To the fair and noble people of Thedas.
In this the aptly named Dragon age we are sure not one living soul has been unaware of the return of the great beasts that have given this age its name. They inspire many feelings when one looks upon them; fear, awe, the thrill of adventure...
however there is a serious matter to this letter, with the return of natures apex beauty so too has the lust for hunting them, be it for personal glory or the chance for some grubby smith to have a chance at forging some sword for a cowardly prince, we in this most esteemed society have been taken aback by the relentless, even savage pursuit of them.
This is a kind call to all of those who wish to take up the opportunities that the hunt offers, to adopt more ethical and stringent practices when hunting. We do not want hunting to stop, indeed it is important their numbers are kept to a reasonable level, after all a dragon descending on Val Royeaux would ruin everyone's afternoon soiree. But equally so we feel it would be a colossal shame if these beasts were to disappear into the pages of history once more.
They are beautiful creatures that help keep the balance of nature, and remind us that the folly of man is believing nature is within his own control.
With all this in mind we have come up with some guidelines as well as identifying 12 notable dragons and our recommendations regarding them. when it comes to deciding whether a dragon is suitable to hunt, there are several factors hunters should take note of;
The size of the creature, is important, killing a relatively small one is to our minds distasteful on the other hand one that is too large may be beyond the capabilities of the hunters, suffice to say a wounded and angered dragon would likely rampage and attack the nearest towns or villages.
Following on from this its proximity to local populations should be considered, going out of ones way to find one is well and good unless it is a small one in which case its hardly worth the effort, if it is close to a settlement, larger and more aggressive dragons should be prioritised if not for the glory definitely for the safety of the locals who will look kindly upon you. smaller ones are less of a threat and quite often leave settlements alone, being little more than a nuisance to farmers.
The age is perhaps the most important to us, those dragons that have lived more than 400 years are ideal for hunting, they have likely bred already and are not too big to hunt, those younger than that have often not yet bred and thus killing them would endanger the population of that species.
The last and one the most attractive parts of the hunt are the great amounts of loot that can be gained from these creatures. the older the creature is, the stronger its bones will be and more likely to be salvaged for crafting. older Dragons have often swallowed all manner of weapons and armours they cannot digest from many a fool who has failed to kill them. Younger specimens will offer far less in return for the effort to kill them.
We would hope that all aspiring hunters take these recommendations seriously when arranging their hunts.
As follows are the list of known High Dragons we have taken note of.
1. Fereldan Frostback:
This beauty has been observed in the north east of the hinterlands, we believe a safe enough distance away from redcliffe, that any accidental trespassing in her nest is unlikely. she is quite young we believe only 250 years, for all intents and purposes a young adult, we do not recommend killing her, likelyhood of decent loot is low and would leave her new hatchlings vulnerable to bears, poachers and heartless mercenaries.
2. Northern Hunter:
This one moved into Crestwood not too long ago. after a failed attempt by the guards to drive her off she has made a nest a ways south of the main village. Although young we do in this case recommend her killing, she has shown herself to be somewhat aggressive (for a dragon) and now into her 3rd century she may decide to hunt for humans as much as she might livestock now that she has the taste for it.
3. Abyssal High Dragon:
She is a beauty who survives in harsh conditions out in the western approach. as she is out of the way of any real populations and of a decent size and age, her killing will be up to those who brave the sweltering heat. we are unsure how much loot one might gain from her, but decent quality bone should be salvageable.
4. Gamordan Stormrider:
As the name suggests the rumors are true: there exist Dragons who can summon the power of lightning from their maw instead of fire, she is perhaps one for the more experienced hunter, she has taken up nesting to the north the exalted plains, it may be difficult to travel there currently however with the Orlesian civil war having laid waste to the area, indeed it is amazing she did not attack the armies. in any event hunting her should be postponed until the war has been concluded.
