Path of the Dragon Knight

In many worlds, there is a distinct divide between the powers of mortal and dragonkind. These are two wholly different cultures, powers, and societies, rarely intermingled. In Chromatia, however, dragons lend their power to maintaining the balance of the world's natural forces, and do so while creating a place for mortal society to participate as equals.
There is no organization that upholds this ideal more truthfully than the Dragon Knights, an ancient order of warriors blessed with draconic power to seek out and quell imbalance in the world, preventing any one dragon from claiming dominion over the others and ensuring mortals are protected from these living catastrophes' passage.
Most who consider themselves a part of the Dragon Knights do so after taking either the Oath of the Dragon Knight or joining the Dragon Riders as a Drakewarden. There are some who choose to take one step beyond these limitations, however, or perhaps ply their skills while still swearing to uphold the natural order of the world - these folk reaffirm their oaths, forging new bonds, strengthening their resolve, and honing their will through the Orb of Dragonkind to manifest a lethal Dragon Slayer, a powerful weapon in the right hands and one few earn the privilege to bear.
Those strong enough to pursue a Path may seek out the Orb of Dragonkind within Castle Reukir and swear on it to uphold the Oath of the Dragon Knights:

Protect the Balance. A member of the order will not actively hunt a dragon unless it threatens the public or the natural order. Dragons are just as much a necessary part of this world as society is.
Mercy must Prevail. Violent and lethal force must be avoided unless absolutely necessary. There is almost always another answer.
Lead with Grace. The power of dragons is a terrible thing in the wrong hands. The people should look to you for guidance, not flee from you in terror.

For paladins and drakewardens of the order, this won't be anything new. But it is still every bit a part of the ritual, and believed to strengthen your existing oath by reaffirming it. On completion of your oath, whether new or renewed, the Orb will bestow upon you a fragment of draconic essence, permanently branding you with draconic power. This consumes one of your attunement slots, and once completed cannot be undone by any means besides a wish spell, divine intervention, or excommunication be the order. If your attunement is ever lost for one of these reasons, all benefits of the path are lost immediately and cannot be recovered until you have redeemed yourself.

Crimson Brand

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement) The Crimson Brand is a tattoo-like marking that appears somewhere on your body. You choose this location and its exact appearance at your discretion, though the mark always bears the tenets of the Dragon Knights written in draconic script upon it. The mark itself "rests" in this location, but when obscured or otherwise unseen, is known to move and whisper warnings and reminders into its bearer's ear. It is for this reason Dragon Knights typically prefer to wear heavy armor over heavy fabric, to preserve the secrecy of their companion's movements (the general public is not aware of this trait of the marks).
Your Crimson Mark has the following Resonance properties:

• Creator (Dragon). Upon taking their oath, a Dragon Knight is marked with a crimson tattoo somewhere on their body marking their tenants. The mark grows noticeably warm when a dragon comes within 120 feet of the knight, even if shape changed.
• History (Heroic). The Dragon Knights are an esteemed Order, well known throughout the world as true heroes who will stop at nothing to protect the people from the tyranny of evil dragons. People will always be willing to help a Dragon Knight with food, lodging, and other relevant services if they have the means to do so.
• Minor Property (Song Craft, Unbreakable). The mark of the Dragon Knight grants them Echosight, permitting them to hear portions of the dragonsong.
• Quirk (Confident). A sworn Dragon Knight inherits some of a dragon's famous indifference; that is to say, it helps its bearer feel self-assured and outwardly calm in all but the most extreme circumstances.

Additionally, the brand grants the following properties to its bearer:

• Spell Focus. The Crimson Brand doesn't function as a spellcasting focus on its own; it instead channels magic through your dominant hand or, if you are wielding a weapon, through the weapon as appropriate.
• Hardened Body. You gain a bonus to your armor class equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum 1, maximum 4).
• Dragon Slayer. When a dragon is excommunicated for its actions, it becomes a bounty of the Order's. Against such dragons, weapons you wield deal an additional 4d6 damage on a successful hit. Otherwise, the weapon deals its normal damage.
• Echosense. You gain the ability to magically focus your senses as an action to discern the distance and direction to the closest dragon within 30 miles of you.
• Minor Fundamentum. Whenever you complete a short or a long rest, you may choose a damage type other than slashing, piercing, or bludgeoning. You gain resistance to the chosen damage type, and your weapon attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage of that type. This effect magically replaces the ammunition of ranged weapons. Ammunition created this way disappears after it hits or misses.

When you first join this path, choose a Major Affirmation. You gain this effect immediately. Additional properties are gained like any other Echoes through the use of Pure Chromatite, with the same limitations.

Tools of a Dragon Knight

The Orb of Dragonkind has invigorated you with new abilities as a sign of your empowerment. You gain the following traits in addition to the other properties granted by the Crimson Mark.

Dragonmarked

You gain the aberrant dragonmark feat, with the "Whispering" flaw. Instead of gaining a boon and losing a hit die at level 10, when you defeat your first Ancient Dragon after joining this path, you gain an Epic Boon of your choice (this cannot be earned more than once by the same character, and is lost if the Path is abandoned).

Echostrike

As part of one of your Attack actions on your turn, you can make a weapon attack against a creature you can see within 30 feet, or a dragon you can see within 30 miles. On a successful hit, the creature takes the weapon's damage as you are instantly teleported to the creature's back. A creature with legendary saving throws can use one to negate the teleportation effect until the end of its next turn (this also applies to other Dragon Knights using Echostrike during this round).

Dragonfall

As a reaction to hitting a dragon with your weapon, you can force the dragon to make a Strength saving throw (DC 25). On a failure, the dragon is knocked prone. If you are adjacent to the dragon when you use this feature, it has a -5 bonus to its roll.

Dragon's Indifference

You automatically succeed on saving throws made against a Dragon's frightening presence trait. Furthermore, creatures have disadvantage on Wisdom checks made to determine your disposition or intentions.

Wyrm Ward

As a 1-minute ritual, you may imprint the ground beneath you with a crimson rune, which projects a 1,000 foot sphere around itself. While in this area, any Dragon has disadvantage on saving throws and can have a flying speed no higher than 10 feet. If the surface the rune is on is destroyed, this effect ends immediately. Otherwise, the rune fades after an hour.

Excommunication

At any time, you may return to the Orb of Dragonkind in Castle Reukir and request your oath be revoked. If you do so, you can never choose this path as an option for this character again without a great wyrm's blessing. If you willfully and knowingly betray the tenets of the Order, you are considered to be excommunicated on the spot, whether you are willing or not.

Affirmations