Shenlong: The Spiritual Chinese Dragon

Shenlong, also known as the Spiritual Dragon, is one of the most popular and revered dragons in Chinese mythology. It is believed to be a powerful and benevolent force that controls the wind and rain, and is associated with good fortune, prosperity, and success.

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Written by Jason Collier
Narrated by Adam Brown

[kodytiffany]

If I am remembering right...
Genbu=Black=North= (either) Black Knight or Crazy big Tortoise
Seiryu=Blue=East= Blue Dragon
Suzaku=Red=South=Vermilion Bird (phoenix)
Byaku=White=West=White Tiger
Kirin=Yellow=Center=Emperor making Unicorn thingy.
Shenlong I think is sometimes replaced by the Kirin but I am not sure how it works exactly.
I think it could be regional differences or maybe the Kirin is Japanese in origin and I never made the connection.

[striderlife]

A wise man once said I must defeat this dragon to stand a chance.

[mariopannach]

❤ my Dragon is the black Dragon 🐲🇯🇵- Viele Grüße vom 🦊🇩🇪

[kodytiffany]

In my stories is a nation that has been through a lot... it had been the worlds largest Archipelogo made up from over 1000 islands and covering about a third of the planets surface... for comparison sake since Earth is smaller currently than it was in the story think of it as being the size of Asia+North America but being a bunch of Islands of various size instead of one mass.
Well that was until it became one Mass by a tragic event where a Bomb nearly shattered the planet and thanks to the Gods instead fused the islands together into 1 "Big Island" Big Island is a nation named after that event to remind people about war profiteering and science do not mix.
The Islands were united under a belief; but one that was not really a proper religion; it was more like a martial Code of Conduct that had 4 branches united under one belief.
The main line of it was based around the first Dragon... the Unslayable mother of all dragons. She like Loki had a crazy batch of kids before in her case she moved to the dark side of the moon never to be seen again. From her came 4 races and each of those was represented as a branch.
Dragon
Golem
Wyvern
Behemoth
Dragon being separated from Wyvern by the nature that dragons are good or orderly; and Wyverns are Chaotic and evil... physically speaking both seemed identical and equally varied (filled up a drawing note book with these 4 races and I drew the Dragons and Wyverns both as Lizard like and unclear number of limbs and wings as a race). I would also argue that Dragons are more Brain while Wyverns more Brawn in how they approach issues.
Golems are humanoid elementals locked into a shape... elementals being more spirit based in nature and Golems more Body based in nature.
Behemoths are reversed from Golems in that respect... that is to say they are flesh creatures that function like elementals where they embody elements and concepts; effectively a spiritual being but acting as the physical representation of dreams or ideals (Golems take damage like humans and must recover through medicine and medical means despite being type cast like fire or earth; where as Behemoths are like dreams in that they suffer no permanent damage and simply live as long as their will power says they do... so killing one requires breaking its spirit not body; Golems become elementals when their bodies break losing their personalities or if you prefer becoming negative in state as elementals do not respond to stimula except what ever applies to their element)... in short a fire Golem could be your BFF then loses the body and as a fire elemental see you as only food for its fire; where as a Fire Behemoth is only really killed or seriously harmed by FIRES natural weaknesses and only if enough to make it suffer enough to give up or stop caring.
The Belief factor therefore works something like:
Dragon Branch= The way of the dragon is honor and power; to put in more modern terms to be the White Knight. They held onto a very strict code of ethics and did not deviate. Trainning was all they needed and beyond that they held to the idea that it was their duty to defend everyone from their oppressers. To admonish others for not being "good" or "lawful" enough. Unfortunately this meant blind obedience to Authority for the POV of Lawful and for Good it was their personal morals above others. They fought fiercly but relied more on power than they did finess or defense.

Golem Branch= The Way of Golems is Perceverence and Defense. In other words turn the other cheek. They were among the most pacifistic people out there. Not to be confused with Stoicness; it was plain that they were hurt and or unhappy... but they would just soldier on. break their limbs and they kept going; stab them in the chest and they'd only speed up. The trick was changing their minds about anything. You got one to fight and then the problem became getting them to stop. But in their Pacifism they would take a lot but when they decided it was time to fight back then most warriors would rather face a legion of undead alone than be in a 1v1 against one practicing the way of the Golem.

Wyvern Branch= The way of the Wyvern is about Finess and Competition. Win and succeed is the only option... death is the only loss condition; but failure comes in many ways. If dragons are White Knights then Wyverns are the over zelous competitive jerks that only care about being number one. They believe that you are born as a winner or a loser and training will never change that. you train to make YOURSELF better not to protect others better. Most often the bullies on the play yard they love to boast and lord over others. They are highly skilled true; but the over confidence and need to prove themselves is a clear flaw.

Behemoth Branch= Behemoths way of being is not easy to boil down to a few words... but in essence its that they are idealists and dreamers; but more than that con men and schemers. Rather than holding to one belief they are oppurtunists that will believe in only the convenient parts of anything and ignore the harsh truths next to the conveniences. As competitive as Wyverns in there own right; they will try to corrupt your way of things so its convenient for them. easily confused as lazy bums; all their effort is in getting you to think or do as they want you to. Master Manipulators they are the worse kind of fair weather friend.

The 4 branches work out to make someone that is indomitable and incorruptable and as fierce as they are patient. But as you can see they are all difficult to work with on a society scale.