Dragon
Dragons are very powerful and magical creatures. There are several types of dragons, the most common of which are chromatic and metallic, which are typically evil and good respectively. They are an ancient race. Few species that still exist can claim longer lineage. Dragons are mostly all recluses or at the very least deceptive to their true nature, living amongst other species in polymorphed form.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
The number of eggs a dragon lay in each brood depends on its race, but is usually low, between one and ten. Evil dragons of adult age often lay and abandon clutches of eggs, leaving the wyrmlings to work together to raise themselves until they are old enough to go their seperate ways. Good dragons of adult age, and some more intelligent evil dragons, will form families consisting of the mated pair and their offspring. The children generally leave the family by the time the reach young adulthood. As dragon couples get older, they become increasingly likely to split apart as the desire for treasure begins to outweigh interests in families.
Thanks to their shape-shifting, dragons can also cross-breed with virtually any other creature, creating a half-dragon. The most commonly heard of are in the humanoid races, particularly with humans and elves. Any combination is possible, however, even with devils or angels. Most of the time when dragons of different types crossbred it results in no offspring. Whenever offspring did occur between different types, the offspring's biology is almost always in favor one of the parent's "type" over the other and might display characteristic that varies from its norm. In very rare instances of crossbreeding yielding offspring, the resulting child's biology might favor neither parent. This might result in them being born as a new type or with albinism.
Growth Rate & Stages
Dietary Needs and Habits
All dragons are omnivorous and can eat almost anything, thanks to their innate elemental nature that allows them to consume and digest all sorts of food, including substances that wouldn't qualify as food to other living creatures. Most dragons prefer a carnivorous diet, but a few of them have developed unique dietary habits. Metallic dragons, for instance, prefer to eat primarily inorganic fare. Although they were true apex predators, dragons are not above scavenging for food if necessary.
Dragons usually consume half their own weight in meat every day. Dragons seldom get fat, as their bodies convert all the eaten food into elemental energy, storing it for later use. Much of this stored energy was expended using their breath weapons and when their bodies changed because of them advancing in age. When eating inorganic materials, dragons need to eat as much as its own body weight per day to maintain healthy bodies.
In some instances, dragons also eat magic items. These instances are rarer however. While dragons can "inherit" the magical properties of some magic items for a day or so, and as such this would have some tactical value, few dragons resort to doing such a thing unless they were starving to the point of death.
Civilization and Culture
History
It is not clear exactly how dragons came to inhabit Numeria, but many traditions belie their origin was related to some unknown historical event. Some scholars believe this event precipitated a dramatic climatic change, which in turn sparked the rapid evolution of proto-dragons into the varied forms of dragonkind known today, while others claim that the dragon race was born from falling meteors that were actually dragon eggs.[45]
Regardless of their true origins, in the few centuries that followed their arrival to Numeria, the dragons generally kept aloof of the world's giants and ignored them, maintaining a relative peace with their nations. Though they regularly preyed upon the herds of animals the giants founded and tended, such as elk and rothé. This led to many minor conflicts with the giants, as they felt slaying these poachers was not only desirable, but worthy of great honor or "bragging rights." Though such conflicts were always personal, not tribal or regional. With most being settled by contests of might, skill, or wits rather than outright murder.
Circa -26000 DR, tensions between the two reached their peak and would erupt into a war that would last over a thousand years. It was uncertain exactly what finally set off the war between them, but by most accounts it was when the dragon god sent an avatar to lead a flight of red dragons to attack. An assault that led to the burning and destruction of a cloud giant city. According to giants, this occurred because the god had inflamed those dragons with thoughts of greed and envy over the giant's prosperity.
However, according to the dwarves, the dragons ceased the war due to their own civil war developing between the chromatic and the metallic dragons, known as the Dragonfall War, a conflict between the followers of Bahamut and Tiamat that continued unabated even in more recent times.
Individual dragons and dragon clans came to rule large swaths of territory and battled with their rivals not only for dominion of those lands, but also over matters of religious nature as the dragons of that ancient age were devout followers of their draconic gods. This period of devastating warfare among the dragons led the race to near extinction. Eventually, draconic philosophers came to the conclusion that all of the fighting was wasteful and that gods who allowed such behavior were not worthy of their worship. This started the dragon's apathy toward their gods, which lasted for thousands of years.
Draconic rule came to an end when the elves created the Dracorage mythal, a powerful magical effect that incited all dragons across Faerûn to madness and mindless destruction, turning against each other and even against their offspring. This event became known as the Rage of Dragons. Dragons were unable to take control of Faerûn again, their collective power waxing and waning over the following millennia. Although exceptions were recorded throughout history, the majority of Faerûn's dragons came to occupy the niche of top predator, not ruler.
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