Dragon (Total War)

Dragons are primordial manifestations of chaos that naturally arose on the world of Hyrule during its Age of Myth and the Realm of Twilight long before.

History
Dragons, along with the Maku Trees, differ from the other beings of Hyrule in that they naturally arose without the influence of the Goddesses and their servants, or the Druthulidi. They formed as natural manifestations of the concept of chaos and change, growing and spreading across the primordial surface of Hyrule. The role of dragons could be compared to that of "gut bacteria," beings that form a symbiotic relationship with the world, bringing change by devouring old life and encouraging new life. The dragons utterly ruled both the primordial age of the Realm of Twilight and Hyrule's Age of Myth, constantly devouring and reshaping the world.

In the Realm of Twilight, the dragons, known as Dark Dragons, were aquatic beings adapted to the water world, archpredators and lords of its ecosystem until the world's natural processes began to end and the oceans dry. The surviving Dark Dragons retreated to a deep abyssal rift, which eventually became exposed, with its remaining waters frozen into vast canyons of ice. They came to rule over the various beings driven east into the Nether Rifts by the expansion of the Twili, such as Shadow Blins.

The Hyrulean Age of Dragons ended with the coming of the First Sages and Oracles, whom destroyed or drove the Dragons of Hyrule into hiding to bring forth order and civilization. Some of the weaker dragons, whom were the scavengers and runts of their kind, survived, aligning themselves with the First Sages or otherwise hiding in depth the earth. One dragon known as Valoo became a servant of the Goddesses, becoming the god figure of the Rito, while others such as Gleeok survived in the depths of the Great Sea.

Volvagians, formerly the smallest and weakest of all dragons, aligned with Maphaeus, First Sage of Fire, with one of the greatest of their kind, Dakkon, being selected as her successor as Second Sage of Fire.

The Volvagians lived in the magma caverns deep below Death Mountain until 645 BG, when the Gorons and their Lizalfos allies dug too deep and released them into the upper caverns that they inhabited, and eventually the surface world. While the runts of their kind, the Volvagians were as gods to the mortal beings of Hyrule, and quickly enslaved the Gorons, betrayed by their Lizalfos allies whom came to revere the serpentine dragons as gods. For over 500 years the Volvagians and their Lizalfos slavemasters ruled over the Death Mountain Range, working the Gorons to death in mines while extorting other mortals for tribute. It was their fateful decision to ally with the Moblin Warlord Ganon in 0 AG against the Kingdom of Hyrule that led to Hylian-backed Goron rebellion that finally toppled their empire. Dakkon was slain and succeeded as Sage by the Goron King Darunia, and the remaining Volvagians fled to the hot, remote corners of the world, some traveling with their former Lizalfos servants to Faron Woods, while others sought refuge in the Gerudo Desert, eventually allying with the Gerudo for vengeance against the Hylians during the Gerudo Wars.

Dark Dragons
The Dark Dragons are the last dragons of the Realm of Twilight, originating from the ancient times it formed into a world much like Hyrule. The primordial age of the Realm of Twilight was similar to that of Hyrule, but without the presence of beings such as the First Sages or Oracles, the Dragons simply continued until they largely ate themselves into extinction, with the Dark Dragons, the runts of their own kind, being among the few to survive.

The Real of Twilight was once full of light and nearly covered in seas, in which the aquatic dark dragons used their wings for aquatic propulsion, ruling the world as mighty hunters and lords. When the processes that ran the world began to end, the Realm of Twilight became what it is today, the seas dried, the skies dimmed to an eternal twilight, and exposed seabeds became a harsh wasteland of rock and ice, forcing the Dark Dragons to retreat to the Nether Rifts, once a great rift at the bottom of the sea.

Dark Dragons widely vary, some, such as Onox, standing roughly three times the size of a Twili and having a humanoid appearance and able to wield weapons and wear armor. Others such as Argorok are more similar to their Hyrulean cousins, being flying serpent-like monstrosities covered the black scales.

Age of Myth Dragons
The time before the coming of the First Sages and Oracle is known as the Age of Dragons for good reason. The primordial world was dominated by true dragons. These titanic reptilian beasts reshaped the world, devouring all life and each other continuously, making Hyrule utterly hostile to any form of civilization. The true Dragons were largely destroyed by the First Sages and Oracles, with only the smallest and weakest surviving in the forgotten corners of the world.

Volvagians
The Volvagians, or Magma Tyrants, are the spawn of a single dragon that survived the coming the the First Sages and Oracles, known as Vyorsoth. In actually the smallest of her kind, she fled into the magma caverns under Death Mountain, spawning a brood of children. Volvagians average six meters in length and are covered in red or orange scales. They are noted for their silver metal horns and bright mane of luminescent hair, which helps their beady green eyes navigate in darkness. If threatened they will assail foes with fire breath or ramming them with their metal horns, and are highly resistant to heat, able to swim in lava and magma. Male Volvagians, known as Serpents or Wyrms, form the bulk of their kind, lacking back legs while their front two serving as hands. The rare females, known as Clutch Queens, are significantly larger, walking on four limbs, and possess leathery wings capable of flight. Clutch Queens are very rare, with usually only a dozen per generation, but are capable of laying thousands of eggs.

Gleeok
Only one of these aquatic dragons is known to still exist, a great hydra-like dragon with multiple heads. Gleeok and its spawn, Gleeoklings, are infamous for their regenerative abilities, able to rapidly regrown severed heads. While far smaller then their parent, Gleeoklings still tower at twice the height of a Hybrid Zora, and are highly valued by Lanayru Province as heavy shock creatures. Gleeok and its spawn are multiheaded dragons with a bipedal body covered in green blue scales and a golden underbelly, with silvery manes of hair on each head. On their back grow a set of vestigial wings too small to carry their weight but that aid in aquatic movement. Gleeoklings are born with a single head, gaining a second and third as they mature. So long as one of these heads remain, the other two will regenerate, as weil any wounds they receive to their body.