The Descendants of Dragons
True dragons are the source of the Draconic Immortal bloodline. With their innate ability to shape-shift, a dragon can act as a mother or father to its offspring. While they can breed at any time, they have an estrous cycle that drives them to mate. A full cycle takes about ten years to complete, with a peak of estrus that lasts an entire year, during which the dragon feels the most intense desire to breed.
As solitary creatures, dragons will often travel great distances to find another of their kind willing to mate with them. This is often used as a bargaining chip in negotiations, with the dragon in heat being at a disadvantage. This is especially true if the other dragon is willing to take on the role of mother, as they will be responsible for carrying the eggs and raising the whelps.
Dragon Breeding Mentality/Morality
Dragons, known for their solitary nature and infrequent interactions with their own kind, struggle with a personal moral code when it comes to their mating habits. It is widely believed within the dragon community that mating with non-dragons is ethically unacceptable, as these beings are considered inferior. When dragons are unable to find a suitable dragon mate, they often turn to deep meditation or seek out distractions to suppress their natural instincts to reproduce. Many dragons, however, use their innate shapeshifting abilities to find suitable mates. Many are open to interbreeding with other races that exhibit "near-dragon intelligence," such as elves, humans, and kobolds. They often choose mates from among those they know and respect through interactions in their humanoid forms. A notable minority of dragons insist that their chosen mate must have a dragon-like appearance, regardless of relative intelligence. Each dragon independently determines the characteristics that symbolize a resemblance. These are the dragons that select mates such as dinosaurs, avians, or cetaceans. There is also a pragmatic minority of dragons that take a utilitarian approach to mating. Instead of obsessing over the details of mating, these dragons prioritize aligning their mating choices with their goals and objectives. They may pick one of their minions to produce offspring that can serve as powerful minions. As a token of appreciation to a noble mortal who offered them assistance, they might consider creating a half-dragon livestock to gift. Not only that, but they may even pick a creature at random just to study the resulting offspring.Draconic Offspring
The offspring of such non-draconic unions are a unique and powerful form of immortal-blooded known as half-bloods, in this case half-dragons. Half-dragons largely resemble their non-draconic parents, but usually carry traits such as the eyes, teeth, claws, wings, breath, and patches of scales of their draconic ancestors. Those raised by wild animals or other similarly unintelligent creatures are able to speak Draconic. Though still less intelligent than any common race, they possess an impressive intelligence for their species. Because of this intelligence and their intimidating appearance, half-dragons who remain with their non-draconian parents usually rise to a position of dominance within their non-draconian families. The following are the most commonly documented non-draconian half-dragons.Drakobolds
A drakobold is the offspring of a kobold with a true dragon as a parent, grandparent, or great-grandparent. Unlike other half-dragons, the draconic bloodline remains potent in kobolds for several generations before becoming inactive. Drakobolds make up the largest group of half-dragons due to the persistence of the draconic bloodline and the willingness of kobolds to serve true dragons. Though most dragons would not consider mating with a kobold under normal circumstances, their urges during estrus may cause them to make temporary exceptions. For a kobold, the chance to mate with a dragon is a rare and coveted opportunity. Drakobolds rarely stay with their kobold tribe or draconic parent. They consider themselves superior to other kobolds, and their kin generally agree. However, they always feel overshadowed by their draconic ancestor, who is likely to see them as just another kobold.Dracoquines
A dracoquine is the direct offspring of the rare union between a true dragon and a horse. Though they mostly look like horses, they have the eyes, teeth, and wings of their draconic parent, and a layer of dragon scales running down their backs. They are slightly more intelligent than their equine ancestors and can speak, though usually only in Draconic. Nevertheless, they remain with the herd in which they were born, often becoming the herd's leader when they reach maturity. Occasionally, a Dracoquine is given to a farmer as a reward for helping the parent dragon in some way, knowingly or unknowingly. Due to their increased strength, endurance, and flight capabilities, such creatures are a significant boon, and no farmer would sell one lightly. Attempts to breed Dracoquines have never been successful. It is widely believed that they are sterile hybrids, much like a mule.Avidrakes
An avidrake is the direct offspring of a dragon and an avian creature, such as a roc. Such a union produces an animal that is surprisingly similar to its non-draconic parent, even more so than other half-dragons. In most cases, the difference can only be discerned by close examination or by observing the creature using its draconic breath weapon.Draconosaurs
A draconosaur is the direct offspring of a dinosaur and a dragon. Dinosaurs are common breeding targets for desperate dragons who do not want to stray too far from finding a mate that is at least somewhat draconic in appearance. Draconosaurs are often mistaken for actual dragons, both at a distance and in the heat of battle. However, their relative lack of intelligence compared to true dragons leads them to generally wreak havoc and become prime targets for dragon hunters early in their lives.Drakceans
A drakcean is the direct offspring of a true dragon and a marine mammal. This mating occurs most often when sea dragons are unable to find a suitable draconic mate within a reasonable distance. Drakceans largely resemble their dolphin or whale parent, but with the addition of Draconic eyes, wings, scales, teeth, and horns. The presence of draconic horns and the lack of claws is a notable difference not found in most other half-dragon types. Due to the presence of wings and their heightened intelligence, draconics quickly become apex predators in the regions they inhabit. They often take to the skies to hunt seabirds or make a swift dive to surprise swimming prey from above.Summary
The Immortal Bloodline of dragons is incredibly potent. Dragons are seemingly able to mate with any species that does not belong to an Immortal Bloodline, producing powerful offspring that share a mixture of their traits and those of the other parent. Such creatures are known as half-dragons, and many varieties have names specific to their species, such as Dracoquines for half-dragon horses and Avidrakes for half-dragon birds.
Spread
The practice of interbreeding between dragons and non-draconic creatures is not widely known, due to dragons' efforts to conceal what they consider to be shameful behavior. However, the increasing ownership of dracoquines by some knights has led to inquiries into the origins of these half-dragon horses.
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