The Holy Scriptures

The holy scriptures of the draconic pantheon don’t consist of a single book, or even a single unified cannon as far as any humanoid scholar knows. Instead it consists of a series of books, the relative importance of which to humanoids varies between nations and over time depending on the whims of whichever priests are in charge.

Despite this, there are six main books that seem to form the core of religious teachings throughout the world, with which all humanoids have some passing familiarity (if they know what’s good for them at least – bored or zealous kobolds sometimes stop passersby and to test their knowledge). These are Words of Creation, Dictates, Prophecies and the three books of Parables. The library of the University of Venac holds 12 more books generally considered to be true religious texts and kobolds make no secret of the fact that more exist but which are not for the eyes of humanoids, although statements from them may sometimes be read out in the course of religious services directed at humanoids.

Whilst the holy scriptures are the means by which the world understands the gods, the gods themselves are very minor characters in the books available to humanoids. All the words dealing directly with the gods’ actions would make up only a few dozen pages if all put together, and instead the books deal almost entirely with mortal creatures or divine agents (fiendish or celestial spirits manifesting on the material world in some limited fashion) acting on or conveying the will of the gods.

The books also contain many mysterious references to ‘Dangers’. These are powerful adversaries of the gods and their mortal flock, never described in any detail and only ever talked about ‘offstage’, having caused some terrible calamity before a key figure arrives on the scene or being involved in activities in the Eternal Realms, the details of which are never fully conveyed. Most scholars assume that Dangers consist of a wide variety of entities including fiends and celestials, pronai, powerful mortals and potentially even other gods, though this last idea would only ever be spoken about in very safe company.

Words of Creation
This book deals with the creation of the world and its creatures. In the beginning, the gods were formless beings who created the material world and populated it with all the animals and pronai that exist today, plus many more that have since become extinct. Over time, a group of mighty reptilian beasts (which the scriptures simply call Ancestors but which scholars have since termed Eosaurs) learned how to change the world, instead of simply be changed by it, and developed great intelligence and the ability to manipulate magical energy. The gods were so proud of what their creations had become that they chose to emulate their forms, and thus the gods became dragons.

Recognising the beauty of their gift, the dragons chose to share it with some of the other animals, seeing that some had also started to develop intelligence, but nothing like theirs. Over many generations they helped scuttling furry things, fish and many other creatures adapt their bodies and minds so that they too could shape the world and impose living will on the rawness of the wild. But these humanoids were insolent and did not share the dragons wisdom. They became selfish and destructive and their gift damaged the world. For this reason, the dragons took to warring with them, a war that lasted throughout all of history until the signing of the Covenant some 14 centuries ago.

Prophecies
As the name implies, this book contains a large number of speculative stories about the future and the will of the gods, laying out what events may unfold depending on the actions of mortal creatures. Whilst it is said to have predicted many historical events ahead of time its language is so florid and filled with metaphor that one can draw almost any conclusion from it that one wants. Despite this, it is the cause of a great deal of superstition amongst humanoids, even those who are not particularly faithful.

Dictates
This book lays down the rules for how humanoids should live their lives. It contains a number of stories about how the gods conveyed these to the mortal world and some fables about the pitfalls of not following them.

The Parables
There are a number of books considered to be ‘Parables’, but the three that are universally preached are the parables of Might, Wisdom and Mercy. Over time these have each come to be associated with the Colour that matches their content, meaning they are widely referred to as the Red, Blue and Yellow Parables respectively. The Parables don’t necessarily contain any specific commands or lessons, they are mostly a series of short stories about the lives of pious figures.

The Parable of Might deals mainly with dragons fighting off Dangers or crushing insolent humanoids, occasionally with the aid of other humanoids who had seen the value of faith. The Parable of Wisdom deals with dragons and kobolds making discovering’s or coining philosophies, most of which would once have been of great relevance to everyday life but the value of which has now mostly faded into antiquity.

The Parable of Mercy mostly deals with dragons being kind to humanoids despite their failings, sometimes regretting it when the stupid humanoids fail to learn. This is the only one of the six major books to feature a humanoid who could be considered a major protagonist, with a story about a young Halfling woman called Alick and a kobold named Graal who were the sole survivors after the island on which they lived mysteriously sunk into the ocean. Through working together to escape Alick eventually learns the value of faith in Our Masters whilst Graal learns the value of mercy towards humanoids, and their lasting friendship allows them to lay the groundwork for what would one day become the Covenant.

Other books
Skrinah, the high priest who oversees Venac, uses the Parable of Commerce/The Indigo Parable in much of her ministrations, and the book sees plenty of acknowledgement amongst the mercantile class of that nation. She also adheres to a second book of prophecies, referred to as Prophecies of Doom, which she preaches with great firey anger. Amongst other things it warns that the only alternative to life under the dragons is a future of bleak desolation on a wounded world.