Races of Theopetros: Dragonborn

The heirs of the Dragon Legacy

Appearance

Dragonborn are large humanoids sporting scales and draconic features. They stand around 6 ½ feet tall and can weigh more than 300 pounds. Their fingers and toes end in small talons. Dragonborn scales typically match their draconic ancestry. Some are primarily a single color, while others show a mixed ancestry. Dragonborn come in all the colors of dragonkind.

Unless they have some other ancestry, most often from half dragon parents, dragonborn males and females are hard to distinguish as they do not have the typical features that mammalian races look for when guessing an individual’s sex.

Some Dragonborn exhibit different traits that are often the result of a stronger draconic lineage. These traits include tails and wings. A rare few Dragonborn have a draconic body with their humanoid torso beginning where the neck of the quadruped body would be.

Personality

Dragonborn are proud of their heritage, often looking down on others who have not earned their respect. They enjoy the finer things in life and will often go out of their way to procure higher quality items for no other reason bragging rights. Culture and family are important, with many aspects of a Dragonborn’s life taking on a ritualistic tone.

History

The Beginning

The dragon patriarchs were some of the first children of the gods. When the gods started creating the other races the dragons took notice. With their shape changing magic dragons were able to breed with the other races creating many half dragon variants. The patriarchs and some of the stronger dragons used their power to create humanoid dragons as servants and warriors. These dragonborn became the armies of the patriarchs and the most numerous citizens in draconic civilization. Half dragons would often leave their non-draconic parent and find their way to dragonborn lands.

These dragonborn armies stayed out of the war between the gods. They were too busy dealing with a great war that the dragons were fighting. The end of that war saw the original dragon civilization crumble and the current civilization begin to rise from the ashes just in time for the Demon Lord to conquer the plane.

The emerging civilization stunted and never reached the heights of the one before. Most dragonborn stayed close to powerful dragons for protection making them a rare sight during the time of the seal.

After the Seal

Dragonborn have a few cities around the world, often overseen by a dragon as the head. As often as not they are found among the other races, but they hold themselves apart as a ‘higher’ race. Half dragons still find their way into dragonborn society at a regular basis.

Culture

Dragons on Theopetros are not color coded according to alignment. Gold dragons may be evil, and red ones may be good. In the end what is more important to them is draconic culture. Breath weapons are not always matched with color either. Though the color of a dragon’s scales often gives away the power of its breath, there are cases where a dragon traces back to multiple patriarchs and has a breath weapon which is inconsistent with its color. Dragonborn follow this pattern. Their scales and markings vary greatly, but they often have a dominant color or highlight that matches their breath weapon.

The reasons behind many aspects of draconic culture have been lost in the over 4 thousand years since the great foe was defeated. The resulting cultural practices have become highly ritualized. Escort duty to the graveyard is sacred in a way that connects all dragons. Dragons take escort duty seriously, or face the wrath of the Demiarch Council. In rare cases a dragon is permitted to be buried outside of the graveyard. Each case is judged by the council, and the reasons presented must be great. Such reasons often come down to a dragon’s non-draconic family heritage, especially in the case of half-dragons.

Dragonborn are not automatically granted access to the dragon graveyard, but they respect the sacredness of the rituals around it. They treat their dead with reverence and prepare them carefully in case a dragon arrives to escort their remains to the graveyard. Since dragonborn are more common than true dragons, they take it upon themselves to enforce protection of draconic remains in the absence of a true dragon to do the duty.

Relations

Racial tensions often run high between dragon kind and other scaled races such as lizardfolk, troglodytes, and hydras. Dragons and dragonborn refer to these other races as tainted scales. All either side remembers is that the hostilities trace back to a time when there was great bloodshed between them. In fact the Demiarch Council banned all dragons from producing offspring with tainted scales. To do so would introduce dragon blood into their line. This is blasphemy among dragons. A tainted scale with draconic blood would be permitted entrance and burial in the graveyard. Those instances where a tainted scale is descended from draconic blood are almost all due to the actions of tainted scale parents.

Architecture

Dragonborn build on a scale much larger than their size would suggest. This is due to the frequency of dragons within their cities. Dragonborn architecture is designed with the larger dragon forms in mind.

Religion

Pierken & Karios are the dragon gods, and as such are revered by most dragonborn. Szeyla is often revered as well despite her hydra heritage. Many dragonborn try to trace their ancestry back to one of the patriarchs, and then venerate the memory of that particular patriarch.

Bloodlines

Dragon blood runs strong in dragonborn society. This is due to their racial descent from dragons, and the constant influx of half dragons into their society.

Elemental blood is also quite common as the energy of a dragonborn’s breath weapon gives them some connection to these elemental powers.

Government

Dragonborn culture is modeled after dragon culture. When they are in their own cities they hold themselves as nearly dragons. Dragonborn follow the will of the Demiarch council as closely as possible.

Military

Many of the earliest dragonborn were created to be soldiers. Their race still holds this truth in their blood. Many dragonborn find their way to the battlefield, merging their arcane might with their physical prowess.

Technology

Dragonborn inherited the magic of their dragon ancestors. Though many secrets have been lost over the years they still hold many powerful magics. They are especially skilled in crafting magical items.

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About the Author:

Stephen Mayo lives in Montana with his wife, daughter, corgi, and three cats.

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