Zyr and Exillon

When Qord created Tiamat and the Dragon Isle became
the central battleground for a war between all of dragonkind, the ancient race
of draconic humanoids that inhabited the island's southern reaches fled west,
finding a new home in the northeastern rainforests south of the Stonefang
Mountains. These Dragonborn formed a new nation, the Empire of Zyr (ZEER).

The
magical energies released with the creation of Tiamat and Bahamut, however,
affected the creatures and, beginning with the next generation, a strange new
diversity reflecting the scale colors of the true dragons spread throughout the
race. Despite these differences, the Dragonborn were civilized to such a degree
that these changes caused little racial friction, and both the metallic and
chromatic members of their society lived together in peace for many
generations.

All
of that changed, however, when the devil-dragon Pyrefang rose to the surface of
Thyrin and enslaved the majority of the north. While all of the Dragonborn
became her slaves, she favored those whose colors best aligned with the
chromatic dragons. Those Dragonborn were given positions of power among her
servants, and the metallic suffered greatly as a result. Over the centuries,
the most powerful of the chromatics became corrupted by that power and fell to
malice and cruelty, reveling in their power and the pain of their metallic
cousins.

Over
the centuries, a great animosity festered and grew between the chromatics and
the metallics. The former came to respect only strength and aggression while
the latter took to honing their minds and wills, preparing for the day that
they might rise up and overthrow their cousins. But for the metallic
dragonborn, that day came not from their courage, but from the defiance of
others.

When
the Bronze Dwarves rose against Pyrefang and it became clear that they had a
chance of defeating the devil-dragon, the metallic Dragonborn were emboldened
and chose to finally stage their revolt. While the dwarves fought and dies to slay
Pyrefang and stand against the army of chromatic dragonborn she had at her
disposal, the metallics seized their chance and struck against the chromatics
that remained to oversee their enslavement, throwing off the yoke of power
their cousins had been given.

After
the revolution, the metallics showed enough mercy to resist the mass execution
of the thousands of chromatics that openly worked for Pyrefang, choosing
instead to exile them to an archipelago off the coast of Zyr. The banished
Dragonborn named their new home the Expatriacy of Exillon (EKS-eh-lon). And
while not all chromatics were part of the exile, the attitude towards their
kind among the metallics has resulted in a mass exodus by the vast majority of
their kind, choosing instead to live among the exiles.

Zyr
and Exillon have nealy identical climates, though the northernmost reaches of
the archipelago begin to more closely resemble the terrain of the Stonefang
Mountains. For the most part, they are tropical rainforest, part of which is
mountainous, with a good amount of annual precipitation, ample flora, plentiful
food sources, and few large predators. It is hot and humid, but that doesn't
really bother the Dragonborn, whose physiologies are adaptive to both cold and
warm climates.

The
Empire of Zyr is a monarchy under the control of several noble houses long
subjugated by their former slave-master. The first empress was Aurica, a gold
Dragonborn hero of the revolution, herself descended from an ancient queen in
the time before Pyrefang. Her line continues to hold the throne. The imperial
seat is not always held by a Dragonborn that is gold in coloration, however, as
the intermixing of bloodlines over the centuries of enslavement has resulted in
a diverse noble line, nor is it always held by a female, as Dragonborn society
is not either matriarchal or patriarchial.

And
while Zyr is primarily known as the home of metallics, it is not without its
chromatic citizenry, though they rarely hold any position of power and are
often looked upon as second-class citizens. In the centuries since the fall of
Pyrefang, however, this attitude has begun to soften and the chromatic
Dragonborn of the empire are finding greater acceptance within its borders.

The chromatic
Dragonborn that formed the Expatriacy of Exillon established a monarchy under
the Crimson Queen, the eldest female of a family of pureblood red Dragonborn
given special privileges by Pyrefang during her reign. Unlike the metallics,
the chromatics were encouraged to breed selectively, so intermingling between
colors is a rare practice that, while not outlawed, is deeply ingrained into
the chromatic Dragonborn of Exillon.

As
such, each color has its own place in their society, with the reds holding the
most power, the greens and blues making up the remaining nobility and merchant
classes, and the blacks and whites filling out the roles of craftsmen and
working classes. While that is the general rule, however, it is not absolute,
and Dragonborn of every color can be found throughout their society below the
ruling classes... though few red Dragonborn would ever willingly assume a
"low" role in their society.

In harsh contrast to Zyr, metallics are
virtually nonexistent in Exillon, and those few who dare to live there do so
with great difficulty, looked upon by most with suspicion and prejudice. Even
so, not all of Exillon's citizens are as bitter and immoral as their
leadership, and even the metallic Dragonborn can find some friends and allies
among the populace, though such chromatics are often ostracized or chastised by
their own kind.