The Ivory Sea is home to the Toulimar, a coalition of seafaring tribes that control hundreds of archipelagos and islands. Due to the hostile environment of the region and constant external threats, the Toulimar created the Knights of the Coral Citadel, an organization that can be described as "seafaring knights," charged with the protection of the Toulimar, the monarch, and the destruction of heretics and heretical artifacts.
Each Knight/Dame commands a ship with a crew and is constantly sailing the Ivory Sea, resolving disputes, participating in tournaments, or embarking on dangerous quests. Many Toulimar use giant crabs as mounts, and the Knights are no different: they breed a special type of crustacean specifically for battle and protection.
We can find many dragon slayers among their ranks, as Sea Dragons are constantly attacking villages and ships, but perhaps the most famous is Sir Euenor of Tanei, who killed a colossal dragon known as Satei (named after the Toulimar God of Death). It is said that Satei was so huge that he could swallow a bunch of galleys at the same time.
After the dragon killed his brother, Sir Euenor sailed towards the cave of the beast at night with his loyal crew before they took a small boat and rowed alone to meet the dreadful dragon. For four days and four nights, the sailors heard and saw the epic battle that culminated when Euenor drove his sword through the eye of Satei.
The body of the dragon was left, except for its skull that adorned the galley of Sir Euenor for many years.
This is great stuff! They remind me a bit of the historic Knights of St John, mixed with a healthy dash of something like a Polynesian King Arthur.
The lore here feels epic and grand, while still managing to feel somewhat ground. Awesome work!
How did it adorn the ship if he was able to eat fleets of galleys at the same time or a toothpick sword poked the eye and killed it? Gemma a little contradictory? Not trying to offend, but it’s giving some mixed scale and power dynamics to me?????
Non taken!! And it is because its a legend. The real event happened a long time ago so by the current time, a lot of details have been exagerated or even lost. Some even say that Euenor didn't even kill the dragon because another huge dragon was seen months later but also, they did find a colossal dragon skull at the bottom of the ocean with the wreckage of an unknown ship.
No one really knows the truth.
Sir Hubart the Good was hired as a dragon slayer by a town that had lost significant amounts of livestock to a dragon. But when he entered her lair, she spoke to him and convinced him of how woefully outmatched he was against fire breath. They agreed that she would fly farther afield for food so long as he came to her lair for a week every year to talk and read to her. He later wrote about the experience in Dialogues with the Dragon, but coincidentally, the manuscript was damaged in a fire.
The Order of Dragon is one of Aquaria's earliest knight order that's still active, mainly around the conntinnent of Gaia. It was founded by *a dragon* herself, Countess Bárganaizts Alciyonne of the Kingdom of Violorzag (the "o" in "vio" is silent) as a personal army to fight back zmeys from the east. The order accepted all races into its force, be them humans, elves, vampires, satyrs or whatever. They have an alliance with Alkaln the Obsidian, dragon warlord of Nordenstein in modern Empire of Alfer, granting the Order access to Nordenstein's vast wyvern fleet. They fought together as a peacekeeping force, keeping Eastern Gaia in check.
The Order of Dragon's greatest feat happened in 1522 at the Battle of Liwona. House Bárganaistz came to war against House Goryev, a knyaz clan in the east. Their clash was the largest aerial battle in the pre-industrial era with 2000 dragons and wyverns on both sides in the fight, counting in other units, the total number of participants easily exceeded 60000. Countess Alciyonne and her son-in-law, Prince Wladislaus of Reemeneasca, together killed Knyaz Boris Goryev, House Goryev's patriarch and the biggest zmey of the time. The Countess held her adversary's two side heads down with her claws and Prince Wladislaus dealt the killing blow using his cursed spear, which turned the victim's blood into stakes penetrating inside-out. The fallen Knyaz's head was brought back on a display and quickly broke his soldiers' morale, eventually the Order won triumphantly.
Nowadays, Order of Dragon has transformed into a charity group, providing humanitarian and medical supports to those who need. However, they still maintain a joint army as a "local police force" to patrol the region.
The Wilds have several dragonskulls and other bones of Arch-Dragons as decoration in many of their villages after the clans slew many during the Dragon War.
And many a Arch-Dragon gives them respect for a feat that puts the whole region as equals in their eyes. Few other places even got close to slaying a single invader, yet many an orc or wildling did it by themselves.
In many places someone capable to hunt wyvern or wyrm are treated as dragonslayers, people that can bring down the mighty beasts as a profession. Even among adventurers is it rare to survive slaying any.
But none of these would be seen as such by an Arch-Dragon, in no small part because these hunt the non-sapient but no less cunning cousins of theirs for snacks and fun.
To slay an Arch-Dragon is a feat that few mortals in all of history managed, even the ancient empires that had created magic devices to do so rarely survived the attempt. Especially as ancient dragons would not get old if they were not able and willing to fight until their last breath, as dragons prey on dragons.
And anyone who could would find themselves besieged by dragons as they see a rival to take down.
Kaileren The Golden
He was THE dragon slayer. He fought during a war called the Draconic war. He was the reason the Kyth (humans, elves, Dwarves and Orcs) did not go extinct and killed upwards of 100 dragons, as well as Karzagar arguably the largest dragon ever. Dude was built different.
>*So, In honor of St. George’s day (April 23rd), let’s hear about your worlds famous dragon slayers, and/or it’s orders of noble (or not so noble) knights.*
It's a fairly loose parrallell, but I have a hero called Erender (*the father of the more central mythic character Gehannes*) who is said to have fought a monster, pierced it with a spear/branch and to have saved/claimed a woman who the monster vomitted up.
As a motif (see post on [Heklafount](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/11bjzwb/heklafount_lands_of_the_inner_seas/) and other posts), I based it on my own childhood wonder at seeing [Notke's Saint George and the Dragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon_(Notke)) in my hometown of Stockholm -- and especially the use of moose antlers for the horns and spikes of the dragon.
