Five Elemental Dragons (Exalted)

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Exalted is a role-playing game published by White Wolf Publishing. The game is classified as high fantasy, but may be more accurately described as "mythic fantasy," as the original developer specifically avoided drawing on J. R. R. Tolkien for inspiration. It is strongly influenced by pulp fantasy such as Tanith Lee's Tales from the Flat Earth; Robert Howard's Conan; Michael Moorcock's Elric, Corum, and Hawkmoon; Glen Cook's Black Company; and Lord Dunsany's Gods of Pegāna; as well as ancient epics such as Three Kingdoms, Outlaws of the Marsh, Journey to the West, the Iliad, the Odyssey, Beowulf, the Epic of Gilgamesh, and the Bible; and finally Chinese and Hong Kong Wuxia movies such as Hero, The Storm Riders, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Japanese anime and manga, as well as video games and specifically console role-playing games such as Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger, and White Wolfs own Sword & Sorcery table-top RPG setting, the Scarred Lands, are primary visual influences and they have some degree of influence on the content and themes of the game as well.

The Five Elemental Dragons are characters in the world of Exalted and are powerful terrestrial spirits in both First Edition and Second Edition for Exalted.

[edit] Overview

In the beginning, there was nothing but chaos and the Primordials, from whom all Creation sprang. They created the world and all things in it. When they had created everything that they had intended to create of the natural world, they created the Incarna and hosts of lesser spirits to serve them and maintain Creation while they played their Games of Divinity. Chief among the Incarna that was created was the Unconquered Sun. After a time, the gods grew discontent with their servitude and they rose up against the Primordials to take their place and play the Games of Divinity for themselves. Unfortunately, the gods could not lift a hand against the Primordials, and so the Unconquered Sun said to the rest of the gods, "Let us take men and give them the favor of the gods and use them as our champions against the Primordials, that we might overthrow them and play for ourselves the Games of Divinity." The other gods agreed and so the Unconquered Sun, along with Luna, the Five Maidens and the Five Elemental Dragons created heroes to fight against the Primordials, those touched by the Unconquered Sun being chief among them and those touched by the Elemental Dragons being the least, but the most numerous of all of the Exalted.

The offspring of Gaia, the Elemental Dragons are the lords of the Terrestrial Bureaucracy, responsible for overseeing its hierarchy of spirits. Like most gods, the Dragons have become decadent and self-absorbed in the time since the end of the First Age. The Elemental Dragons seldom inquire into the state of their subjects, and the Terrestrial spirits ignore their duties more and and become more independent with each year that passes. The Immaculate Order venerates the Elemental Dragons as the Immaculate Dragons, the apotheosis of spiritual development and the lords of Creation.

[edit] The Dragons

The first of the Five Elemental Dragons is Mela, the Elemental Dragon of Air, whose elemental pole dominates the north.

The second of the Five Elemental Dragons is Pasiap, the Elemental Dragon of Earth whose elemental pole is on the Blessed Isle.

The third of the Five Elemental Dragons is Hesiesh, the Elemental Dragon of Fire whose elemental pole dominates the south.

The fourth of the Five Elemental Dragons is Danaa'd, the Elemental Dragon of Water whose elemental pole dominates the west.

The fifth and final of the Five Elemental Dragons is Sextes Jylis, the Elemental Dragon of Wood whose elemental pole dominates the east.

Exalted
Types of Exalts and other Magical Beings	Solar Exalted | Abyssal Exalted | Infernal Exalted | Lunar Exalted | Sidereal Exalted | Alchemical Exalted | Terrestrial Exalted (The Dragon-Blooded) | Raksha (The Fair Folk) | Dragon Kings | God-Blooded
Major Magical Beings	The Primordials | The Yozis | The Neverborn | Gaia | Autochthon | The Unconquered Sun | Luna | The Five Celestial Maidens | The Five Elemental Dragons | The Deathlords
Five Magical Materials	Orichalcum | Moonsilver | Jade | Starmetal | Soulsteel
Signature Characters	Solar Exalted: Dace | Yurgen Kaneko, the Bull of the North | Panther | Samea | Arianna | Harmonious Jade | Swan Abyssal Exalted: Maiden of the Mirthless Smile | Lady of Darkness in Bloodstained Robes | Seven Degreed Physician of Black Maladies | Disciple of the Seven Forbidden Wisdoms | Prince of Shadows | Falling Tears Poet Lunar Exalted: Lilith, the Owl Woman | Strength of Many | Magnificent Jaguar | Anja Silverclaws Sidereal Exalted: Shepherd of the North Star | Iron Siaka | Crimson Banner Executioner | May Blossom | Chejop Kejak | Black Ice Shadow | Sad Ivory Terrestrial Exalted: Tepet Arada | Mnemon | Cynis Denovah Avaku | Sesus Rafara | Peleps Deled | Sesus Nagezzer, the Slug | Tepet Ejava, the Roseblack Alchemical Exalted: Stern Whip of Industry | Fair-Spoken Rishi | Excessively Righteous Blossom | Unhesitatingly Loyal Weapon (?) | Lissome Avid Engineer Infernal Exalted: Lintha Ng Hut Dukantha The Raksha: Lord Kazour | Neshi of the Double Whips | Subarto | Dilari of the Sea Foam | Nlassa of the Lion's Mane | Laughing Boy | Shikuzi the Weaver | Judge Nehemeth The Mountain Folk: Kravah
Exalted Universe	Anima Banner | The Blessed Isle | Celestial Gateways | Creation | The Cult of the Illuminated | Denandsor | Elemental Poles | Essence | The Great Contagion | The Great Curse | The Heptagram | The House of Bells | The Immaculate Order | The Imperial City | The Imperial Mountain | The Lap | Lookshy | Malfeas, the Demon Realm | Nexus | Rakshastan | The Scarlet Empress | The Scavenger Lands | Shadowlands | The Skullstone Archipelago | Thorns | The Threshold | The Underworld | Whitewall | The Wyld Hunt | Yu-Shan, the Heavenly City
Source Materials	Sourcebooks | Novels | Comics