Dragon

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Seemingly possessed with life everlasting, dragons are a truly magnificent race. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that Ishgard's age-old conflict with the beings, The Dragonsong War, has prevented scholars from gathering much in the knowledge on their ancient civilization. Indeed, it is said that even a dragon's age cannot be known for certain.. What follows here is information discovered but recently through the efforts brave indivuduals who would put the pursuit of truth before petty differences.

In the creation myths of Eorzea, Althyk and Nymeia, Brother Time and Sister Fate, created the water. When water came into being, so too did the great dragon Midgardsormr. The deities bid him watch over Silvertear Falls, the font from which magic flowed.

The dragons themselves tell a different tale. Their ancient songs speak of a time before time, when Midgardsormr came to a newborn star bearing seven eggs. He treated with Hydaelyn, and arrived at a covenant: in return for allowing the dragons to live upon the planet, he would protect Silvertear Falls. In the magic of those waters, Midgardsormr nurtured his eggs, and in time were born the seven creatures known as the great wyrms. After an age spent growing, these, the first brood, set off to explore Hydaelyn, and bore young in every corner of the world. Thus did the dragons become legion.

It is believed that the wyrms have never sought to form a unified nation. Nonetheless, they value the ties of blood, and seem to have oft come together at their sire's command.

— Encyclopaedia Eorzea Volume 1, page 206

See also: Category:Dragon

Lore

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The race of dragonkind is nigh immortal, with some creatures enduring through millennia of existence. These long-lived beings are often the majestic subjects of romanticized myth and legend, but for the peoples of Ishgard, dragons are historically seen as marauding beasts that serve only to perpetuate the horror of the Dragonsong War.

— Encyclopædia Eorzea vol 1, page 268

Physical Characteristics

Although dragons will identify their gender as either male or female, be it for the sake of convenience or individual preference, every member of the species is capable of reproducing asexually. The offspring produced in this manner is considered the same "race" as the parent, but over the course of its prolonged existence, a dragon undergoes a series of metamorphic changes that may result in a creature of vastly different physiology. Newly hatched dragonets are possessed of four legs, a pair of wings, and a long tail, but the form into which they eventually develop will vary extensively from one hatchling to another.

For example, individuals that display a mastery of wind-aspected aether and spend their days amongst the clouds might metamorphose into a wyvern or elder wyvern. Other creatures might remain quadrupeds, with those exhibiting an affinity for earth-aspected aether moving along an metamorphological branch towards the form of a lesser dragon or "verge dragons." The "classic" dragon shape common to folklore is assumed. by those who have undergone a balanced transformation, their mastery over every element allowing them to expel arcane breaths of myriad properties. Cases of extreme specialization have also been confirmed by naturalists, such as the land-bound carapace dragon and its rocky shell, and the limbless, wingless falak who relies solely upon its manipulation of wind-based sether to glide smoothly through the air.

Society and Culture

While capable of procreating without the physical need for a mate, dragons place great value on emotional and spiritual connections. There are instances of individuals bonding as a pair, though the significance of such a relationship is difficult to compare to the marriages that take place between mortals. Blood ancestry is also held in high regard by dragonkind, and the descendants of the seven great wyrms have been observed to venerate their god-like progenitors with an almost religious fervor. Each great wyrm, however, rules its brood in a different manner, with some choosing to command their hordes with dictatorial authority, while others remain aloof, granting their spawn almost complete autonomy.

Minions

A great wyrm’s “brood” typically refers to the being’s own offspring, including the descendants of those children. When speaking of a wyrm’s “minions,” however, such as with Nidhogg’s Horde, the term encompasses all those dragons loyal to his cause, as well as the myriad weak-minded scalekin enslaved by the dragons’ wills.

Drake and dragonfly, archaeornis and tyrannosaur, all are subjugated through powerful magicks, and forced to serve as vanguard forces or frontline fodder. Those heretics who have partaken of dragon blood also form a significant part of Nidhogg’s armies. Aevis, syrictae, and giruveganauses were all once men whose bodies have undergone monstrous transformations.