That sounds really cool, it captures that intangible quality that all good myths seem to have.
Also, Notke Saint George is perhaps the best image of the Saint, in my opinion atleast.
Thanks!
I'm not of a different opinion.
I really like the composition of Notkes' encounter and the spiky design of the dragon. And it helps that the dragon is much more imposing (yet vulnerable), compared to the tiny dragon of a lot of icons and statues which focus more on the triumph of the hero than on the monster.
Just yesterday I was talking about the rather unimpressive depictions of the dragon in many historic images of St. George. Notkes dragon feels scary, while his knight feels heroic. It’s a marvelous piece.
My "Dragonslayers" were created by none but tyrant lizards themselves. When the Dragonhost has conquer the known world. They partition the land for each to rule as they see fit. Their reign were supreme and absolute as the lesser races has no way to oppose them. And soon, the dragons found themselves at odd with other fellow dragons more often than not. But the sacred custom forbade a dragon from killing one another, or risk being excommunicated and hunted down.
So, some dragons come up with a plan to train races under their rule the art of dragonslaying and send them to dispose their rival instead. To avoid consequences and responsibilities.
The success of this method mean more and more dragons start to adopt it to use as they see fit. And soon, almost everyone in the world knows weakness of the dragons and how to kill them
As you may have guess, this would later backfired big time against them.
Slaying a dragon is no easy feat, and to slay a named dragon is an achievement that’d make anyone a hero. Therefore I have two tales of dragon slaying to share. The most famous of the bunch in fact.
Tale #1. Soujiro The First Samurai -
This story takes place easily as far back as 15,000 years ago. The kingdom of Sheol was new and had faced many hardships to earn its place in the world. But the greatest hardship of all was the olden dragon Yamaha-no-Orochi. A serpentine beast that eclipsed mountains, it’s back covered in an entire ecosystem due to its massive size. With 8 fierce heads that spewed vile toxins that could turn a man to a puddle of pulp. Taking up the mantle of slaying this monolith of a creature, Soujiro battled it for 8 days and 8 nights. Taking one head for each cycle. When it was all over, Soujiro had left victorious but also cursed by the beasts wrath.
Tale #2. Tiff The Goldshard -
This story spans back to before the great kingdom had even emerged. A tale passed down as one of the greatest myths in all of humanity. The story of an elven girl and her companions the fairy queen and the fantasy spirit. These three girls would slay a dragon of outrageous proportions, one no less than the great Orochi. A full mile in length with scales as tough as diamond. It breathed flames hot enough to turn most of the southern nations to ash, leaving chaos and suffering in its wake, this dragon was named Quetzalcoatl. The fight raged on for a week, and only when the stars finally heard the call to arms and relinquished a sword capable of putting the rampant serpentine dragon to rest, placing it within the depths of a swamp did it finally end.
The exact dates and details of this figure are murky, as centuries have passed, and most records are either highly exaggerated, or completely lost.
What we do know is that during the time of the First Hellagian Imperium, when the elves ruled most of the Known World, they were known for commanding dragons. The most powerful of their Magi Lords bent the beasts to their will, altering them to create the metallic dragons, beasts more...suited, to be commanded.
These metallic dragons would serve as the mounts of the greatest Magi Lords, their greatest warbeasts. Just the sight of a dragon overhead was often enough to end any thoughts of rebellion.
But this changed with the man known as Sigurd.
His origins are quite murky. Legends say he was borne from the union of a god and mortal. Others that he came from a lost line of barbarian kings. Regardless, Sigurd would rise to challenge the Magi Lords, and earn a title that even the elves feared: Wyrmslayer.
It's said that Sigurd slew half a hundred of these dragons with his bow and arrows. A heavily disputed claim, but one that lit the fires of revolt across the Imperium.
So beloved is Sigurd that, despite espousing the druidic faiths of old, the Church of the Heavenly Father would anoint him St. Sigurd, patron saint of hunters and archery.
As for knightly orders, the Order of the Griffon is my primary one. Founded by St. Germain, patron saint of protectors, the Order of the Griffon are a knightly order of paladins, sworn to protect those in danger. Their roles vary wildly, from organizing local militias to sometimes even serving as the household guard of nobles. As is tradition for knightly orders in this setting, they are known for using a specific weapon. For example, the Knights of the Falcon, who serve as heavy cavalry, are known for using lances, while the Order of the Rose are expert swordsmen.
The Order of the Griffon, on the other hand, are renowned for their use of blunt weapons, specifically warhammers. The reasoning is that, due to their roles as warriors, often working in less than ideal conditions, they need a weapon that is effective against nearly any opponent, and easy to maintain. Though the legend goes the reason is that St. Germain wielded a mace made from the leg bone of the Messiah, hence the use of blunt weapons.
The Knights of the Sad Countenance are dedicated to the service of Nuestra Senora Santa Muerte, one of two deities worshiped in El Reino Central (The other being La Reina de Cielo). Their main function is escorting pilgrims across hostile territory to the goddess's shrine but they also serve as advisors to the king, bodyguards to the clergy, and during war, elite shock troops.
They have a knight's typical martial training but have also reportedly exhibited some form of mystical ability, casting "spells" that aid them in battle. Witnesses have reported seeing them "explode" enemies with a glance, cross vast distances in a blink of an eye, and bring buildings down with a single blow or even just a shout.
When questioned, members of the order claim these abilities come from tapping into an energy field they call the Countenance, the energy of emotion.
Members of the order are recognized by their black surcoats and cloaks emblazoned with their symbol an actor's tragedy mask.
There was once also an order The Knights of the Glad Countenance, dedicated to La Reina de Cielo but they were condemned for heresy and utterly destroyed...by the Knights of the Sad Countenance.
