ORDERS OF THE DRAGONS

There are five magical Orders in Maia, called Dragons, and they correspond to the five elements of Spirit (White Dragon), Air (Silver Dragon), Fire (Red Dragon), Earth (Gold Dragon), and Water (Blue Dragon). Each Order of the Dragon is lead by five Arch Mages, each corresponding to one of the five elements. So even though the Order of the White Dragon, for instance, is the Spirit element, it has mages whose powers run the gamut.

Though the Orders themselves don't have strict alignments regarding Light and Dark, the members within them do. Some swing purely in one direction or the other, while others hover somewhere in the middle. Those in the middle are called Shadow Mages, while those to either end are Light or Dark Mages, respectively. Tali, for instance, is a Shadow Mage but she might have to change her alignment to Light in order to successfully fight Darkmoon, who is firmly a Dark Mage. The Arch Mages of each Order are always two Light Mages, two Dark Mages and one Shadow Mage so the leadership of the Order is balanced. The Shadow Mage is usually aligned with Spirit, though that's not always the case. The Order is lead by the most powerful Arch Mage, with no regard to element or alignment.

Each Order also has its own unique way to name its members. For example, in the case of the Order of the White Dragon, members have names related to their chief power. Talisman is a master of Talismans, hence her name. Other talisman masters in her Order would have names related to talismans, but none can call themselves just Talisman because one of their Arch Mages already has that name. The Order of the Red Dragon has mages with names that indicate their alignment (Light, Dark, or Shadow). Gold and Blue Dragon mages are usually named for animals, while Silver Dragon mages are usually named for weather phenomena, except for their Arch Mages, who are named for gemstones.

Here is a breakdown of the Orders and their Arch Mages. The Head of each Order is in boldface.

WHITE DRAGON (SPIRIT)

Water: Potion (Light)
Spirit: Talisman (Shadow)
Air: Elemental (Light)
Fire: Shape Shifter (Dark)
Earth: Illusion (Dark)

SILVER DRAGON (AIR)

Fire: Ruby (Light)
Spirit: Diamond (Shadow)
Air: Emerald (Dark)
Earth: Topaz (Dark)
Water: Sapphire (Light)

RED DRAGON (FIRE)

Spirit: Darkmoon (Dark)
Air: Bright Gold (Light)
Fire: Dark Rampage (Dark)
Earth: Shadowspark (Shadow)
Water: Lightwave (Light)

GOLD DRAGON (EARTH)

Earth: Eagle (Light)
Spirit: Rat (Dark)
Air: Coyote (Shadow)
Fire: Monkey (Light)
Water: Cat (Dark)

BLUE DRAGON (WATER)

Air: Seagull (Light)
Earth: Whale (Dark)
Spirit: Dolphin (Shadow)
Fire: Shark (Dark)
Water: Tadpole (Light)