#pergamon lore

It found a place, dark and dry. Still cold, too cold, but better than before, better than the caves. It was just making itself at home when a yelling dragon appeared. At first the yelling dragon seemed to run and go away and leave it alone but then it came back and BAM, it doesn’t remember what happened next, until it woke up inside a thing, like a box in shape but made of metal and with very weird walls that didn’t protect from elements. The yelling dragon was there, not yelling anymore, but mumbling. It couldn’t understand a word.

It considered breaking the weird box and either eating the dragon or leaving back to the safety of the cave. Or maybe both? The dragon had meat other than itself though, it could smell it. It pushed its head out of the box and the dragon yelled again but didn’t leave this time but gave it the meat. It went back into the box, happy. The dragon kept its distance.

It lived in the box for a while. Leaving was an option but the dragon kept bringing meat and it kept eating it. But it had to stretch itself at one point, leaving the box to do so and the dragon yelled again, very loudly. It could not understand the noises and it was annoying so it yelled back. The dragon shut up and it went back into its box.

Later the dragon seemed to want it to come out of the box so it did. Then it went after the dragon and out of the dark place. It was too bright so it went back into the dark. It was freezing cold in there but light was worse. The dragon tried again and it didn’t want to but the dragon had meat so it went. It was not bright this time. And it was warm, so warm. There was meat and warm and not light and it purred happily.

One day, sitting in a warm room, in a warm lap, the dragon said a word many times, pointing at it. “Kiel? Kiel.” It had no idea what it meant but the dragon seemed happy with it.

...

Fane is a good doctor, but also very bad, it depends on what you come to him with. He knows what he is doing and is very professional until you bring him something he’s never seen before. His curiosity and need to research can vary from just slightly overbearing pressure to let him poke some more to down right obsessive need.

But the thing is, since magic is a thing, the fields of anatomy and medicine are basically non-existent outside some niche old tomes from ancient times that archaeology has unearthed. Fane has encountered few other dragons just as interested in the subjects and remains in constant correspondence with all of them but they are the first ones, they are the pioneers who are discovering the field.

So, on the impossibility of being able to get Imp scroll at this point... I have a headcanon for that in my lore.

It is possible to acquire magic that promises to change your breed to the largest of them all, Imperials. And in a way it works, you will look just like Imperial after you use the magic. Just the tiny setback that you won’t be alive to see it. The affliction is called Lightweaver’s Jealousy as it’s believed that the deity in question guards her creation aggressively (and this causes some inferiority complex on Pearlcatchers since they aren’t fiercely protected like that, even though it might not be about protection at all...)

“Once upon a time—” a pleasant and melodious alto starts speaking, “—there was a vibrant and growing Keep. And within this Keep worked a small Guard, comprised of just six dragons at this point in time. Why was the Guard so small you might ask? Well, the Keep was ruled by a Council, and this Council was made up of idiots who—”

The story gets interrupted by another voice that sounds younger but surprisingly calm and leveled. “Darling, dearest, you were supposed to tell a story about the Guard, about us, not the Keep politics.”

“But—,” the first voice starts to object but the second one won’t let her finish.

“Just stick to the topic will you?” He suggests, with an odd crack to the voice as the tone rises for the question. “We don’t have all day.”

“Fine,” her voice sighs loudly and continues, “As I was saying there was a Guard and this Guard had a captain, a foreign Ridgeback who had been hired to fix the Guard that for some reason was in a desperately sad state, with only three members left when she started, if I may remind everyone.”

“You may,” his laughter is short and dry.

“The captain joined as the fourth member and with hard work she managed to make things better. With their improved reputation the Guard gained new members in time and all was going well. Except for one thing.”

Here her voice gets slightly quieter, as if she’s addressing her words privately to a very small group immediately around her.

“There was a certain night guard, a Tundra, that she felt was not a good fit for the plans she had for her Guard. It was not that she disliked him per se, but he was just a bit— unsuitable? He was probably a very nice person inside but there—”

“Hey, sorry, I gotta interrupt you again here!”

Her voice groans, now very loudly. It doesn’t seem to deter him at all.

“Just, shouldn’t you be a bit more— honest about that? It doesn’t sound at all like what we had at the start.”

“I am the one telling this story, am I not?” Her tone is now openly irritated.

“I know but— you could maybe tell it more like it is. It’s not gonna be very interesting otherwise?” The suggestion is diplomatic but there is slight hesitation in the asking voice.

“Alright then.” The words come out deceivingly smooth before she continues, “There was this Tundra who worked as a night guard and the captain thought him absolutely vile, immoral, debauched individual—”

“Ouch,” he winces but his interruption isn’t accepted this time as she keeps on speaking, just a tad bit louder.