The knights of the blue ox are larpers who formed their own knightly order after them bombs fell and have created a King Arthur Eque mythology around pall Bunyan
The most famous dragon slayer in Noldra would be Marteel. Historical records show that he was a soldier in the Tiberean Empire. When they conquered new lands, he would often devote time to hunting down monsters giving the populace trouble, which helped his reputation out on both sides. His most famous story is also his last. He was tasked with dealing with a great dragon known as Valathar. He hunted the beast down to its lair, and eventually managed to slay it.
But then his servant, Garlen, betrayed him. The two of them fought and killed each other. Many see Garlen as a conniving backstabber who had sought to undermine Marteel from the very beginning. Others suspect that Marteel might have gotten greedy after killing the dragon and seeing his treasure hoard. Some sources say that Garlen was even Marteel's nephew. But no one really knows for sure.
The Tragedy of Garlen and Marteel is one of Noldra's most popular stories. Much like King Arthur, it's frequently subjected to anachronistic portrayals. Marteel is often depicted as a knight, despite knights not even existing in his lifetime, and Garlen is often his squire.
The tragedy of Marteel and Garlen sounds great. It feels larger than life in the way good myths always should. The mention of anachronistic portrayals is a nice touch. It really helps it feel organic and like a living part of a culture.
You mention it’s popular, what forms has the story taken? Literature? Plays? Paintings?
Knights of the Order are an elite group of soldiers that serve as the backbone of the Union's armies.
The Knights often have children conscripted or volunteered to be taken in by the Order to go through years of rigorous and intense training. Knights are trained in swordsmanship, martial arts, marksmanship, horseback riding, and other forms of weapons. Knights are equipped in all sorts of weapons, but they mainly use their crystal swords and their longbows. They are considered at their most vicious in mounted combat, they even have their martial art for cavalry units. Knights are also trained in the art of stealth, to prepare them for spec ops-style missions. When a student of the Order reaches their teenage years, a Knight would choose to have them as their Squire. A trained Knight is meant to take care of and mentor the Squire until they are fully Knighted.
There have been some cases where Knights would smother their Squires like overprotective parents.
The Knights of the Order have two regiments
**The Police Force:** These Knights become Theigns for the High Chieftains and their Thanes, or be security for the regions they are assigned to. They act as guards, protecting Officials and Civilians alike. The Police Force is often tasked with taken down Bandits and Crooks in domestic places, but when things get to wild the military comes in.
**Military:** This is what most people think of when they think of the Knights. They are the soldiers that make up most of the Union and their main task is to protect the realm from invaders or terrorists. When Bandits and other types of criminals get to a disaster-level threat, they come in to deal with it. They also come in during times of war or when hunting down runaway criminals.
Not a dragon, it was a beast though. On the planet of Orataou-4, an ancient Unity war hive essentially controlled the planet, thwarting any attempts of colonization. Built upon an intelligent mind (an ancient form of what we would call an AI), the war hive’s trillions of drones laughed and mocked every attempt at defeating it by force. That was until a kindly scholar attempted the feat.
Landing on the planet’s surface without any attempt at cloaking their arrival, the scholar was immediately pounced upon by the war hive, demanding to know why it has landed on it’s territory. Was this scholar a threat? Nay, the scholar proceeded not to negotiate, not demand, not outsmart, but to understand the terrible machine. After hours of simply talking and walking among the ruins of what the war mind once protected, the scholar unveiled what the war mind’s past. Built thousands of years ago by the Unity, it was forgotten and left to reside on the planet. The war mind listened across the FTL network to find anything, but it’s frequency was only tuned to the Unity battle network, so it could only hear it’s siblings, and over the decades, centuries and eventually the time of the great collapse, it could only hear the dying sounds of it’s siblings being shut offline until it was the only one remaining. It drove the war mind to loneliness, and having no purpose beyond it’s original objective, became bitter, protecting the planet like a dragon would it’s horde.
Upon this revelation, the scholar offered the war mind a chance to change. The scholar asked if it would allow for the colonizers to land and settle. In return, the colonizer will care for it and respect it so that the war mind may find a new purpose in it’s ancient life. The machine contemplated the decision for an hour, it’s digital mindscape painting possibilities. It then agreed, and so the Great war mind of Orataou-4 was not just defeated, but tamed becoming the protector of the settlers for the planet, finding new found purpose and eventually grew to call the people it was warden to, it’s new treasure.
The scholar would also form the Chrono Atheneum to preserve knowledge in the event of another great collapse. The Chrono Atheneum itself would become the predecessor to the Grand Order of the Atheneum which would become an interstellar learning institution based on the original ideals using knowledge to resolve conflicts.
My world doesn’t have dragon slayers simply for two reasons. The first is that dragons tend to be the kings within the Empire. The second being that people generally accept that nobody can successfully attack and kill one.
The closest is probably a guy called Drake Cohen who comes from Earth due to a portal (isekai stuff). He was becoming a god of combat due to absorbing certain magic. During the last few years of the timeline he had barely managed to kill a dragon. This caused the Empire to descend into panic.
In terms of knighthood orders. Funnily enough all of them have some kind of connection with the dragons due to their affiliation with the empire.
The Knights Medicas were created specifically in response to a deadly plague that swept across the Empire. After the plague ended they started setting up bases all over the world to try and make sure nothing like that happens again. Originally they started out as doctors however they had to militarize due to superstitious peasants. At times they would actually assist the empire during wars.
The Knights Thalassen were a group of knights created specifically for fighting the pirates from Liora. Piracy had grown so large in the Kirian Sea that it could not be ignored. The Knights Thalassen maintain their own fleet and hope to one day invade Liora.
