Kuralia

(What follows is a brief history of just how the Dragons of Kuralia became what they are today.  The information regarding the Minotaurs is not really relevant to the campaign, but directly ties into dragon lore.)

The dragons of Kuralia were the first sentient people brought upon Kuralia, by Arguth. It was the dragons who brought magic to Kuralia, and who taught it to Elves, Dwarves, Centaurs, Ogres, Kalikai, Orcs, and Goblins. Dragons refused to teach magic to men, who then were compelled to steal it from their neighbors. The Dragons also created some of the early wonders of Kuralia which can still be seen, if you know where to look.

As far as population is concerned, Dragons in Kuralia came in different forms as in other worlds, but manifested somewhat differently than their peers. Represented upon Kuralia were Steel, Blue, Marsh, Storm, Dwarf Gold and Green dragons. All those listed of the common true dragons are not completely identical to common expectation. Blue and Green match up with their counterparts fairly well, though there are a number of blue dragons who were not evil.  Marsh dragons, while physically different (Being gray with mossy looking scales) than Black Dragons, fill the niche of the lurking dangerous swamp dragon quite nicely. Storm Dragons are similar enough to Red Dragons, but deal with weather, not fire, and are not evil. Steel Dragons are somewhat similar to Bronze dragons in most respects, but are entirely subterranean, and have other differences, as well. Dwarf Gold dragons have all the abilities of a Gold Dragon, but are the size of a Faerie Dragon, manifesting the subsequent physical traits of that species. See the bestiary for more details about these creatures.

After the dragons brought magic to the world, they were satisfied to explore the world and all of its domains, eventually spreading throughout all of Kuralia. All nations have stories about Dragons, but the dragons, even before the War of Nations, made a point to not directly interfere with the affairs of the “lesser people”. Only on a handful of occasions have dragons, by design or by accident, drastically affected the affairs of Kuralia.

The dragons, for the entire duration of their dominion in Kuralia, led a simple existence, occasionally warring between each other, and indirectly meddling in the affairs of mortals, as was their whim. Generally speaking, dragons did not concern themselves with the chaos of the lesser peoples, and set out to make their own lives pleasurable and interesting.
Most dragon traditions were particular to the dragon in question, and individuals varied wildly even among clutchmates. Storm Dragons, for example, played a game where pairs would “Chase the Lightning”, diving from cloud cover toward Kuralia at a phenomenal speed. The goal was to be the last to pull up from the potentially fatal dive. Many Storm Dragons, indeed, suffered crippling injuries from this pastime.
Much of dragon society was far and apart from the purview of man or dwarf. Even the powerful Old Culdorian Empire had no real control over the actions of dragons. As such, there was very little known about dragon society. There were, however, a very few identifying events that marked their presence, such as the naming of the Dragon King.

Every millennium, all of the dragons would come together and declare the Dragon King, a seemingly simple event, but not so for their capricious attitude. The title meant nothing, except as a position of honor. The actions that decided the title were the most direct involvement the dragons, as a whole, ever had with the “Lesser People”. It was usually a competitive event, chosen long beforehand and involved the dragons “creating” unusual events, instigating small wars, moving entire cities from one location to another; pretty much anything was acceptable as long as no other dragon was harmed. The winner was decided by the whole of the dragon community, who would generally gather en masse at a predetermined location. The decision was based upon precedent, creativity, and scope, though dragons have always tended to be rather arbitrary about such things. Generally speaking, these events were done without molesting other people, but occasional disruptions had occurred, mostly forgivable, except for the creation of the Minotaurs.

Minotaurs, as a race, a people, and a nation, are completely accidental. The first Minotaurs were a created people made, in part, to determine the Dragon King, near the middle of the Old Culdorian period. The Dwarf Gold Dragon Snillrik transformed the human denizens of the northern section of Culdorn into cows, in part to display the largess of the Culdorian regime, but also because she found cows to be funny. The other dragons agreed that she should reign as Dragon Queen for the next millennium.

Snillrik, however, did not completely think her folly through, forgetting that there would be consequences for this event. The selection of the Dragon King was held just after the Festival of Planting, a fertility celebration. As a result, there were an unusually high number of Culdorian women who were with child when they were transformed. The number of women who were pregnant who were transformed into cows gave birth to Minotaurs. The cows, still lucid in their transformed state, had managed to eke out a semblance of civilized life, laughable by any means, but enough to properly care for their offspring, and teach them the ways of men. Subsequent couplings between the enchanted cows brought forth more Minotaur progeny, and the Minotaurs became populous rather quickly. Growing in both number and culture with each subsequent generation, as the Minotaurs were determined to prosper.

Maintaining a vestigial human culture through their parents, the Minotaurs grew quickly to be an organized group of clans cloistered in and around the islands of the Terrible Sea of Maldorath. Once united by cause and number, they went forth beginning a protracted campaign to overthrow the dominion of the Dragons, especially in the dominion of magic. This was the second of the two events that sparked the War of Nations. This war would be the defining moment for the Minotaur people.

The Minotaurs, for their part, were a major force during the War of Nations, being the chief engine for the fall of the Old Culdorian Empire. Upon their human cousins’ collapse, the Minotaurs took up the mantle of the Culdorian Empire, and claiming dominion over all of the holdings of that Empire, they quickly dominated the northwest mainland of Thesh. The Culdorian Minotaurs quickly gained control of most of the island holdings throughout the Misty Sea and the Terrible Sea of Maldorath. They forged a solid alliance with the Turmishites, and pushed into the western holdings of the Old Culdorian Empire. They attempted a short peace with the Plains Elves and some of the Kingdoms on the Theshian mainland, helping, in part, to re-establish the Conclave of Great Magic, guaranteeing that something like the creation of the Minotaurs would never happen again.

It was after the war of nations that the dragons of Kuralia opted to withdraw from the world en masse. Being essential to the essence of magic in Kuralia, the dragons could not completely leave. The dragons instead decided to join their essence into five forms, which would become known as the Great Dragons, and they scattered themselves across Kuralia, hiding from the lesser peoples. The Great Dragons bound themselves to never interfere directly in the affairs of greater Kuralia, unless the flow of magic or one of the Great Dragons individually was put in danger.

The Great Dragons have held their pledge for not being involved in the ways of the lesser peoples, for the most part. Of the five Great Dragons, only two have been seen since their inception. Gnomes in Stonefoot discovered the Dragon of the Thesh Mountains, and its presence has been continually monitored, even though it has remained aloof about its discovery. The Dragon of the Jade Sea, however, had made a habit of making itself plainly visible to the Gi and Chenchu, which served to greatly facilitate a civil relationship between the two peoples. It is this Great Dragon who was captured by Lao Tsi, and whose essence was tapped, creating the Dragon Warriors.

The whereabouts of the other three Great Dragons are speculative, at best. The most isolated, and least known regions of Kuralia, The Midnight and the Barren Gray, are good candidates for Dragon strongholds, though there has been little evidence of any activity there. The Vast Pale and the northern ranges of the Northlands too might be good secluded spots for the Dragons. Drow in Kanaella, have scattered reports of a creature fitting the description of a dragon roaming the mantle, and the Svirfneblin have substantiated this on at least one occasion, so it is quite likely that a third Great Dragon has been located. The Kalikai have suggested that a Great Dragon sleeps in the Deep Morass, but that story has been linked to legends far older than the events that created the Great Dragons.