Dragon Lords

The Dragon Lords are one of the 20 Space Marine Legions created in the Founding by the Emperor of Mankind as the X Legion, they were sired by Camlarard, ' The Golden Dragon '

Founding
Created after the Unification Wars and the campaigns Sol System during the early years of the Great Crusade, the Dragon Lords were created when the newly incepted Imperium began to leave the Segmentum Solar in order to push the boundaries of their burgeoning realm. Multiple Expeditionary Fleets were formed and began to take the fight to hostile xenos and incalcitrant worlds, bringing several newly discovered lost worlds of humanity back into the fold. The X Legion had to prepare itself for many different environments and battlefields, therefore, they prepared for any eventuality by pushing themselves beyond the limits of their transhuman endurance.

The Great Crusade
The Dragon Lords spent much of the early Great Crusade completing multiple compliance actions against lost human worlds as well as the destruction of many xenos races and hostile forces, further expanding the borders of the Imperium of Man.

Early Life
Before the Emperor of Mankind could launch his Great Crusade into the stars, he first created the demigod-like Primarchs in his secret labs beneath the Himalazian (Himalayan) Mountains on Terra. These were to be his generals of His newly Space Marine Legions - transhuman warriors of superior abilities and deadly skill - who would help bring the light of the Imperial Truth to the darkest corners of the galaxy. But through the dark machinations of the Ruinous Powers, the gestating Primarchs, still in their capsules, were stolen from the Emperor and scattered across the width and breadth of the galaxy. The capsule containing the nascent X Legion Primarch, ended up on the feudal world of Lessania. Camlarard's arrival to his adoptive home world left him stranded alone in the high mountains. Spending a year alone in these mountains and surviving against the forces of nature and the dangerous wild creatures that roamed the lands, he was united with humanity when King Artian, who ruled over these mountains, was hunting one of the dangerous native creatures - a reptilian monster called a drake - when the young primarch saved his life, slaying the beast with improvised stone weaponry. The young primarch was adopted by the King who raised him as a son.

Spending the next few years, Camlarard matured quickly, growing both physically and mentally at an accelerated rate, becoming a great tactician and warrior within a span of a few short years. He continued growing in stature until he was even larger than the kingdom's mightiest warriors. Within a few years of his introduction to society, he could take the right of passage as a member of the warrior nobility of the kingdom. Heading into the mountains where he was found when he was young, Camlarard was expected to kill a drake. Hunting high up into the very mountains he spent his formative years in, Camlarard tracked down a formidable golden Lessanian drake, one of the rarest and most dangerous of their saurian race, and managed to take the beast down. He then skinned the creature's hide and took it as a trophy and as proof of his kill. After slaying and skinning the creature, Camlarard found out that the drake was a female with a clutch of eggs soon to hatch. Deciding on a challenge, he took the drake eggs back with him and attempted to raise the drakes as beasts of war.

Rise to Power
Within a month of his return form the mountains his home nation was visited by a fey mistress. Visiting the primarch she told him of a prophecy, in which a demi-god from the skies would free the world from the greenskins. She convinced the primarch to once again to make a journey into the mountains, guided him to a great lake from whence his blade Caledvwlch would be gifted to him. A year later, a large Ork WAAAGH! came to Lessania. They were drawn there by the prospect of slaughter and plunder. The massive Ork force rampaged throughout the lowland kingdoms, destroying and pillaging their way across the land and pushing thousands of people into the mountains, both civilian and soldiers. Gathering together his people and those who fled the orks, the primarch, his father and brother all prepared to face the orks, establishing fortified camps along every entrance through the mountains.

The massive ork force assaulted up into the mountains, numbering into the thousands, and despite the human's use of the mountain pass to tire and direct their forces into a chokepoint, the orks massive numbers and superior strength and size, started to push the humans back. This was when the primarch joined the battle, leading a force of knights into the ork's vulnerable flanks, cutting through the invasion straight to the Ork Warboss. The Primarch fought and defeated the ork chieftain in single combat, breaking the horde's morale at the death of their leader to a human larger and stronger than any ork they had ever seen. The humans managed to pushing the orks back out of the ravaged kingdoms, of which, only the largest cities survived. Those people which survived the invasion were brought together into this single kingdom, of which Camlarard was name Regent. Despite his heroics, his adoptive father and elder adoptive brother both died defending their home. Only his younger brother Mordred survived to carry on the king's lineage, but he was too young to be crowned king.

