The Elder Dragon War

A long time ago, Dessend was home to a clan of dragons who wanted to dominate the realm. By the time the goddesses realized it, these dragons had grown strong enough to pose a threat to the gods themselves. Nromrore, the goddess of chaos and patron goddess of dragonkind, took up arms against her chosen people and recruited those dragons still loyal to her to fight. Serissona, the Goddess of Order, also prepared for battle, but she did not want to be seen aiding her mortal enemy. Instead, she created an avatar for herself that took the form of a silver Dragon named Ciovaessios.
The army led by the goddess became known as the True Wyrms. At the same time, their opposing cousins began to call themselves the Elder Dragons. The Elder Dragons were led by five chromatic dragons, one for each species. The Elder Dragons as a whole posed a threat to the gods; they were divided during the war to face attacks on all fronts from their "lesser" kin. This division left them open to attack by the goddesses and cost them many lives, but they took nearly as many as they suffered.
Eventually, a champion rose among the Elder Dragons, the daughter of the Black Dragon leader. She proposed a plan to deal with the gods so that they could win the war in one fell swoop. The Elder Dragons heard her plan and put it into action. In a ritual, they each sacrificed themselves to her, their spirits merging with her in turn. In the end, they became a colossal five-headed dragon: Arezidylth. She was a hideous amalgamation of each of her progenitors, with the body of a black wyrm and a head of each color of the chromatic dragons.

The battle between Arezidylth and Nromrore lasted a long time and ended with Nromrore on her knees. Arezidylth was preparing to deal the final blow to the goddess when she was blindsided by Ciovaessios, the dragon avatar of Serissona. Weakened by the battle with Nromrore, Ciovaessios held off the abomination. At the same time, a lone Human warrior scaled up Arezidylth's body. The human allowed herself to be swallowed and carved her way to the beast's heart, where she implanted a magical spear given to her by Kybaleen, the goddess of Balance.
With the spear piercing her heart, Arezidylth was paralyzed, unable to defend herself from Ciovaessios' next mighty blow, which shattered the skull of her white head. Arezidylth collapsed, defeated but not dead. The spear trapped her in a paradoxical state between life and death. Her body would slowly wither and rot, but she would quickly recover if the spear were removed from her heart.
The human warrior who delivered the spear was blessed with dragon blood and became the first Dulaagi. The remaining members of the True Wyrms were rewarded with the power taken from the Elder Dragons, becoming the dragonkind with power beyond the rest of their kind. These would become the Esoteric, Imperial, Primal, and Outer Dragons. One eccentric young dragon even became the first Faerie Dragon.
Meanwhile, all the Elder Dragons were gathered and punished. Even those who'd died in the war were resurrected by the goddesses to be judged. The mightiest among them were stripped of their power, limbs, and wings; they became the first Wurms. The most cunning among them had their minds and bodies reduced to the forms of lesser humanoids, becoming the first Kobolds. The punishment continued, stripping the dragons of their power and creating the "lesser dragons" and "dragonkin" as they are known today: the linnorm, the drake, the wyvern, and even the dragon turtle and the pseudodragon.
Many details of this war have been lost in the many centuries since it occurred. The truth of the origins of these species has been lost to all but perhaps a few dracoliches. Nromrore has since healed and regained her power, and the mysterious Ciovaessios has disappeared. A tomb has been built over Arezidylth's remains, and regular sacrifices are made to maintain the spear's enchantment, lest she rise again. However, the location of this tomb has also been lost. It is not known if the sacrifices continue to this day.

Summary

The ancient and powerful dragons who called themselves the Elder Dragons rose up against the gods.
The dragon goddess Nromrore raised an army of loyal dragons to confront them. They were called the True Wyrms.
The leaders of the Elder Dragons joined together to form Arezidylth, giving them enough power to face Nromrore head on. Nromrore defeated Arezidylth with the help of the other two goddesses and sealed Arezidylth in a temple.
The True Wyrms were blessed with greater forms for their loyalty.
The Elder Dragons were stripped of their status as true dragons and transformed into lesser dragons and dragonkin.

Spread

The story of the Elder Dragon War exists only as a spoken legend, spread by those dragonkin who retain enough intelligence to share it. The legend is known only to them and a few dragon scholars, but through millennia of retelling, many of its details have been lost or changed.

Variations & Mutation

In some versions of the story, Ciovaessios is a golden dragon. In some, Ciovaessios is not the one who smashed the skull of Arezidylth's white head, but Nromrore instead. In a rare telling by the Kobolds of the Underworld, Ciovaessios was an illusion created by Arezidylth to distract Nromrore. In the distraction, Arezidylth swapped places with Nromrore, and it was Nromrore who was unknowingly sealed away by her allies, while Arezidylth continues to rule as the new dragon goddess.

Cultural Reception

The story is important to the kobolds of Dessend, as it reminds them of what their ancestors lost, what they seek to reclaim, and why they worship dragons.

Date of Setting

6000 B.D.