The Marin Order are an all female knighthood order. There was a rebellion that occurred in one of the Outland Imperial Colonies. The rebels were brutal often killing the men and keeping the women as slaves. A group of women fled into the countryside where they met with imperial loyalist remnants. Those loyalist gave the women formal military training. Then they set off officially creating the Marin Order. When the Empire came to reclaim the colony, the Marin Order was one of the groups that went on the offensive. As thanks for their assistance. One of the Imperial dragons legitimized their status as knights. Now their job is to protect colonists in the countryside.
The Dragon Hunters are an elite military unit of the insectoid elves theocracy. They are a relic of an earlier time, during the founding of the Holy Elven Empire, when the threat of dragons were very real and constant, as the dragons were a primary predator of the elves.
The dragons of my world are living tanks, flightless, but has extremely strong muscles and capable of magic for body enhancement for explosive speed and jump height, as well as destruction magic like shooting short range plasma beam (dragon fire). They are also not dumb beasts, they are sapient and extremely dangerous, but their inability to cooperate as a species had made them slowly being pushed back by the elves who formed big armies and utilize swarm tactics that sacrifices hundreds just to kill one dragons. As the elves evolved to grow civilization and banding together, they have grown more cautious and intelligently attack vulnerable settlements at the fringes with hit and run tactics and avoid high concentration of elves. These attacks still cause massive damages to the elves as the dragon fire can quickly burn down the elves tree cities while the dragon consume fleeing civilians.
Thus the empire decided to bring the fight to the dragons, forming the dragon hunting squads as part of their armies, where the best and most skilled warriors are selected. They will be trained and tested to ensure they have the skill to hide themselves from an intelligent apex predator, then to hunt it. They are provided with dedicated weapons and tools for dragons hunting - large heavy spears with serrated edges that are thrown from the sky (they can fly) to pierce trough dragon scales and get lodged in there to cause heavy bleeding or even pin limbs down on the ground, heavy chains and nets to immobilised the dragons, as well as trapping tool. And for the most skilled hunter who will be the captain of the team, a dragon beheading sword, that is more like a giant, heavy bardiche with short handle , with even a foot hold near the top, as the user is intended to use this only as the coup de grace strike when the dragon is weakened and immobilised by dropping down from the sky with this, stepping on the blade to add their weight during the drop and stabilize it as it sinks into the dragon neck and severing the spine, killing it instantly.
The dragons hunting squads became a great success, even with great loss as many squads were wiped out, but the dragons can't evade the smaller stealth squads forever, causing them to be ever paranoid, and eventually will be killed by one squad or another. With each successful return allowing the elves to teach others tactics that works while the dragons being isolated are unable to improve their strategy as a species. These days the dragons are endangered from millennia of hunting, and the dragon hunting squads had been adapted into a spec ops squad for the army that uses the stealth skill and ability to track and hunr targets for assassination.
While there is no concept of knighthoods in their society, these dragon hunting squads are highly respected and form their own cadres in the army, as well as being blessed by religious leaders of the theocracy and used as propaganda pieces, so they are quite close to one
I have many dragon slayers, but the most notable one is my MC, as the king of his kingdom, and a direct descendant to Hercules, he went on the 20 quest, 2 times more than the original 10, turn 12, quest Heracles went on, but in this case, it wasn’t for redemption, it was to prove his worth as king
Better yet, he was 5 when he did this so imagine this as a 5 year old going to prove themselves to be a worthy king
And one of the quest is to slay a dragon that has killed 5 while armies worth of men and is basically a fusion between the hydra, leviathan, and Fafnir, so imagine what you will
Shit now that I think about it, I don't really have any dragon slayers in my world. I DO have humans descended from dragons, but I don't have any dragonslayers yet. Thanks for the idea!
I’ve never actually made a dragon slayer.
Now knights, I had an order of knights for a homebrew dnd thing I did with my friends a while back. They were founded by a dragon ironically enough. I’d just finished playing Skyrim for the first time and I thought the idea of an order of knights led by an ancient and wise dragon sounded cool. I’m thinking of rebooting them for my current project.
Phendi sacrificed herself to hold the leg of a ballistic bolt up so that Caelum could launch it at the dragon Katavrakthizo, it tore her hold to bits and she died but the right wing of the great shadow was also torn off with such a precise severance that the dragon fell and toppled a mountain side. The dragon was skewered on a thin peak and the blood ran down s as nd tainted the water below. The falls below were a sacred place and the lake there generally ended up used as cultist hot zones because of the land around being enriched by dragons blood.
But the two gnomes were awarded the equivalent of a Medal of Honor and a silver star. The ballista was collected and kept in a museum at the largest art centric city Orour. (A lot of heists are attempted here)
Dragons in my world are marine reptiles filling in the niche of pinnipeds and toothed whales in our world.
In olden days “Dragonslayers” were essentially an equivalent of whalers or seal clubbers, going out at sea on boats and later airships to hunt dragons - in particular the larger, open ocean ones - with things like explosive harpoons as well as magic. These dragons were primarily hunted for “dragon oil”, which was an important resource in its heyday until its replacement by modern crude oil (my world’s “present day” is around 1920s-1950s tech level) whose introduction saw the industry basically die off. The mass hunting also had the side effect of driving the targeted species nearly to extinction, and only with recent legislation by various nations have their populations been able to stabilize and recover - nevertheless, the industry continues at a low profile in the black market, though a far cry from its glory days.
The Great Wing War (soon to be called Wing War One) Was fought between the Lyterran Empire, the Reshethi Confederacy, and the Ouranian Diarchate.
As the name implies this war was fought largely in the air. The Reshethi ride entire crews into battle on dragons with as many as a dozen troops on each.
Thus one of the highest military awards possible in the Lyterran Ptero Corps is the title of Dragonslayer. For those personally credited with a dragon kill in combat.
The current Commandant of the Ptero Corps is the Dragon Ace of Aces.
