dreaminghive / Concept Post 4: Dragon Horde (spelling intentional)

In a realm of mystery, there lived a dragon. More than one, once; but the last of them had a clutch of eggs that she'd guarded for years upon years, waiting for the time to bring her children into a changing world. She'd kept to herself where she could, but it was enough to bring up rumours of a monstrous beast causing trouble...
And eventually, a 'gallant knight' came across the clutch, smashing the lot.

The dragon mother's fury was immense, but she restrained herself in her grief. She descended on the rulers of the realm with a decree. If the humans were to take her children from her, she would take theirs in turn. Make them feel what she had felt. And while her intention had originally been to simply destroy... on studying the humans, on encountering their young, she developed a more subtle plan. One that could benefit more than herself.

Over time, indeed, children started to vanish from the homes of the realm's citizens. People in far-flung farms and villages to begin with... not enough as yet to make it clear what the pattern was. Not that the parents in question would be likely to give evidence.
The dragon was targeting families where the children were deliberately mistreated. Those starving or hurting or worse. Not forcing them to leave - not after a couple of initial misunderstandings, at least - but giving them the option to change things. Would life with her be hard? True. But she offered a fair and loved life and would attempt to understand what they needed.

So her new family grew. While sometimes mistakes were made and there were initial difficulties, they learned together, with older adoptees who'd learned their family's trades teaching the others and teaching the mother dragon. In turn, she made sure to bring them resources, and taught them what she could. Hunting, for one thing... and granting them the arcane powers that only the mystic beasts of that world could control. While human mages existed, they relied on using artefacts that could bind and manipulate the powers in the world. By gifting the children with her blood and scales, they would be able to share in the dragon's power, becoming a little more draconic themselves.