Everyone knows of Draconians, but are you aware that the Bakali and Dragons are instrumental to their existence? Let’s look deeper into creating draconians. Buy Dragons of Krynn: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/29540/Dragons-of-Krynn-35?affiliate_id=50797
Transcript
Cold Open
To understand the creation of Draconians, one must understand Dragons and Bakali before them.
Intro
Welcome to another DragonLance Saga episode. My name is Adam and today we are going to talk about the creation of Draconians. I would like to take a moment and thank the members of this channel, and invite you to consider becoming a member by visiting the link in the description below. You can even pick up Dragonlance gaming materials using my affiliate link. I am referencing the Dragons of Krynn sourcebook for this information. If I leave anything out or misspeak, please leave a comment below.
Discussion
The creation of Draconians is a simple enough tale, but I am more interested in the buildup to and evolution of the Draconian race, because it is anything but a linear, clear path from A to B. Of course in the latest age of Krynn, Draconians have liberated the female eggs and restored their natural reproduction methods, but when asked what came first, the chicken or the Dragon Egg, well, it was actually Bakali. It all starts in the Age of Starbirth, far before there were the mortal races of Elves, Ogres and Humans; even before the creation of Chromatic Dragons to be corrupted by Takhisis, and the subsequent creation of Metallic Dragons on behalf of Paladine. Yes, our story begins just after the forging of the universe, and the creation of Krynn, where the High God breathed life onto the surface of the world.
We must also clarify that the Bakali applies to not only the true Bakali lizardfolk, but also the Jarak-Sinn, Troglodytes, Kobolds, Slugs and Naga. As with any creature of intelligence, the Bakali evolved to understand their surroundings and even to worship the gods. They would gather in tribes and vye for the favor of the gods. These, the oldest of lizard species, were doomed by the will of the gods, for after their own inner tribal conflict began, so did the Dragons arrive on Krynn. Though the Bakali fought for dominance initially, they quickly realized the true might of the Dragons and in time, would forsake their old gods to favor these new godly lizard beings. The dragons pulled them from the jungles and taught them technology, civilization and magic! The Bakali would build temples to these new dragon gods. The Dragons would lose interest in their worshippers and seek to grow their domains. As the Dragons warred and expanded their domain, and they were seen as the gods of Krynn, the true gods grew angry.
The Bakali suffered the gods wrath as storms and disaster ruined their civilization. They were protected from total annihilation by Chislev and Sirrion. They would survive the time of ice, but never again rise to the greatness they knew under their dragon overlords. Once the starborn races arrived in the Age of Dreams, the Bakali had degenerated to primal beings of superstition and ritual. They were driven from their lands of millenia by these new races of Human, Ogres and Elves. By the time of the Second Dragon War in 2692 Prae Cataclius, they had been corrupted by Takhisis and Hiddukel who appeared to them in the forms of Chislev and Sirrion. The fallout of the Second Dragon War was horrendous. The Bakali were hunted for revenge. This violence wouldn’t halt or even slow until the Cataclysm.
In the Age of Might, the forces of darkness knew they must find a way of growing their forces at a more rapid pace, and wizards began experimenting with the corruption and creation of various forms of life to fill this void. The renegade wizard in the Dark Queen’s employ, Galen Dracos, was known to have created the horrid undead Dreadwolves which served him well. Though his designs were ended by Huma Dragonbane. Brenn of the Black Robes actually captured a Silver Dragon and her clutch of eggs. His passion in studying the essence of dragons and experimenting on their eggs could be seen as a precursor to the Corruption Ritual, but his designs were ended by Kaz the Minotaur. In 100 Prae Cataclius, Fistandantilus and other Black Robe wizards began studying the nature of life, in order to prolong and create it with the design of standing against the Kingpriest of Istar. The gods themselves put an end to that indirectly with the cataclysm.
It would be more than two-hundred years before the Bakali and Chromatic dragons reunited behind the will of the Dark Queen, and raided the Dragon Isles for the Metallic Dragon’s eggs. They were stolen away to the Lords of Doom, and hid away in the bowels of the vile Temple of Luerkhisis. A decade later the Metallic dragons would realize their eggs were missing after waking from their long slumber. Though they were furious, they were greeted by the red dragon, Harkiel the Bender on behalf of Takhisis. She demanded inaction in the coming war to ensure the safety of their eggs. With no viable alternative, the Metallic Dragons returned to their slumber, and Harkier returned to her Queen. In just over forty years, experimentation would provide results, but not the successful corruption and creation of life desired by the Dark Queen and her minions. As they began experimenting with the plague mold of Zhakar. This was disastrous, and created the Traags who proved ineffective as soldiers. Silver Eggs were next used, which created the Sesks. These were even worse, as they proved cowardly in battle. Both were banished to Taladas to rot.
Only a decade later in 342 Anno Cataclius in the vile ritual chambers far beneath the Temple of Lurkhisis, the red dragon Harkiel the Bender would be joined by Harrawell Dracart, the human black robe wizard and Wyrllish Parkane the Priest of Takhisis and successfully craft and employ the Corruption Ritual which would birth the first Draconians from the stolen Metallic Dragons Eggs. Gilthanas and Silvara would describe the ritual later like this:
Joining hands, the dark-robed clerics and wizards began chanting, causing the egg to darken. It turned to a hideous green before darkening into a dull black and growing to a grotesque size. Through arcane and divine spells, they forced the eggs to grow and their occupants to multiply. The shell became leathery and slimy. As the larva-like egg split open, miniature draconians crawled into the open.
The three began the creation of Draconians initially with Baaz and Kapaks, and then continued with Bozaks, Sivaks and finally Auraks. It had taken millennia, but Takhisis the Queen of Darkness, with the aid of her human worshippers, Chromatic Dragons and the Ancient Bakali had finally created the perfect shock troops for her Fourth Dragon War, the War of the Lance. The Draconians early training and conditioning was brutal, and led to the elder Draconians being revered for their exceptionalism, and the female Draconian Eggs being spirited away in stasis to keep a limit on the Draconians strength. They were ultimately stolen by Dwarves and buried in the caves near Thorbardin.
With the liberation of the remaining Metallic Dragon Eggs in 352 Anno Cataclius by Gilthanas Kanan, the Silver Dragon Silvara and the copper Dragon Cymbol, Ariakan was faced with a problem. A year later he believed he had found his answer. He ordered Dracart to perform the Corruption Ritual on Chromatic Dragon Eggs. The result were the Noble Draconians that refused to serve the Dark Queen’s Army and fled or were killed. Not one to give up, Dracart forged the Heart of Dracart, an artifact that could create a thousand draconians from the essence of a single original draconian. This would ultimately be stolen by the Aurak Draconian, General Maranta, and later destroyed by the Bozak Draconian, Kang. There would be future corruption in the form of Dragonspawn thirty years later by the Blue Dragon Khellendros, but no deviation was ever as successful as the Draconians.
Outro
And that is all I have to say about the creation of Draconians. I hope you enjoyed the information. Do you have a favorite draconian? Have you ever used Bakali or Noble Draconians in your games? And finally if you were a Draconian, would you look kindly on the Dark Queen? Leave a comment below.
I would like to take a moment and remind you to subscribe to this YouTube channel, ring the bell to get notified about upcoming videos and click the like button. This all goes to help other Dragonlance fans learn about this channel and its content. Thank you for watching, this has been Adam with DragonLance Saga and until next time, remember:
My people were hunting by night while yours were still trying to invent socks.
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