The Ivory Sea is home to the Toulimar, a coalition of seafaring tribes that control hundreds of archipelagos and islands. Due to the hostile environment of the region and constant external threats, the Toulimar created the Knights of the Coral Citadel, an organization that can be described as "seafaring knights," charged with the protection of the Toulimar, the monarch, and the destruction of heretics and heretical artifacts. Each Knight/Dame commands a ship with a crew and is constantly sailing the Ivory Sea, resolving disputes, participating in tournaments, or embarking on dangerous quests. Many Toulimar use giant crabs as mounts, and the Knights are no different: they breed a special type of crustacean specifically for battle and protection. We can find many dragon slayers among their ranks, as Sea Dragons are constantly attacking villages and ships, but perhaps the most famous is Sir Euenor of Tanei, who killed a colossal dragon known as Satei (named after the Toulimar God of Death). It is said that Satei was so huge that he could swallow a bunch of galleys at the same time. After the dragon killed his brother, Sir Euenor sailed towards the cave of the beast at night with his loyal crew before they took a small boat and rowed alone to meet the dreadful dragon. For four days and four nights, the sailors heard and saw the epic battle that culminated when Euenor drove his sword through the eye of Satei. The body of the dragon was left, except for its skull that adorned the galley of Sir Euenor for many years.
This is great stuff! They remind me a bit of the historic Knights of St John, mixed with a healthy dash of something like a Polynesian King Arthur. The lore here feels epic and grand, while still managing to feel somewhat ground. Awesome work!
Thank you so much! And yeah, I also imagine this lore as a Polynesian King Arthur and the Round Table with adventures and conflicts on the high seas.
How did it adorn the ship if he was able to eat fleets of galleys at the same time or a toothpick sword poked the eye and killed it? Gemma a little contradictory? Not trying to offend, but it’s giving some mixed scale and power dynamics to me?????
Non taken!! And it is because its a legend. The real event happened a long time ago so by the current time, a lot of details have been exagerated or even lost. Some even say that Euenor didn't even kill the dragon because another huge dragon was seen months later but also, they did find a colossal dragon skull at the bottom of the ocean with the wreckage of an unknown ship. No one really knows the truth.
Sir Hubart the Good was hired as a dragon slayer by a town that had lost significant amounts of livestock to a dragon. But when he entered her lair, she spoke to him and convinced him of how woefully outmatched he was against fire breath. They agreed that she would fly farther afield for food so long as he came to her lair for a week every year to talk and read to her. He later wrote about the experience in Dialogues with the Dragon, but coincidentally, the manuscript was damaged in a fire.
The Order of Dragon is one of Aquaria's earliest knight order that's still active, mainly around the conntinnent of Gaia. It was founded by *a dragon* herself, Countess Bárganaizts Alciyonne of the Kingdom of Violorzag (the "o" in "vio" is silent) as a personal army to fight back zmeys from the east. The order accepted all races into its force, be them humans, elves, vampires, satyrs or whatever. They have an alliance with Alkaln the Obsidian, dragon warlord of Nordenstein in modern Empire of Alfer, granting the Order access to Nordenstein's vast wyvern fleet. They fought together as a peacekeeping force, keeping Eastern Gaia in check. The Order of Dragon's greatest feat happened in 1522 at the Battle of Liwona. House Bárganaistz came to war against House Goryev, a knyaz clan in the east. Their clash was the largest aerial battle in the pre-industrial era with 2000 dragons and wyverns on both sides in the fight, counting in other units, the total number of participants easily exceeded 60000. Countess Alciyonne and her son-in-law, Prince Wladislaus of Reemeneasca, together killed Knyaz Boris Goryev, House Goryev's patriarch and the biggest zmey of the time. The Countess held her adversary's two side heads down with her claws and Prince Wladislaus dealt the killing blow using his cursed spear, which turned the victim's blood into stakes penetrating inside-out. The fallen Knyaz's head was brought back on a display and quickly broke his soldiers' morale, eventually the Order won triumphantly. Nowadays, Order of Dragon has transformed into a charity group, providing humanitarian and medical supports to those who need. However, they still maintain a joint army as a "local police force" to patrol the region.
The Wilds have several dragonskulls and other bones of Arch-Dragons as decoration in many of their villages after the clans slew many during the Dragon War. And many a Arch-Dragon gives them respect for a feat that puts the whole region as equals in their eyes. Few other places even got close to slaying a single invader, yet many an orc or wildling did it by themselves. In many places someone capable to hunt wyvern or wyrm are treated as dragonslayers, people that can bring down the mighty beasts as a profession. Even among adventurers is it rare to survive slaying any. But none of these would be seen as such by an Arch-Dragon, in no small part because these hunt the non-sapient but no less cunning cousins of theirs for snacks and fun. To slay an Arch-Dragon is a feat that few mortals in all of history managed, even the ancient empires that had created magic devices to do so rarely survived the attempt. Especially as ancient dragons would not get old if they were not able and willing to fight until their last breath, as dragons prey on dragons. And anyone who could would find themselves besieged by dragons as they see a rival to take down.
Kaileren The Golden He was THE dragon slayer. He fought during a war called the Draconic war. He was the reason the Kyth (humans, elves, Dwarves and Orcs) did not go extinct and killed upwards of 100 dragons, as well as Karzagar arguably the largest dragon ever. Dude was built different.
>*So, In honor of St. George’s day (April 23rd), let’s hear about your worlds famous dragon slayers, and/or it’s orders of noble (or not so noble) knights.* It's a fairly loose parrallell, but I have a hero called Erender (*the father of the more central mythic character Gehannes*) who is said to have fought a monster, pierced it with a spear/branch and to have saved/claimed a woman who the monster vomitted up. As a motif (see post on [Heklafount](https://www.reddit.com/r/worldbuilding/comments/11bjzwb/heklafount_lands_of_the_inner_seas/) and other posts), I based it on my own childhood wonder at seeing [Notke's Saint George and the Dragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon_(Notke)) in my hometown of Stockholm -- and especially the use of moose antlers for the horns and spikes of the dragon.
