Dragon

"*Remember…Gwyn ap Nudd…remember that we flew once. All of us.*"
―The Old Lore[[The Court of Five Thrones, Chapter 37: Explosion]]
Little is known about **dragons** in the fae realm, other than that at least some of them used to reside in the desert when Davix and Olphix were young. The twins later killed most of the dragons and trapped what was left in the Old Lore, which was later placed in the Bridge. The twins placed a geas on the world so that everyone would forget they existed. Much later, Davix killed all the Old Lore in the Bridge, though at least a few pieces possibly remain in the hands of other collectors, like Taronis. The Raven Prince confirmed that the dragons still live, although they are not in the fae realm. Kabiri confirmed they can return. Gwyn ap Nudd stated that the new season after the Season of Turning was the Season of Dragons.

## Physical Description

In Olphix's memory of the dragons, they were 'creatures so large and splendid, making Eran’s true-form look small and insignificant by comparison. Their scales were like jewels, their claws and spines wicked yet somehow still lovely. [Mosk] saw the dragons launch into the skies, he saw the way the brothers ran under the giant shadows the dragons cast onto the sands, trying to keep up, pointing in wonder and awe.'

In their Old Lore form, the dragons appeared as books, or paper folded into origami that could move and speak. When wounded, they bled red blood.

## Abilities

Fire dragons possessed time magic, which Davix and Olphix likely stole when the twins killed them. Dragon magic is a special kind of magic in the subcategory of soul-magic, elemental magic, linguistics, or journeymaking. The removal of heartsongs was a kind of dragon magic. Dragons also blended their magic a lot, which made them very powerful.

Dragons had something called the mark of a dragon, later known as the Soulbond, which is a permanent mark that could link the lives of two fae together: when one dies, so does the other, and both fae seemingly experience certain other physical changes in each other, such as when Ash Glashtyn and Augus Each Uisge, while wasting from hunger during the ice plague, were helped, physically, by the other waterhorse doing well. Ash and Augus, and Davix and Olphix, are the only known bearers of the marks.

When Ash first revealed the mark of a dragon in his possession, as yet inactivated, it appeared as two objects: 'woven filaments of light, both a pale, glowing turquoise. It was as though strands of shimmering hair had been tangled together as two hollow orbs. Except that the hair reflected and glimmered, hummed.' Fully activated, the marks on Ash and Augus are dark, with blue-green light on them. Gwyn noted that the Soulbond was forbidden even when Old Lore wasn't banned.

Davix and Olphix slew the dragons because the dragons were the only thing that could stop the twins, so the dragons were quite powerful. Mosk noted that in Olphix's memory, the dragons were so magically powerful that the fae lived because the dragons let them. They also clearly knew much, as the Old Lore is a great source of knowledge, and can even use magic in their Old Lore forms. According to Davix, dragons 'used myriad attacks to undermine' enemies, or at least Olphix and Davix.

At least some of the dragons in the fae realm could fly.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

Kabiri is the god of the fire dragons, and their deaths greatly weakened him.

Ambaros used to be the caretakers of the fire dragons, but when the twins killed the dragons and placed their geas, the ambaros forgot this knowledge. Eran knows a veil dance called the scale dance, which he realized was likely used to worship the dragons. 'Ambari never used to be big fighters. They had the dragons to do it for them. They gravitated towards beings with huge amounts of power, and became a container for it, a guide. Ambari never desired to be dragons, they desired to guide them, protect them, help them. It was no coincidence that so many were drawn to the afrit then, when the dragons were gone.'

Some, but not all, dragons resided in the desert, and those were 'the biggest, the most powerful', and fell last to Olphix and Davix's attacks.

