far stretch to guess that in their use of magic they would have found an element or two they most identified with as most mages do today, but evoking it with their breath was not the customary method.

Over time, the divine influence of Apsu and Tiamat on the rising dragons brought them closer to the greatness they have today. The most dedicated dragons began to take on the colors we know today, their colors showing as a sign of dedication to their gods and their expanding power not of heredity. (authors note: while dragons today inherit their colors in an apparent biological process, it is thought that color can change with enough effort. This may explain some of the legends regarding the so called gemstone and base metal dragons. Despite my best efforts, none of my research has been able to verify if a change on the level of green to silver or red is possible without miraculous effort.) This difference of lifted or true dragons as we know them today from their forebearers may be the original cause of the lesser dragon-like creatures (wyverns, pseudodragons, perhaps behirs).

The other major revelation in the story told to me was of the great magical disaster. The details were not given to me, whether from ignorance or a desire to keep it hidden I do not know, but they spoke of a great civilization of Elves and Men and others. Wonders of magic scarcely able to be described. Arrogance and power likewise beyond the bounds of description. What transpired, whether accident or attack, caused incredible destruction. Ancient stories from early civilizations tell of a few different events that could be connected if the destruction was as wide spread as they said. And the clans of the north may even be refugees of the events. Again without details, something about these events triggered an incredible row between Apsu and Tiamat. What I was told is that Tiamat wished (still wishes) to punish mortal kind for their hubris. Where Apsu seeks more to guide away from the most destructive magics. This final divide creating one of the most vicious rivalries in the divine pantheon.