5. Greater Mistral:
When one thinks of Dragons, Ice usually doesn't come to mind, do not be fooled, this ones breath will freeze you solid as it summons cold like that of the strongest winter. she is located to the northern area within the emerald graves, finding her may be more difficult than one would think, after all dragons are massive, yet so too are the trees and the canopy provides ample camouflage for her to hide in the sky above, before she swoops in for a kill. she is some 5 centuries we believe, though our sources differ, her corpse whilst saddening to us, would no doubt offer plenty of bone and we suspect some fine armour is in her stomach too.
6.Vinsomer:
This Dragon has been spotted off of the storm coast and it too wields the power of lightning, to be perfectly honest this dragon is likely more trouble than it is worth, whilst certainly old our examinations have found little scaring on its hide, indicating that either it has been very quick in killing attackers throughout its life or has seen little fighting at all. to add to this it has taken up refuge on an isolated island a way off shore to the west. the Vinsomer is a rare breed amongst dragons, and in this case we do not recommend killing her, if at least to allow her to breed once more and preserve her kind.
7. Sandy Howler:
A bewildered traveller returning from the hissing wastes told of a dragon we had been hoping would return, the sandy howler, she is a particularly vicious beast who likes to make her nest in wide open spaces, hence they typically reside in deserts, whether she is worth killing is a matter of debate amongst us, while she is indeed rare, she is also old and unlikely to breed again we estimate after their 7th century dragons mating habits dwindle and with no drake within a range she might travel conserving this breed in this instance is unlikely. as for her strength she is very powerful, a classic fire breather who would make any of the brave tremble, imagine your wife catching you with another woman and you are halfway there.
the next 3 are grouped together for the reason that they are in such close proximity it warrants attention.
8. Hivernal
9. Kaltenzhan
10. Highland Ravager:
These 3 Dragons have taken up residence in the Emprise Du Lion on the western side of Judicael's Crossing, the Hivernal and Kaltenzahn are cousins of the Greater Mistral, both possessing breaths of ice rather than fire. that the two haven't been seen to fight is bizarre behaviour, however one of our colleagues offered a plausible explanation. Any territorial fight between the two may attract the attention of the older, larger and far more aggressive Highland Ravager (a cousin to the Fereldan Frostback), as a fire breathing Dragon it would certainly have the upper hand in any fight against them and being larger and more aggressive they risk being killed.
it goes without saying that 3 dragons in one area makes the region unstable, that a Ravager is present is far more worrying. If a hunt is to be attempted, whilst any of these 3 would reward lots of crafting material and potentially weapons thought lost to the ages, only 2 of them need be killed. we recommend killing either the Hivernal or the Kaltenzhan first, and then killing the Highland Ravager. in quick succession, as any fighting nearby will waken it and this one would likely rampage across the country.
we would recommend leaving the Hivernal Alive as it is younger than the other two and may still breed where the other two may not and we certainly wouldn't want the ravager breeding, however slim the chances.
11. unidentified dragon:
Witnesses from the town of haven in the Frostback mountains which was recently destroyed by Tevinter cultists, have spoken of a large black dragon at the head of the attack. many things are unclear but more than one person told that it resembled an Archdemon. whilst no blight has been declared, if one should come across it, do not engage it, please report any information about it to us, if it is an Archdemon, then let the wardens kill it as they should, if it isn't we should take steps to conserve this newfound breed.
12. Guardian of Mythal:
the last one on this list came to our attention by way of a caravan that escaped from being lost in the Arbor wilds in the south. if the witness was speaking truthfully, (and he seemed perfectly coherent when we spoke to him), a huge dragon descended upon elves who had attacked his caravan, it didn't attack them, him or his family, but rather gave the elves such a shock they fled. what he described sounded like a huge Fereldan Frostback, but when he described its long curved horns, we knew it was something else entirely. our historians believe it to be a "Guardian of Mythal", a Dragon from the time of the rise of tivinter and the old gods. If this is true and if one finds it, do not kill it, or you will have committed a crime too unforgivable to think of.
We of The Thedosian Society for the Preservation of Dragons thank you for your time in reading this,
good day and happy (ethical) hunting!
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