When it comes to races with a notable influence on Pearalos, few spring to mind as quickly as the imperial dragons. A truly ancient and powerful race, the imperial dragons have wielded extreme influence and power all across the world for much of its history, and even today - where they lack the world-spanning dominance they were once known for - they are a force to be reckoned with, and one that nobody brushes off.

Powerful, graceful and mysterious, imperial dragons go where they please, settle down as they please, and care naught for the protests of 'petulant mortals', and in general mortals don't tend to interest them very much - though they are ever-fond of amassing servants all the same. The race is one with an extremely long lineage, known for many distinct things.

Imperial dragons are quadrupedal draconic creatures, possessing 4 legs, a long, muscular tail, a pair of wings and a curved neck leading to a draconic face. In spite of this, there is quite a lot of variance intrinsic to the race; some imperial dragons lack wings entirely, others trade their forelegs for even larger and more powerful wings, and even the wings can vary considerably, with both feathered and leathery wings being fairly normal to be seen. Indeed, even scales aren't guaranteed to be there, since furred imperial dragons are common, too!

Anatomically, as a result, imperial dragons are separated into four distinct types; these types influence a lot more than just anatomy, though, and will appear a lot going forward. There are also the elder dragons, which are notable in their own right and are also discussed many times going forward. These are the four subraces, and can be seen to the right.

Elder dragons are notable for taking the baseline anatomy of their type of imperial dragon, and being able to add something else to it; this doesn't happen often, but the elder dragon Circynyth is a great example, as she possess a central unicorn horn in addition to her regular draconic ones. There's no known limits on what elder dragons can gain in this way, either, but the features tend to be smaller in scale.

Imperial dragons are very well known for their wide variety of abilities and the four distinct types of imperial dragon only accentuate this effect. As a collective whole, perhaps the two most famous aspects of imperial dragons are their unique form of magic - imperial magic - which even the System recognizes, and which they use to aid their flight (and enable it if not a Wyvern).

The most infamous trait they have is their near-total immunity to damage, however; their scales are impervious to most forms of attack and their physical prowess is so great that the few types that can hurt them are from enemies that must either get close to the dragon (which is easier said than done) or otherwise focus magic for long enough to affect them, which is also remarkably difficult.

The four different types of imperial dragon have slightly different biological traits that focus on different aspects, and they can be found on their individual pages. An interesting note is that all imperial dragons can fly, even the ones that lack wings - the wyrms and lung. The lung fly by 'solidifying' air itself to give their paws purchase and allow them to leap through the sky, which is quite slow, but extremely agile, second only to the wyverns with regards to agility. The wyrms aren't too dissimilar, known for creating solid pillars or planes of water to leap on, though they are generally far less capable of flight than their sibling types; they can do it, but they're slower and clumsier.

Imperial dragons reproduce in a fairly normal manner, engaging in intercourse between two members of the race - though they don't have to be the same subtype of imperial dragon. The partners also don't have to be a strictly male and female pairing, as all imperial dragons find it trivially simple to change their apparent gender, but either way, the female imperial dragon later lays an egg, which will hatch after many years - often tens or even hundreds of years - into a new imperial dragon.

Beyond their own race, they can also reproduce with any bipedal race they please, so long as they are in their bipedal form; this is actually limited to the same reproductive limitations of their bipedal form, but they can change it fairly freely, with the exception of its gender (unlike their main quadrupedal form), so effectively it lets them reproduce with any race, but if they are the female in the scenario, they must stay in their bipedal form until giving birth, which can pose problems due to how imperial dragon biology works (it can cause them to become trapped in that bipedal form forever if they're not careful or do not possess the extremely rare techniques to overcome this limitation). Curiously, when they do this, the offspring bears no signs of imperial dragon parentage.

One of the most notable features of imperial dragons is that they do not age normally, and instead they can progress through 'stages' of growth through a ritual; the Ascension Ritual. There are six stages of life for an imperial dragon; the Hatchling stage, which is where they all start, the Whelpling stage, the Adolescent stage, the Young Adult stage, the Adult stage, and the Ancient stage. An imperial dragon cannot naturally progress into any of these stages without an Ascension Ritual, and this is something recognized by the System, too, which blocks access to the next stage's racial class prior to the ritual's completion, and requires the current stage's racial class to be complete for the ritual.

