Dragonbond

The greatest strength within the Lerian Imperium, more than its vast armies or mighty sorceries, is the power of its dragons. Those great beasts of fire and death are controlled by their riders of the Dracarii Houses through a mystical psychic link, known simply as the Dragonbond.

## Forging the Bond

In order for a Dracarii noble to become a dragonlord and receive their ancient birthright, they must first bond with a dragon. This is easier said than done, for a dragon is not a horse, to allow anyone upon their backs. The rider-to-be must be accepted by their prospective mount.

In order for this to occur, the rider must approach the dragon, whereupon the dragon will probe their mind, sensing their emotions, pouring through their memories, and analyzing their character. Older dragons who have had previous riders are often more discerning in what they will accept, while younger dragons, especially those who have not previously had a rider, are usually easier to bond with. Hatchlings especially will often bond with any unbonded Dracarii who they are exposed to, and as a result, many Dracarii families present their newborn children with eggs or newly hatched dragons, providing them a swift and safe bonding opportunity. The only relative constant in the tastes of dragons is that stronger willed riders tend to bond more easily.

What is required before a dragon initiates the bond varies. Some dragons will not bond until they have been pacified with food. Others will do so after a quick scratch under the chin, while others still will not bond fully until a rider has mounted and flown upon them while resisting being hurled off their backs. How dragons reject riders also has some variation from dragon to dragon. Some will simply fly away, while others will refuse to allow the rider onto their backs. Most, however, will attack whoever it was that so foolishly attempted to claim them, roasting them alive or tearing them apart.

When a dragon does accept a new rider, however, the effect is immediate. Their two minds join together, forming a psychic connection that will persist until one of them dies.

## A Union of Spirits

Once a dragonbond has been forged, the minds of dragon and rider become intertwined. They gain the ability to sense one another's emotions, to share each other's pains and feel each other's presence. This connection remains regardless of distance, though its clarity does decrease when dragon and rider are separated from one another. For instance, their sense of one another's location becomes less precise, and what feelings they can detect are more hazy and indistinct.

The intimacy of the dragonbond cannot be overstated. With the constant psychic contact dragon and rider share, it is impossible not for them to develop feelings of affection for one another. Dragon and rider would both fight to the death in defense of one another.

A bonded dragon shares their rider's loves and hates, it is often said. As a result, dragons will typically be more friendly and tolerant to people their riders like, and more hostile and aggressive towards those they dislike. If some sort of noticeable emotional tie exists between two dragonriders, interactions between their dragons will often reflect it. For example, dragons whose riders dislike one another will often roar and snap at one another if kept in close proximity.

With that said, the connections dragons form with other creatures are not entirely dependent on their rider's feelings. They can develop opinions of others all on their own, becoming friendly towards those who bring them food or give good scratches, or roasting alive those who disturb them when sleeping. Such interactions are often shaped by the general temperament of the dragon, as they vary greatly in personality.

### Commanding a Dragon

Despite not being possessed of intelligence on the same level of a human, dragons still have formidable intellects compared to other animals. Combined with the psychic link they share with their riders, and their uncanny ability to read the intents and emotions of even those they aren't bonded to, dragons are able to follow fairly complicated commands. They can be ordered to guard a location, capture an individual person, or made to fly over a certain area. Dragons will also occasionally accept simple commands from people other than their rider, provided that their rider is not averse to the orders or the person giving them. For instance, a dragon might allow themselves to be directed to a sleeping lair for the night. Some dragons might even allow people who are directly close to their riders to ride them without the rider's direct presence, though in such cases, the dragon will be in total control, and accept no direction. However, a bonded dragon will never accept telepathic communion from anyone but their rider.

While dragons will usually do as their rider directs them to, they are not utterly obedient. When a dragon disagrees with a rider's course of action, they will often protest with grunts and roars of annoyance, attempting to steer a different choice and mentally signaling their displeasure. More truculent and opinionated dragons, especially the old and experienced, have been known to completely ignore orders from their riders that they do not agree with.

Additionally, dragons will sometimes take actions without their rider prompting them, and act on their rider's feelings without being given a direct order. For instance, a dragon who senses their rider being frightened might fly to their side without being directly summoned. Alternately, if someone is bullying their rider, a dragon might seek that person out to either frighten or outright kill the antagonist.

### Thought Impartation

Dragons and riders are so closely intertwined that their consciousnesses leave indelible marks upon each other. For dragons, every rider they have leaves a bit of themselves with them, which often has notable effects on their personality. This is especially true for the first rider of a dragon, and even more so if the dragon was a hatchling when the two bonded. Dragons who first bonded with a rider as hatchlings very often develop temperaments that mirror their riders closely, for instance, dragons with vain riders becoming vain and engaging in meticulous grooming, dragons with hot tempered riders becoming aggressive and mercurial, etc.

Riders are affected by their dragon's temperament as well, though in more consistent manners. As a rule, bonding with a dragon tends to make a rider bolder, more confident, and a bit more mercurial then before. "Their fires burn hotter", it is often said.

Dragons will also be able to impart their riders with their memories of various shared experiences, allowing riders to look over and reflect upon past events. Dragons have also been known to enhance a rider's ability to learn certain skills, if a previous rider was adept in that particular field. However, a dragon will never allow riders direct access to memories they acquired while they had another rider.

## Draconic Vigor

Upon bonding successfully with a dragon, a rider will gain several potent benefits to their health. Firstly, they become more physically robust, growing larger and healthier than they otherwise might have. They find it easier to put on muscle, become more beautiful in their features, gain a greater tolerance for pain, and become more fertile. Riders also become utterly invulnerable to all manner of mundane plagues and highly resistant to ordinary poisons, with only magical variants being able to trouble them. They also become highly resistant to magic, and can shrug off mystical effects that might work fully against ordinary men. Lastly, they become immune to all damage from fire and heat.

## Losing a Partner

For both dragon and rider, the loss of a partner is a devastating blow. It is often worse for the rider, for dragons are so long lived that they usually only die by violence. When such a thing happens, even the most cold and hard hearted of riders has been known to break down weeping. Riders who lose their dragon often fall deep into depression, with dying of grief being a fairly common outcome in the rare instances a rider loses their dragon. Very few riders ever attempt to claim a new dragon after losing one, though such a thing is possible.

For the dragon, such grief is almost inevitable, for they are guaranteed to outlast any mortal rider. Dragons, in their sorrow, usually become sad and mopey, and will generally be irritable and hostile to anyone who approaches them. Should a rider die by violence, and be survived by the dragon, the dragon will often pursue the killer relentlessly in pursuit of avenging their rider, or die in the attempt. Some dragons whose riders are slain go on frenzied rampages, and have to be put down to end the carnage. In any case, most dragons are extremely hard to bond with directly after losing a rider, and often refuse any new attempts to bond with them for months or even years.