Having united many different kingdoms under his rule, Camlarard created the Drekarin Empire. He soon took back the lands lost to the barbarian hordes as his new empire rose out of the ruins. Following the greenskins, the humans nearly wiped them out until a second horde returned, having heard of the fall of the first horde and spoiling for a good fight. The greenskins rushed into combat dragging the remnants of the first horde into their new one. The new greenskin army rushed straight into battle, massively outnumbering the human's army that had taken a position on top of a large hill. This forced the orks to run uphill against them, which gave the human forces a chance to fire down upon the seething mass of greenskins, while their infantry held the tide of orks for as long as they could. Despite their best efforts, they were slowly pushed back, their army being slaughtered. Even the ferocity of the young primarch could not hold them in place, and he was slowly pushed back.

The army was on the brink of defeat when help arrived from two unexpected sources - first, the other kingdoms of man arrived. Seeing the good that Camlarard was doing for the world both in his governance and his crusade against the greenskins, they had decided to aid him and serve with him. Second, was the enigmatic Aeldari, a ancient and powerful xenos species who had once had a small colony on the human settled-world and had returned hoping to find out what had happened to the Exodite Eldar who once lived there. After making contact with the World Spirit, they learned that the Aeldari souls trapped within had decided to aid the humans by empowering the more psychically active members of the colony, to help guide the world into defeating the orks. The Aeldari ultimately decided to aid the humans after meeting the young primarch, so that they could avenge their fallen kin. Together, the two peoples broke the greenskins once and for all, hunting them down and slaughtering them in their thousands. The orks were nearly driven to the edge of extinction on the planet. The kingdoms of men also all decided to join under the primarch as he was the saviour of their world having finally united its people to wipe out the ork menace. Following the unification of humanity on the world and an alliance with the Aeldari, the world fell into a golden age of peace and progress, and for the next ten years he would rule over the planet.

The Arrival of the Imperium
The world of Lessania was discovered by an Expeditionary Fleet led by the X Legion, now known as the Dragon Lords. Sending representatives down to the surface, a large battle force from the Dragon Lords 5th Company descended onto the outpost of humanity. They found it united under the rule of the primarch. Coming to the palace of the planetary ruler, the entire ambassadorial force of the 5th Company fell to their knees in awe and reference at sight of the primarch, for they knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that they had found one of the lost primarchs - their very own gene-sire that they had always hoped to find. The Dragon Lords immediately swore their binding oaths of loyalty to him. Camlarard's gene-sons then began to tell their gene-sire about the Imperium of Man and his father, the great Emperor of Mankind, who hoped to united the lost planets of man.

Asking of his gene sons what information they could, they taught their gene-sire what they could of the wider galaxy and the Imperium at large, while he awaited the coming of the Emperor, giving to him the knowledge he desired. The 5th Company began to learn more about the planet which their lord had grown up on, about his legend and what he had done for the people while also teaching the people about the Imperium and its goal to unite the disparate lost worlds of humanity and their hope for the betterment of Mankind and the wider galaxy. It was during this time that they learned of the primarch's alliance with the Aeldari who had made a small colony to watch over the World Spirit and which the primarch had allied with. At first, they were disgusted and worried, till they learned that these self-same Aeldari had saved the primarch and the human population in the final great battle against the greenskins, that the legionaries finally understood their father's alliance.

A few weeks later, the Emperor arrived at the planet, wishing to meet his son and see for himself the world that he had built. Arriving planetside, He was greeted by the procession of Camlarard's great military. As the Emperor walked up the steps of the palace, the primarch knelt before his father, the drake skin hide of his cloak billowing behind him. He swore his fealty to father, "I swear my allegiance to you and your Imperium father and your vision of Mankind's future." The Emperor rested his hand on Camlarard's shoulder, "Stand, my son, stand before your people and before your sons”. The entire plaza had also knelt before the Emperor as they saw their savior kneel before him - a man who seemed even greater than the primarch, who was their saviour from the green-skinned barbarians.

After this, the primarch was taken back to Terra, where he was trained more in the way of the Imperium and its ideal of the Imperial Truth, while he was also introduced to more of his sons and even a few of his brother Primarchs. Designing a custom suit of power armour for himself, based off his old armour as well as the drakes of his home world, he was officially given control of his legion by the Emperor. Gathering together as much of the legion that could be spared, he told them of his story of his fight on Lessania against the greenskins, the sacrifice of his family and of the hundreds of thousands of lives who fought to save their homeworld from the ravages of the greenskin menace. By the end of his story, the legion was all kneeling before him, not only seeing them as their gene-father but also as a leader who would sacrifice much for his people and his own men.

