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Setting Elaboration
Here are all of the established facts about dragons which have been either implied or stated during the course of this game. This list is the most up-to-date; if anything already established before this point is contradicted by this list, then this list supersedes it.
Additionally, up until this point the dimension that houses the dragons has been referred to as the ‘dragon dimension’. To make writing this segment easier, and to tease with intertextual references, this dimension shall henceforth be referred to as “Utgard”, and the dimension the game takes place in shall be called “Nidavellir”.

Dragons: Dimensional Travel
The Rehatching
Dragons are not native to Nidavellir. They travel to this game’s dimension through cracks in reality (Rips, Shreds, and Tears). However, energy in Utgard is much more concentrated than energy in Nidavellir: when the dragon arrives they are forced into a ‘cocoon’ (shell) so that their internal energy can diffuse (increase volume to reduce density) to the background concentration in Nidavellir. This is how dragons are transformed into their reptilian shape by travelling to the dimension and this is what prevents them from going back through the crack to Utgard.

Refugees
Dragons, just like any other being in this universe, possess a metaphysical volume. This means they cannot pass through dimensional cracks which are too small to permit their passage. Think of it this way: a human will not be able to crawl into a rat hole.
As such, the dragons in Nidavellir are beings of small metaphysical volume; they are refugees of Utgard who have fled their dimension and its encroaching cold.
When these dragons refer to the “Big Fish”, they are talking about the rulers of their dimension, beings with large metaphysical volume. These ‘Big Fish’ are not aware of the cracks, but they DO know that people are vanishing from their domains. If they were to become aware of Nidavellir, they would need to find or create a sizeable dimension crack in order to cross over (building a WOUND).
The dragons of the game thus far therefore are hiding from the “Big Fish”; they do not want them to learn about Nidavellir.

The Bad End: Theft of the Sun
Destiny is what comes when we do not act. It is invariably tragic. So believe in destiny, and fight it with every ounce of strength you possess.
In the case of this game, destiny is that the “Big Fish” will learn about Nidavellir (and more importantly about the properties of this dimension) and come to conquer it, eventually stealing the sun and taking it back to their own dimension. The overarching goal of the players--outside and beyond individual plots--is to prepare Nidaviller for such an invasion to repel the “Big Fish” when they do eventually arrive.

Regarding Utgard
As dimensions go, Utgard is very close to elemental chaos. There is a great deal of raw magical energy but that energy has not coalesced into functional form yet. Seas are comprised of ether, volcanoes spew stardust, and even stormclouds rain drops of light rather than water.
Utgard has no stars, and as such has no natural sources of heat. The dimension is cold and unforgiving; dragons survive by infusing their pearls with heat and light. This is done by removing the pearl and allowing a Phoenixi to bleed on it.

Dragon Society
Due to the harsh nature of the dimension, society is structured around access to a Phoenixi and their much-needed blood. Individual nations have ruling bodies who imprison any Phoenixi the society encounters to properly allot their blood among the populace. Dragons not in the ruling body submit their valuables and services in order to get their pearls recharged. This is why dragons are so greedy in Nidavellir; they’ve never had the opportunity to accrue wealth and so in the warmth of a dimension with natural heat they hoard it. This is also what drives them to acts of conquest; they’ve never had power before and Nidavellir absolutely overwhelms them with it.
Like any world, Utgard has several differing nations which are not above warring with each other. Two such nations have come up in passing during the course of the game: Thane and Qinii. Thane is run by a council of five (colloquially called the Tiamat council) while Qinii has an empire with a single female figurehead (the Qin Empress).


Dragons: Anatomy
The scales
Dragons in Utgard are humanoid; in fact they have the same racial distinctions as the humanoids of Nidavellir (Elves, Dwarves, Gnomes, and Humans). In Nidavellir, though, dragons take the form of giant flying quadrupedal reptiles (usually with leathery wings)… essentially the classic fantasy trope appearance. Dragons in Nidavellir take a shape, color, and elemental affinity based on their personality, which is why dragons from similar cultures in Utgard look similar in Nidavellir--they have compatible personality traits.
Dragons do not sprout feathers in Nidavellir; feathers are strictly worn by Phoenixi.

The pearl
Dragons do not manage their body heat through clothes or blood circulation. Rather, they maintain heat through radiating warmth from their PEARL, which is a spherical removable stone in the dragon’s chest. It is removable regardless of which dimension they occupy, but if removed in Nidavellir the dragon will be flagged by the universe as a native and will lose their reptilian features.
In Utgard, without a pearl a dragon will freeze to death.
In Nidavellir, the pearl is what defines a dragon’s personality and shape. Since it imprints these traits during the re-hatching, transferring the pearl into another dragon transplants these traits as well.

Dragon Radiation
Since Dragons are travelers (entities from a dimension different from Nidavellir), they carry with them certain communicable conditions which all travelers manifest to some degree. In the case of dragons, it is a lingering flavor of their home dimension which permeates their magic. This ‘dragon radiation’ causes things the dragons interact with and cast upon to slowly take on a similar appearance.
…This is actually the energy of the dragon ‘inducting’ the object/being into her dimension; Nidavellir things and people subjected to dragon energy slowly become equivalent denizens of Utgard (Draklings).

