Worldbuilding Wednesday #6: Dragon Slayers of Egon (Patreon)

As long as there have been dragons, there have been people who really hate dragons. They're remorseless, spiteful creatures that offer nothing to their environment and destroy everything they touch, it's to be expected.

But no one hates dragons more than the Order of Egon, who dedicate their lives to snuffing out the beasts wherever they are. They were named for Father Egon, the sole survivor of a dragon attack who vowed to wipe them from the face of Flora and formally founded the order to do so. They are not specifically a religious institution, as they don't worship a particular deity or follow the same beliefs, but there are a few spiritual laws they're required to follow. In particular, they are staunch pacifists who believe in the sanctity of all life, except for dragons, which need to be killed whenever possible.

The problem with slaying dragons is that it's notoriously hard to do. They can magically regenerate from wounds nearly instantaneously, and have enough of a reserve to last for days of what would be mortal wounds in most creatures. They're also extremely dangerous in the meantime, able to weaponize their own wound tissue as they regenerate. Thus, the order of dragonslayers have developed a highly coordinated routine when dealing with them.

Step 1: Distract and disorient the dragon. A number of monks who are either very brave or very lacking in self-preservation attack the dragon with weapons and spells that deliver sharp, superficial pains while creating a lot of noise and light, in order to draw its attention and overwhelm its senses. This is the most dangerous part of the assault for obvious reasons, and as such, is usually preformed by new recruits or volunteers from outside the order. In especially dangerous cases, the order will hire on bounty hunters to minimize internal casualities.

Step 2: Restrain the dragon, much easier said than done. No fewer than twenty witches trained in the art of barriers and binding magic go to work, first creating progressively smaller barriers around the combat zone to minimize collateral damage, and then magically tying down parts of the dragon in order to keep it from retaliating. This position requires the most quick thinking, as dragons will go to any means in order to worm out of their restrains, including breaking their own bones and healing them improperly.

Step 3: Drain the dragon of its magic. Once the dragon is suitably contained, the monks begin pulling the magical reserves out of the dragon in order to exhaust its ability to heal. This process can take hours up to days, and the monks have to be on their guard to keep the dragon from breaking out during this period. The monks will know when they've drained enough magic once the dragon's heartbeat drops and its skin begins to crack without healing.

Step 4: Death. The dragonslayers pull open the dragon's body and destroy the heart and any of its brains in order to permanently kill it. This alone could theoretically kill at any time, but is nearly impossible to accomplish on an active dragon.

In addition to killing dragons, the Order of Egon also contribute to the development of safe communities all around the world, and in many cases, have found ways to restrain brain-dead dragons in order to harvest their magic-rich blood as a potent energy source, as seen in the temple that existed near Canopy in-comic. The monks consider it to be the ultimate insult to dragons by rendering them solely into tools for the convenience of the mortals they hate so much.

That's it for this month's WW posts, next update will be on Jan. 4th.