Dragonkin

The Dragonkin is a conglomerate of Dragon blooded races that include Dragons, Dragonborn, Half Dragons, and Kobolds. They are the largest political faction in Cestria, holding some of the largest territory. Its total population exceeds that of all the other races on Cestria, and can be found throughout the land in almost every major city. Their history is long and old, going so far back to the very creation of the world. For thousands of years have the Dragonkin resided in the world, yet they continue to live, and change as the years go on. Pride is one of their treasures, and will go to the ends of the earth to uphold it. They are prideful, yet compassionate, and take their duty and tasks to be their highest calling in life. Dragonkin are reliable, dependable, and are noble. To have one as a friend is to bring comradery and passion to ones journey. To have one as an enemy, is to invite a lifetime of fear and pain.
Known for their military prowess, the Dragonkin have some of the most well trained fighters and magic casters in their standing armed forces. It is said that Dragonkin adventures are often trustworthy and diligent, completing any task they take, or die trying. Though they despise failure, they will learn from it and improve themselves for the next challenge in order to succeed where they once floundered. Nevertheless, when an adventuring party has a skilled Dragonkin adventurer in their troop, it is sure to be a fortuitous, and exciting adventure filled with challenge, and reward.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Dragonkin are not any specific Race, but instead multiple different races that have come together under a shared ancestry, that being of Dragons or of the like. Dragons, Kobolds, Half Dragons, and Dragonborn are all considered to be Dragonkin. After thousands of years of procreation between one another and members of other races on Cestria, a number of notable features has become dominant in the current Dragonkin. The main key features of Dragonkin are simple: Humanoid with fetchers of a Dragon and a strong firm build.
While Dragons have remained relatively unchanged over the many years, the others (Kobolds, Dragonborn, and Half Dragons) have all had some major changes from their original ancestors. Dragonkin are ether born with a tail, wings, or both, and even a few can call upon the Dragons most notable features such as claws or breath ability.
The Kobolds of the Dragonkin have evolved to a point were they are no longer sensitive to the bright light outside their caves. While short and small compared to other Dragonkin, there have been a few mutations where Kobolds have grown as tall as a normal Human. Covered in scales and Hairless, Kobolds are easy to spot in a crowd. Some even have wings, but very few have tails.
Half Dragons stand about as tall as a normal human with some as short as a dwarfs and as tall as a half Giant. Many Half Dragon Dragonkin more often take on the appearance of another race with notable scales and horns, and often sport ether a tail, set of wings, or both. They are also more likely to grow hair than other Dragonkin, do to their mixed blood.
Dragonborn stand taller than most Humanoid races and often take more of the Dragon look than that of other Dragonkin races. Like their kin, they often have a Tail, Wings, or both. They tend to hold a stronger build then their other kin but often lose out on a few key aspects the others may have. While not impossible, very few grow hair, and instead more often have long whiskers that they trim to look like hair.

Biological Traits

Dragonkin tend to be tall, Scaled, often have Horns and tails, and sometimes wings. Average weight of an adult male is around 232 ibs, and 196 ibs for Female.

Genetics and Reproduction

Dragonkin DNA tends to be a dominant trait when mixing with other species. As such, Half-Bloods (or Half dragons) and Dragonborn tend to be very common place in all parts of the world. Though more often then not, Dragonkin tend to stay in relationship with other Dragonkin. When a female gets pregnant, they begin to gestate an egg inside their womb. After about 4 mouths, the female will lay the egg, which needs a steady heat source in order to survive but can survive in lower temperatures if needed. After about 5 mouths the child inside the egg will burst free and begin its life in the world.
It is also rumored that depending on the temperature that the egg is at through most of its 5 mouth incubation period, that it will determine what gender the child will be. Higher temperature for boys, lower temperature for girls. All though Science has not proven this to be fact, it is often true that eggs kept at lower temperatures tend to have a high female birth rate then eggs at higher temperatures.

