Here is some background:
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The following are notes on the life of Galinor, a gold dragon. Dragon life-cycles are measured in age phases, not so much in years. Each stage of life brings with it new powers, new responsibilities, and a new role to play. While exact abilities vary between individuals, the approximate power of a dragon can be determined with a great deal of precision simply by knowing its age, species, and sex. In general, older dragons are more powerful than younger ones, male dragons are larger and more powerful than females, and while there is no exact hierarchy among the species, red and gold dragons tend to be the most powerful. The gap between each age phase varies between dragon species, but the first several pass far faster than the later ones. As in, the gap between a wyrmling and a juvenile is decades, while the gap between a wyrm and a great wyrm is centuries.
For a dragon, the mere act of survival bring with it more power. Feats which were unthinkable at an earlier age become may become possible in the next, and easy at later ages. As it takes thousands of year for a dragon to fully mature, few of these beasts will ever die of old age. It is said that when a dragon finally expires from natural causes, it is noted among dozens of organizations, including mage guilds, historical societies, organizations headed by dragons, and even the gods themselves. Or at least the dragon-gods.
Many dragons take on a second name as they mature. In his later years, Galinor took the name of Anaxamines, and is mostly known by that epithet. I asked him which named he wanted me to record him by, and he told me that his birth name ought to be put down. He explained to me that “Anaxamines” was simply a title he assumed to impress the humans he ruled over, as it was the name of great human king who lived centuries ago.
Given his extreme age, it is hard to tell specific details about his life. In fact, Galinor’s hatching predates the existence of most countries still in existence today. I was fortunate to have had a chance to interview him just before he died, the only such interview he gave in thousands of years. Thus, this tome serves as the first, last, and best source for information on his life. As a final preliminary note, I have used an age system for the dragon which may differ from some of those employed elsewhere. This was done on the advice of the gold dragon himself.
Hatchling: Galinor was born to Epimenos, his father, and Mercara, his mother. Both were gold dragons of ancient extraction, allegedly able to trace their family roots back to the birth of the world. His four siblings were evenly divided between males and females, though Galinor declined to tell me their names or any significant details about them, as all four had asked him not to. That said, Galinor assured me that he was the last surviving member of his clutch. His parents went on to have additional clutches of eggs, but Galinor was not raised with those groups.
Wyrmling: According to his own testimony, Galinor was a very curious child. As soon as he could speak and fly, he was always getting himself into trouble, usually of the very mild kind. His nest was located in a cave on top of a mountain which overlooked a human village. For whatever reason, the little wyrmling would visit the settlement quite often, even though this was against his parent’s wishes. It was here that he made his first friendship, spending about a decade with a boy from the village. He watched the boy grow into a man, and was legitimately upset when the man died at age 20 in a war he had left to fight. Epimenos told his son to take this death as a lesson; that dragons ought not to become overly attached to humans. For as the human had grown up and moved on, Galinor was still very much an infant.
Youngling: When he was in his 20s, Galinor had outgrown many of the features which marked him as a wyrmling. His head and feet were not quite so oversized, his wingspan took up a greater part of his body, and while still wide-eyed and small by dragon standards, he was now somewhat larger than a human. At last, he began his education. From what the dragon told me, these lessons largely consisted of lectures from dragons even older than his parents. Even at the elementary level, the history he learned would be considered the stuff of legends today, and many historians (this writer included!) would have given their left horn just to listen in on one of these lessons. From what he told me, Galinor was a decent student, nothing special.
Juvenile: A dragon is considered a juvenile when he or she begins to take an interest in the opposite sex. While there is a slight variance in this time, a dragon has to grow to about the size of a large horse before this is even possible. As there were no female dragons around, Galinor waited until he was older before mating with a female. Unlike the far less virtuous of his kind, he never even considered forcing himself on a female or mating with a female creature in the forest. When the later was mentioned, there was a visible reaction of intense disgust on Galinor’s part. As a juvenile, he began more advanced studies, learning to harness his natural magic, and he was given serious combat training with his father.
Young Adult: The closing of a gold dragon’s first century is generally the time to leave the nest, although females may be kept in the nest longer if they live in a dangerous place. Eager to go, Galinor quickly found a new mountain to call home, quickly defeated a local giant who was terrorizing the countryside, won himself the loyalty of a clan of kobolds (now known as the gold-bloods, for reasons I will explain below), and began to collect a hoard from their tribute. It was a promising start, but he still wanted to find a female. Despite a search, there were still none in the vicinity, and he dared not leave his territory for long. At the same time, the kobolds began petitioning him to “merge their bloodlines”, an entreaty he had resisted for years. Finally, after yet another fruitless search for a mate, Galinor relented, and bred with many willing and enthusiastic kobold females. The result was a generation of half-dragon kobolds. These in turn were bred with as many other kobolds as possible, careful not to intermarry too close together, avoiding any inappropriate relations. To this day, all members of the gold-blood kobold tribe trace their descent from Galinor at least in part.
