| abstract | - Dragons are used among mages as symbols for the Supernal. While they have never been observed in either the Fallen World or the Supernal Realms, the imagery of the Dragon remains strong in the Diamond Orders. According to legend, the island that would house Atlantis was first inhabited by Dragons, who were seen in dreams of the early mages and inspired them to travel to the island. The first mages erected their city above the caverns that used to house the dragons. The four Diamond Orders that claim Atlantean heritage draw upon the symbol of the dragon to assert their state: The Silver Ladder as the Voice of the Dragon, who commands authority, the Guardians of the Veil as the Eye of the Dragon, that discovers hidden enemies, the Adamantine Arrow as the Claws of the Dragon that protect and destroy enemies of the Supernal, and the Mysterium as the Wings of the Dragon, that gather and advance hidden knowledge. Other traditions place dragons as wardens of the Supernal Realms, who were driven off when the Exarchs enthroned themselves and flawed the world to suit their rule. Regardless of theory, most see the Atlantean Dragon as a symbol of nobility and honor, a creature of elevated principles, paragon of a grand civilization. In modern days, the idea that dragons were responsible for mankind's first Awakening has come under criticism, along with the whole idea of Atlantis itself. The defenders of tradition would state that the dragons were dream emissaries, not literally winged reptiles, but Supernal ideas representing the concept of magic itself. Humanity became the heir of the Supernal after the previous race ascended. The Tremere use the iconography of dragons to describe the Supernal Realms. In addition to the five commonly accepted dragons, they postulate the existence of a sixth dragon/Supernal Realm of Blood and of a Seventh Dragon of the Soul. The five dragons of Atlantis are deceivers. They betrayed Creation by driving souls from one subtle Arcanum to the next, denying them the true understanding of themselves and of magic. The Seventh Dragon was forced into the Abyss, but contains the knowledge of the whole Tellurian, before the five Dragons rent it apart to reject him. The Tremere will remedy this mistake by bringing the Seventh Dragon back.
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