Pantheon: Draconic Deities

Pantheon: Draconic Deities

Here are the various draconic deities described in Draconomicon, Races of the Dragon, and an online WotC article.

Bahamut

Lesser deity

Alignment: Lawful Good

Symbol: star above a milky nebula

Home plane: Celestia

Portfolio: good dragons, wind, wisdom

Domain (-30%): air spells, spells that improve mental characteristics, flight spells

Worshipers: good dragons, anyone seeking protection from evil dragons

Bahamut is revered in many locales. Though all good-aligned dragons pay homage to Bahamut, gold, silver, and brass dragons hold him in particularly high regard. Other dragons, even evil ones (except perhaps his archrival Tiamat), respect Bahamut for his wisdom and power.

In his natural form, Bahamut is a long, sinuous dragon covered in silverwhite scales that sparkle and gleam even in the dimmest light. Bahamut’s catlike eyes are deep blue, as azure as a midsummer sky, some say. Others insist that Bahamut’s eyes are a frosty indigo, like the heart of a glacier. Perhaps the colors merely reflect the Platinum Dragon’s shifting mood.

            Dogma: Bahamut is stern and very disapproving of evil. He brooks no excuses for evil acts. In spite of this stance, he is among the most compassionate beings in the multiverse. He has limitless empathy for the downtrodden, the dispossessed, and the helpless. He urges his followers to promote the cause of good, but prefers to let beings fight their own battles when they can. To Bahamut, it is better to offer information, healing, or a (temporary) safe refuge rather than to take others’ burdens upon oneself.

An equally important aspect to Bahamut is his constant conflict with Tiamat. He continually stands in opposition to her world-dominating schemes. Most recently, she has begun a campaign to heavily populate the world with her spawn. Bahamut has answered this outbreak of evil by recruiting stalwart heroes to his side—the dragonborn.

In addition to the dragonborn, Bahamut is served by seven great gold wyrms that often accompany him when he visits the Material Plane.

Sardior

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a ruby with an inner glow

Home plane: Prime Material Plane

Portfolio: neutral dragons, night, psionics, secrets

Domain (-10%): mind control spells, communication and empathy spells, knowledge spells, darkness spells, flight spells

Worshipers: neutral dragons, psions

Sardior is known in a few small circles. Even though he is the Master of the Gem Dragons, in reality he does not require much from his followers, and he does not try to guide their decisions. The gem dragons, in return, look upon him as the ideal and strive to be more like him.

In his natural form, Sardior is a long sinewy dragon covered with deep ruby red scales. At a distance, he might be mistaken for an ancient red wyrm, but the playful expression seen in his eyes makes him very much unlike the reds. He is also known to be a great conversationalist, and the unguarded had best be prepared for his sharp wit.

He makes his home in a huge floating castle, which orbits the world and stays forever in the shadows from the sun. On the nights it can be seen, viewers mistake it for a small red moon.         Dogma: Sardior just wants to learn more. The more you know, the better off you will be, but just learning for learning's sake is not what Sardior stresses. No, gaining knowledge should not just be reading from books. The trick for Sardior is to get someone else to read the book, then tell him all about it. He also has a fondness for gems of all kinds, especially rubies.

Tiamat

Lesser deity

Alignment: Lawful Evil

Symbol: five-headed dragon

Home plane: Baator

Portfolio: evil dragons, conquest, greed

Domain (-10%): fire spells, cold spells, electricity spells, acid spells, flight spells

Worshipers: evil dragons, conquerors

All evil dragons pay homage to Tiamat; green and blue dragons acknowledge her sovereignty the most readily. Many are proud to call themselves her spawn, able to trace their bloodlines back to their god. Good dragons have a healthy respect for Tiamat, though they try to avoid mentioning or thinking about her.

In her natural form, Tiamat is a thick-bodied dragon with five heads and a wyvern’s tail. Each head is a different color: white, black, green, blue, and red. Her massive body is striped in those colors.

Tiamat has many consorts, including great wyrms of the white, black, green, blue, and red varieties.

            Dogma: Tiamat concerns herself with spreading evil, defeating good, and propagating evil dragons. She enjoys razing the occasional village, city, or country, but only as a diversion from her subtle, world-spanning plots. She is the villain who lurks in the shadows. Her presence is felt but seldom seen.

Tiamat constantly seeks to extend the power and dominion of evil dragons over the land, particularly when her subjects find themselves embroiled in territorial disputes with good dragons. Tiamat also unfailingly demands reverence, homage, and tribute from her subjects.

Aasterinian

Demigod

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Symbol: grinning dragon’s head

Home plane: Outlands

Portfolio: learning, invention, pleasure

Domain (-30%): communication and empathy spells, illusion and creation spells.

Worshipers: chaotic dragonbloods, free thinkers

Aasterinian is a cheeky deity who enjoys learning through play, invention, and pleasure. She is Io’s messenger, a huge brass dragon who enjoys disturbing the status quo. She loves all who enjoy innovation and whimsy and is accepting of all dragonblood creatures. Spellscales prove exceptionally amusing to her. She enjoys their changeable natures.

            Dogma: Aasterinian is flighty and quick-witted. She encourages her followers to think for themselves, rather than relying on the word of others. The worst crime, in Aasterinian’s eyes, is not trusting in yourself and your own devices.

Chronepsis

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: an unblinking draconic eye

Home plane: Outlands

Portfolio: fate, death, judgment

Domain (-10%): fate spells, necromantic spells, time spells, knowledge spells, flight spells

Worshipers: dragons, those who would observe

Chronepsis is neutral—silent, unconcerned, and dispassionate. He is the draconic god of fate, death, and judgment. His form is colorless and without luster, marking him as an outsider in the struggles between the chromatic and metallic dragons.