Below, each of the stages will be talked about. Notably, imperial dragons in the System's rules have their own racial classes (as already mentioned), and generally speaking when one of their racial classes is available, it must be levelled. This doesn't apply to the Lairshaper and Crystalshaper classes until later in life, as they are advanced classes, but effectively all imperial dragons level those anyway.

The initial stage of an imperial dragon, this stage is where the dragon is at its most vulnerable; its legendary scaled invulnerability has yet to take root, and it isn't much more dangerous than a large predatory cat, though that still makes it quite a danger. The very first Ascension Ritual is used to move from this stage to the Whelpling stage, and is generally the easiest of the six rituals.

During this stage, an imperial dragon begins to develop highly resistant scaled hides - still not immune to damage, but much better - and gains their first access to imperial crafting magic. Their offensive measures still remain low, but better than hatchlings, and they are now far harder to take out, generally being on par with an elephant - dangerous, but possible.

By this stage, the imperial dragon in question starts to develop their offensive magical powers and magical breath attacks (and the natural one for wuivre dragons), and their famous claws and fangs start to earn that reputation. They're no more defensively capable than before, but they're already an offensive juggernaut that will only get more dangerous as time goes on; killable still, but extremely difficult now.

Generally speaking, the young adult stage is where an imperial dragon can truly be called unkillable; their invulnerable scales manifest at this point, with only specialized dragon-killing metals and magics piercing them, and they gain access to Lairshaping magic with which to start shaping their first lair. Notably, to start the ascension ritual for full adulthood, they need to reach level 10 with the Young Adult Dragon racial class and level 5 with the Lairshaper advanced class, both of which they gain access to at this point.

While it's not the pinnacle of dragon kind, an adult imperial dragon is extremely deadly, featuring fully developed melee weapons (claws, fangs, tail and so on), a heavily developed suite of magical abilities, and effectively access to everything imperial dragons can learn; ancients simply improve on the standard that adult imperial dragons set, and one of the new additions is Crystalshaping magic. To start the ascension ritual for the ancient stage, they need to reach level 10 with the Adult Dragon racial class and the Lairshaper and Crystalshaper advanced classes, while also being Core Level 90, which is their limit (meaning they must spend 20 core levels on other, non-imperial dragon progression).

The final, pinnacle stage of dragon kind, ancient imperial dragons are truly in a league of their own. Profusely deadly, completely unkillable even for all but the purest examples of dragon-killing metals and magics, and with some of the greatest magical power in Pearalos, they are forces of nature capable of sheer, unbridled destructive power completely in a league of their own.

Past this point, only one ascension ritual is left, which is unlocked at Core Level 100. This will not increase the stage of the imperial dragon, however, what truly sets it apart is the System's boon for completing it, which is incredibly impactful: their Core Level Maximum is increased to 120, and the system grants them full access to both Classes and Skills for those extra levels, and lets them freely reallocate the 20 core levels previously spent on non-imperial dragon progression.

This is also the only stage wherein an imperial dragon can become an elder dragon, which has its own slew of benefits and powers, detailed below.

When an imperial dragon reaches the ancient stage of their life, they can sometimes progress even further, into the aspect of draconic life that is truly special; that of the elder dragons. Elder dragons have a whole slew of unique quirks, and perhaps their biggest is that their Core Level Maximum from the System is increased to 200, though the extra 80 levels can only be spent on Elder Dragon benefits (though this isn't much of an issue in reality, since these benefits are profoundly powerful).

Each elder dragon commands a certain field of power, and their benefits from the System conform to these fields of power; elder dragons are offensive and defensive juggernauts that are nigh-unkillable, but their powers are highly specialized into their areas of focus. Ultimately, nobody knows how the current elder dragons came to be, as even other ancient imperial dragons around the same age were not offered the benefits by the System, but what is clear is that the elder dragons are an extremely rare and exclusive force of nature that the System empowers with terrifying abilities, but with there being only a few of them at any one time.

