Lore · Gods of the Pantheon
Veeshan, the Wurmqueen
Before elves, before dwarves, before anything that walked, there were dragons. Velious’s scars are her claw marks.
The first claim
Veeshan, the Crystalline Dragon and ruler of the Plane of Sky, was the first god to find Norrath. She liked it, left her brood on the frozen continent of Velious, and with one swipe of her claws tore great wounds in the land to stake her claim. The RPG says those claws formed the Cobalt Scar. Dragons ruled the land and sky: the Age of Scale.
Sources: Library of Erudin: “The History of Norrath” (original EverQuest manual text) · Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook: History of Norrath (2002) · Allakhazam: Veeshan
Less than cattle
Her non-dragon followers believe dragonkind is superior to all life and swear themselves to the Mother of Dragons, sometimes sacrificing themselves or loved ones to her children. In return she is protective and generous; many have gained riches and ancient knowledge serving the wurms. The price is knowing that to a dragon you are less than cattle.
Sources: Allakhazam: Veeshan · Library of Erudin: Veeshan
The Sage of Ages
One tome claims to copy the oldest book in an order’s library, a record of the first visit of the Sage of Ages, who has watched Norrath for time immemorial. It says there were no ages before the Age of Scale: Norrath existed, untouched by thought or life, and time passed with nothing to notice it, until a manifestation of all that is physical placed “the Marking,” the divider of all things.
Her brood divides
Veeshan’s children did not stay united. They split into the Claws of Veeshan on Velious and the Ring of Scale on Kunark, and the prophecy of a prismatic dragon, Kerafyrm, tore them further. The story continues on The Claws of Veeshan and Kerafyrm, the Sleeper.
Sources: Library of Erudin: Claws of Veeshan
Who she is
The RPG Handbook calls Veeshan neutral: the Wurmqueen, Mother of All Wurms, creator of all dragonkind, including drakes and wyverns. She is pictured as an impossibly large dragon made of crystal and lives on the Plane of Sky. She has no allies and wants none, but carries “a deep, smoldering animosity toward Brell Serilis for breaking her claim on Norrath.” Her favored weapons are claws and teeth. Her few non-dragon worshipers tend to be bards chasing knowledge or primitive peoples hoping dragons will reward them.
Sources: Library of Erudin: EverQuest RPG Player’s Handbook — Veeshan (White Wolf, 2002)
The Marking
An EverQuest II book, The Age of Scale, presents itself as a copy of the oldest tome in an order’s library, the record of the Sage of Ages’ first visit. It says the claw of Veeshan scraped across the world in “the Marking,” which divided time from non-time and being from non-being. She left her children, the Dragons, and then made smaller companions, the Drakota, so they would not grow lonely, and left vowing to return. The Dragons created magic and then society. When the Drakota began creating fury and rampage, the Dragons combined their two creations into the Ring and sent the Drakota to their “rooms” for a long, long time.
Sources: Library of Erudin: Veeshan (The Age of Scale, House Item)
The Scale and the Nest
The in-game book The Scale of Veeshan says that before she left, she gave her younglings part of her essence as a great scale from her armored chest, over her heart. An official Crescent Reach article says the scale tied all dragonkind on Norrath to her. CREVeeshanChildren names the Nest as the dragons’ breeding ground, kept by five chosen dragons closest to Veeshan’s pure blood. Ambersnout and Ro’s Essence says dragon parents took their eggs to the Reliquary of the Scale in Ashengate Temple to be blessed, more out of tradition than for any real effect.
In the game
When Velious was announced, Verant reported that mages levitating over the new continent could see Veeshan’s scars, and that early archaeology placed the first dragon hatching there. In 2017 the Ring of Scale preview of Veeshan’s Peak said the Ring had split from the Claws because it wanted freedom of will for each dragon and would not condemn mating between dragons of different elements, and that it built a stronghold dedicated to Veeshan on Kunark. See The Ring of Scale.
Keep reading
Retold in our own words from the sources linked under each chapter; short quotes are marked and sourced. The illustration is an original AI-generated painting made for this page alone, not from the game.