Related: What is the difference between a god and a primordial? (see section regarding Dragon gods)
Related: Where do dragon souls go after their deaths?
Related: Are there any other published attestations of Zorquan, besides Draconomicon (1990) & Cult Of The Dragon (1998)?
Related: Would Zorquan be a Unity domain patron?
Among the many planes of D&D 5e,
in what part of what realm,
might what aspects of Zorquan remain?
Way back in D&D 2e,
Cult of the Dragon listed Zorquan as a neutral draconic deity, largely unconcerned with individuals.
The Draconomicon stated that Zorquan decried the zealotous bloodshed of the Draconic Holy Wars.
I gather that Zorquan's followers were urged only that dragons should each be true to their own nature. Zorquan seemingly had no diametrically opposed enemies, but Sammaster & anyone who would enslave dragons or destroy all dragons, might have been the most likely to ire the ancient dragon. (?)
It appears Zorquan's primary demesnes were reputed to be on the Material Plane, and a neutral plane in the Outlands.
I've read in some sources, of theories which claim draconic deities were not "true" Gods: Instead, it is believed some "mortal" dragons gained contact with Aspects of themselves from other planes; merging, in something akin to apotheosis. However as of 5th edition, Bahamut, Tiamat, & Io, seem to be confirmed as actual Gods, presumably with all the conditionals that entails. (?)
Sounds like Ao assigns domains on Toril, though I've no idea the criteria…
Dating from the years -30,000 to -24,000 DR, Zorquan was counted as a Greatest Wyrm, a High One, & either an Intermediate or a Greater Deity "of dragonness", depending whom you asked.
In 5e, there's nothing published about Zorquan, so far.
One might presume Zorquan died, either toward the end of the Draconic Holy Wars, or thereafter. However, I find no direct indication of this.
In 5e, the mind of a god apparently leaves a corpse in the Astral plane (with potential regional effects).
Speaking purely in terms of RAW or RAI, would Zorquan be likely to have a corpse in the Astral?
(potentially with Zorquan's memories\thoughts taking tangible forms, there)
Alternatively, might Zorquan still live, somehow?
In short:
If Zorquan lives, where?
If not, what (if anything) is left?
Best Answer
The most likely place to find Zorquan is exactly where Zorquan always was
The Outlands (and the Material, natch) still exist in 5e;¹ absent any further information on the subject, my assumption would be that Zorquan is still there, same as ever.
On the other hand, the Astral does indeed have a “graveyard” of floating god corpses in it,² and this is an area that is little-explored.³ That means it’s pretty much always possible to add new corpses to it without conflicting with any canon, because canonically no one has a complete survey of what’s there.⁴ Zorquan could be in there without us knowing. Of course, his absence in the Outlands (or Material, if you go with that) would be noticed—though that absence was plausibly not reported as far as us, the readers.
But Zorquan was old, even by divine standards, and fairly powerful. Zorquan’s death would not happen easily, or quickly. I wouldn’t take absence of evidence here to be evidence of absence.
Player’s Handbook (2014) pg. 302—note that the diagram on pg. 303 doesn’t seem to show it, but it is there.
Tended to by the Guardian of Dead Gods, formerly known as Anubis. Deities & Demigods (1980) pg. 45. Note that later editions of D&D have just put Anubis in the “Pharaonic” pantheon, but this pantheon isn’t really used in official campaign settings. Even in the Forgotten Realms—where the Mulhorandi pantheon was the Pharaonic pantheon allowed into Toril by special dispensation from Ao—makes a point of Anubis not coming with,¹ to leave him available to become the Guardian of Dead Gods.
Largely due to the aforementioned Guardian, who is very high on the “not to be messed with” scale in the D&D multiverse, much more so even than he was as Anubis.
Except, maybe, the Guardian, but if he has one, he isn’t sharing it. The githyanki famously built a city, Tu’narath, on one of these god-corpses,¹ as have others,² but even they don’t know the full extent of the graveyard.
Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes (2018) pg. 91-92, most recent among many sources.
Spelljammer (2022). Note that this book contradicts basically everything about its subject matter as found in prior editions, and should be viewed—apparently in its entirety—with extreme skepticism. No one needs a spelljammer to explore the Astral.