When she asked an NPC if Tiamat was evil, she was given this story.
I'm rather proud of it.
"The way the dragons tell it, before there was anything, there was Io. He contained all the dragons of existence within himself. But like all creatures who are alone, Io was also filled with loneliness. He yearned for companions, and in that yearning everything was turned to ruination."
This was before time existed. So Io felt that yearning for eternities on end, and for no time at all.
But at some point, the tragedy of a solitary existence consumed him. And in that moment, Io burst into a thousand, thousand dragons.
Most of those dragons were weak when considered on a cosmic scale. They fell to the material worlds like stars, crashing into sea and mountain, carving valleys, lakes, and craters with their impact. But there were eleven dragons who did not fall, but instead rose to great prominence.
Now is not the time for nine of their stories. We shall consider only two, for it is they who have shaped the history of existence the most. They are brother and sister, at once the same and different, and their story is dreaded among mortals of all worlds.
These are the dragons Bahumat and Tiamat.
Both of the dragons consider themselves to the among the most powerful and most wise of all the beings numbered in the books of fate. Both believe that they should be the ones to rule, and through that ruling, bring perfection to the cosmos.
But what does perfection look like?
It is different for both of them, as it is different in many of our own views as well.
Bahumat believes in the strengths of wisdom and justice. He believes that all actions should be considered carefully, all words measured before spoken. His word is law, and because he is the wisest and most just of all the dragons, all should listen to his law.
Bahumat has a deep love for those that follow him.
But woe to those who betray him.
Tiamat on the other hand...
Well, Tiamat believes that power is a thing to be taken. A world guided by pure law never changes, it never grows, it stops being alive. Why should a being who would bring the end to all things rule the cosmos?
No. It should be the strongest and most powerful who rules.
And that happens to be Tiamat herself.
Tiamat encourages her followers to take what they want. If power is within their grasp, they should cling to it. Even if it means stepping over the bodies and souls of their loved ones. Because the moment power is relinquished is the moment weakness disproves the right to rule.
These philosophies... well, we all believe in different things. For most of us, those beliefs don't have cosmic consequences. But for Tiamat and Bahumat...
Well, their influence spans world. Their followers are often fanatical. And both of them crave to see the other destroyed, and through that destruction prove that their view of the cosmos is the right one.
Most dragons on the material planes swore themselves to one or the other. And as they did, the first dragons scales turned to a single color. For Io contained all dragons inside himself, and until this great split, all dragons had scales like the rainbow.
But now they were divided. Blue and red, gold and silver, colors of all the rainbow.
And in that division came great wars. Wars that destroyed cities, civilizations, even worlds.
The NPC looked at my Paladin and said, "so you tell me, Cyrus of Tiamat. What is good and what is evil in all the destruction?"
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