Dragon, Ferrous, General Information
The ferrous dragons' origins are shrouded in mystery. It is known that before the coming of men and elves, when dragons ruled the lands, ferrous dragons were perhaps the most powerful of all dragons. However, at some time before the fall of dragon rule, there was a war amongst ferrous dragons that would leave its mark on their clans forever.
The Iron Wars, as the ferrous dragons refer to them today, lasted centuries. There were, at the time, at least 12 species of ferrous dragons. Two of the species are known to have been driven to extinction, but the names of the species are not known. The turning point in the war occurred when the nickel dragons changed sides to join the rightful ruler, the Supreme Dragon of the ferrous dragons. The wars ended shortly afterward, with the losing dragons fleeing to the far corners of the world. What happened to these dragons is unknown, but whenever other ferrous dragons are questioned about them, the dragons are strangely silent.
Ferrous dragons are among the deadliest forms of dragonkind in the world. They conform to the standard statistics of all dragons, as given in the Monstrous Compendium, with a few exceptions detailed later.
Ferrous dragons are not known to have a king, queen, or deity figure, but do have a strict hierarchy that is rigidly followed, even by the evil ones of their kind. The hierarchy among the ferrous dragons runs from the most powerful to the least, as follows: iron, chrome, cobalt, tungsten, nickel. Among each of these dragon types are several clans consisting of two or three family groups and whatever individuals dwell in the lands claimed by the clan leader. Each clan is led by the oldest or most powerful dragon in the clan. Each of these clans has its own position in the hierarchy of its dragon type. All of the clans are led by a sovereign dragon of their species, who is almost always a great wyrm with maximum hit points. Each of these sovereign dragons is answerable to the Supreme Dragon.
The Supreme Dragon, Gruaghlothor, is a unique creature, as is detailed under Gruaghlothor's description. As for the sovereign dragons, the only thing that makes them different from others of their species is that they possess a special telepathic bond with each of the clan leaders. Gruaghlothor, in turn, has an additional such bond with each of the sovereign dragons. These bonds greatly simplify the ruling process, and almost no dragon's secret is safe from one's supreme leader. Thus, almost no secret is safe from Gruaghlothor.