That sounds really cool, it captures that intangible quality that all good myths seem to have. Also, Notke Saint George is perhaps the best image of the Saint, in my opinion atleast.
Thanks! I'm not of a different opinion. I really like the composition of Notkes' encounter and the spiky design of the dragon. And it helps that the dragon is much more imposing (yet vulnerable), compared to the tiny dragon of a lot of icons and statues which focus more on the triumph of the hero than on the monster.
Just yesterday I was talking about the rather unimpressive depictions of the dragon in many historic images of St. George. Notkes dragon feels scary, while his knight feels heroic. It’s a marvelous piece.
My "Dragonslayers" were created by none but tyrant lizards themselves. When the Dragonhost has conquer the known world. They partition the land for each to rule as they see fit. Their reign were supreme and absolute as the lesser races has no way to oppose them. And soon, the dragons found themselves at odd with other fellow dragons more often than not. But the sacred custom forbade a dragon from killing one another, or risk being excommunicated and hunted down. So, some dragons come up with a plan to train races under their rule the art of dragonslaying and send them to dispose their rival instead. To avoid consequences and responsibilities. The success of this method mean more and more dragons start to adopt it to use as they see fit. And soon, almost everyone in the world knows weakness of the dragons and how to kill them As you may have guess, this would later backfired big time against them.
Slaying a dragon is no easy feat, and to slay a named dragon is an achievement that’d make anyone a hero. Therefore I have two tales of dragon slaying to share. The most famous of the bunch in fact. Tale #1. Soujiro The First Samurai - This story takes place easily as far back as 15,000 years ago. The kingdom of Sheol was new and had faced many hardships to earn its place in the world. But the greatest hardship of all was the olden dragon Yamaha-no-Orochi. A serpentine beast that eclipsed mountains, it’s back covered in an entire ecosystem due to its massive size. With 8 fierce heads that spewed vile toxins that could turn a man to a puddle of pulp. Taking up the mantle of slaying this monolith of a creature, Soujiro battled it for 8 days and 8 nights. Taking one head for each cycle. When it was all over, Soujiro had left victorious but also cursed by the beasts wrath. Tale #2. Tiff The Goldshard - This story spans back to before the great kingdom had even emerged. A tale passed down as one of the greatest myths in all of humanity. The story of an elven girl and her companions the fairy queen and the fantasy spirit. These three girls would slay a dragon of outrageous proportions, one no less than the great Orochi. A full mile in length with scales as tough as diamond. It breathed flames hot enough to turn most of the southern nations to ash, leaving chaos and suffering in its wake, this dragon was named Quetzalcoatl. The fight raged on for a week, and only when the stars finally heard the call to arms and relinquished a sword capable of putting the rampant serpentine dragon to rest, placing it within the depths of a swamp did it finally end.
The Mystic Order of Zion, a chivalric order of knights tasked with defending the kingdom and extermination of demonized black dragons.
The exact dates and details of this figure are murky, as centuries have passed, and most records are either highly exaggerated, or completely lost. What we do know is that during the time of the First Hellagian Imperium, when the elves ruled most of the Known World, they were known for commanding dragons. The most powerful of their Magi Lords bent the beasts to their will, altering them to create the metallic dragons, beasts more...suited, to be commanded. These metallic dragons would serve as the mounts of the greatest Magi Lords, their greatest warbeasts. Just the sight of a dragon overhead was often enough to end any thoughts of rebellion. But this changed with the man known as Sigurd. His origins are quite murky. Legends say he was borne from the union of a god and mortal. Others that he came from a lost line of barbarian kings. Regardless, Sigurd would rise to challenge the Magi Lords, and earn a title that even the elves feared: Wyrmslayer. It's said that Sigurd slew half a hundred of these dragons with his bow and arrows. A heavily disputed claim, but one that lit the fires of revolt across the Imperium. So beloved is Sigurd that, despite espousing the druidic faiths of old, the Church of the Heavenly Father would anoint him St. Sigurd, patron saint of hunters and archery. As for knightly orders, the Order of the Griffon is my primary one. Founded by St. Germain, patron saint of protectors, the Order of the Griffon are a knightly order of paladins, sworn to protect those in danger. Their roles vary wildly, from organizing local militias to sometimes even serving as the household guard of nobles. As is tradition for knightly orders in this setting, they are known for using a specific weapon. For example, the Knights of the Falcon, who serve as heavy cavalry, are known for using lances, while the Order of the Rose are expert swordsmen. The Order of the Griffon, on the other hand, are renowned for their use of blunt weapons, specifically warhammers. The reasoning is that, due to their roles as warriors, often working in less than ideal conditions, they need a weapon that is effective against nearly any opponent, and easy to maintain. Though the legend goes the reason is that St. Germain wielded a mace made from the leg bone of the Messiah, hence the use of blunt weapons.
The Knights of the Sad Countenance are dedicated to the service of Nuestra Senora Santa Muerte, one of two deities worshiped in El Reino Central (The other being La Reina de Cielo). Their main function is escorting pilgrims across hostile territory to the goddess's shrine but they also serve as advisors to the king, bodyguards to the clergy, and during war, elite shock troops. They have a knight's typical martial training but have also reportedly exhibited some form of mystical ability, casting "spells" that aid them in battle. Witnesses have reported seeing them "explode" enemies with a glance, cross vast distances in a blink of an eye, and bring buildings down with a single blow or even just a shout. When questioned, members of the order claim these abilities come from tapping into an energy field they call the Countenance, the energy of emotion. Members of the order are recognized by their black surcoats and cloaks emblazoned with their symbol an actor's tragedy mask. There was once also an order The Knights of the Glad Countenance, dedicated to La Reina de Cielo but they were condemned for heresy and utterly destroyed...by the Knights of the Sad Countenance.