Legion Organisation
The legion is organised into 20 Chapters, of 10,000 legionaries each, led by a Lord Commander. Each Chapter is spilt into companies of 1,000 legionaries lead by a Commander. Each Company is sub-divided into demi-companies of 100 Legionaries, with each demi-company being split into standard Astartes squads.

Specialist Formations
There are three specialist companies of the Dragon Lords, the Dragon Blades, the Black Knights and the Drake Guard.

The Black Knights
The Black Knights are a elite order of knights within the Dragon Lords legion. They are led by Mordred the Black Dragon, the younger adoptive brother of the Primarch Camlarard. They are an-all psyker order, using the training of a librarian alongside the combat prowess of a Lessanian knight to create a truly powerful warrior. They are dressed in all black armour with golden trim, wielding melee weapons alongside either shields or force staves into combat. The entire order are master psykers and extremely dangerous.

The Dragon Blades
The Dragon Blades are a elite order of knights within the Dragon Lords Legion. They are led by Gwain the Red Lord, commander of the Second Chapter and Master of the Dragon Blades, and the nephew of Camlarard. They are an elite force of jet bike riders, acting in a similar way to shock cavalry, charging into battle to either break an enemy front or to assault a flank. The Dragon Blades are armoured in the red and gold of the rest of the legion, wielding power lances, swords and storm shields with in-built heavy flammers or bolters on their bikes. Every chapter of the dragon lords has a contingent of Dragon Blades accompanying them, with the largest contingents following Camlarard and the rest with Gwain, their master. Camlarard himself often rides into combat alongside the Dragon Blades, who accompany him when he is not fighting alongside his Honour Guard.

The Drake Guard
The most elite force of the Legion is the Drake Guard. Veteran Marines all, the Dragon Guard serve as the elite Honour Guard of the Primarch Camlarard. They are all armed in artificer-wrought battle-plate and wield master-crafted power weapons, particularly swords and halberd, as well as storm shields, bolt pistols and either bolters or flammers. Every Dragon Guard wears golden drake cloaks just like their Primarch.

Legion Combat Doctrine
The Dragon lords have a varied combat doctrine but do focus on bolter lines as well melee warfare and the use of flame-based weaponry.

Legion Gene-Seed
The mark of the Legion's gene-seed and its conditioning produces warriors with finely sculpted physiques and a noble bearing, with psychological tendencies towards haughtiness or arrogance, compelling individual legionaries with an obsessive compulsion with honour and duty. Other than these traits, the Legion's gene-seed functions at peak efficiency, allowing the Dragon Lords to achieve full potential in battle. Another notable trait is the Dragon Lords' pyromania tendencies. Over several decades after their creation, the X Legion was noted for taking to the field of battle bearing a plethora of flamer weapons. Often, they would precede their fiery assaults with a barrage of incendiary missiles and artillery. They would then hurl themselves at their charred, bewildered foes at close quarters, cutting them down in a hail of blades, even before the flames had a chance to gutter out. The X Legion quickly garnered renown for their flamecraft, earning the moniker, the 'Dragon Lords', for their similar use of fire like the mythological dragon of ancient Terran legends.

Primarch Curse: Draconic Breath
A mutation within the Dragon Lords' Betcher's Gland makes it split into two facets - one, which produces a flammable liquid which can be spurted out of a legionary's mouth, which can then be ignited by the other half of the gland, which produces a modified acid which then sets the liquid alight. In effect, allowing the legionary to literally spit fire like a dragon. Hence, the name 'Draconic Breath'. They also maintain the usual ability of the Betcher's Gland to produce highly corrosive acid.

Primarch Camlarard
Affiliation: Dragon Lords Legion.

Role: Lord and Master of the Dragon Lords Legion.

