I have intentionally kept dragons a "sometimes food" for my game. There have been
exactly four dragons in the entire run thus far, though (presumably many) more are known to exist on the other side of the ocean in Yuxia (or its elemental otherworld equivalent, Fusang.) For dragons, somewhat like Celestials, gender is elective, so while some identify as male or female, this is not fixed nor inherent.
- Tenryu Shen ("family" name first, so he goes by Shen), a gold dragon from Yuxia who is tracking down the next on the list. Close ally of the party but has to keep his head down to avoid alerting his quarry. Has strong "team dad" energy.
- An unnamed black dragon. They don't know Shen is present but are keeping their head down to ensure the success of their mission: making Al-Rakkah (main city) their "hoard." They have had 200 years to get their plans in motion and could be anyone or even pretending to be several people. While it is not known exactly how, this dragon and Shen are connected somehow.
- An origami dragon "statue." It has bound to it a sleeping "spirit dragon." Whoever they are, they will grant a wish for the person who can wake them.
- Oleander Pierpont Mortcombe, a time dragon from outside the circles of the PCs' world. They aided him by "pulling" him through a magical barrier which is designed to prevent outsiders (who are multidimensional beings) from escaping the world the PCs live on. He then travelled back in time to before that barrier was built and left, but made sure to leave some rewards for the party to find as gratitude for his rescue.
And that's it! Four dragons. I have endeavored to show restraint and build things up in a meaningful way.
In the case of the gold vs black dragon, this color difference occurs because, being
like Celestials, true dragons physically reflect the nature of their souls in their natural form. Thus, it is not that chromatic dragons are evil; it is that
evil dragons are chromatic. The black dragon the party is chasing USED to be a good dragon, but fell from grace and now must be stopped.
Dragons, in this setting, are beings of the same class as genies and (apparently) eladrin (or, as the locals would say it, "el'adrin"): all are called "Guardians." A Guardian is a formerly mortal being that has taken on power from a celestial or spiritual source in order to protect and nurture creation. It confers functional immortality (no death by age nor sickness) and powerful magic, but it is a
pact, with requirements, and failure to uphold those requirements can lead to problems. (However, much of that power can be inherited without the pact proper; this is how sorcerers happen, and most modern-day Jinnistani nobles are basically supercharged sorcerers who got more of the power than most do.) Unlike (almost all of) the genies, the vast majority of dragons have upheld their end of the exchange, which means they are probably slightly more powerful, but much more constrained by da rules. Like the difference between Gandalf and the Balrog: both Maiar, one stronger but fettered, the other weaker but unrestrained.
Perhaps there is special significance to the colors of dragons beyond what I have already mentioned. Nothing has been explicitly said about that yet. We'll find out!