Growth Rate & Stages

The Dragonkin's life cycle can vary from one to another, depending on their heritage. When a Female is about to give birth to their child, their body begins to change and adapt to allow for the egg to grow withing their ovary. This process for normal Dragonborn is simply a widening of the natural physical body to allow the egg to pass through with no ill effect. On non-Draognborn females, their body goes through a similar process, however often their lower body magically transforms to resemble that of a Dragonborn in order to better release the egg within them, that mostly reverts back to normal after the egg is laid. After a few more months with in the egg, the baby Dragonkin hatches and begins life as an infant child.
The Child Grows at the same rate as their race provides, with Dragonborn ageing slightly faster then that of Half-Dragons. On average however, they reach adulthood around the age of 21 and live between the ages of 89 to 130 years. For most Dragonkin, especially Half-Blood Dragonkin, they hit puberty around the age of 13 for girls, 15 for males. Along with the standard aspects of growing up, it is around this time that Dragonkin adolescents have their major growth spurts in both their height, tail length and thickness, and some even sport wings, though this is quite rare. This happens in various forms of moulting that happens often between the ages of 12 and 26. During this time of moulting, their body's grow at a rapid pace, some up to a several inches every 2 years. Dragonkin reach their final Adult height on average around the age of 21, though this is not true for every Dragonkin child.
Signs that a Dragonkin is about to go through the moulting process vary between individuals, but are usually easy to spot. Some of the most common signs that a moulting is about to happen are: Having a general increase in appetite, a slight fever, and general aches and pains, that usually come with rapid growth. When the moulting process begins, a Dragonkin is often stuck in bed from 1 to 7 days.
During this time, they are struck with a high fever and a violent paroxysm throughout their body, as if their joints and bones are about to break. During the final hours of the moulting process, this pain is increased, but quickly dissipates as they begin to shed their old skin. The old skin cracks and then flakes off, braking apart into nothing as it leaves the skin. If a Dragonkin has hair, it often grows to twice as long in the same amount of time it takes for the skin to flake off.
To an individual outside of the Dragonkin race, this process has often to be described as a beautiful transformation, as the flakes of old skin glow with a brilliant rainbow light as it is breaks apart. Vary rarely are there any large pieces of old skin left over, but sometimes large patches of old skin form tails. While these skins have no monetary value, they are often a memento for some Parents to remind them of their child's growth. Once this part of the moulting is over, the pain and fever disappear, and the Dragonkin is ready to return to their normal life. After the age of 30 the moulting processes slows and tends to only happen one ever 5 or so years.

Ecology and Habitats

The Dragonkin live threw out the land of Cestria, though primarily they live to the northern part of the land. The land to the north is a tundra, with snow and ice covering the land during much of the winter season. While cold threw out most the year, during the harvest season the ground is naturally warm and gives good harvest to keep the local towns and villages well feed threw out the year. Winters tend to be hard for the smaller townships and villages, and periodic blizzards make life a challenge when they strike. Yet the Dragonkin have weathered these storms and have made this land their own, and fluoresce in the gifts it provides.
The mountains that surround this northern tundra are home to many a active volcano, the oldest being that of Mount Darastrixi Nakta, home of Dragonia. Many small out of the way village live with in these mountains surrounding the northern tundra, each with their own set of challenges that they have learned to overcome. To the Dragonkin, these colder lands are home to them. They find the hardship of the cold weather to be an almost liberating experience. In times of yore, the Dragonkin would return to the lava caves formed from the numerous volcanoes found in these mountain ranges for warmth and shelter. Nowadays, these old caverns from major towns and city's with in them. Aside from this, many Dragonkin also find the landscapes of their ancestral dragon's blood to be quite conferrable as well.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Dragonkin have a large love for meat. Being prominently meat eater, they often have a good eye, and taste, for high quality meat and meat based products. Over the years though, there are many of the Dragonkin who have adapted to become herbivores do to the lack of available meat in some location. Now a days most Dragonkin meals consist of a large meat portion with a small amount of leafy vegetables and some fruit.

Biological Cycle

The Dragonkin life cycle differs between the different races, such as Kobolds and Pure Blood Dragons. However the Dragonborn and Half Dragons tend to have the same stages in their lifespan as they grow. After gestating for 4 months inside the body of a female (Dragonkin or otherwise), the parent proceeds to lay the Egg that hatches roughly 5 months later. Once hatched, the baby goes through childhood just like any other child would, growing year by year until they reach the ages of 13 to 15. Once they reach their teen years, they go threw puberty in which they begin molting, and growing rapidly every few years until adulthood around the age of 21. During adulthood, Dragonkin change vary little with only a few changes to how their body looks depending on their lifestyle. As they reach the age of 60 to 70 years old, many begin to show their age, their posture begins to change and they are considered to be elderly by most standards. Finally, between the ages of 80 and 120 years of age, depending on how a Dragonkin took care of themselves during life, is when Draogonkins find the end of their natural lifespan.
Dragonkin are well adapted to the colder temperatures of Cestria's northern tundra, but can easily adapt to live in just about any climate type found in the world. Often, many Dragonkin find that they enjoy and are quite capable of living in environments that closely resemble the type of landscape their bloodline tends to live in, such as volcanoes, swamps, and desserts. Besides that, they live as any other humanoid race would in lands of extreme climate

Additional Information

Social Structure

Dragonkin Culture is based on a monarchy/class structure, with a congress advisory council for fair governmental policy. It starts with the Monarchy(or Matriarchy), then The Nobel Houses, Nobel ascendance, Citizen, Commoner, and finally the poor.

Facial characteristics

More often the faces of Dragonkin are well, that of a Dragon, with the more human Dragonkin tending to take from elven or half elven looks.

Average Intelligence

Most Dragonkin are very learned creatures, having a good education and general knowledge about the land, life, and history.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

While like most humanoid creatures, Dragonkin share many of the same perception and sensory skills that normal humans have. One key difference is that Dragonkin have an innate understanding of the magical forces at work in the environment around them, and will notice a major change in the magical prescience in their current surroundings.

Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms

Since the Dragonkin is not one bread of dragon, the 4 main groups of dragon blooded creatures have learned to live with each other and accept their differences.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

The Dragonkin have a number of naming traditions do to how fast and varied the different Dragonkin types are. Most Dragonkin names are based off of the Dragonian language more often than not describing their physical appearance or they blood line. It is also likely that Dragonkin take names from other races as a way to show friendship or unity. It is not uncommon to have Dragonkin to have both a first name and a last name since that is the norm across many other races. Typically though, Most Dragonkin simply refer to Family names, Parents name, or First names more than their full given name as to them that is all that is needed to be known. However, Dragonkin do have a special name that is given to them upon completing their coming of age ceremony. This name is what most Dragonkin deem to be the True name of an individual as it shows that they have completed their Ceremony and have become a true adult in the eyes of others. To an outsider, this true name is more often called a "Title" that one would expect to receive from preforming a great deed of some kind. But to the Dragonkin it is far more spiritual and personal to them as it represents their true self far more than their given name. As such, Dragonkin do not give others, especially non Dragonkin, their true name unless they are very close to that individual.

Common Etiquette Rules

During Formal Meals with nobles, dignitary's, or friends and family on special holidays, the Dragonkin often practices specific rituals as a show of good manners, and respect. While each family may have their own practices during such times, it often falls down to the fallowing actions:

1. The Host(s)*or Family* is the last to take their seat at the table when they invite guess over.
2. The Host(s)will sample all of the food and drinks they provide to prove it is not poisoned.
3. The Host(s) *or head/oldest* leads others threw a prayer to a god or the gods, or thanks specific individuals or groups for providing the food that they now eat.
4. While eating, it is seen as an insult to the host to gorge once self; meaning one must use the proper utensils to make bite size peaces to eat. It is also expected to eat slowly and to enjoy each bite.
5. When wishing to leave the table, one must request permission to leave. This could be done for any reason, such as needing to use the restroom, receiving a message, to remove ones self from a situation they do not wish to be in, or to tend to some matter unrelated or of urgent concern. Should however the host say no, then it would be an insult to the host and their family, the guests friends and family, or partners who joined them at this dinner. *Exceptions to this are any situation that could be considered an emergency, such as child birth or threat of an attack. (Children are often an exception to this but still must ask for permission to leave. Should the Host provide no answer, yet the parents say no, they can not leave. However even if the parent says no, but the host says they may, then the child can leave without insulting anyone.)*
6. Once the meal is finished, and subsequently any conversation that fallows afterwords; The Host(s) are to remain seated until all the guest are leave the table. *Exceptions to this could be if an emergency of some kind requires the host to leave early.*

Some family's require more rituals during meals that are not listed above, and are generally specific to that family alone. During small family dinners, such practices are more often more simple to fit the family.

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

The Confnir di Grapwol

As a Dragonkin approaches Adulthood, they begin preparing for The Confnir di Grapwol, or what is known as The Coming of Age Ceremony in common. This Ceremony is a special tradition to all Dragonkin as it proves to others that they are old enough and strong enough to face the trials of adulthood that lay before them. To non Dragonkin it seems like a ritualistic challenge that sends young Dragonkin off on a quest to complete a task of some kind, But to Dragonkin it is far more spiritual and a task that will allow them to find their true self. The truth behind the Confnir Di Grapwol is only known to the oldest of Dragonkin, but the truth remains that it is a special time that only the individual undertaking the ceremony will truly understand.
The Coming of Age Ceremony primarily takes place in Draconia at the Temple of Elders. However, in the current age it is sometimes impossible to make it to the Capital City to partake in the Ceremony. As such a special Magical Ritual is preformed in locations that are to far from the Capital. Though the locations and means by which the Ceremony takes place may differ, the process is still mostly the same for all Dragonkin. The Dragonkin Youth partakes in a special Drink prepared by Dragonkin Shamans or Priests before passing beyond the Doors of the Temple of Elders, or Constructed Arch if not in Draconia. From there, the Youth completes the challenge that lays before them. What this challenge is differs from one Dragonkin to another and is never the same for anyone. Some face a challenge that they have never faced before, some confront a truth that they did not wish to know, others are to accomplish something that they had once failed at long ago. What ever their challenge is, it is their task to finish it and bring back a special item to prove that they have completed the Ceremony. What this item is, only the Dragonkin partaking in the ceremony knows. Upon returning from the trial, the Dragonkin Shaman/Priest bestows upon the Dragonkin Youth their true name, marking them as an adult in the eyes of all Dragonkin. From that time on, even if a Dragonkin dose not know the true name of the Youth, they are instinctively recognized as an adult.

Scientific Name

Dragonkin

Origin/Ancestry

Draconic

Lifespan

80-120 years for the average Dragonkin

Average Height

6'3"

Average Weight

196-232 ibs

Average Length

Tail length : 2 ft. - 6 ft. Wing span : 2 ft. - 12 ft.

Average Physique

Tall, Lean, Somewhat Muscular, if not the most physically strong they still have Very defined muscles.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Aside from the Color of the Draconic ancestry, the more human looking Dragonkin then to have somewhat darker, more sun kissed skin in addition to their Scale color.