On The Creation Of Animus Magic

on the creation of animus magic

i was talking about the origins of animus magic with my discord recently and it made me want to share it here–

mind you, this is something that i had initially come up with around fourth or fifth grade, so it doesn't 100% comply with current canon and its a little shoddy but regardless i need to get it out of my system haha

waay way back in 2019 or so, i came up with a sort of 'origin story' that the dragons of pyrrhia told that explained where animus magic came from.

they believed that a sort of higher dragon spirit that was of simultaneously all and none of the tribes (my interpretation of them is the drawing at the beginning of this post) created the seven dragon tribes, and upon creating them, offered each tribe the power of animus magic.

both the rainwings and mudwings refused. the rainwings believed that such power would create an imbalance of harmony in the rainforest, and thus did not accept. the mudwings believed that if animus magic was wielded by a sib that wasn't a bigwings, then they might use it to overthrow the balanced system, and if a bigwings hatched with magic, then they might use it to steer their sibs in the wrong direction (again, imbalance and disruption of harmony).

the icewings, however, accepted the gift of animus magic, believing that with proper control and tradition, they could harness its power without falling to corruption. the icewings then offered this gift to the seawings, who accepted it.

the sandwings accepted the gift of animus magic from the high dragon spirit as well.

the skywings were very hesitant from the beginning. even though it was offered to them, they never gave a clear answer; many skywings believed that their raw power and physical might were enough to best the other tribes, and that animus magic was a shortcut that undermined their strength. still, because they did not explicitly deny, they still received magic– though it was quickly stamped out.

the nightwings, on the other hand, were not as patient as the other tribes. their thirst for knowledge and power was unquenched, and they sought to claim animus magic before it was even offered to them. they attempted to steal the magic directly from the claws of the high dragon spirit. it saw the actions of the nightwings as dishonorable, and as a result, they were left to pursue other forms of power— namely prophecy and mind-reading.

some dragons believe this origin story to heart, and they passed it down through generations as the definitive truth of where animus magic came from and why certain tribes have it while others dont. others, however, view the story as more metaphorical– to them, the higher dragon spirit and the tale of the tribes’ choices are more like allegories that are meant to teach younger dragonets a lesson about not being greedy or something idk.

anyhow this might be stupid or it might be revolutionary but if you guys like it then i might make some art related to this 'au' :)