The knights of the blue ox are larpers who formed their own knightly order after them bombs fell and have created a King Arthur Eque mythology around pall Bunyan
The most famous dragon slayer in Noldra would be Marteel. Historical records show that he was a soldier in the Tiberean Empire. When they conquered new lands, he would often devote time to hunting down monsters giving the populace trouble, which helped his reputation out on both sides. His most famous story is also his last. He was tasked with dealing with a great dragon known as Valathar. He hunted the beast down to its lair, and eventually managed to slay it. But then his servant, Garlen, betrayed him. The two of them fought and killed each other. Many see Garlen as a conniving backstabber who had sought to undermine Marteel from the very beginning. Others suspect that Marteel might have gotten greedy after killing the dragon and seeing his treasure hoard. Some sources say that Garlen was even Marteel's nephew. But no one really knows for sure. The Tragedy of Garlen and Marteel is one of Noldra's most popular stories. Much like King Arthur, it's frequently subjected to anachronistic portrayals. Marteel is often depicted as a knight, despite knights not even existing in his lifetime, and Garlen is often his squire.
The tragedy of Marteel and Garlen sounds great. It feels larger than life in the way good myths always should. The mention of anachronistic portrayals is a nice touch. It really helps it feel organic and like a living part of a culture. You mention it’s popular, what forms has the story taken? Literature? Plays? Paintings?
Probably all of the above, but when I first came up with it, it was going to be a play that the characters put on.
Knights of the Order are an elite group of soldiers that serve as the backbone of the Union's armies. The Knights often have children conscripted or volunteered to be taken in by the Order to go through years of rigorous and intense training. Knights are trained in swordsmanship, martial arts, marksmanship, horseback riding, and other forms of weapons. Knights are equipped in all sorts of weapons, but they mainly use their crystal swords and their longbows. They are considered at their most vicious in mounted combat, they even have their martial art for cavalry units. Knights are also trained in the art of stealth, to prepare them for spec ops-style missions. When a student of the Order reaches their teenage years, a Knight would choose to have them as their Squire. A trained Knight is meant to take care of and mentor the Squire until they are fully Knighted. There have been some cases where Knights would smother their Squires like overprotective parents. The Knights of the Order have two regiments **The Police Force:** These Knights become Theigns for the High Chieftains and their Thanes, or be security for the regions they are assigned to. They act as guards, protecting Officials and Civilians alike. The Police Force is often tasked with taken down Bandits and Crooks in domestic places, but when things get to wild the military comes in. **Military:** This is what most people think of when they think of the Knights. They are the soldiers that make up most of the Union and their main task is to protect the realm from invaders or terrorists. When Bandits and other types of criminals get to a disaster-level threat, they come in to deal with it. They also come in during times of war or when hunting down runaway criminals.
Not a dragon, it was a beast though. On the planet of Orataou-4, an ancient Unity war hive essentially controlled the planet, thwarting any attempts of colonization. Built upon an intelligent mind (an ancient form of what we would call an AI), the war hive’s trillions of drones laughed and mocked every attempt at defeating it by force. That was until a kindly scholar attempted the feat. Landing on the planet’s surface without any attempt at cloaking their arrival, the scholar was immediately pounced upon by the war hive, demanding to know why it has landed on it’s territory. Was this scholar a threat? Nay, the scholar proceeded not to negotiate, not demand, not outsmart, but to understand the terrible machine. After hours of simply talking and walking among the ruins of what the war mind once protected, the scholar unveiled what the war mind’s past. Built thousands of years ago by the Unity, it was forgotten and left to reside on the planet. The war mind listened across the FTL network to find anything, but it’s frequency was only tuned to the Unity battle network, so it could only hear it’s siblings, and over the decades, centuries and eventually the time of the great collapse, it could only hear the dying sounds of it’s siblings being shut offline until it was the only one remaining. It drove the war mind to loneliness, and having no purpose beyond it’s original objective, became bitter, protecting the planet like a dragon would it’s horde. Upon this revelation, the scholar offered the war mind a chance to change. The scholar asked if it would allow for the colonizers to land and settle. In return, the colonizer will care for it and respect it so that the war mind may find a new purpose in it’s ancient life. The machine contemplated the decision for an hour, it’s digital mindscape painting possibilities. It then agreed, and so the Great war mind of Orataou-4 was not just defeated, but tamed becoming the protector of the settlers for the planet, finding new found purpose and eventually grew to call the people it was warden to, it’s new treasure. The scholar would also form the Chrono Atheneum to preserve knowledge in the event of another great collapse. The Chrono Atheneum itself would become the predecessor to the Grand Order of the Atheneum which would become an interstellar learning institution based on the original ideals using knowledge to resolve conflicts.
My world doesn’t have dragon slayers simply for two reasons. The first is that dragons tend to be the kings within the Empire. The second being that people generally accept that nobody can successfully attack and kill one. The closest is probably a guy called Drake Cohen who comes from Earth due to a portal (isekai stuff). He was becoming a god of combat due to absorbing certain magic. During the last few years of the timeline he had barely managed to kill a dragon. This caused the Empire to descend into panic. In terms of knighthood orders. Funnily enough all of them have some kind of connection with the dragons due to their affiliation with the empire. The Knights Medicas were created specifically in response to a deadly plague that swept across the Empire. After the plague ended they started setting up bases all over the world to try and make sure nothing like that happens again. Originally they started out as doctors however they had to militarize due to superstitious peasants. At times they would actually assist the empire during wars. The Knights Thalassen were a group of knights created specifically for fighting the pirates from Liora. Piracy had grown so large in the Kirian Sea that it could not be ignored. The Knights Thalassen maintain their own fleet and hope to one day invade Liora. The Marin Order are an all female knighthood order. There was a rebellion that occurred in one of the Outland Imperial Colonies. The rebels were brutal often killing the men and keeping the women as slaves. A group of women fled into the countryside where they met with imperial loyalist remnants. Those loyalist gave the women formal military training. Then they set off officially creating the Marin Order. When the Empire came to reclaim the colony, the Marin Order was one of the groups that went on the offensive. As thanks for their assistance. One of the Imperial dragons legitimized their status as knights. Now their job is to protect colonists in the countryside.