Rank: Legion Master

Mordred, 'The Black Dragon'
Affiliation: Imperium, Dragonlords Legion - The Black Knights. Role: Psyker, Master of the Black Knights

Rank: Master of the Black Knights (Chapter Master)

Mordred, known as the Black Dragon, is the younger adopted brother of Camlarard, the Primarch of the Dragon Lords legion. He is the youngest son of King Artian who adopted the young Primarch Camlarard, when he found him in the wilds. Mordred was not yet born at this time. Mordred was born ten years before the deaths of his father and eldest brother by the Ork WAAAGH! that lead to Camlarard's ascension as the saviour of Lessania. Though he was not the true heir of his father's kingdom due to his unknown birth, Camlarard was made the regent of his brother. Coming of age, Mordred also passed his own warrior's trial, hunting and killing a extremely rare black lessannia drake, earning him the name, 'The Black Dragon'. He knelt before his older adoptive brother who he had come to idolise, but had also begun to envy, joining Camlarard as one of his knights, becoming the thirteenth member of their group. He rode to battle beside his brother and the other knights, side-by-side - the Black Dragon to the Golden Dragon of Camlarard. Only a few short years later, most of the orks on Lessania had either been killed or driven out into the deep wilds and Camlarard was named the king of all Lessania.

During the time were Camlarard ruled as the king of the entire planet mordrad spent most of his time hunting orks and drakes, becoming one of the greatest warriors of his kingdom his skill as a warrior seemed as supernatural of that of his adoptive brother, and while Camlarard was a giant and his origins as a strange child from the wilds were known many of the people of lessania were not sure about mordrad, this was made worse by his dark and brooding nature and his servery in violence. When the imperium came to lessania, he was just young enough to be made into a full asatres unlike the rest of Camlarard companions he was also found out to be a psyker, which the librarians of the dragon lords explained for his super natural ability. training under the then lord librarian he learnt how to control his power to great effect becoming one of the most powerful psykers within the legion. After his training he petitioned his brother and genefather Camlarard leave to create his own elite fighting force, one which combined the psykic power of the librarians with the training of a lessanian knight. Camlarard fulfilled his request, thus the black knights were created, led by Mordred, the black dragon.

Baldur
Affiliation: Imperium, Dragon lords legion, Camlarard

Role: Lord Commander of the Drakeguard and the elite First Chapter. Equerry to Camlarard.

Rank: Chapter Master.

Baldur is a Lessanian born native who served as the master of arms under King Artian. He trained Harial, the elder brother of Camlarard, Camlarard himself, and the younger brother Mordred in the ways of combat as well as how to be a knight and act with honour and chivalry. He would aid Camlarard in his war against the greenskins and would see king Artain and Prince Hariel fall as well as watch as Camlarard avenges them. joining as one of the first of Camlarard's knight companions he would aid the primarch in war against the greenskins, either riding to battle alongside the primarch of as the commander of the armies heavy cavalry he always felt more at home charging into battle on a mount. When the Imperium came to Lessania he was too old to be made a true Astartes but refused to stay behind and become an old man while Camlarard would go on and join the Great Crusade. Undergoing the rites of transformation at the hands of the Imperium superb fleshcrafters, he became a pseudo-Astartes. Being named the Lord Commander of Aldrahad's Honour Guard, Baldur continued to fight alongside and guard Camlarard.

Gwain The Red
Affiliation: Imperium, Dragon lords’ legion, Dragon Blades

Role: Lord commander of the Second Chapter, Master of the Dragon Blades

Rank: Chapter Master

The son of Harial, the first son of Camlarard's adoptive father he was born the day of his father's and grandfather's death, he was brought up under Camlarard and idolised the primarch seeing him as a hero and tried to follow his example in every way possible. He showed from a young age all the traits of a knight, for he was a prodigy. Training in the ways of court and warfare, he quickly picked up on all the skills, and by the time of his coming of age he was seen as a exemplar of what a knight should be, alongside Camlarard himself. Going for the 'Coming of Age' trail he slew a red lessanian drake and took the hide for his cloak, but he also met with one of the ancient true dragons of lessania, a great wyrm - a being that has lived on the world for ages before the coming of man or ork. He bestowed upon the young knight a blessing. IT was soon after this that the Imperium came to the world and Gwain was recruited into the Dragon Lords Legion. He was quickly enamoured by the Imperium's use of bikes and jet bikes. Learning how to ride one, he started to train newly recruited Lessanian noble sons in the ways of using a jet bike as they would a warhorse in warfare, creating the first knightly order of the Dragon Lords Legion, the 'Dragon Blades'.

Notable Quotes
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By the Dragon Lords
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Trivia
This article was written by Fenrir, and has been transcribed here, by Algrim Whitefang, for your viewing pleasure.