Dragonborn
Those who inherited the world
In the early age when Asphodel was still a mere fledgeling world, after the Dragons gained their sentience and began developing their civilization to its full potential, came a time of unprecedented progress for the Draconic race. The Drakons, as the ruling caste was called, soon grew decadent and thereafter developed a race that would serve their every whim. That race was named Drakksklavir, or as they later came to be known - the Dragonborn. They were made to be much smaller in size and with features bearing an only passing resemblance to their creators and masters. Over the coming centuries, the dragonborn would win their freedom and even sprout empires of their own. However, hard toil and bitter living from their earlier history didn’t help them to avoid repeating the same mistakes of their progenitors after they have ascended to a similar position in their own right. Now, with many invading races gracing the face of Asphodel, the Dragonborn are a diminishing presence who covetously hold onto what remains of their once vast domains and are looking for a way to stage a resurgence.
The Dragonborn are a long-standing cold-blooded race whose people seem to feel as if they need to bide their time to re-inherit the world, even as the world itself changes around them at a break-neck pace. Some choose to innovate and get with the times, while others enforce isolationism and “stiff upper lip” approach towards the other races of the world. They are a proud people that prize honour and perfectionism in all matters, especially in matters of artisanship and militarism.
by Wizards of the Coast
Their societies are prevalently caste-based and are not above slavery as a means of gaining labour. To them, physical similarity to their progenitors is the greatest hallmark of an individual, and those that lack in those features are automatically positioned on lower rungs of the hierarchical ladder. Tails, horns, claws, breath projectiles, scale lustre and quality [not to mention progeny with wings, or true savants that combine many of those features] – all serve to inform one's status in their society. As a society, the Dragonborn place the greatest value on their expanded familial units called K'lau. It is not uncommon for individuals to place greater value in furthering their K'lau's standing at the expense of one's own comfort or progress, bordering on fanaticism in extreme cases. They tend to be agnostic, placing greater value in ideas and virtues, rather than specific patrons or deities.
Culturaly dogmatic as they tend to be, some Dragonborn do venture into the wider world and mingle with other races. They are often initially taciturn and reserved, but can grow to become warm and receptive allies – though could as easily fall into jealous overprotection of their newfound friends. Sometimes naïve to the different cultures around them, they are sometimes easily misled by others or commit awkward and oblivious remarks at the wrong time, much to the bafflement of savvier company. Still, once exposed to the outside world, many Dragonborn quickly exhibit guileless curiosity that’s the hallmark of many draconic species, and their personalities quickly help drive any group, society or organization that they become a part of. Though, of course, that might lead to hoarding… for no particular reason.
Ancestry and Colour
Though full-blooded Dragons exhibit constant traits where their ancestry, colour, build and abilities are concerned, the Dragonborn seem to be fully opposite in that regard, if not random. Their ancestry determines their breath capabilities, as well as some extent of their physical fortitude when it comes to the same elemental type. However, that same ancestry seems to have no bearing on the individual dragonborn's outward appearance or physical traits. Indeed, once can bear a passing resemblance to a blue dragon and exhibit the ability to breathe fire instead of bolts of lightning. This bears further implications when it comes to colouration of scales. Over the centuries of breeding, the dragonborn have grown to exhibit a wide variety of scale colourations, even showing colours that are not in keeping with the traditional chromatic and metallic ranges of true Dragons. All of this combines to mean that one can't tell much about an individual dragonborn based on their colour or ancestry alone, and instead the race as a whole uses other traits to measure their value.
Basic Information
Anatomy
by Tomasz Chistowski
Dragonborn stand upright and are mostly humanoid in stature. They are cold-blooded and have reptilian skin covered in small scales that provide them with a measure of protection. Due to fluctuating genetic makeup stemming from their experimental (and magically infused) origin, their exact features are rarely purely hereditary. This is also the reason why there are wide variations in appendage and growths distribution among the species, although it's rare for a single dragonborn to sport more than one or two such features, with tails being somewhat rare, and wings even more so - rarely more than a single individual in a generation, if that. Conversely, the colouration type seems to be hereditary, though a pairing of differing colour parents produces offspring that can inherit the colour type of one of them, with a colour tint of the other parent that fades as the child matures.
The dragonborn are ponderous and muscular and of a tall and heavy build. They often have rigid bony plates that protect their necks and stomachs, as well as frills, horns, crests, and other bony or spiny growths over their bodies. They all have opposable thumbs on their hands, with fingers ending in claws that vary in length depending on the individual. They are digitigrades, owing to the makeup of bones in their legs and feet, with strong wide digits that also end in claws. Their mouths are filled with two rows of sharp teeth, with wider, blunter molars towards the back, and a long tongue that can sometimes be forked.
Genetics and Reproduction
Dragonborn have been declining as a race due to many different causes, but one of them has been implanted in them from the beginning, and that is their difficult lack of certainty in reproduction. The dragonborn hatches a clutch of about half dozen eggs, but there is a risk that some of them "grow cold", as it's called, which in essence means that they petrify over time instead of hatching. Some dragonborn have dubbed this phenomenon as "dudding". To make matters worse, dragonborn wyrmlings are fiercely jealous of their parents after hatching, which leads to recurrent cases of infanticide among clutch-mates. Normally, a dragonborn egg needs between 10 and 14 months to hatch.
Growth Rate & Stages
If it survives hatching and the first year afterwards, a wyrmling grows at an exponential rate. They are able to walk mere months after hatching and reach adolescence by the age of 3 years old. Over the next two years thereafter, a young dragonborn reaches full physical maturity, and from then on fully grows out of adolescence by the age of 10.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Dragonborn have varied facial features among their race. Their snouts can be of varying lengths and widths, and no individual has the same composition of growths, spines, horns and frills. Similarly, colouration of those can vary greatly. They owe their eye colour to their colour type, just like the colour of their scales, though specific tints can vary due to ancestry.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The dragonborn haven't inherited the extraordinary sensory capabilities of their progenitors. In fact, they often suffer from poor eyesight that aggravates toward their later years. Similarly, their hearing capabilities leave much to be desired, though their sense of smell is keener than average.
by Kelli Renae Cairns
Origin/Ancestry
Draconic
Lifespan
Dragonborn can live to be between 150-200 years old.
Average Height
Dragonborn can usually be between 195-240 cm (6'4"-7'8" ft) in height.
Average Weight
With their heavy frames, dragonborn weigh between 120-160 kg (265-350 pounds).
Average Physique
Dragonborn were created to be heavy and muscular by the ancient dragon civilization, though over time there have been deviations that broke the norm, with wiry or frail builds appearing as well.
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