Origin of the Dragonrealm by Richard A. Knaak is a Dragonrealm novel trilogy that serves as a prequel to the events of the main series. The books describe the arrival of Vraad to the Dragonrealm and their influence on the world. Events in this trilogy predate the main series by several hundred years.
Books in the trilogy:
- The Shrouded Realm
- Children of the Drake
- Dragon Tome
This trilogy contains examples of:
- Be Careful What You Wish For: Barakas made the flesh golems out of dragon flesh because he wanted Clan Tezerenee, known and feared among the Vraad as the clan of the dragons, to truly become a symbol of the dragon's power. Well, the Precursors obliged and mutated the bodies into actual dragons, and so Clan Tezerenee became the progenitors of the drake race and Dragon Kings that would rule the Dragonrealm.
- Black Sheep: Gerrod is an outcast of the Tezerenee clan, hated for being more of a scholar and intellectual than a warrior (though he is capable in the latter regard it's just not his focus) as well as being not as ruthless or loyal to Barakas.
- The Clan: The Tezerenee brood are explicitly mentioned as being a very unique group of Vraad in that they are a large and extended family with deep and abiding ties to one another. Most Vraad do not form long term attachments or raise large families.
- The Dutiful Son: Lochivan is a dutiful son to Lord Tezerenee, his primary loyalty to his clan. Ironic considering he's implied to become the first Dragon King Black, whose line would produce a bunch of duplicitous backstabbers even amongst the paranoid Dragon Kings.
- Familiar: Vraad familiars are custom made creatures. Sirvak is a mix of a wolf and eagle with a tooth-filled beak.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Sirvak is killed defending his master from Cabal.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: The dragon-flesh golems that Clan Tezerenee used to transfer their spirits to and cross over to the Dragonrealm were ultimately warped by the Precursors into turning them into actual dragons, creating the new dominant race.
- Living Shadow: Darkhorse is a living shadow from the Void.
- Our Elves Are Different: Vraad are more or less this. They are tall and beautiful and use magic to sculpt their faces based on current fashion. Interestingly, there are actual elves in Dragonrealm who also qualify.
- Our Gnomes Are Weirder: Dragon Tome explores the origins of the Library of Penacles and its original creator. The original gnome was a Vraad named Serkadian Manee who fled Nimth to the Dragonrealm and then fathered a race of gnomes by mating with elves.
- The Patriarch: Barakas Tezerenee rules his clan with an iron fist.
- Pocket Dimension: The origin of most of the sapient species in the Dragonrealm. The Precursors created numerous universes in which various species were meant to evolve. They are then released into the Dragonrealm to see which species is the one that will be the true successor to the Precursors. Turns out Humans Are Special. Humans are descendants of the Vraad. Numerous other factions such as the Lords of the Dead, the Master Guardians, and powerful sorcerers like Azran Bedlam also use Pocket Dimension within the series.