“—who could not be trusted under any circumstances and who’s disgusting ass she could not wait to kick flying out of her Guard as soon she could afford it. But for some reason this nasty and hateful Tundra was good at his job so—”

“Okay okay!” His interruption this time is defeated and final. “I get the point. It’s your version. Tell it how you want.” The sigh is exasperated but the almost inaudible apology following sounds genuine.

A question that I think needs answering is if deities are involved in the lives of the dragons, then how come Arcanist hasn’t done anything about the Aurigae?

The Aurigae are basically a cult that originates from Starfall Isles, started by an opportunistic dragon some few hundred years before the current lore point. By the time clan Pergamon was born, they had already established themselves as the official way to worship the Arcanist, even though they had neither communication nor blessing from the deity in question. The Aurigae have become more and more radicalized and hard line in time, especially their branch in Pergamon clan since the clan moved to the Tangled Wood.

So yes, why doesn’t Arcanist speak up? He has been asked to, many times, by those close to him, mostly scholars and adventurers. And the Arcanist always replies that he will think about, but seems to forget the whole matter very quickly. He is after all very busy, and a bit scatter brained too when it comes to these kinds of things.

Okay so, the specifics might still be a bit vague but I have known what the deities are for a while now and I’m gonna write something about them, finally!

First off, I’m gonna connect this lore to another world I have. Not directly and there’s no intervention from either one. But they will share the same universe, And sharing the same universe would mean sharing some basic concepts. In this case that would be “gods”.

Gods in my world tho, they’re not visible, they’re only observable in very distinct conditions, and they generally aren’t worshiped, at least not in their true sense.They’re gods of very basic things, like birth, life, and death. Maybe love and hate, with aspects for peace and war, aid and harm? And imagination, stories and dreams. Big things, universal things. They would be the major gods.

And then there would be minor gods, the gods of the worlds. Not as huge but wielding much more power over their own domain, even being able to manifest physically.

Which brings us to the Eleven. On this world called Sornieth there are 11 ancient dragons, treated as deities. Some of them have never claimed to be anything of the sort but all reap the benefits from their status. And it is true that they are extremely powerful, able to wield god-like powers, and almost immortal too. They did create the dragons, which is no small feat.

But gods they are not. Not really. They have a claim to divine power but It’s all in the words. What the Eleven are is actually the remnants of a dead god, Sornieth, a minor world god who lost a battle. Against who, no one remembers, but the loss resulted in their death and their power and body getting shattered, raining all over the world. Eleven major pieces formed themselves into the ancient dragons known as deities, while the rest lied dormant, too small to become anything without the help of skilled crafter’s hands, forming them into powerful objects.

The death of Sornieth is the reason the world has become a target to Shade, as it has no world god to protect it anymore. Some of the Eleven do their best to fend off the threat, but not all. As different aspects of Sornieth they all have their own characteristics and motivations, which don’t always line up with what it best for the planet. Take Arcanist for an example. His whole being is made of Sornieth’s curiosity. Without the rest of their personality to balance things out, Arcanist is thirst for knowledge run wild. Lightweaver is the same, but for order and control. Flamecaller is the inspiration and creativity. And so on and so on. Each deity is one aspect of Sornieth, isolated from the others.

And the biggest thing probably is that they’re not immortal. They won’t die of old age or from natural causes but they can be killed. It’s extremely difficult, but possible. No one has seen Gladekeeper or Icewarden in a very long time, so whether they’re alive or not is a mystery.

Okay so, I have this guy, Quill. I impulse bought him but I’ve not yet regretted any impulse buy ever so I don’t regret him. It’s just that he’s been sitting in my lair with only that golden accent on, unused for too long. I’ve just had no stories for him. But now I slapped one of the new manes on him and added some other stuff too and whoo, he’s a handsome boy! But still, who is he?

I have a Guardian “NPC” in my lore, a guy named Kelvan who used to work at the clan kitchens but now owns his own deli shop at a prime spot on the stone wall surrounding the Keep marketplace (read here if you want.) And he had (or still has) a thing for Orestes. Kelvan has never seen Ori’s meihin though and doesn’t know he’s a feral. It wasn’t like Ori didn’t find him attractive because he sure did. It was just that Kelvan wasn’t rich or reliable enough for Ori to reveal his secret to him so the Tundra always kept the Guardian at an arms length. Plus Kelvan was always drunk when they met, so there’s that. He did often invite Ori to come see him when he was sober but the guard never dared to. Phobic of real relationships, see.