## Quotations

* Davix: 'Many years ago now, too many to count, we married ourselves with the loving bonds of dragons, to die should the other perish.'
* Mosk: 'creatures so large and splendid, making Eran’s true-form look small and insignificant by comparison. Their scales were like jewels, their claws and spines wicked yet somehow still lovely. He saw the dragons launch into the skies, he saw the way the brothers ran under the giant shadows the dragons cast onto the sands, trying to keep up, pointing in wonder and awe. Mosk’s ability to think was partially broken just by seeing the dragons. He understood immediately that it was just what it was to live around them. It was how Olphix and Davix felt about them too. Dragons were just that powerful, that strong, that magically gifted. The fae lived because the dragons wanted the fae to live, not because the fae could ever be stronger than them.'

## Folklore/Mythology

'A dragon is a large, serpentine, legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as winged, horned, four-legged, and capable of breathing fire. Dragons in eastern cultures are usually depicted as wingless, four-legged, serpentine creatures with above-average intelligence.

The earliest attested reports of draconic creatures resemble giant snakes. Draconic creatures are first described in the mythologies of the ancient Near East and appear in ancient Mesopotamian art and literature. Stories about storm-gods slaying giant serpents occur throughout nearly all Indo-European and Near Eastern mythologies. Famous prototypical draconic creatures include the *mušḫuššu* of ancient Mesopotamia; Apep in Egyptian mythology; Vṛtra in the *Rigveda*; the Leviathan in the Hebrew Bible; Grand'Goule in the Poitou region in France, Python, Ladon, Wyvern, and the Lernaean Hydra in Greek mythology; Jörmungandr, Níðhöggr, and Fafnir in Norse mythology; and the dragon from *Beowulf*.

The popular western image of a dragon is based on a conflation of earlier dragons from different traditions, and of inaccurate scribal drawings of snakes. In western cultures, dragons are portrayed as monsters to be tamed or overcome, usually by saints or culture heroes, as in the popular legend of Saint George and the Dragon. They are often said to have ravenous appetites and to live in caves, where they hoard treasure. . . .

The word "dragon" has also come to be applied to the Chinese *lung* (traditional 龍, simplified 龙, Japanese simplified 竜, Pinyin *lóng*), which are associated with good fortune and are thought to have power over rain. Dragons and their associations with rain are the source of the Chinese customs of dragon dancing and dragon boat racing. Many East Asian deities and demigods have dragons as their personal mounts or companions. Dragons were also identified with the Emperor of China, who, during later Chinese imperial history, was the only one permitted to have dragons on his house, clothing, or personal articles.

Commonalities between dragons' traits are often a hybridization of avian, feline, and reptilian features, and may include: snakelike features, reptilian scaly skin, four legs with three or four toes on each, spinal nodes running down the back, a tail, and a serrated jaw with rows of teeth. Several modern scholars believe huge extinct or migrating crocodiles bear the closest resemblance, especially when encountered in forested or swampy areas, and are most likely the template of modern dragon imagery.'

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Gwyn ap Nudd with magical origami/the Old Lore by plintoon https://plintoon-reblogs.tumblr.com/post/69787079074/gwyn-stared-at-the-parchment-again-for-so-long
## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 15 January 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/70548654. Chapter 11: Debts Unclaimed.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 September 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/37093806. Chapter 28: Like Batteries.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 27 March 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/8003448. Chapter 37: Explosion.
4. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7205945. Chapter 29: Classless.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 March 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/55596259. Chapter 28: Farewell.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/102269367. Chapter 40: A New Season.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 30 August 2019. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/48516644. Chapter 13: The Glory of the House of Atros.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 21 July 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/101357655. Chapter 37: This Is My Power.
9. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 17 February 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/92776732. Chapter 26: It's Love.
10. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 30 December 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2234438. Chapter 34: Brother.
11. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 18 November 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2101316. Chapter 27: Compulsion.
12. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 28 April 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/96646797. Chapter 31: Two Hundred Years.
13. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 July 2019. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/47044390. Chapter 10: Veils.
14. ↑ "Dragon". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon. Accessed 7 June 2021.