Dragonlord

The official GemStone IV encyclopedia.
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Dragonlords were six of the most powerful dragons following the end of the Interregnum in the Shadow World history. In the middle of the Second Era they formed a cabal for the purpose of furthering the rule of dragonkind, reaction against the growing power of humanoid civilizations in recent millennia. With the aid of a famous Elven smith named Krelij, the Dragonlord Oran Jatar constructed the six dragon healms, artifacts which allows them to assume humanoid forms without sacrificing their strength. The Dragonlords are as innately powerful as Lords of Essaence.

The most powerful of their brethren disappeared beyond the Wall of Darkness for some unknown reason. The five dragonlords that remain are occasional rivals in spite of their loose alliance, and associate with other powers to further their own selfish agendas. As with all dragons they are highly intelligent, curious, violent, and have disdain for humanoid races. Their blood is caustic.

The Six Dragonlords

While the dragonlords tend to be somewhat "evil", they do not think in the same way as humanoids. Their power is tapped from Chaos, which is to say "negative" dark essence, but it is only indirectly from The Unlife. They are consequently independent of its corruption in a way even most of the Lords of Essaence were incapable, and some of them are even able to wield "positive" essence as well. It is not known whether the dragons existed in the First Era with the original humanoid race, or if they somehow came into being in the Interregnum when the Lords of Orhan (Liabo) repopulated the world.

Dragonlord Color Style Focus Home Associates Rivals Other
Oran Jatar White (Cold) Intrigue Alchemy Mur Fostisyr The Iron Wind Sulthon Ni'shaang (brother), Lorgalis, Schrek Artificer. Subverts civilizations rather than wield armies. (Kugor: "Lord Ice") Citadel is the Aalk Gaath meaning "Castle of the Dreaded Ones" in Kugor, which contains Priests Arnak.
Sulthon Ni'shaang Red (Fire) Conqueror Magic Ja'Miil Targ Voriig Kye Oran Jatar (brother), Lorgalis, The Iron Wind, Schrek Wields orcish hordes, summons demons. Lorgalis is his nemesis. However, he has tension with Oran Jatar, as the Priests Arnak undermine him. (Kugor: "Red The Fire") His citadel is called Uronthis Kalthul, which is allegedly Iruaric for "Claw of the Dragon", being an example of the language outside of the glossary. Elsewhere this is cited as "Dragon's Claw" in Kugor.
Ulya Shek Black (Sea) Intrigue/Conqueror Mentalism Thuul The Steel Rain, Jerak Ahrenreth, Jenkyna Schrek, Folenn populus Naval focus. Has a submarine fleet, a Lord of Essaence associate. Experiments on humanoids, makes demon hybrids of them. (Kugor: "Black Queen") Citadel of Awg Arul is Kugor/Iruaric for "Cult of Seers".
Voriig Kye Silver (Air/Electricity) Intrigue/Conqueror Astrology Vog Mur Jerak Ahrenreth, Shu'raax Ondoval/Schrek Speaks to plants, wanders seas, relatively young. Assaulted Emer in Second Era with dragons. Good relations with other Dragonlords. (Kugor: "Silver Eye") Vog Mur is Erlini for "Death Watch".
Drul Churk Green (Gas) Intrigue Animism Molaac Ruan None None Cares about plants, not people. Focused on breeding. Three dragon mates. (Kugor: "Seer Growth"). Molacc Ruan is Kugor for "Isle of Glass".
Kydak Dum Gold (Fire) ? Mysticism Vulm Shryac None Ondoval Most powerful Dragonlord. Disappeared beyond Wall of Darkness. May be his birth name. The other Dragonlord "names" are really titles in the dragon language Kugor. "Vulm" is Old Emer for "flame", or possibly distantly rooted in the Iruaric for "enchanted", and Shryac is Kugor for "talisman."

Behind the Scenes

The Dragonlords Oran Jatar and Sulthon Ni'shaang were part of the immediate surrounding political context for Kelfour's Landing in the I.C.E. Age. Oran Jatar was based on a large island just northwest of Claedesbrim Bay (Darkstone Bay), and Sulthon Ni'shaang was in the volcanic wasteland that would have been northeast of Upper Trollfang. In the GemStone III specific story Ditmar's Tale, Oran Jatar makes an alliance with what are now called the krolvin of Glaoveln, which is part of the original backstory for the Council of Light. They were rivals with Lorgalis and each other. Lorgalis ends up frustrated in his quest to move south through Saralis slightly later in the timeline, and Sulthon Ni'shaang sends his orcish hordes instead into Zor against the weakened forces of the Order of Dansart.