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NamingDragons have a long history of impressive, terriblenames capable of generating fear when merelyspoken. A dragon’s name has no intrinsic power (butsee the “Optional Rule: Power in a Name” sidebar);rather, the dragon associated with a name is so fearsomethat any listener familiar with the dragon’sexploits might be stricken with associative fright.Listeners shudder when they hear of the exploitsof Dragotha, the undead dragon. They cry out inamazement to learn of the dragon Ashardalon, whoreplaced his own heart with a demon heart. Whocan forget Cyan Bloodbane, who nearly destroyedthe ancient elven nation of Silvanesti on the world ofKrynn?Dragon names can do more than engender fear.They can also inspire dreams of valor. A wealth ofmyths, legends, and heroic stories name dragonsdefeated by brave knights, powerful wizards, andlucky or sly commoners. By their nature, dragonscommand attention when named. People throughoutthe world feel dragons’ actions, schemes, and evendreams. From a wyrmling named Aussir raidingsheep to mighty Ashardalon feasting on preincarnatesouls, dragons’ names command attention. To many,such names embody the magic inherent in the world.Dragons come from many different orders. Evenwithin those groups of similar dragons, differentnaming conventions apply. Some dragons receivetheir names from their parents even before theyhatch. Others name themselves only after living longenough to find a need for a name. Some dragonsmight receive names from other creatures that knowof their exploits. A dragon might take a new namemidway through its life, either to commemorate agreat victory or to combat the ennui of a life that canstretch for a succession of centuries.RELIGIONAll dragons know of Io, who fashioned mortal dragonsin his image. They also know that Io died not longafterward. They believe that the other deities, whobanded together during the primordial–deity warsthat followed the creation of the world, left Io to fightalone except for the aid of his draconic children.The Fall of IoDuring the wars, Io faced a terrible primordial calledErek-Hus, the King of Terror, on a blasted worldlycontinent half shattered from a century of conflict.With a primordial-wrought axe of adamantine thesize of a mountain, the King of Terror split Io fromhead to tail, neatly cleaving the deity into two pieces.Erek-Hus laughed, his voice jubilant thunder thatresounded across the face of the world. Before hislaugh died away, the divine power released from Io’ssplit form entered Io’s two eldest children, transformingthem from dragons into deities.Birth of theDragon DeitiesWhat one deity alone could not accomplish, twoworking together could. Together the two new deities,Bahamut and Tiamat, fought and killed theKing of Terror. Bahamut flung the King’s axe into thestarry sky.The infusion of divine power granted more thanjust divine strength to Bahamut and Tiamat. Io’scharacter also split. His desire to protect creationand his sense of fairness took root in Bahamut, nowworshiped as a deity of justice, honor, and protection.Tiamat embodied Io’s hubris, arrogance, and covetousnessand came to be revered as a deity of greedand envy.The two dragon deities looked at each other acrossthe corpse of the defeated King of Terror. Neithercould suffer the other to exist.They leapt for each other and battled for days.Finally, Tiamat fled, and the two deities returnedtheir attention to the larger war against theprimordials.Worship byChromatic DragonsUncountable millennia have passed since Bahamutand Tiamat rose. In that time, mortal dragons havemultiplied across the world. Chromatic dragonsopenly prefer Tiamat, but other deities have alsofound dragons’ favor.AsmodeusAsmodeus is the evil deity of the Nine Hells. Heis patron of the powerful, deity of tyranny anddomination, and the commander of devils. Of allthe chromatics, red dragons are the most likely tocommit to the service of Asmodeus. A red dragon’snatural desire to tyrannize finds resonance in Asmodeus’shierarchy of power and pain. What red dragonwould overlook the chance to install devilish guardiansin its volcanic lair?AvandraThe deity of change, Avandra delights in freedom,trade, travel, adventure, and the frontier. Manyalso see her as a patron deity of luck, the quality forwhich some chromatic dragons revere her—but onlydragons that are not especially evil in behavior. Tiamat’sclergy reviles dragons that revere Avandra over26CHAPTER 1 | Dragon Lore