Dracovians

Savah, we walked. Our world crumbled like hard, flaking bread. The sands we sailed over. We pitched our tents on earth that moved like water. Savah, like a great mouth, it rose to swallow many of us. We looked up, watched the bodies of our paragons clash against eldritch horrors. Fang against hands, Fire against eyes. But we walked, Savah, for if we died, it would be on our feet, in the sky. That night, our sandsleds skimmed against stars on the leather of dragonwing. What we left behind, we would find again, and what we couldn't replace--our families--we took with us.
— Elderess Matzitzi Alhravi
 

Appearance

Dracovians are much more similar to reptiles than mammals with their scaled bodies and slit eyes. Bipedal with arched-backs, Dracovians are digitigrades, meaning they walk on their toes and the balls of their feet, heels lifted. Between Dracovians, there are three variants of the race that still exist today: Kingfishers are natural swimmers as they bear gills, fins or even smoother scales that take on the hues of the colors of the water they ancestrally lived closest to; Viperfangs are poisonous with saturated colors and patterns that make up their scales and hooded backs; Scissorwings on the majority have wings, or at least elongated and silky scales that resemble feathers that make them bothe lithe and acrobatic creatures.   While slightly larger than an average Taran, a Dracovians height is consistent across their race. What is not consistent is their sense of fashion. As a nomadic people, they adorn themselves with that they have handy, typically bones. Dracovians have been known to make armor out of bones, akin to lamellar, or even make ceremonial garb out of the bones of their ancestors. While certainly macabre, it is too chiselled and detailed to incorporate images of great deeds of their people, as if to imbue the armor or garb with the virtues of the actions depicted.  

Personality

The phrase, "I will show you the pride of Dragons" is quite literal for any and all Dracovians. Dracovians are a proud people by nature and are quite open and extroverted about these matters, as improvement is a communal effort. For some, this manifests in a desire to test the limits of their abilities, character, etc. and prove their worth through great deeds; in others, it is simply a desire for growth or enlightenment. Because of this, some Dracovians can become obsessive in the details of a task they have taken upon themselves, and as a result, there are many Dracovian experts in the world.   Dracovians often take on rivals, but not in the way an average Taran might. While a Taran might terrorize or bully their weaker rival, a Dracovian rival is one made out of honorable respect for the other's abilities. These rivalries are not only common, but necessary in the Dracovians mind as both parties seek to improve on themselves in an area where the other excels. This ties into the philosophy that one Dracovian is only as strong as their weakest member. In an effort to raise each other up, a Dracovian will develop ties outside their own family and create a complex structure of rivalries meant to support one another. This is what makes Dracovians seek out other races through pilgrimages. As such, most other races will enjoy a Dracovian for their intensity derived from their unbreakable will and unshakable discipline in achieving their goals; and in the process, the other rival will learn something about themselves  

Civilization & Geography

Dracovians are largely nomadic folk, preferring warm and humid climates with relatively predictable weather patterns. Because this temperature is also largely desired by most other agricultural people with establish civilizations, the Dracovians have learned to tame harsher environments such as the open seas, deserts, etc. This means the resources they have access to are usually scarce. Dracovians thus have little to trade with outside forces aside from their own services. This is why a majority of Dracovians are laborers outside of their own clans alongside Rooks.   In their clans, Dracovians organize themselves around dynastic rulership, where current, living paragons of a clan (or leaders of clans, whose paragon has passed away, elected through trials) act as representatives for those within an associated clan. In brief, Dracovians enjoy a Dynastic Republic, where goods are dispersed in an egalitarian fashion when times are prosperous, and in a fashion that values the laborers when times are less fortunate. As such, Dracovian leadership is hard to recognize from a Taran perspective, whose rulers live opulent lives. For a Dracovian rulership and the dispersal of goods much be for the benefit of the clan as a group dependent on each other. There is an ancient Ykalu Tribe ruler with a Dracovian Chief who once said, "Anyone can decide their fate and rule, but few are willing to bear the burden of providing to their kin. So, do not feed the voice who rules you--I am but one; feed your siblings, offspring, and neighbors--for they are many."  