But yeah, basically Kelvan used to be a monthly nuisance to the aforementioned night guard. The Guardian, who otherwise lived a calm and frugal life in order to save up enough to fulfill his dream of starting his own high end business, allowed himself one night each month out to unwind. And it always ended up in restlessness, as he had lot to unwind. That all stopped when he finally opened his own shop, something that for the longest time Ori wasn’t sure if he was relieved for or not.

Okay, first of all, I’m kinda big on “you do you, if it’s fun and something you love, then it’s okay”, but I need to explain this too much so here goes. GIJINKAS ARE OKAY. DRAGONS ARE OKAY. ANTHROES ARE OKAY. XENOMORPHS ARE OKAY. SENTIENT VACUUM CLEANERS ARE OKAY. ANY COMBINATION OF THOSE IS OKAY. YOU HAVING FUN IS OKAY.

And then to the meat of things. Gijinkas, or rather meihins in Pergamon lore. The short...er version (it’s not short, I’m a lying liar)

If we were more honest they would be called beastforms

Oh you think beast means something that is not human-like? Sucks to be you I guess ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Anyways, there are plenty of beastclans with upper bodies and faces that look human so gtfo with that “but whyyyy” whining ^^

At this point, a quick recap of the past of dragon species à la Pergamon:

Deities = creators

Deities also = abandoners

Dragons = wild

Dragons also = free shapeshifters

Beastclans = open to civilizing these wild things

Dragons: accept invitation y/n? = y

Dragons = finally aware

Dragons = evolving

Dragons = molding their new culture and identity based on beastclans

Dragons = molding their shapeshifting based on beastclans

Dragons = getting more limited in their shifting with developing sense of SELF

Dragons also = kinda ashamed of their wild animal past

Dragons very much = LET’S ERASE THAT PAST

Dragons hinting = Aren’t beastclans actually... less civilized than us?

Beastclans = you are officially blocked from our lands and our libraries

So here we are, at a point where all that happened some thousand or so years ago. Dragon life spans are 150-200 years so quite a few generations. So what’s it like today?

Dragons only have 2 forms, birth form and meihin

(some individuals exist with less ties to their own damn ego who can shapeshift to more forms but they’re rare)

Meihin has turned from the beastclan interaction form to a cohabitation form and up to individuals on how they use it

Both forms exist very solidly on Pergamon lore, neither is right or wrong. It only depends on the dragon in question, what they need and prefer

Some spend most of their time as meihin, others use it very rarely or never

THEY BOTH EXIST EQUALLY AND THE FORM JUST DEPENDS ON THE SITUATION AND OC IN QUESTION SO DON’T LET ORI AND EUDY MAKE YOU THINK THIS PLACE IS GIJINKA 24/7

BUT ALSO I WON’T BE DRAGON AROUND THE CLOCK

ahem

So no one remembers that meihin is a form based on beastclans because that past has been successfully erased and beastclans made the primitive enemies

No one even knows what meihin means

(it means beastdragon, a literal translation of meiha=person and hinjoo=dragon, from Serthis language)

Meiha is meant to encompass all who are sentient, capable of abstract thinking, and forming a culture. It doesn’t mean beast as in monster or animal. That’s just dragon propaganda. Take that context away and beast is just as good a word as meiha, as long as dragons acknowledge they’re meiha or beast too

And now you know why Serthis are the angriest balls of hiss bc you would be too

ANYWAYS

As meihin are so strongly influenced by Serthis, and on some extent Centaurs and Maren (tho they’ve always been more elusive) the dragons adapted to those “human” aspects FULLY

Which means that when they switch to meihin their dragon-like features actually become unwanted

Wings? Snouts? Fur? Scales? NOPE

Dragons whose meihin keeps any of those features are called ferals

Being a feral is considered something that is caused by a weakness of character and dragons like that should be shunned

Even tho no one could tell why if you asked them, that’s just the way it’s “always” been, don’t ask stupid questions??

No one knows shit, okay?

Smooth meihin = good meihin

Which gets us to the hidden past portion of this PSA~

Beastclans still know what’s up but they won’t tell. Dragons are enemies and all that. They literally started a war to deny that past so no thanks

And whoa, did you think such a large scale erasure of past could be laser pointed to just this one thing?

Oh no, no no no... HUGE chunks of history are missing, anything that could hint in any way to the dragons being any less than ready-made creations of the ancient creatures that abandoned them

Shake ‘n Bake dragons~

Oh and no one knows they were abandoned btw

Because those opportunistic harpies deities decided that intelligent dragons might actually be useful to them

At least some of them did

There has been no record of anyone seeing Icewarden or Gladekeeper in a really long time

And no one likes history