Language

Dragons speak their own unique tongue, but the words are merely a supplementary shell that serves to contain the telepathic projection of their thoughts and desires. The language itself omits a great deal of conventional grammar, featuring no distinction between past or present tenses, and would be highly ambiguous without a dragon's will to refine its meaning. Lacking a culture for the written word, the race passes down historical records through "song," the verses recited using its profoundly abbreviated lexicon. Such a custom is said to be the origin of the name for the thousand-year conflict between the Dravanians and Ishgard: the Dragonsong War.

There exist dragons who speak the common tongue of man, learned from the Ishgardians in a previous age of harmony, and many bear names given to them in other eras by other races. The Father of Dragons is perhaps the most prominent example of this, the ancient wyrm known by mortals in countless myths and legends as "Midgardsormr," but he also possesses another name-his true name-spoken in the language of dragons.

History

In the Creation Myths of Eorzea, Althyk and Nymeia, also referred to as Brother Time and Sister Fate respectively, created the water. When water came into being, so to did the great dragon Midgardsormr. The Deities bid him to watch over Silvertear Falls, the font from which magic flowed.

The dragons tell a different tale though. Their songs speak of a time before time when Midgardsormr came to a new-born star bearing seven eggs. He treated with Hydaelyn and arrived at a covenant: to protect Silvertear Falls in return for asylum.

Midgardsormr nurtured his eggs in the magic of those waters. The seven dragons hatched from these eggs are commonly known as the First Brood, or alternatively the Great Wyrms. After an age spent growing they set off to explore the planet, and bore young in every corner of the world, greatly increasing their number. It is believed that the Great Wyrms have never sought to form a unified nation. Nevertheless, they value their ties of blood, and seem to have often come together at the behest of their sire.

Dragons of Note

Clockwise from top left, Hraesvelgr, Midgardsormr, Vrtra, Ratatoskr, Azdaja (head center-bottom), Nidhogg, and Tiamat. Bahamut is presumably center, back to the viewer.

The Father of Dragons, Midgardsormr

Midgardsormr is said to have come to Hydaelyn at the beginning of time, though many doubt this legend due to lack of answers to fundamental questions. He appears to have been the guardian of Silvertear Falls and rose from the waters with a host of dragons to meet the Garlean invasion in 1562. He was widely thought to have perished after a furious bout with the Agrius, after which both fell down the sky. It was simply his vessel that died though. Without another vessel he created an apparition which he used to accompany the Warrior of Light.

The First Brood/The Great Wyrms

In a time before reckoning, Midgardsormr came to Hydaelyn from beyond the heavens, bearing the seven eggs of the first brood. The Father of Dragons did commune with the star’s omniscient will, and sought to secure a bounteous domain for his offspring. A pact was agreed upon, and he looked on with infinite patience as the eggs he had borne across unfathomable distance began to hatch. The infants thus born would grow to become beings of immense power and majesty, known ever after as the seven great wyrms.

Midgardsormr’s children eventually parted ways, flying to the far reaches of the world where they spawned broods of their own. Thus began the race of dragons, and the beauteous and bloody history that was to follow.

Bahamut

Upon their release into the world so many eons ago, Bahamut chose to venture south with his kin Tiamat. The people they found there venerated the dragons, and thus a bond of friendship grew between dragons and man. Scholars have reason to believe it was the great wyrm himself who led the mortals of Meracydia against the invading Allagan armies, securing many victories against the technologically advanced foes until he was ultimately slain.

A known member of his brood is Twintania.

Tiamat

In times long past, Tiamat dwelled peacefully on the southern continent of Meracydia. That peace ended with the invasion of the Allagan Empire, who sought to lay claim to the landmass. In the resulting struggle her brood-brother Bahamut was slain. She was thereafter fooled by the Ascians, who gave her the means to summon her beloved Bahamut back as a primal. The great wyrm has spent the past five millennia imprisoned within Azys Lla, where she has come to lament calling forth the primal that would do naught but besmirch Bahamut's memory, intending to spend the rest of eternity in penance.