It is also notable that elder dragons can remain in forms other than their main imperial draconic one for as long as they like, as often as they like; they don't run the same risk of being trapped in their alternate forms as other imperial dragons; in fact, the very first benefit they get when becoming an elder dragon is the nullification of that limit.

Imperial dragons can adapt to any environment, though each prefers specific permutations of environment, and they invariably warp the environment to suit them through the art of Lairshaping, which is an Advanced Class available to young adult imperial dragons that lets them create sprawling homes for themselves and their servants.

Lairs come in many shapes and sizes, as while the classic underground dragon cave lair is the most famous one for a reason, it is far from the only one; vast palatial complexes, sky island chains, dimensional lairs and more have all been observed to have been shaped by imperial dragons in the past, particularly as most of them start with a more mundane lair initially, and then 'graduate' to the more incredible and awe-inspiring lairs as they reach the adulthood and ancient stages of their life.

The Imperial Dragons deal with periods of heat; a period of time where they can be impregnated for reproduction, which ends early if impregnated and then doesn't return for a certain amount of time. For humans, the analogue is the menstrual cycle. Imperial dragons have a large degree of control over their cycles, and can terminate them at will or prevent them from coming, but their cycle cadence is beyond their abilities to manipulate, lasting 155 years and 9 months, with a heat itself lasting for 5 years and 3 months before the next cycle begins, for a total of 161 years in the full cycle cadence.

Imperial dragons have been historically known to be territorial and possessive to a fault; they defend their claimed land to the death, and believe that everything - and sometimes, everyone - within it is theirs to do with as they please, and that other, lesser races must treat with them for access to those materials or beings. This - obviously - has ever placed them at odds with the settled kingdoms and empires of the other races, which they often believe to be encroaching invaders upon their territory, provoking their ire, and until relatively recently - on a planetary historical scale - they were the rulers of Pearalos.

Nowadays, they are still territorial and possessive to a fault, but they generally only extend this to their lair and its immediate surroundings, and where they don't, they are a lot more permissive of mortal meddling; most imperial dragons today simply don't care about other races, as they are very solitary by nature, more content to deal with their own matters than that of mortal races.

Imperial dragon society is very individualistic in nature, with individual dragons claiming control over their territories and administering them as they see fit. Indeed, they don't generally have or respect higher authorities (with a few notable exceptions), and in no small part this is because of their very sparse population count, with it being very rare outside of their purported homeland for multiple dragons to contest the same territory. Their distaste for higher authorities primarily covers mortal kingdoms and rulers, who they regard as petulant children and often summarily ignore.

The only forms of social structure that an imperial dragon does respect are the authority of the elder dragons - the truly ancient imperial dragons that stand as the greatest of all dragonkind - and the draconic factions, which are the only form of authority that imperial dragons respect; the factions are all notable for different things, and are best detailed below, but when a faction decrees something, all imperial dragons within that faction abide by it lest they be branded traitors to their faction.

Little is known about where the imperial dragons originate from, only that it was called Craz'ranok, and is said to be their home isle. Whether it still exists is anyone's guess, but if it does, people believe that the chances are high that it lies within the lands of Vulniras, where nobody has explored, or it may be hidden through some other methods; some crackpot theories posit that the draconic world is an entirely different one from Pearalos, and that they are far more ubiquitous there, only using Pearalos as a site of political theatre... whether that's true or not is hard to ascertain.

Either way, imperial dragons today can be found all across Pearalos, though there does tend to be regional distinctions to a degree; the Lung prefer the lands of Shirahanai, for instance, while the Wuivre prefer Thrain and its many mountains to lair within. Still, these are just the norms, the reality is that imperial dragons of all types are a global race.

Imperial dragons are among the most intelligent beings on Pearalos, with their ability to process and act upon information being incredible by any metric; they have shown levels of intellect that overshadow any race but the most famous cases - such as that of the androids, who are the most intelligent race on Pearalos and beyond.