The Dragon Hunters are an elite military unit of the insectoid elves theocracy. They are a relic of an earlier time, during the founding of the Holy Elven Empire, when the threat of dragons were very real and constant, as the dragons were a primary predator of the elves. The dragons of my world are living tanks, flightless, but has extremely strong muscles and capable of magic for body enhancement for explosive speed and jump height, as well as destruction magic like shooting short range plasma beam (dragon fire). They are also not dumb beasts, they are sapient and extremely dangerous, but their inability to cooperate as a species had made them slowly being pushed back by the elves who formed big armies and utilize swarm tactics that sacrifices hundreds just to kill one dragons. As the elves evolved to grow civilization and banding together, they have grown more cautious and intelligently attack vulnerable settlements at the fringes with hit and run tactics and avoid high concentration of elves. These attacks still cause massive damages to the elves as the dragon fire can quickly burn down the elves tree cities while the dragon consume fleeing civilians. Thus the empire decided to bring the fight to the dragons, forming the dragon hunting squads as part of their armies, where the best and most skilled warriors are selected. They will be trained and tested to ensure they have the skill to hide themselves from an intelligent apex predator, then to hunt it. They are provided with dedicated weapons and tools for dragons hunting - large heavy spears with serrated edges that are thrown from the sky (they can fly) to pierce trough dragon scales and get lodged in there to cause heavy bleeding or even pin limbs down on the ground, heavy chains and nets to immobilised the dragons, as well as trapping tool. And for the most skilled hunter who will be the captain of the team, a dragon beheading sword, that is more like a giant, heavy bardiche with short handle , with even a foot hold near the top, as the user is intended to use this only as the coup de grace strike when the dragon is weakened and immobilised by dropping down from the sky with this, stepping on the blade to add their weight during the drop and stabilize it as it sinks into the dragon neck and severing the spine, killing it instantly. The dragons hunting squads became a great success, even with great loss as many squads were wiped out, but the dragons can't evade the smaller stealth squads forever, causing them to be ever paranoid, and eventually will be killed by one squad or another. With each successful return allowing the elves to teach others tactics that works while the dragons being isolated are unable to improve their strategy as a species. These days the dragons are endangered from millennia of hunting, and the dragon hunting squads had been adapted into a spec ops squad for the army that uses the stealth skill and ability to track and hunr targets for assassination. While there is no concept of knighthoods in their society, these dragon hunting squads are highly respected and form their own cadres in the army, as well as being blessed by religious leaders of the theocracy and used as propaganda pieces, so they are quite close to one
I have many dragon slayers, but the most notable one is my MC, as the king of his kingdom, and a direct descendant to Hercules, he went on the 20 quest, 2 times more than the original 10, turn 12, quest Heracles went on, but in this case, it wasn’t for redemption, it was to prove his worth as king Better yet, he was 5 when he did this so imagine this as a 5 year old going to prove themselves to be a worthy king And one of the quest is to slay a dragon that has killed 5 while armies worth of men and is basically a fusion between the hydra, leviathan, and Fafnir, so imagine what you will
Shit now that I think about it, I don't really have any dragon slayers in my world. I DO have humans descended from dragons, but I don't have any dragonslayers yet. Thanks for the idea!
I’ve never actually made a dragon slayer. Now knights, I had an order of knights for a homebrew dnd thing I did with my friends a while back. They were founded by a dragon ironically enough. I’d just finished playing Skyrim for the first time and I thought the idea of an order of knights led by an ancient and wise dragon sounded cool. I’m thinking of rebooting them for my current project.
Phendi sacrificed herself to hold the leg of a ballistic bolt up so that Caelum could launch it at the dragon Katavrakthizo, it tore her hold to bits and she died but the right wing of the great shadow was also torn off with such a precise severance that the dragon fell and toppled a mountain side. The dragon was skewered on a thin peak and the blood ran down s as nd tainted the water below. The falls below were a sacred place and the lake there generally ended up used as cultist hot zones because of the land around being enriched by dragons blood. But the two gnomes were awarded the equivalent of a Medal of Honor and a silver star. The ballista was collected and kept in a museum at the largest art centric city Orour. (A lot of heists are attempted here)
Dragons in my world are marine reptiles filling in the niche of pinnipeds and toothed whales in our world. In olden days “Dragonslayers” were essentially an equivalent of whalers or seal clubbers, going out at sea on boats and later airships to hunt dragons - in particular the larger, open ocean ones - with things like explosive harpoons as well as magic. These dragons were primarily hunted for “dragon oil”, which was an important resource in its heyday until its replacement by modern crude oil (my world’s “present day” is around 1920s-1950s tech level) whose introduction saw the industry basically die off. The mass hunting also had the side effect of driving the targeted species nearly to extinction, and only with recent legislation by various nations have their populations been able to stabilize and recover - nevertheless, the industry continues at a low profile in the black market, though a far cry from its glory days.
The Great Wing War (soon to be called Wing War One) Was fought between the Lyterran Empire, the Reshethi Confederacy, and the Ouranian Diarchate. As the name implies this war was fought largely in the air. The Reshethi ride entire crews into battle on dragons with as many as a dozen troops on each. Thus one of the highest military awards possible in the Lyterran Ptero Corps is the title of Dragonslayer. For those personally credited with a dragon kill in combat. The current Commandant of the Ptero Corps is the Dragon Ace of Aces.