DragonGraced

History of the Dragon-Graced

Born of a player's dream that a Dragon-Blooded might one day be able to equal a Celestial of the same experience, the true form of the Exalted of the Elemental Dragons is herein revealed.

"The Immaculate Order teaches that the Terrestrial Exalted are spiritually advanced beings, halfway between mortality and the perfection of the Elemental Dragons. In truth, it is simply a matter of heredity."

   ~~Exalted Core Book, page 26

What is this heredity traced back to? Does it come directly from the Elemental Dragons? No, I say. It is traced back to the Dragon-Graced, the Celestial level exalts of the Elemental Dragons.

Long ago, when the gods and Autochthon were creating the shards of the Exalted, Autochthon ran tests to see how the shards would effect the progeny of the Exalted. Through these tests were the half-castes discovered. The Elemental Dragons had not yet made their Exalted, but they saw the need for a vast number of soldiers to be created using only the very limited number of shards that the gods could make. From this need was born the Dragon-Graced, Exalted designed to provide the maximum leakage of power to their progeny. There were only 5 of these exalted shards, one from each of the Elemental Dragons. What are known in the Second Age as the Dragon-Blooded are in fact the half-castes of the Dragon-Graced. The half-castes of the Dragon-Blooded are mere quarter-castes of the Dragon-Graced. These Exalted allowed the Elemental Dragons to field huge armies of Dragon-Blooded while using as little of their power as possible in the creation of their Celestial shards. The other great strength of the Dragon-Graced was their ability to reincarnate very quickly, provided that the Elemental Dragon that made the shard could personally place the shard in the next incarnation. This ensured the Dragons a continuous presence in Creation with rare maintenance that could satisfy the expectations of an elemental god, or so they thought.

During the war against the Primordials, the Dragon-Graced served as heroes for the Dragon-Blooded, leading the great hoards of Terrestrials by example, even unto death. The Dragon-Graced would often be reincarnated into another soul by the time of the next great battle. Once the Primordials were defeated, the Dragon-Graced were put in charge of their respective regional spirit courts, with the authority to use martial law to bring unruly spirits to heel. Thus, the Dragon-Graced found their place in the order of the Old Realm, and all was well.

Then came the advent of the Great Curse and the Sidereal's Usurpation. The Dragon-Graced were driven to maniacal service of their element by the force of their Curse. They would often create tidal waves, earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and fissures, glaciers that would move across the land 100 yards in a day, and beasts of horrendous size while in the throes of their curse. During the Usurpation, the Sidereals convinced the Dragon-Blooded that the Celestials(except for the Sidereals, of course) needed to be sealed away for the good of Creation. The Dragon-Graced were hunted down along with the Solars, and all but the Graced of Earth were quickly isolated and killed. The Graced of Earth saw the Usurpation coming and had made the Imperial Mountain into his personal fortress in preparation for the impending assault. But, such was the preparation of the Graced of Earth that he was never actually attacked. He kept sending out Dragon-Blooded to strengthen the defenses of the Blessed Isle and strengthening his own defenses until the Sidereals decided to simply wait out the Graced of Earth. This is where much of the first age architecture left on the Blessed Isle comes from.

The Dragon-Graced would have recovered from this treachery if not for the combined efforts of the spirt courts and the Sidereals. The spirit courts had grown tired of being ruled by non-spirits, and the Sidereals conspired with them to pull so many strings in the Celestial Beauracracy that the Elemental Dragons would never recieve word of the deaths of their Exalted.

But, just as the Unconquered Sun no longer turns his back on his Exalted, the Elemental Dragons are no longer idle. The spirit courts of the five poles shall have their rightful leaders reinstated! The Dragon-Blooded will not be led by an absent Empress and a religion that denies and supresses their true heritage! The Dragon-Graced shall return!

Author: Qzujak49