Discount them, however, and dragons know no peer in any regard, and the only drawback to their staggering levels of intellect is that they cannot apply it to traditional magical pursuits - as they are incapable of pursuing traditional magic until their oldest stages of life - which puts a fairly firm limitation on how far their intellect can actually be pushed.

Imperial dragons are famously perceptive, as while they do not possess many inherent special senses for other races, they do possess a myriad of other special senses, including for magia itself, precious metals, and more. Beyond those special senses, they are also renowned for their impeccable sense of smell and several examples exist of excellence in regards to hearing, too.

Imperial dragons generally refer to themselves with two distinct methods of naming; their imperial draconic name is their true name, and while it holds no special powers or anything, it is often quite difficult for non-imperial dragons to pronounce. As a result, they often also use a second name that is more derived from their local environment to aid other races in referring to them. Not all imperial dragons do this, but the vast majority do, with generally only the Pandaemonium faction not doing so.

The imperial draconic name, by contrast, tends to be more guttural and incorporates some form of melodic element, and they also tend to be larger and more difficult to speak even if one knows draconic - take the names of Brynnhyldr, Lazzissath, and especially Circynyth, for example.

When discussing the imperial dragons, few institutions hold as much weight as the Draconic Factions; the Flamereavers, the Sentinels, the Advent, and the Pandaemonium factions. Nobody knows where these factions are based - though it would be safe to assume that is on purpose - but their presence and influence are very well known across draconic society, with even draconic beastkin tending to abide by it (though, unlike normal imperial dragons, they are not bound by the instructions and doctrines of the four factions).

The factions don't dictate specific facets of draconic life, but what they do tend to focus on are the broad, overarching policies of their members, such as what their official stance is on mortals (and they tend to broadly be dismissive, as a whole), and one thing is known: the factions are locked in a conflict of some kind. The factions broadly cover a few distinct themes, and while not much is known of them, their general focus is known, as records have ever remained from the time wherein the dragons ruled Pearalos.

The Flamereavers are the most 'simple' faction; they are the faction that is a proponent of conflict and taking things by force, with their members generally being more aggressive and territorial than other imperial dragons; Flamereavers hold tightly onto what they believe to be their demesne, and most famously abhor the power and presence of gods, believing them to be false powers that must be toppled - and they were fairly famously a core part of the Godwars. Notably, however, they are not chaotic, and do not see to sow discord; that is more the field of Pandaemonium. The Flamereavers' leader is the Lady of Flames, the Elder Dragon Brynnhyldr.

The Advent are in many ways the opposite of the Flamereavers; they don't believe in needless conflict and instead believe that imperial dragons can live in unity with mortals (to a degree, anyway; they're still dragons and still believe themselves to be the superior ones in that relationship). They famously sided with mortals and the gods during the Godwars, standing in opposition to the Flamereavers that have become their mortal adversaries. The Advent's leader, is an ancient Elder Dragon that is only known through their title of Sol.

The Sentinels are a faction that split off from the Advent and the Flamereavers during the Godwars; they did not seek to partake in the warfare any longer and so declared total neutrality in the conflicts of their kin and the world at large; this has not made them the friends of many other factions - draconic or not - as they are prone to observe situations even when they could weigh in and turn the tide - and indeed, the Sentinels have many of the strongest imperial dragons among them - but so thorough are their vows to neutrality and observation that they are willing to stomach these opinions. The Sentinels' leader is the Lady of the Seas, the Elder Dragon Circynyth.

Finally, Pandaemonium are a faction that - like the Sentinels - split from the Advent and the Flamereavers during the Godwars; unlike the Sentinels, the dragons of Pandaemonium were not content with watching, and were actually frustrated that the war had degraded into such an orderly affair! They espouse chaos in all things, seeking to bring factions to below against one another - be they their fellow draconic factions or mortal ones - and have ever found the Sentinels to be their biggest rival; not because there is any actual conflict between them, but because they cannot convince the Sentinels to give in to the chaos and engage in aggression. Pandaemonium's leader is a very well known fact indeed; she's the Lady of Chaos, the Elder Dragon Lazzissath.

