These Dragons inhabited every geographical location and habitat
imaginable, from forested mountains to deep deserts; from open
grasslands to the ice fields of the extreme Polar Regions.
Rivers, deep lakes and ocean shores also provided homes and
hunting grounds for these resourceful and adaptive creatures.
And although each Dragon was perfectly adapted to their
respective habitats, they were not limited to those habitats, for these
Dragons were very adaptive creatures.
They
also possessed an ability to sense and manipulate latent energy around
them to create change in their environment according to basic needs and
desires... what many on this world would identify as "magic." This
ability would eventually lead them to vistas otherwise unknown.
Initially, once mature enough to be on their own, it was not unusual for
young adults to wander their world until they found an environment that
best suited their interests and there establish a territory.
They would begin establishing their position among
any other Dragons living in the same area
forming a loose community of sorts.
As time passed, these loose communities began to form more a
formal and stable social structure with specific traditions and shared
history, and a basic system of group leadership.
Thus the various Clans of the Allaban Druegan
or "Wandering Dragon" were
eventually established.
Over time a diverse community of Clans developed, each with their own
traditions, skills and stories that would be added to those universal to
the species as a whole. The
leadership of each Clan was based on a system of Clan Elders and
LoreKeepers who would guide the Clan in the education of the young,
interactions with other Clans and the sharing of resources.
Each year at the time of the summer solstice, all the Clans would
gather together to celebrate the passing of another year with a huge
festival. Songs would be
shared between different Clans and stories of adventure told.
New ideas and magical techniques were also exchanged.
For the more ambitious, there developed a series of games that
allowed Dragons from different Clans to pit their skills in hunting,
aerobatics, music, and magic against one another in good fun.
As different as the Clans appeared to the casual observer, one thing
they all shared was the old wanderlust of days gone by.
With the formation of the Clan structure, the widespread
wandering of young adults looking for new territory lessened as
personal preference gave way to Clan tradition.
But even so, it did not die out altogether, and young adults
would still wander the land looking for adventure and experience.
Eventually, the young Dragons would return to the region of their
birth Clans and establish themselves within the community of Clans that
resided there. Occasionally,
a Dragon born into a Clan in a given territory would still find him or
herself drawn to the habitat of another (such as being born into an
ocean dwelling Clan, but find herself drawn to forested mountains).
When this happened, that Dragon could, upon reaching maturity,
leave the Clan of their birth and petition another Clan for membership.
But this wanderlust was not always limited to young adults looking for
adventure. Sometimes the
urge to explore new vistas would strike the hearts and minds of an
entire Clan, or even several Clans at once.
When this happened, not even the vast expanse of their home world would
be enough to satisfy the urge to roam. As a result, the Allaban
Druegan learned to combine their inborn magical abilities in
such a manner as to allow themselves to open "gates"
between different dimensions of
the multiverse in search of new worlds upon
which to dwell and explore.
Sometimes those Clans would stay on a new world for a short period of
time (a few hundred years or so… they are very long lived) before
moving on again. And
sometimes one or two Clans would decide to remain on a given world
indefinitely while the rest would resume their wanderings.
In this manner, the Allaban Druegan managed to colonize many
different worlds. As the
number of Dragons on a given world would expand, new Clans would form and
new chapters would be added to the story of this remarkable species.