Gold Dragonborn
Gold Dragonborn are a subspecies of Dragonborn, known for their gold scales and usage of fire breath. Descended from regal, radiant Gold Dragons; the most noble and powerful of the metallic dragons, Gold Dragonborn carry an air of divine detachment. Their scales shimmer like burnished sun-gold, almost celestial in appearance. Their voices resonate with calm, deliberate weight, and their eyes burn like molten metal when they’re stirred to action.
Gold Dragonborn are born with an innate sense of moral polarity: they feel injustice like a toxin, and they do not suffer its presence lightly. While calm in most moments, their fury, when unleashed, is cataclysmic. Their fire breath is not a weapon of intimidation; it is the final judgment. This stark moral compass makes them feared, even by other Dragonborn. For some, their presence is a beacon of safety. For others, it’s a death sentence walking in silence.
To many mortals, Gold Dragonborn are figures of myth or fear. Their presence often signals that true, unrelenting, and unbending justice is about to fall. They are welcomed by the innocent, tolerated by the powerful, and hunted by the corrupt. Gold Dragonborn often serve as wandering judges, correcting corruption in cities and temples, solitary guardians of ancient evils, standing vigil over sealed threats, punishers of the unrepentant, often arriving after a crime to deliver sentence or spiritual guides, for those who seek enlightenment through self-discipline.
Most other races find them cold, terrifying, or both. But even the most cynical kings think twice before defying one, because when Gold Dragonborn rise, they bring with them divine retribution in dragon’s fire.
Culture
Shared customary codes and values
Gold Dragonborn live by a distinct set of morals and codes, and are upheld with the most serious of demeanours. These tenets include Balance Through Solitude, as they believe that the outside world clouds judgment and clarity comes from discipline, not distraction. They also believe that Mercy is Given Once, which details that Evil may be spared only once; if repeated, justice becomes annihilation. In addition, Judgement is Sacred, and they cannot kill for venegenace or anger, but to cleanse the world of evil.
In the unlikely event of a Gold Dragonborn commiting a crime, an Ash Oath is issued. When judgment on a criminal is passed, the convicted is marked with ash from sacred fires. If they offend again, their fate is sealed.
Art & Architecture
Gold Dragonborn tend to live in isolation, often in high mountain monasteries, sun-drenched valleys, or ancient ruins they’ve repurposed into strongholds of contemplation. Their culture values purity of purpose, control of emotion, and absolute integrity. They rarely interact with outsiders unless called upon—or unless evil draws their attention.
Common Customs, traditions and rituals
Gold Dragonborn train from youth in body, mind, and spirit. Their days are divided into contemplation, physical training, study of law and ethics, and practicing controlled breath-fire techniques. They believe destruction is a tool of purification, and one must wield it only when fully detached from pride or rage. Gold Dragonborn elders, called Sunkeepers, pass down wisdom through silent meditation, cryptic fire rites, or strict philosophical riddles. The culture is steeped in ritual and personal restraint, yet beneath it lies a volcanic moral absolutism.
If a Gold Dragonborn fails to thwart an evil when called upon, they must undergo a Firefast, a period of fasting and silence to realign themselves with justice.
Coming of Age Rites
When a Gold Dragonborn comes of age, the subject must undergo a Sun Trial, in which the subject must meditate under the blazing sun for three days with no food or water, facing visions of their own darkness.
Historical figures
There are several notable Gold Dragonborn historical figures, including:
- Kaelzhur the Silent Flame. A wandering Gold Dragonborn who walked barefoot through the war-torn lands of The Blood Fields of Regigalis, offering judgment in silence. He has ended tyrants with a single word, and is rumored to have slain a Demon by staring into its soul until it burst into fire.
- Vireya Dawnshield. High Sunkeeper of the monastery of Aureum Vale. She once held an entire invading army of Kobolds at bay with nothing but presence and gaze. When they did not turn back, she incinerated them in a single breath and wept afterward in solitude for a week.
- Rhask the Ashborn. Once exiled for an act of wrathful revenge, Rhask now stalks the world as a renegade judge, feared even by his own kind. Criminals whisper his name like a curse, and burned towns are often found with nothing left but a symbol of gold scorched into stone.
- Ilana of the Ember Vow. A traveling philosopher and warrior-monk who challenged kings, cults, and bandits alike; not with sword, but with moral logic. Those who fail her tests are judged in flame.
Encompassed species
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