The Dragons

 In the beginning, Ao created the gods and the dragons to help shape a new world.  The dragons were meant to morph the creation of the lords to fit new races and allow the evolution to go at a quick pace.  The gods were to create the very world and then collaborate with the dragons to refine it and then add the mortal races.  But the gods were petty and didn't want the dragons to mess with any of their creations and the dragons became forceful and began to damage everything.  Ao, the father of all the gods and dragons, decided to break their powers and take the ability of creation away.  This only further incensed both sides until they launched into outright war.  With the new mortal races populating the world and building their societies, each party saw their chance to advance their goals.  The gods used convincing and conniving to bend the races in their image to themselves, while the dragons simply created more of the very beasts that mirrored themselves and then filled them with hatred and cunning.  Eventually, this war was so damaging to the world that Ao again stepped in and stopped everything.  He then meted out punishment to everyone, from banishing the twelve gods from their divine realm, to outright imprisoning the five dangerous dragonlords he had created himself.  

from Legends Illustrated

Dragonlords

  Each of the dragonlords is massive- easily 100' long and just a massive version of the lesser dragons that the mortal races are accustomed to.  Even then, there are legends of the God-dragons or dragonlords amongst all the people, so they are not forgotten.  Those legends are thought to be exaggerations of the currently-known lesser beasts, but there is very little hyperbole possible.  The dragonlords are massive, fast, and very powerful.  While they also had the breath weapon associated with their color, all of the dragonlords could breathe fire as well.  The dragonlords have powerful magic and even have the ability to teleport about the known lands so that victims can never escape them.  But, like lesser dragons, they have personalities and motivations that are unique to each.  Only two of the original five are in these lands, thought to be imprisoned deep below the peoples and their histories.

-The massive Red dragonlord, named "Red", is imprisoned inside Mt. Sunset, surrounded by the arctic cold of the north and far from any of the mortal races.  Embodying slaughter and rage, Red was the most dangerous of all the god-dragons and cared not even for his peers.  Red took joy in destruction beyond measure and often challenged the gods themselves.  When Ao banished him, it was only after a fight that shook the planet and still took forces beyond mortal understanding.  To be freed, a mortal of black heart needs an artifact that can scratch the scales of the sleeping monster.  A single drop of dragonlord blood and a tiny pang of pain and this unstoppable force will be released again upon the world.

-The huge Green dragonlord, known as "Green", was imprisoned in a tower buried below the elven lands and purposely forgotten about.  The stone prison includes runes of pain and huge chains that easily trap the selfish creature.  While it slept for centuries, the world above forgot about him believing that Green was thwarted by pain and the prison was enough to keep the nature-lover quelled.  Green is cunning and vengeful, angry at all the mortal races for being treasured above his kind.  His need to control everything around him sees equal measures of subtle machinations (often including slavery of lesser races) and unbridled slaughter (especially if he detects a power he can't have).  This vengeance and jealousy drives Green to being a terror on the mortal realms.  

  Green was freed when a group of adventurers inadvertently discovered the prison and touched the scales with a tinge of jealousy in one's heart.  This stirred the dragonlord from its ancient sleep and eventually led to a successful escape despite the waning powers of the protective runes.  Some could even argue that a Kobold cult helped... 

Common Dragons

  Common dragons- if you can call them that, are very aware of the dragonlords but do not care in any way about the stories of their kind or primogenitors.  Chromatic dragons are always selfish and self-serving, so the legends of the dragonlords are either ignored or simply provide an imaginary arch-nemesis to bluster against.  There is no worship or association, not even for the dragons and dragonlords of similar color.  There are, however, Kobold cults that worship the dragonlords.  While many cults worship common dragons, there are a few that try to find ways to summon the dragonlords themselves.  There is no overlap, as any common dragon that discovers a dragonlord-worshipper in his horde will instantly kill them for lack of loyalty.  Common dragons do believe in Ao and know the role that the dragonlords once played, but they just don't care.  

  Each of the five dragonlords created beasts to populate the world, and they were proudest of their mirrors in smaller form as mortals.  They were very powerful, grew very large, and far outshined all the other mortals.  But when the dragonlords were not treated fairly by the gods and their creations, the dragonlords filled their creations with hatred and malice and made them hateful to the world.  Eventually, well after Ao's punishment, the other mortal races evolved and learned to ban together to hunt and eliminate the lesser dragons.  The legends mixed of the dragonlords and the lesser dragons until the mortal races only knew the dragons to be evil.  

  The five kinds of dragons spread among the world to hide, finding territories that matched their preferences and even changed the land and subjugated the natives to be more comfortable.  Over time, the dragons that survived the costant onslought from the other mortal races simply became part of the story of the world.  Family dynasties, power struggles, and even alliances with other peoples all make up the history of the lesser dragons left in the world.  

