Royal Order of the Dragon

One of the twelve Mantonian Royal Orders. The OoTD were founded from the remnants of the Dantonian Army of the Dragon. They are unusual in that they do not offer training in magic to their members, and as such it is a rare Dragon warrior who can cast even basic spells; and that they eschew the worship of deities, despite acknowledging their existence.

The reasons why the Dragon do not allow the worship of Gods are lost in the mists of time, but prior to recent revelations there were three philosophies current in the Order as to the purpose of the Vow of Atheism. The first are those who believed the Order had been abandoned by a god in times past and so chose not to follow another; those who felt that the Vow was tradition and probably would have been happy to change it; and those whose philosophical atheism led them to the conclusion that Humanity was better off without the influence, however benign, of extra-planar entities of awesome power whose motivations were not only unknown but essentially unknowable. Lucian Albrecht is an example of the third group.

Because of their lack of magical training and absence of patron deity the Dragon are generally considered to be the weakest of the Royal Orders, although they are generally recognised as being strong in terms of direct military might and have the finest heavy cavalry in Mantoni.

The Order of the Dragon is strongly linked to the Noble Order of the Moon, who provide magical troops to the Dragon's armies, greatly compensating for their main weakness. Other associated Orders include the Noble Order of the Dreaming Sword and the Noble Order of the Golden Claw.

Sects of the Dragon include:

• The Red Dragon Sect
• The Dragon Rider Sect
• The Dragon Guard Sect
• The Black Dragon Sect
• The Silver Dragon Sect