Mythology of the Venom Dragon

The mythology of the Venom dragon is made up of two main stories (one a creation story) and the various beliefs of the Folan and other Draken about them. Firstly we will cover the creation myth…

The Creation of the Venom Dragon

It is said in the stories of the dragons about how they all came to be so different that one being amongst a family of sharp-jawed beasts existed that was unlike his family. His coat colouring was insanely bright and whenever he bit something, it would either die or get sick. As he grew up, Warning (the dragon) was very lonely and had no one to play with but his tough old mother whose hide was so leathery from age that his rather blunted fangs could never penetrate. But he was always bullied of his bright colouring and never had friends.

One day, the dreaded Catira monsters descended upon the family of dragons and started to attack. The dragons ran away, hoping they could hide and not be seen – but Warning’s coat was so bright that they immediately pulled him out – but when one tried to bite it with its own poison, nothing occurred. Warning did not die in agony; instead he lurched forward and gave the Catira some of his own poison. This did kill the beast and suddenly the other monsters were afraid of him. They ran away and when they tried to attack the clan later, Warning stepped toward them and seeing his bright patterns they turned tail and ran. When Warning then painted bright colours on his clan members, they stayed away even longer.

Able to defeat the dragon’s most deadly foe, every female wanted to be with Warning. At first he was quite flattered and eager to have a few, but whenever they mated nearly all the offspring died save one or two who were brightly coloured but did not have poison. Warning was depressed about it, even though the colour of his surviving young kept them safe from dangerous Catira. But then one day another brightly coloured creature appeared in their home land – a female and she too had been born from a similar family with bright colours and a poisonous bite, so Warning went away with her and his children followed – they sought out other such odd babies and the Venom Colonies grew….

The Survivors

There is a story known amongst the moon dragons about a female venom dragon named Ixaba, a great-great-aunt of Reinhart and his brother, who used to live at Moon City before the second purge with her family. There the venom dragons were the guards of the moon dragons there that were well known for producing special children of pale colours that were all marked by the moon (either with a gemstone, moon-like colour mark or actually marked to be Aluminata warriors) something hey were far too proud of and lorded it over the others. When one of their newer lords turned out to have been destined as an Aluminata but refused to remain and take over – it was believed they would be punished by the gods….

They started producing “ugly” children with extra toes and all the marks to say there could be incest – even when there was not. Eventually the moon began to remain covered by clouds in their home at night and they began to panic. The venom dragons had taken most of the unwanted youngsters away to better homes before, ones that were just not the right colour or had no moon mark, but they knew the signs and left – all but Ixaba. Being very loyal and kind-hearted she took in five of the deformed or odd-looking youngsters she could to keep them protected from their mad master and had help from the old matriarch of that clan who told her the oracle had foreseen doom! In fact, when the foolish lord climbed Mount Moon under the belief he must be the chosen emperor of Dragondera, he was burnt hideous by the power of the throne and marked for death – as was his family for having put him above the rule of the gods.

Within days Deuscaede appeared and wiped out practically everyone, when he came for Ixaba’s group, she faced him and prepared to fight. He was startled, for she was not marked for death and upon a closer look he realised these youngsters were the forgotten. He left them alone and went off in search of his next job – Ixaba had saved the youngsters and took them off on a grand new adventure as the second purge came and she was able to keep them alive and take them to a new home…. Those other moon dragons that were chosen Aluminata and so not able to be killed were taken to Aluba and spread the tale of Ixaba’s courage. Her stories of course continued in her journey and life in a new home and they are a favourite of the venom dragon clans and surprisingly the humans know them too!

Draken Beliefs of Venom Dragons

1. Venom dragons like humans too much
2. Venoms dragons drink blood
3. Venom dragons are really vampire dragons
4. Venom dragons live in mud
5. One should avoid venom dragons
6. They cannot produce sane hybrids
7. They all worship evil
8. They are all weird and obsessed with science
9. A cross between a vampire and a venom dragon is unholy

Most of these are untrue and simple exaggerations

Folan Beliefs on Venom Dragons

1. They are devils
2. They eat people more then any other dragons
3. The bring a poisonous smog with them wherever they go
4. They live only in swamps
5. Their hides are fire proof
6. Their venom is a cure-all
7. Venom dragons are forsaken by the gods

These beliefs are really the very opposite of the truth with the venom dragon, which is actually the most Folan friendly of all, but this is where the problem lies – they aren’t afraid of humans and the like and can’t always tell when the humans are lying…