The History of Xorvintaal

In the beginning...

There was only one dragon. He was the first and all who came after, came from him. This dragon’s name was Io and he was created by the Gods as they created the world. Io was unfathomably large; it is said the largest dragon who ever lived since is smaller than a single one of his scales, which were blue, gold, brass, and red, edged with silver and dark purple. He spent his time travelling the newly formed world observing the creations of the Gods. Always being alone and never a feeling true part of the world as it developed. As the years went by he grew bored with the world and the creatures that inhabited it. And so Io created the dragons in his image and gave each type a piece of his body and soul, ensuring that each type of dragon was just a smaller aspect of his nature. Only together as a race would they be as powerful as Io himself. His children were to be his legacy creating all future dragons from them. According to myth, Io's first child was a small, simple-minded dragon called Vorel. Vorel's name means "beautiful" in Draconic, for beautiful she was, perfect of scale and form. She was a perfect image of Io but without his power. Next he created Xorvintaal without the physical majesty and beauty of Vorel but with all the power and intellect of his father. Lastly Io created a pair of children; he created them male and female: Bahamut and Tiamat were their names. Io intended them to grow up and mate, producing children that combined the best traits of each.

Instead, the two were immediate rivals, yet Io would not choose a favourite between them. After many failed schemes to make herself look better and Bahamut worse, Tiamat hatched a diabolical plan: she slew her sister Vorel and framed Bahamut for the awful deed. Io, however, carefully sought out the truth, and sorrowfully banished his daughter Tiamat from his presence. Tiamat turned utterly to hatred and Evil, while her brother Bahamut, ever her rival, turned to Good in order to oppose her. So it was that Io lost three of his children: the first to death, the second to Evil, and the last to Good. Heartbroken Io abandoned the world and his children.

Xorvintaal became frustrated with the way the other creatures viewed his brothers, sisters and children. Instead of accepting them they feared them and tried to destroy them. His children became a solitary race, only associating with each other. This enraged Xorvintaal, how could these mortals be so naive that they would shun his children? His children are magnificent creatures born with size, beauty and intelligence that these lesser races could only dream of obtaining. But equally Xorvintaal became frustrated with the rivalry of his brother and sister. Their rivalry had infected all dragonkind, they would never act as one race as his father had intended. They were blind that without this they were weaker than they could be.

This is the point where Xorvintaal decided to create the Great Game. Instead of trying to be accepted by the lesser mortals, and working as one race his children would control and manipulate them like puppets. Many years were spent defining the boundaries of the Great Game. Perfecting it, determining what could and couldn’t be done within the rules of the Great Game. Many mortal life times went by as Xorvintaal and his children developed the Great Game. The rules were constantly changing and evolving as new concepts and manoeuvres were tried. Some good for the game and some that would only lead to the destruction of the dragons. Xorvintaal made dragon-to-dragon conflict the first unacceptable practice. Having his own children destroying each other was not the goal he was trying to obtain with the playing of the Great Game. Instead he wanted his children to use the mortals as pawns in his game. As a way to show them who is the strongest race.

After playing the Great Game for over 5000 years, Xorvintaal found that his children had developed their skill in the Great Game to a point where he was no longer needed to act as a player, but as a judge. He spent all of his time travelling around the known world determining who was winning and losing at the Great Game. After many years of constant travel, the Great Game had become his only purpose in life and the form he was in didn’t help him observe and tally the scores in the game correctly. After consulting with several of his older children as well as his Brother Bahamut and Sister Tiamut he decided that it was time for the three of them to leave their physical bodies and ascend to a higher place. A place where each could watch over their kind, Bahamut over the good dragons, Tiamut over evil, and Xorvintaal over the Great Game. After a few hundred years of gathering the materials and researching the powerful magic that would be needed. Xorvintaal created the Ritual of Xorvintaal that would bind all his children to the Great Game and to him in his new form. This released Bahamut and Tiamut from their physical forms to ascend to the higher plane to continue their rivalry.

Dragons, above the age of adult, devote their lives to a competition called Xorvintaal, the “Great Game.” They scheme against their fellows, wagering their hoards and manipulating their minions like chess pieces. Sometimes those that don’t directly serve a dragon find themselves caught up in the game. Dragons choose to take up Xorvintaal when they’re adults, drawn by the allure of besting their fellow dragons and the promise of vast treasure and respect. But the game demands commitment from its players. Dragons are a proud and solitary creatures, so Xorvintaal is one of the few ways a dragon can earn draconic prestige. Masters of Xorvintaal are regarded as the finest minds among dragonkind. To join the great game, a dragon must perform the Ritual of Xorvintaal. The ritual requires the dragon to spend a month meditating in a magic cocoon. When the dragon emerges, it is forever marked as a dragon of the Great Game, having sacrificed its innate spell casting ability for the ability to manipulate its minions, to interact telepathically with other Xorvintaal dragons, and to gain power as it advances in the Great Game. Xorvintaal takes years to learn and centuries to play. Only dragons understand the finer points of the rules. At its heart, Xorvintaal is a combination of chess and poker, played with the world as the board and “lesser” creatures as the pieces. Dragons use lackeys to take over one another’s territories and hoards, but they must also place their own hoards and lairs at risk. Xorvintaal has a feudal element as well, with older, successful players taking new players under their wings. A new player that does well earns esteem and influence for its older draconic patrons, and the older dragon earns a share of the younger dragon’s hoard and of future conquests. The rules of Xorvintaal forbid dragon-to-dragon conflict except under rare circumstances. Most players act subtly to divert attention from themselves, avoiding the direct ire of other players.

Because they join the Great Game through a transformation ritual, Xorvintaal dragons are incapable of breaking the rules, but they have the potent minions and the unusual abilities granted by the Ritual of Xorvintaal. They manipulate adventures and other creatures to raid the lairs of their opponents. These pieces in the Great Game draw attention to themselves rather than to their manipulator. After a successful move, such pieces might find themselves the target of a more powerful Xorvintaal dragon that had a stake in the defeated dragon’s treasure and winnings.

Extracts taken and adpated from Monster Manual I (3.5), Monster Manual V (3.5), Monster Manual I (4e), Draconomicon: Metallic (4e), Draconomicon: Chromatic (4e), Allan Frost Documentation on Xorvintaal, Josh Binks Documentation on Xorvintaal and my own.