Common Names

Dracovians have a personal name and two surnames: a clan name, and a bloodline name.    In the case of the Dracovian's clan name, clans are bands of Dracovians who tend to take after a particular paragon of their race's history. The name taken from a paragon is changed slightly from their given name to make it a bit longer, as longer names in Dracovian culture denote prestige. Because paragons and their deeds make up a clan's philosophy, clans can easily fall into and out of existence depending on the feelings toward that paragon at a given time. What the surname thus does is show where a particular Dracovian stands ideologically.   A Dracovians bloodline name is fairly simple in that it is directly derived from one of the many Saints a Dracovian has, as listen below, normally followed by the particle "en" meaning "of".   Common Dracovian Names: Nadel, Caram, Ereela, Samir, Metas, Agnar   Common Dracovian Clan Surnames: Yengenyani, Atenanna, Samikel, Arefdan, Maphenar, Bavikh,   Common Dracovian Bloodline Surnames: (en) Saeedel, Ajudia, Corodia, Milil, Erikelar, Maineus, Siojuil   To help further identify a Dracovian or foreigners, they use honorifics at the beginning of a name. The most common honorific denotes respect toward someone--regardless if they are Dracovian, if they have a clan, or if they are an outsider: "Savah". Using "Savah" can as well be akin to a Taran's title of "Mr." or "Mz.". Other honorifics denote a Dracovian's level of responsibility in society:
  • Sai - Hunter
  • Khan - Leader
  • Bibi - Child
  • Dhin - Shipwright
  • Tahbibi - Apprentice
  • Inua - Warrior
Some of these honorifics combine with names to make nicknames. For example, "saiNadel" becomes "Saidel".   With all this in mind a typical Dracovian name light look like "saiNadel Agphenar enAjudia  

Heroic Calling

Dracovians that become heroes or adventurers are usually on a self-imposed pilgrimage or who seek to right the evils of the world. Whether this is done selfishly to increase one’s renown or as a way to give back to their community, a Dracovian will take great pride in their quest; as the phrase goes, “It is a dead Dracovian that leaves a task undone”.   

Magic & Technology

Dracovians are inherently a magical people, on the level of Myrrdins. They all have the ability to breath fire, and some more can some can fly, others can breath underwater, and others are venomous. This makes the Dracovians a fairly well-rounded race in terms of inherent abilities, and in fact, Dracovians are most likely to lean toward Elementalist magics as well, making them akin to forces of nature. It is for this reason that many Dracovians live a nomadic lifestyle of caravaning or ship-sailing and thus have fairly limited technologies. What they do have, however, they have perfected.   A nomadic clan of sailors have sails, pockets for rowing, and waterwheels that can be churned through the water act as an engine that can be used to propel a boathome through the water. A clan of Caravaners will have similar inventions with or without a need for horses to draw them, an instead a mechanism that will rotate a wheel should the vehicle become stuck or need a push forward.  

Religion

Dracovians have: 1) Paragons of particular virtues that act as ancestral or at least philosophical guides; 2) Saints that represent particular divinely-derived physical aspects; 3) demigods that created these Saints and represent particular ideals or values qualities; 4) one creator deity.   The Dracovian's creator deity was Fugen, a blind but devoted creator. He created four demigods to assist him: Morpheus of ambition & dreams, Ilairiad of bloodlines & magic, Calixtus of elogence & cunning, Disfreja of longevity & memory. To guard these Demigods, Fugen created the first dragons, long bodies, winged, and pirmordial creatures whose purpose bent on gathering the materials of creation in hordes for use as well as territorial defense of their creators and these materials.   These Demigods each created Saints under them, who could command legions of dragons, and who could as well manifest their physical aspects in the beings they created:    Morpheus took the aspects of the claw and the scale--to Saeedel he gave claws, and to Ajudia he gave scales. Ilairiad was trusted with the aspects of the stringer and the fin--to Corodia they gave the stringer, and to Milil they gave the webbing of fins. Calixtus was in charge of the aspects of the wing and the mind--to Erikelar he gifted wings, and to Maineus he gifted a mind. Disfreya had two aspects--fur and another aspect the is lost to time--she had entrusted Siojuil with the aspect of fur, but he died, along with the other aspect passing into forgotten history; for this transgressions, dragons lost their immortality and all of their creations were cursed with mortality. To the Dracovians however, from Saeedel to Siojuil, these beings were known as saints.


Cover image: Art Chimera by Madeline M

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