Dragon Spirits

The Great Dragon Spirits are the last remaining vestige from the Age of Dragons. The Age of Dragons describes the period of time wherein dragons were the dominant form of life on the planet Ijzeria, and during this time they were the world's sole intelligences. The Age of Dragons ended approximately 50 million years ago, upon the extinction of dragonkind.

## Survival Beyond the Age of Dragons

There remain only six dragons left on Ijzeria, although they themselves are no longer simple dragons, but in fact spirits as well. They survived the extinction of their species through a process known as "endarkenment".

## Endarkenment

In the realworld, as well as Ijzeria, humans generally value a quality known as "enlightenment". Enlightenment has many meanings, but its most widely accepted meaning is "a blessed state marked by the absence of desire or suffering". In order to achieve the absence of desire or suffering, humans will embark on deep soul-searching journeys to define for themselves what is truly important and worthwhile, and seek deeper truths based on what they find, and what they feel.

Dragons simply did not view the universe this way.

Dragons do not see the conflict or challenge as something to be avoided, but rather they see the universe as something to overcome, to conquer, and to carve out and divide amongst the worthy.

This stark philosophical divergence emerged from the dragons' place as sole masters of their world (no other intelligent life developed on Ijzeria throughout their existence), as well as their enormous capabilities, both intellectually and physically. There was never any reason for a dragon to question their dominance over lesser life forms, only their power over other dragons.

Dragons pursued a path that could be described as "endarkenment", where rather than free themselves from earthly desire, they would plunge headfirst into their base impulses, amassing tremendous wealth, ferociously and murderously battling one another to establish supremacy and dominance, and destroying the natural environment in order to exploit whatever riches could be churned from the dirt.

This pursuit of power in all its forms was considered not just noble and good, but a central and essential pillar of draconic society. To amass wealth and crush the disobedient was considered the very purpose of draconic existence.

Each of the Great Dragon Spirits achieved "endarkenment" during their lives. Through their mastery of science, philosophy, and magic, they leapt beyond dragonhood and evolved into a greater form of life; but rather than ascend to a higher plane of existence, they became one with this universe. They are now truly immortal, just as gravity cannot grow old or be killed, neither can the Great Dragon Spirits. They are permanently bonded with the physical, their spirits and their corporeal forms united - and unbreakable.

Each of the Dragon Spirits had their own individual spiritual journey into physical perfection, and none of them achieved it at the same time, or even with the aid of the other Dragon Spirits. To become physically perfect and "endarkened" as they are, the journey is unimaginably arduous and long, and not something a normal humanoid could achieve. Dragons were naturally biologically immortal, which is to say; they did not age after reaching maturity. The incredibly long lifespan of dragons and their naturally enormous strength and power, allowed them to pursue endarkenment for aeons, and in long drawn out stages. Each of the Dragon Spirits lived thousands of lifetimes pursuing nothing less than perfection, and after an unknowable amount of time, they achieved it. Yet so rare and precious was this achievement, that of the billions and billions of dragons that lived across the millions and millions of years they existed, only six ever achieved such a state.

The concept of endarkenment is lost to Ijzerian society, because it is hard to interpret much of its philosophy as virtuous, when it is so clearly destructive; and also because the word itself is very silly.

## Dragon Spirits Today

The Dragon Spirits today live in perfect harmony with the rest of life on Ijzeria. They live wheresoever they please, but as creatures of habit, they spend most of their time in specific locations, both to avoid each other, as well as to avoid humanoid life.

For those humanoids interested in contacting them, it can be quite challenging to garner the attention of the Dragon Spirits; They have the ability to exist in multiple places at once, and so while they each have physical forms which roam Ijzeria, they presumably also have physical forms in other planes of existence at the same time, and are living out many amazing lives on unimaginable worlds. It's also possible that they are not, and simply find humans annoying and do not wish to be disturbed.