Adult: At two hundred and fifty years of age, Galinor finally met and mated with a gold dragon female. She was a few decades younger than him, but neither of them cared. It was at this time that he not only began to grow his hoard, but added the first of what would one day become a harem of females to his cave. Understandably, 250 was also an important age for Galinor, as he was recognized as a full adult dragon. And he had not done poorly. His territory had grown, he collected tribute from many of the local inhabitants, and he had even won the respect and eventually love of a beautiful mate. Their first clutch of eggs was small at only three, but very healthy. As with his siblings, I was told very little about his children, only that his first two were a pair of son and a daughter. As his territory expanded over the years, Galinor was approached by the leaders of a group of human towns.
As he didn’t involve himself in human politics much, it came as a surprise to hear that the kingdom which he had moved into had fallen and that the humans were coming to him for protection in exchange for tribute. As Galinor still remembered his time with the human from his youth, he treated these new subjects very well, taking it upon himself to learn the arts of governance, economics, and ethics. Soon, new laws were issued, justice was reestablished, and peace reigned in his lands, which soon expanded.
By the time he was 500 years of age, Galinor had carved out a small realm, complete with its own laws, coinage, and institutions. As the chaos of the surrounding world increased, more regions came to the dragon. Each of these localities had their own laws, traditions, customs, and religion. Thus, they were loathe to give them up. To solve this, Galinor allowed each area under his rule to keep its own government, only having in common the person of himself as the ruler. Local elites swore loyalty to the dragon, but were otherwise allowed to run themselves. The religious institutions in each region were allowed to continue as they were, and while a few changes were made (laws were streamlined, a common coinage was introduced to pay the dragon his tribute as well as conduct commerce), everyday life continued much as it had in the past. Town councils and elected monarchs continued to exist, and as his realm grew, Galinor found that he not only equaled the fallen kingdom, but that his territory had thoroughly replaced it and outgrown it.
Mature: A dragon’s 1000th birthday is a very special occasion indeed. To celebrate, Galinor called a party which lasted for an entire year, was accompanied by a marriage to his fourth mate, and was made even happier by the hatching of yet another clutch of eggs, this group having been laid by his second mate. On a more bittersweet note, this was the last time he ever saw his parents, who, as history records separately, died a few years later in the Ninth Euradatic war. At the very last day of the party, Galinor announced that he was adopting a new regal name, that of Anaxamines. While his subjects and most of his relatives called him that, I have it from his very snout that he never stopped calling himself “Galinor”, and never thought of himself as having that new name. His territory never had a single name, apart from “Realm of Galinor”, later and for far longer known as the “realm of Anaxamines.”
It was at this time that a religion devoted to him was formally set up. While there had always been some cultists who worshipped dragons in general, and a few who worshipped Galinor in specific, the creation of a formal temple structure was something which had failed to materialize, and for good reason. Not wanting to anger the gods, Galinor had suppressed worship of himself, even though he happily took offerings given to him by his faithful. He would resist their entreaties for a thousand years.
Elder: At 2000 years, Galinor’s realm had grown to include several regions known as “kingdom” or “realm.” His hoard was quite huge by now, and on the eve of his second millennium, he formally declared himself an emperor. Again, his realms kept their local governance. By now, he commanded an area of about one million square kilometers, a realm which encompassed a great deal of diversity. To aid in the management of this empire, he appointed his children as liaisons to the local in some cases, and as governors in other areas. Crucially, none of these particular offspring were full-blooded dragons. As with the kobolds so many years ago, Galinor had mated with non-dragon females to connect the local population to his rule. A series of hybrids aided his governance. This was useful because as half-dragons, they were more powerful than any one of their subjects, but none of them were powerful enough to challenge their father.
As for Galinor’s full-blooded children, they initially resented being shut out of governance positions. In time, Galinor was able to win them over by explaining that dragons were meant to rule, not serve. A governorship or liaison position was still a position of serving as well as ruling. As hybrid half-dragons were both dragon and “mundane”, they occupied a position between ruler and servant. Instead, some of Galinor’s children went on to found kingdoms of their own, all of which benefited from an alliance and trade partnership with their father’s empire. Some went on to live quiet lives in the wilderness. And sadly, a few have died at the hands of their enemies.
Finally, Galinor decided to accept the worship of his followers. Soon, his cult went overnight from a discouraged sect to a dominant religion. Although it was the largest sect in his lands, it still did not make up a majority of the population.
Ancient: At 3000 years of age, Galinor had lost none of his will or wisdom. By his age, the realm he commanded was among the largest any dragon ever ruled over, surpassing the holdings of most Great Wyrms. The empire had grown to almost three million square kilometers, but it’s growth was slowing. An alliance of rival states arose to challenge its might. The first few hundred years of this millennium of his life were spent fighting wars and expanding his realm. After this came a few hundred years of consolidation, a centuries-long hibernation during which his eldest son held the reins of power (tragically, this son passed on in a war a few centuries ago relative to the writing of this tome), and reconciliation with neighbors. This period was known for many great construction projects, including the Golden Palace, said to be one of the five largest in the world.