-Croelickcroak, the patriarch of the black dragons, makes his lair in the Misty Swamp.  He has had six children, all young dragons that roam the area but never go far.  They have befriended the local Swamp Trolls and run a 'kingdom' with him at the head.  His wife, and mother of his children, was captured by the Dragonborn kingdom in the north long ago and he particularly hates those kind.  But his hatred is not without reason and he can be convinced to help someone to save his own land.  He doesn't care about his children- he sees them as 'needy', and constantly warned them of the mortal races seeking their hide for armour.  They deserve whatever they get if they get into trouble, as black dragons are particularly spiteful in nature.  When Croak speaks, his voice is always at a whisper as the acid drips from his ancient jaw.  When he polymorphs, he prefers to take on the form of a troll.

from AminoApps

-Solifuah is the mightiest of all the lesser dragons in the world.  She is an ancient Red Dragon that took up the lands of Mt Fire and immediately came into conflict with the dwarves that recently claimed it for the gold.  Losing all of her children and her mate in the process, she forced them out and promised not to genocide their kind as long as they don't invade her domain again.  As a dragon, she takes pride in her hoard of gold and gems and spends much time gathering rare trinkets from the mortals.  She is lonely and constantly seeking a mate and is courted by a few other dragons.  But she's not willing to settle and requires that her chosen suitor can best her in a fight.  She will even allow her challengers to bring some mortal champion to fight as her late mate was a fan of some human rider.  But, if they lose, they are food.  Sola takes joy in the battle and always seeks to fight someone, often picking on the undead giants to north just to keep her strength up.  Until she finds a mate, she just wants to fight.  She never uses her polymorph ability, believing her kind to be superior to all others.

-Sssajassan and Tanallanna are brother and sister, respectively, and are descendants of a long line of Green Dragons that warred with the elves.  Both races came into the same lands and the cruelty of the dragons towards the elves created legendary hatred.  The elves eventually retreated to the south and left their old empires to this dynasty.  Over the centuries, the older Green Dragons died off and rarely had children that survived long, thanks to the long-game of the elves, leaving only these two to inherit everything.  Eventually, pockets of outlaws inhabited their outer realms and even a city was built nearby.  Rather than slaughter these poeple, Green Dragons are more interested in enthralling them, abusing them, and testing their will.  Each of the two too different paths in recent years.

  Sssajassan took over the ruins of Tiascum, an ancient elven city deep in the Wildwood.  Here, he collects thralls and beautiful artwork.  Those thralls are all things from woodland creatures to loyal Kobolds to even twisted Blights, and the artworks are stolen from ancient ruins and traded from travellers.  Sssajassan got lonely and started exploring west along the Dark River and eventually ran into Mt. Fire and Solifuah.  He immediatly fell for this powerful dragon and courted until he received quests.  She demands a warrior, so he has been seeking a champion worthy of this challenge.  Unfortunately, he keeps losing champions...  He uses his polymorph ability to become a beautiful human female named "Emerald".

from Dragon University

  Tanallanna got distracted in the human settlement that became a city shortly after laying her first clutch of eggs (two).  South of the Wildwood at the confluence of two rivers, the humans expanded and colonised with walls and trade.  She was intrigued by how quickly these people could do this.  Dwarves came from the west, elves from the south, and humans from the east to do trade and build their society.  She enjoyed being a part of that, so she abandoned her home for long periods of time and regularly used her polymorph abilities to transform into a human man named "Mark"- the wizard in the mayor's entourage for years.  Mark found a hidden artifact that attracted the attention of goblins and led to a war that destroyed the city and killed half the population.  The avatar that hid that artifact there tried to intervene and died after leaving a curse where all knowledge of this place and its events would be forgotten.  That curse now leaves the dragoness trapped in her human form and forgetting her true identity and now has to hide in the underbelly of that ruined city to avoid heroes and adventurers collecting on a bounty.

-Martesantigim is the Shadow Dragon, once a mighty Blue Dragon that ruled the deserts far to the south and now a bitter one that seeks ultimate power and dominion over his realm.  Scorned by a red dragon for weakness, he retreated to the Shadow Realm to make a plan and found a prophecy about the fall of the Fey Realm.  Loving chaos and the craziness of fey creatures, he refined his powers and turned into the shadowy monster he is now and launched an invasion of the Feywild.  Fighting a new avatar and racing against time before allies come to aid in preventing the new prophecy, Marty focuses on the dreams of mortals to make his fearful presence known on the mortal realms.  He is more interested in his own glory than even the love he was scorned from and has forgotten most of his chromatic powers.

by ShahzebKR

Dragon Artifacts

  The mortal races learned magic and immediately began making powerful artifacts, including ships that could sail across the ether, and even gathered some from other realms.  At some point, some artifacts from a realm called "Krynn" were brought to the this one and were even used during the wars between the dragons and elves.  These powerful artifacts have been lost to legend and are now sought by heroes and adventurers for profit and to use against the mighty beasts plaguing their lands.  