            Dogma: Chronepsis is a passionless observer of the world. He passes judgment on all dragons when they die, deciding where their souls go in the afterlife. Unlike Lendys, Chronepsis is uninterested in justice—he merely observes what is and is not. He is also singularly uninvolved in the activities of the living, and strives to remain so. It is said that only a cataclysm of worldshaking proportions could move Chronepsis from his disinterest.

Astilabor

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a 12-faceted gem

Home plane: Outlands

Portfolio: acquisitiveness, status, wealth

Domain (-20%): protection and warning spells, earth spells, metal spells

Worshipers: dragonbloods, those who seek wealth

Astilabor represents the natural draconic desire to acquire treasure and power. She dislikes the naked greed displayed by Tiamat and her followers. She appears as a huge dragon who shimmers

with all the chromatic and metallic colors of dragonkind.

            Dogma: Astilabor values wealth and power, but without any stigma of greed. She instills in dragonkind the innate need for collecting and protecting the hoard. She claims that she cannot abide theft of any kind from her worshipers, but often turns a blind eye if such acts are performed in the name of building one’s hoard.

Falazure

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral Evil

Symbol: draconic skull

Home plane: Hades

Portfolio: decay, undeath, exhaustion

Domain (-40%): necromantic spells

Worshipers: evil dragons, necromancers, undead

The terrifying Night Dragon, Falazure, is the lord of energy draining, undeath, decay, and exhaustion. Some claim he has a decaying skeletal form; others believe that he looks like a superannuated black dragon whose flesh is pulled tight over his bones.

            Dogma: Falazure teaches that even a dragon’s long life span need not be the limit to a dragon’s existence. Beyond the world of the living is another realm, one of undeath eternal. It is generally accepted that Falazure created (or had a hand in creating) the first undead dragons, such as dracoliches, vampiric dragons, and ghostly dragons.

Garyx

Lesser deity

Alignment: Chaotic Evil

Symbol: reptilian eye superimposed over a flame

Home plane: Pandemonium

Portfolio: fire, destruction, renewal

Domain (-20%): fire spells, healing spells, movement spells

Worshipers: dragons, sorcerers, warlords, some druids

Garyx the All-Destroyer symbolizes the sheer power and destructive force of dragonkind. Some argue that Garyx is actually insane, as a result of his long residence on the Windswept Depths of Pandemonium. He appears much like a great wyrm red dragon.

            Dogma: Garyx teaches by example, periodically traveling to the Material Plane to wreak unholy swaths of destruction across the landscape. Those who revere follow the example, using their power to bring ruin and devastation.

Hlal

Lesser deity

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Symbol: an open book

Home plane: Arborea

Portfolio: humor, storytelling, inspiration

Domain (-30%): communication and empathy spells, sound spells

Worshipers: dragons, bards, performers

Hlal is a sleek, copper-colored dragon with a ready grin and a happy glint in her eye. Of all the dragon gods, she is the most friendly to nondragons.

            Dogma: Hlal enjoys sharing stories and songs with those who appreciate such things, regardless of the listener’s race or background. She has little use for tyrants—even well-meaning ones—and even less patience for cruelty or bullying. She teaches that one must be free of restraint, whether real or psychological, in order to freely express one’s opinions.

Io

Intermediate deity

Alignment: Neutral

Symbol: a multicolored metallic disk

Home plane: Outlands

Portfolio: dragonkind, balance, peace

Domain (-20%): knowledge spells, meta spells, movement spells

Worshipers: dragons

Io is the Ninefold Dragon, known as such because he embodies all alignments within his outlook. Io is regarded as the creator of dragons, subtly manipulating the destinies of all dragons by operating out in the open where nobody suspects his involvement. Io is concerned solely with the affairs of dragons and dragonkind, interfering in their lives only when he deems it absolutely necessary.

            Dogma: Io cares only for his “children” the dragons and their continued existence in the world. In some cases, this means taking the side of the dragons against other races. In other situations, Io might help nondragons fight against a dragon who would otherwise jeopardize the survivability of the race as a whole.

He prefers to remain out of conflicts between dragons, though if such a conflict threatens to escalate, he might step in (either personally or by dispatching Aasterinian or some other servitor).

Lendys

Lesser deity

Alignment: Lawful Neutral

Symbol: sword balanced on a needle’s point

Home plane: Mechanus

Portfolio: balance, justice

Domain (-40%): protection and warning spells

Worshipers: dragons

Unlike Chronepsis, who judges the life of a dragon only after its death, Lendys metes out justice during a dragon’s life. His scales are a tarnished silver, some say because he cares more about judging others than tending to himself.

            Dogma: Lendys is the arbiter of dragonkind, serving as judge, jury, and executioner alike. When a dragon has committed an injustice against dragonkind, Lendys (or one of his trio of great wyrm silver dragons) is dispatched to deal out appropriate justice. Punishments are severe, and appeals unheard of.

Tamara

Lesser deity

Alignment: Neutral Good

Symbol: seven-pointed star on a field of black

Home plane: Elysium

Portfolio: life, light, mercy

Domain (-30%): light spells, flight spells, healing spells

Worshipers: good dragons, healers, those who desire mercy

Tamara is the kindest and most benevolent of the draconic deities. Some mistake this characteristic for weakness, though such beings don’t make the same error twice. She appears as a luminously beautiful silver dragon, her eyes shining with the brightness of the sun.

            Dogma: Tamara believes in mercy both in life and in death. Not only does she heal the sick and tend the injured, she also delivers a merciful end to those dragons nearing the end of their natural life span. She fiercely detests those who artificially prolong the life of a dragon, particularly when it is against that dragon’s will.