Unlike most palaces, this one was built into the mountain in which Galinor lived. Construction continued for over a thousand years, and additions were placed almost to the day Galinor died. Known for its kilometer-high ceilings, passageways large enough for the biggest of dragons to easily fly through, baths the size of lakes, and room enough for thousands of dragons plus tens of thousands of “mundane” servants, the palace is covered in gold as its namesake would suggest. It also contains a vast library (said to be the largest of its kind, with every tome written in finest draconic), an observatory which is rumored to see to the other end of the universe, and a throne room which takes several hours just for a human to walk across once.
By now, Galinor’s religion had become the dominant faith, although he had little to do with it on a daily basis. Mostly, his involvement with it involved the highest ceremonies and a list of things he did not want his followers to do, mostly prohibitions against violence and certain taboos.
Wyrm: 4000 years of life is difficult to comprehend for most. By now, Galinor’s empire was the second largest draconic empire that ever existed, surpassed only by an even more ancient realm ruled over by a council of dragons in a near-forgotten time. Having dominated his continent, ruling almost ¾ of its landmass, the Wyrm simply stopped. Conquest and war were no longer his interest. By now, his power had grown to the point that he hardly needed to exert effort for anything. Even the landscape could be easily reshaped to his will, he rarely remade the land in his image.
At this point, many other religions in his realm had been subsumed into his dragon cult, although there was still a great deal of religious toleration. This tolerance can be credited to Galinor himself, as he had never sought to stamp out pre-existing beliefs or to prevent to emergence of new ones.
Great Wyrm: At long last, Galinor celebrated his 5000th birthday. Finally at the absolute peak of his power, no dragon save those who had ascended to godhood was as powerful. Easily taking his seat at the council of Great Wyrms, Galinor has found a role as a mediator in disputes between equally powerful dragons. These beasts are, like him, forces of nature. A Great Wyrm’s will is as important a consideration in the affairs of his territory as the weather or the climate; even more so when one considers that a Great Wyrm often has the ability to reshape such things. Indeed, Galinor controlled the weather and geology of his realm during these 2500 years of his rule. Not once did the harvest fail. Not once was there a drop too much or too little rain. Not once was there an earthquake or a hurricane.
Truly, this was the time of Golden Peace. Unlike all previous eras, this one saw no significant wars, experienced no uprising which lasted longer than a month, and the economy did very well or the great majority of these years. If there was a downside to all this, it is that the dragon’s will took the place of self-governance. Simply put, whatever the dragon said went. There was no discussion or debate on any matter that the dragon dictated. None whatsoever. Was this for the best? On one hand, Galinor had made hunger and war into nothing more legends that people only read about in history books. On the other, he taxed people heavily and used much of that gold for his own personal benefit.
Meanwhile, the Golden Palace grew larger, unbelievable as it sounds. New wings were added for Galinor’s hoard, a store of wealth so huge that if all the coins contained therein were to have been dumped on the world market at once, gold and silver would lose their value and trigged global hyperinflation. Between the golden walls, marble floors, and cyan ceilings, the palace presented (and continues to present) an otherworldly sight. It is said that if you can name something, you will find it in the palace in some shape or form. If it can’t be found in his hoard, then it would surely appear in one of the books in his library or in any one of the town-sized rooms.
Towards the later part of his realm, one of the last exciting things of his reign occurred: a war. At the ripe of old age of 7387, Galinor’s empire was attacked by the rival empire of Doronor. Apply himself to the utmost, the Great Wyrm eagerly fought on the front lines alongside a massive combined army of dozens of races. While his victory was never in doubt, the dragon welcomed his first serious challenge in thousands of years, and he was happy to have an army to command. Less a single army, this force was a gestalt of dozens of local military traditions, each under its own commanders in times of peace: from the swordsmen of the human realms to the elven archers, from the stout axemen of the dwarves to the innumerable hordes of kobolds, each race brought its own strengths to the army, while at the same time maintaining independence as a separate force most of the time. Even in times of peace, Galinor had issued a mandate to each of his realms to keep a small military drilled, even as the rest of society has grown soft and peaceful.
Twilight: Unfortunately, even the greatest of dragons is mortal. Although he could have chosen godhood, Galinor refused on personal grounds. He had had enough of responsibility and worship, having been an emperor and a figure of cultic worship for centuries. His centuries-long downward spiral began some decades after his 7500th birthday. It was not a clear-cut decline. Some decades saw his powers return after flicking for a while, but the general trend was towards his own demise.
Death: At the age of 7802, Galinor died just 27 days short of his next birthday. He maintained the beneficial magics which aided the inhabitants of his realm until his very last breath. His relatives have all attended him in the Golden Palace, in a dispute over his lands which has yet to conclude. Needless to say, world politics could be dramatically impacted by the results of this meeting.
As to his hoard, only the dragons know what will become of it. We can only hope that only a very small portion of it is spent, lest the world markets for metals become hopelessly flooded and coinage devalued.
-- A History of Dragons Vespion of Minbenthac