Draklings
When a natural denizen of Nidavellir is subjected to high levels of dragon radiation, they inevitably become denizens of Utgard (Draklings). However, since the metaphysical volume of creatures from Nidavellir is much less than that of creatures from Utgard, this transformation renders them more animal than humanoid.
There are four types of Draklings, based on the type of humanoid transformed:
Humans become Lizardfolk.
Elves become Dragontrolls.
Dwarves become Dragongnolls.
Gnomes become Dragonogres.
In Utgard, draklings take the form of quadrupedal mammals.
Lizardfolk become wolves.
Dragontrolls become foxes.
Dragongnolls become bears.
Dragonogres become coyotes.
This is significant, as without becoming a drakling any humanoid entering Utgard would take the form of a rat. This suggests that there’s a means of gaining metaphysical volume.
Draklings have pearls like the dragons that make them. They can also be used as casting conduits by the dragons who created them, and an unspoken bond of servitude (between friendship and subordination) forms that inclines the drakling to obey the dragon that created it.

Dragonkin
Dragonkin are genetic descendents of dragons that were conceived and born in Nidavellir rather than Utgard. They bear some of the reptilian features of their antecedents, but due to the low level of dragon energy in their body they have bipedal, humanoid form and they do not emit dragon radiation on others.
Due to their vastly different anatomy and lack of potent metaphysical volume, dragonkin are often rejected by their parents (if not killed outright).
Dragonkin do NOT possess dragon pearls. Utgard’s physics treats them as indistinguishable from humans. However, dragon radiation will not turn a dragonkin into a drakling. Rather, it transforms them into a fully-fledged dragon.

Phoenixi
Phoenixi are humanoids of Utgard that differ from the other denizens. They emit light from their bodies which can vary from a gentle glow to a blinding flash. They also do not have pearls. Rather, their blood is filled with heat and life, and is used to infuse heat into other pearls.
When Phoenixi travel to Nidavellir, they take the form of great orange birds, their bodies wreathed in flames. However, Phoenixi have the greatest metaphysical volume of any denizen in Utgard, so such visits are infrequent.
Phoenixi are born to dragon families, but the occurrence is rare. They are usually rounded up by the “Big Fish” before their fifth birthday.
Of note is the fact that the down of a Phoenixi in Nidavellir has special properties. Simply touching it is enough to remove any level of dragon radiation from the body.


Dragons: The Dragons so far
Atticas
Atticas is a fresh refugee and is only a child. He underwent his ‘rehatching’ during the first arc of the game. Atticas is significant in that he was able to perceive wealth as a connection to other services rather than simply a shiny thing to pursue--his goal was to contaminate Telivar’s riches and spread his influence throughout the world. In this way he is quite similar to the Big Fish, trying to control everything. Jerias talked him out of this action.
Atticas is also the only dragon on record to corrupt something before hatching, having resurrected Jerias’s body unintentionally before even breaking from the egg.

Bankraz
Bankraz has been in the dimension longer than Atticas, but not nearly as long as the other dragons yet encountered. Formerly a gardener, the transition to Nidavellir transformed him into a Hedge dragon aligned with fire. He attacked Telivar out of petty jealousy; the topiarist trivialized Bankraz’s profession by simply making wonderful gardens happen with magic. Bankraz was given some good advice by Reven and so abandoned his assault on the wizard Telivar. His current whereabouts are unknown.

Cecette
Cecette was a scullery maid in Thane, and one of the earlier refugees to flee to Nidavellir. She found a crack behind a tapestry and traversed it, rehatching in the treasury of Audamar mountain. Unfortunately for her, other refugees had made the denizens of Nidavellir wise to the dragon phenomenon; by the time she hatched a team of wizards were waiting to separate her from her pearl and seal her draconic energy away where it couldn’t contaminate them or the wealth.
Stripped of her metaphysical volume Cecette turned to magic, studying the event that had stripped her of her pearl and learning from it. She became a practiced master of Lycaon magic and used it to escape the Audamar prisons. She then hatched a plan to build an army and liberate her pearl, transforming the elves of the region into ogres and scheduling raids on the mountain.
After the last attempt, foiled by Zataka and Sancireph, Cecette was again imprisoned in the prisons of Audamar, until the dragonkin Granberia helped her to escape. Unfortunately, Granberia--being a dragonkin--did not know there was a difference between pearls and gave Cecette the pearl of another dragon. Needless to say bad things ensued.

D’Arsonius
D’Arsonius arrived in Nidavellir shortly after the disappearances started. He is thus the second oldest dragon in the game. In Utgard, he was driven to kill the empress of Qinii and flee to Thane, where he was employed by the council of five to investigate the rash of disappearances. Stumbling on a dimensional crack, he traversed it only to emerge in a strange land with a strange new body. He was quickly overwhelmed by the power and greed of his new state and set about amassing his fortune.
Then he heard of the Princess and the Spire. Recognizing her as Nidavellir’s equivalent of a Phoenixi, he remembered his purpose and decided to send her back to the home dimension (he wanted to help the people, and another Phoenix would reduce the strain on refueling pearls).
To open a dimensional crack large enough to allow the princess through, D’Arsonius overextended his magical energy and tore himself apart. In the process, what was left of his energy coalesced in the shadow of the Princess (burned into the spire) and formed Granberia. The pearl fragmented into three and filled with void energy, transforming the other pieces of D’Arsonius into a ravenous vampire. One witness--a wizard who would later father Telivar--gathered the three pearl fragments and spirited them away. He went on to teach others how to shred dragons in this manner.

Erasmut
Erasmut is the oldest dragon in Nidavellir, but he is the youngest psychologically. A crack opened in the bath when he was just a toddler and dumped him into Undine’s shrine, where he slowly grew into a massive sea serpent. Still believing himself to be in the bath, he began to play with the ships that drifted by, capturing the little ‘toy’ men inside and running games with them.
Despite his youthful naivety he is incredibly powerful, as he is the child of a former member of the Council of Five. He is the reason they opened the investigation.

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