Hraesvelgr

Hraesvelgr claims command over ice and holy light. He's best known for his romance with a mortal woman by the name of Shiva, twelve centuries past. Hraesvelgr at one point began to despair that death would take her away. Shiva in return bid him to devour her so that their souls might be forever entwined. This sacrifice deepened the understanding between man and dragon, and ultimately led unto an age of peace.

Good things never seem to last though, and with a brood-sister taken away by the hands of men, and a brood-brother soon to follow without intervention, he gave his eye to Nidhogg, before retreating into solitude, only the soul of his beloved and the Moogles of the Churning Mists remaining by his side, until an odd mix of mortals came to his metaphorical doorstep. It is through him that this party learned more of the nature of primals.

After the fight the Warrior of Light and the Azure Dragoon had with Nidhogg, killing Hraesvelgr's brood-brother, his eye was returned to him. Hraesvelgr and Ysayle intervened when the Enterprise came under Garlean fire, resulting in the death of the latter. Ysayle's earnestness, the Warrior of Light's plan to save Estinien instead of killing him, and Midgardsormr's counselling eventually led to him joining the fight against the Shade of Nidhogg.

Known dragons of his brood include Vidofnir and Vedrfolnir.

Nidhogg

Evil Incarnate according to the Echiridion and the teachings of the Ishgardian Orthodox Church, this supposed history doesn't mention that Nidhogg slew King Thordan I to avenge the murder of his brood-sister, Ratatoskr. Soon after, both of his eyes were taken by Haldrath, Thordan's son. One would become the eye that empowered the Azure Dragoon, while the other was kept under lock and key for nigh on a thousand years, to be used as an instrument in the Grand Bishop's plan. Nidhogg survived due to being given an eye by Hraesvelgr.

Over the past millennium he had awoken on eight occasions, making his wrath known. He was eventually slain in his lair, The Aery, by the Warrior of Light and the Azure Dragoon Estinien. In a lapse of judgement by Estinien after the fight with the Primal the archbishop summoned into his own flesh, King Thordan I, the Azure Dragoon, still bathed in the wyrm's blood and holding both of Nidhogg's eyes was overwhelmed by the revenant will of the Great Wyrm, becoming a vessel for the murderous shade.

Known dragons of his brood include Darkscale and Aiatar. It is unknown whether Vishap and Tioman are descended from him or one of the other great wyrms, but they have nevertheless allied themselves with his brood.

Ratatoskr

Ratatoskr was a wanderer, and bearer of dragon's songs, acting as a messenger between her siblings. Of the First Brood she was quite possibly the most curious and worked passionately to establish a lasting peace with man. She did not foresee the depths of King Thordan I's greed though, and revealed the secret of the wyrm's power, eventually leading to the Great Wyrm being slain for her eyes, and the start of the Dragonsong War.

To this very day her remaining brood can still be seen soaring to the skies, having inherited Ratatoskr's wanderlust.

Known dragons of her brood include Gullinbursti, Ehll Tou, and   Fylgja. This seems to support the implication that Ratatoskr had red scales.

Azdaja

One of The First Brood. Mentioned by name during Endwalker as having responded to Nidhogg's call "with silence, as usual." The post-Endwalker main scenario quests, starting with Newfound Adventure, reveal that she has been trapped on the 13th shard, also known as the Void, by Golbez, a powerful voidsent ruler who allows his "Circle of Four" Archfiends to consume Azdaja's aether in exchange for their servitude.

Vrtra

The youngest of the First Brood, he resides in Thavnair and plays a prominent role during Endwalker. He is the shadowy ruler (satrap) of the city of Radz-at-Han and has historically appointed a figurehead to serve as acting satrap. He controls Varshahn, a simulacrum resembling a young male Au Ra to keep watch over the city-state. In the post-Endwalker main scenario quests, he works with the Scions of the Seventh Dawn and the Warrior of Light to rescue Adzaja.