-Dragonlance- this is a unique item in this world.  It adds +5 to hit and to damage, but it adds 4d12 radiant/force damage against dragons.  Every use of the lance creates a free reaction attack from a dragon within 30' (it is anathema to dragons and inspires their ire greatly).  It cannot be broken (forged from starmetal) and it cannot be disenchanted (uses an alien divinity for its magic).  The artifact is worth 125,000 gp if sold. 

  The last known location of the lance was in the hallowed tomb of a great warlord, but this was stolen by an evil wizard that sold it to a human kingdom.  It has since moved into the possession of an adventuring party and has been lost.

-Dragon Orb- also known as a "dragon ball"- these yellow crystaline balls each contain a chromatic scale inside and can be used to communicate and even control lesser dragons.  Only four exist- one with a black scale, one with a green scale, one with a blue scale, and one with a red scale.  A spellcaster must try to attune with it by passing a Charisma 18 save.  If they fail with a natural 1- the orb annihilates the person.  If they fail, any dragon within 40 miles will be able to command the person without any save allowed (with no restrictions- the controlled person may kill others or themselves!).  If they pass, they can communicate with a dragon within 40 miles.  If they pass with a natural 20- they may control the dragon with the same colour scales (with all normal restrictions)!  A dragon may choose to fail the test and let a mortal take control, but why would a dragon do that?!  Greater dragons nearby cannot be controlled and will become infuriated if they sense an orb being used nearby (giving them the 'surge' ability every round).  For every orb a brave person has and tries to use, they gain +2 to their save for this process.  The artifact cannot be destroyed and is worth only 10gp if sold (it looks more like a 10" trinket than a mighty artifact).

  The last known locations of these orbs were in the great elven cities of old- one in the Ruins of Tiascum, one in the tomb of a great warlord, one in the capital vaults of the elves (Marthion), and one in the dragonborn kingdom of Dragonscale.  Tiascum has the green scale, Marthion has the blue scale, Dragonscale has the red scale, and the tomb held the black scale.  Rumours persist that the black-scaled Dragon Orb suffered the same fate as the Dragonlance.  

Dragon-kind

-This world's Dragonborn race has nothing to do with the dragons or dragonlords of these lands.  They appeared here long after the other mortal races and set up their own society in the Kingdom of Dragonscale.  Their origins are truly unknown, even to the wisest of their kind.  As a society, their race is considered academic and are found spreading their knowledge and assistance to any of the other peoples that request it.  Their specialties seem to lie in zoology and spelljamming- the power of traveling through the ether between worlds.  The kingdom is not known for wanderlust but they have a sense of curiosity that sends students all over the realms.  They have a very, very strong sense of family and honour and often rival dwarfs in their stubborness.  

-Kobolds can be found all over the world and are as varied as the dragons or mortal races in total.  Some Kobold societies are small, peaceful ones that survive in the dark sewers of more populated areas, while some are warlike tribes that fight against dwarfs, goblins, and humans for their dragon masters.  All of them aspire to be as powerful as the dragons themselves and all of them know the stories of the dragonlords that build their myths.  None are sure if the Kobold race was created by the dragons or the gods, but almost every cult or traditional society has ambitions to free the dragonlords and receive their due recognition (they won't).  

from Dragonsford

  The most popular Kobold society in the western lands is known as the Cult of the God Dragon.  They filled the elven lands with tunnels and settlements nestled in the shadows and eventually found the green Dragonlord's prison.  They've spent centuries trying to weaken and finally break the Runes of Pain and divine Chains of Imprisonment that held their figure captive.  They've stolen and hoarded knowledge from all the societies in this quest and even discovered certain secrets like the dragon artifacts.  But they are old and patient and did not think that they've succeeded.  Now, with Green's release, they are desperately trying to get noticed and swear fealty to what they consider the new master of the world.  Their cult leader is a powerful wizard and there are multiple champions leading cells stretching from Crystal Branch to Twain to Mt. Silver.  This often brings them into contact with the goblins working for the Green Dragon dynasty in Wildwood, but their relationship is chaotic as it often leads to conflict but just as often leads to cooperation.  Kobolds will happily help out anyone willing to pay them in riches or true knowledge.