Dragons, Dragonspeakers, and Dragon-kissed

The Dragons

The Dragons are gods and can grant divine power. They are worshipped mostly in Eastern Keldun - mainly in Andarra, Falakia, and Grakis. Each of the Dragons claims faith-dominion over one of the countries of Eastern Keldun. Each Dragon carries a short name by which their followers may address them. In the list below, each Dragon's short name is given in parentheses after the full name. It is considered a blasphemy for a non-Dragonspeaker to utter a Dragon's full name aloud.

Ataramakaris (Atara)

Ataramakaris is a blue dragon who claims the region of Andarra as his own. He is cunning, clever, wise, paranoid, tyrannical, and controlling. Storms, air and lightning are his chosen elements.

Il'ma'to'ee'rey (Ilma)

II'ma'to'ee'rey is a white dragon who claims Falakia. He is mighty, fearsome, distant, feral, brutal, and dim. Ice and snow are his elements.

Xilomekira (Mekira)

Xilomekira is the red dragon ruling over Chidan. He is passionate, fierce, energetic, wrathful, hasty, and impulsive. Fire and sand are his elements.

Sansapradava (Pradava)

Sansapradava is a green dragon claiming Lin Wa as her domain. She is beautiful, graceful, vibrant, vain, childish, and clingy. Her elements are wood and earth.

Yalakhbarma (Barma)

Yalakhbarma is a black dragon, claiming Grakis as his own. He is stoic, determined, willful, stubborn, hidebound, and poisonous. Water is his chosen element.

The Dragonspeakers

A dragon knows when a child will be born in his domain and can decide to invest some of his dracopotence in it, creating a Dragonspeaker. This is a loan of power - the Dragonspeaker is expected to return it by worshipping and giving sacrifices (usually of gold or treasure) to his patron. It should be said that most Dragonspeakers pay off that loan of power with interest, but woe to the Dragonspeaker who is delinquent!
Dragonspeakers speak the tongue of dragons and dragon-kin by default. Dragonspeakers are born, not made. Some families have long dynasties of Dragonspeakers; a child of such a family who is not a Dragonspeaker is considered an ill omen and a withdrawal of favor from that family. These children are usually expected to become Dragon-kissed (see below).
In most human communities, Dragonspeakers serve as leaders and local law. This leads to (political) corruption in many areas and strife with representatives of the Bloody Hand in areas claimed by him. Dragonspeakers are unwelcome in areas claimed by the Bloody Hand, and the people in these lands practice old superstitions. The Dragonspeakers send missionaries to any place where such practices are common, attempting to convert the public to worship of the dragons by any means necessary.
Dragonspeakers are usually addressed as ‘Dragonspeaker (common name, first or last depending on culture) or ‘(short name of dragon)’s-speaker (name) if the dragon is known. ‘(color)-speaker’ never takes a name and is considered derogatory when directed toward a Dragonspeaker.
Dragonspeakers can do almost anything with their power, subject to the favor of their patron and the number of times such power has been called upon. Dragonspeakers channel the power of their patrons directly, and so they incur a debt of power through much use, paid with sacrificed treasure or other things that the Dragonspeaker's draconic patron might consider valuable (like living sacrifices for Ilma, or well-tended gardens for Pradava).
Dragonspeakers are also well-known for being blessed with draconic traits from their patrons - colored scales and sharp claws being the most common blessings, some elder Dragonspeakers sporting wings or some kind of breath weapon. They accrue these traits over time as they grow closer to their patrons, with the eldest Dragonspeakers appearing as two-legged dragons in their own right.

The Dragon-kissed

Non-Dragonspeaker acolytes of dragons exist, gain a fraction of the divine power of their patrons, and are called Dragon-kissed. These Dragon-kissed also receive an investiture of dracopotence, but this is a gift for devoted service rather than a debt owed. They often bear draconic traits, much like the Dragonspeakers, but they are incapable of the miracles the Dragonspeakers perform.