"Faith. That is what makes a Dragon. Faith in the land and the people, in the ancestors, and in those that fight by your side. Faith is what binds the people together from the highest point of the Dragonspines to the plains of Moytura. For without faith, we are nothing but a people without purpose or reason for being. It is this faith that makes us one people."
- Llyr the Builder, son of Huw Gorsenydd

Long ages ago, long before the Founding and long before the Empire imposed its will upon the land, the immortal Tuatha de Danon came to the Isle of Erin and threw down the people of Parthalon, the Firbolg and the Fomori. Then arrived Mil and his sons, the first mortal men of Erin. Over ages, the three groups fought for dominance until finally, with the Fomori defeated again, the Tuatha departed and humanity ruled Erin from fractious kingdoms until Niall of the Nine Hostages united Erin under a line of Ard Righs.

By the time of their greatest hero, Cuchulainn, the men of Erin had been raiding into the lands to the East for many generations, taking the best of the cattle and the grain. In that land insular tribes walked the wilds; each fought against the men of Erin, and of Albion, and of Caledonia, and above all each other; there was no unity. Four tribes stood foremost - the Siluri, the Arth Gwyn, the Blaidd Ddu and the Tribe of Epona.

Some say that at that time a White Dragon arose against the people of those tribes, breaking and tearing asunder the strongholds of men. The land was devastated... but as winter approached and all seemed desperate, a man named Huw Gorsenydd came from the mountains. He faced, and destroyed, the White Dragon; and the tribes raised him as their High King, their Pendraig, and the cymrjan nation was forged.

The cymrjans fought, united, against the men of Erin, and the battles shook the two lands for many years, leeching wealth and power from both sides.

At the last, on the plains of Mullingar the two nations faced each other with mighty magics and stout spears. In the midst of the turmoil, Cuchulainn, champion of Ulster tested arms with Huw Gorsenydd. For three days and nights the two fought like wild boar. In exhaustion, they slumped down together. Over the din of combat, the Ancestors reached down and blessed the two men. The next time they rushed together, it was not to clash spear and shield but to clasp in friendship.

The two men talked long, and it became plain that while both lands were withering, the people of Albion, Caledonia and Lyonesse grew fat feeding off their plight. The leaders of both lands met, for the first time, in a place sacred to the Ancestors, and held a council that lasted for many days. At the end of it, the two declared that the nations would be joined; and that was the birth of the Dragon Nation. Since that time, together, they have faced all enemies as one nation.

There is common saying in the Dragons. "The people are the land." The land of the Dragons is their most sacred possession, defended beyond death from those who would usurp it. From timeless Royal Meath, capital city of Erin and aged Gorsenydd, first city of cymrja, to the blasted plains of Ulster and the terrible Ravenscar Woods, the deep mines of Mullingar and the lofty heights of the Dragonspines - the land of the Dragon is both dangerous and beautiful.

The Dragons faction own web site can be found at
www.dragonsfaction.org
or you can email them at
dragons@merlinroute.co.uk