Life Cycle of Dragons & Snails
Adult dragons reproduce naturally, laying large clutches of eggs. Some of these eggs will hatch into larvae, taking the form of snails. After an extended period in the snail form, their conchas would grow into cocoons known as cocoonchas, and the larvae would enter their long hibernation. Only a fraction of those will experience the exact conditions required to emerge from their cocoonchas as fully fledged dragons, most others will remain ensconced until their shells petrify into rock.
Order of the Dragon
They understand how primordial snails transform into dragons given the right circumstances - solar conditions, phase in the snail’s cycle, material of its concha, etc. They influence the life cycles of certain snails to coincide with the right time for the transformation ritual. For millenia they have been researching the variety of snails found in the wild to uncover new types of potential dragons.
Blood Dragons Faction
An extreme cult of humans and demons emerged from the Order, the Blood Dragons. They believed the practice needed to be expedited - a process which required a sacrifice of Fae life. These zealots would kidnap denizens of the Faen realm for their twisted rituals, driven by the fanatic belief that dragons were the only way to right the balance of the world. These sacrifices made their magic extremely potent and effective, at the cost of many Fae lives over the years.
Popular Beliefs about the Order of the Dragon
The Order and its sub factions are mostly seen as crazy conspirators, and met with ridicule or suspicion. They are often referred to by derogatory names such as Snail Worshipers, Snail Cultists, Sluggers, or Shellies. Most people either don’t believe dragons still exist, or find it laughable to think they have anything to do with snails.
The Origins of Ophidija
One Blood Dragons ritual involved a kidnapped Fae who unbeknownst to them, was pregnant at the time. As the ritual slowly drained her life force into the snail to expedite its transformation, the young Fae used all the magic at her disposal to channel a thread of life force back into her unborn child. As the smoke cleared, the ritual had failed to create a dragon - the snail’s cocooncha was left petrified.
As the Fae woman lay dead, the life force she had siphoned into her child sped up her pregnancy, and the cultists cut her belly to birth the child that would grow to be Ophidija.
Altered by the demonic influence of the spell and the draconic properties of the snail, the Fae youngling was born with a golden tail and horns. Raised and worshipped by the cultists as a Dragon Child, Ophidija grew confident and powerful. She discovered she had the ability to transform, sprouting dragon wings.
Growing up among the Blood Dragons, constantly hearing the legend of the dragon child born from blood magic, Ophidija always felt like there’s more to the story. One night, walking past the cage of the Fae captured for the night’s ritual, she heard a voice calling out to her.
“Lyatris, you’re alive!” the captive exclaimed.
Driven by her natural curiosity, Ophidija inquired, learning the story of Lyatris - a Fae woman kidnapped years ago by Blood Dragon raiders. She finds out Lyatris was a gifted wielder of life and water magics, and that she was pregnant at the time. Ophidija realizes the cult has been lying to her all her life - she was not born purely out of magic, but from the unwilling sacrifice of her mother’s life. The thought of the countless rituals she conducted, and the Fae lives sacrificed in them, came crashing over her, making her sick to her stomach.
She freed the captive and fled with him to the Fae realm, where she learned to embrace the Fae side of her magic. In this unity, she unlocked the ability to fully transform, taking the shape of a golden water dragon.