The most important ritual when discussing imperial dragons is that of the Ascension Ritual; this is the ritual that allows them to ascend life stages and continue along their journey, and there is a total of 6 of them - one for each stage transition, plus one for the end of the ancient stage. The ascension ritual is a trial of a dragon's readiness for the next stage of their life, and it is an intensely personal matter, tasking a given dragon to provide ingredients and undertake personal Quests that prove they are ready and have a great deal of mastery over their current life stage.

It would perhaps be remiss to discuss the imperial dragons and their four factions without looking at each of the leaders of those factions; the four most powerful elder dragons of the race, whose conflicts and goals drive imperial draconic policy, warfare and outlook on mortals evenly. To that end, we will go in the order the factions were mentioned above.

Brynnhyldr, the leader of the Flamereavers, is often the imperial dragon that most people know; generally known for her more easily remembered name of Mym, Brynnhyldr is fiery, aggressive and very much a hothead, and it can very much be said that her disdain for the gods was a key factor that led to the onset of the Godwars, and while the faction she supported did lose, the gods couldn't do anything to the imperial dragons except support her rival, Sol, which was all they did. Brynnhyldr is effectively a quintessential imperial dragon; she prefers her imperial dragon form, is highly aggressive and makes full use of her imperial draconic powers, but she can also be surprisingly diplomatic... when she wants to be.

Sol is perhaps the opposite of Brynnhyldr, and nobody knows their true name - either of them, in fact. We know that they lead the Advent and favour their imperial dragon form like Mym, but that they are also far more diplomatic and actually visit mortal realms fairly regularly. It is likely the case that Sol has been blessed by the gods and has made some kind of pact with them in exchange for their loyalty, but we really won't ever know, as Sol themselves have never answered that question with any degree of veracity, but their hospitality towards mortals is well known. Hell, nobody even really knows what gender Sol naturally aligns to - though it doesn't really matter for imperial dragons anyway.

While Brynnhyldr is the elder dragon most people know, Circynyth is the elder dragon most people remember, and despite the reputation of the Sentinels, often quite fondly too. The leader of the Sentinels, Circynyth is fairly infamous for having the most awkward draconic name to pronounce of the four leaders, which is perhaps why she opts for the far more simple, easily-flowing and easily remembered name of Kokomi for general communication with others - though it is, of course, most polite to use her proper name if possible.

Circynyth is known for being extremely polite and courteous, and for possessing among the most powerful and developed magics of the elder dragons - indeed, she may be among the most powerful to ever exist, which makes her seat atop the ever-passive Sentinels both a boon and a bane for the other elder dragon leaders (as they would much rather that her power served their faction, even if they had to give up their leadership to make it happen, but they're happy she isn't helping their enemies).

Originally, Circynyth supported the Advent, but she was among the first to grow tired of the war, and in spite of her great strength, she began to abstain from conflict in the Godwars - an act that saw her branded a coward by the other factions, but this act is what saw the Sentinels emerge so united around her, as she has never wavered in this conviction. Unlike the other leaders, Circynyth mostly wanders as she pleases, keeping in touch with her subservient Sentinels but never involving herself in regional affairs.

Finally, Lazzissath is the youngest of the imperial dragons - though not by much - and stands as just behind Circynyth when it comes to raw power; originally part of the Flamereavers, she grew very tired of the war and its very predictable nature of the dragons waging war with one another and the gods for a few years and then stopping for decades to rebuild their forces, and then continuing. She founded Pandaemonium to shake things up as it were, and it was her actions that saw the Godwars become so much more bloody and dangerous, with this regular cadence of combat giving way to rampant warfare and brutal conflicts that wore all sides down.

Nobody knew what happened to Lazzissath after the Godwars, but she recently resurfaced in Ranalore, where she has rather alarmingly placed herself in charge of a mortal realm - and stands as the only elder dragon to have done so - in the form of the Black Demesne. Whatever her goals are with the dark realm of magic, they cannot be good, and there is no telling what she will pull out of her hat of chaotic, genocidal tricks.