Courier drake

Drakes figure prominently in the folklore surrounding the Twelve. They are featured in several stories as a symbol of Naught, usually as a reminder that even the haughtiest or loftiest of beasts is not beyond His reach. Simultaneously portrayed as virtuous and vain, they were viewed for a long time by the people of Khasrana as a beast to be feared, or as a portent of evil.
Because of their reputation and their association with the god of death, they were hunted nearly to extinction over the past thousand years. But something happened during the rise of the Twelve that changed their nature. They seemed drawn to the energy radiating from the towers of the Twelve, and soon areas that had never seen drakes even before their near-eradication were highly populated by them. But these drakes were not the bloodthirsty beasts of legend - instead, they seemed to be almost peaceful as long as they could bask in the energy of the Paragons.
Rangers employed by the Pavilion soon saw potential in this new paradigm. The drakes were swift and powerful fliers who were attuned to the presence of the Twelve - why couldn't they be used to carry messages between the temples? Soon enough, an elite handful of rangers had trained the drakes as couriers, and until the development of the relay system, courier drakes were the de facto mode of communication across Khasrana.
Drakes will usually bond to a single handler. Although they will trust others enough to deliver a message to them, a drake will never allow another person to give them a message or package to deliver. Handlers are trained from a young age, and paired with their drake upon hatching. This has set apart drake handlers as an elite class within Pavilion authority, and children from across the realm dream of one day being paired with their own drake.
Courier drakes have fallen out of favor somewhat after the invention of the communications relays used by the Pavilion. Communications relays tend to be faster and more reliable than drakes, but they cannot transmit parcels, and the relay network is somewhat susceptible to infiltration and pirate signals.

Conservation Status

Previously endangered, currently low concern