Draconids

Throughout the world, there exist several types of creatures that carry the blood of the Ancient Dragons, terrifying and catastrophic forces of nature that existed long ago. Some happily co-exist among humans, whereas others despise humanity and all it stands for. These creatures, while all individual, are grouped into a category known as Draconids.

### **Dragonets**

Dragonets are one of the smallest, and generally most amicable towards humankind variations of the once Ancient Dragons that exist nowadays. Averagely the size of a housecat, dragonets are found both in the wild and as strays, and also as house pets. They are particularly desired by those of nobility, especially those of rare green and golden scales, believed to denote their strong lineage.

Dragonets are known to feast on a variety of things, and while generally carnivorous if left to their own devices, many dragonets kept as pets have adapted to an omnivorous diet. They are fond of eating insects and also smaller creatures such as mice and voles, but have been observed to take well to fruits and vegetables. They are capable of flight, and if kept as a pet inside, are generally advised to be let out to fly for at least an hour a day. They can also breathe fire in the vein of their ancestors, but only the smallest of flames. As such, it is advised to keep them away from soft furnishings and curtains.

Whereas wild dragonets are observed to be very active, and always on the hunt and in flight, housebound dragonets and those accustomed to having been pets, are generally more lazy, displaying similar traits to other popular pets such as cats. Many housepet dragonets, particularly pampered ones of the nobility, are quite content to lay around the house and in their beds and cages for most of the day, only rising for food and the occasional exercise.

### **Drake**

Drakes are draconic creatures lacking wings, but in turn, possess great speed on foot. Over the course of history, drakes have become a staple of mounts used by the military, with many drakes able to be tamed and ridden. While horses are still far more commonly used as mounts and more plentiful throughout, drakes are similarly sized, and noted to not only be faster, but also more sturdy due to their scales providing natural armour. They are also excellent trackers, with scent glands far superior to that of even war hounds.

While drakes are used and tamed, there still exist many in the wild who are initially hostile to other beings, especially humans. If a drake feels threatened, it can attack with its claws, teeth and powerful tail, as well as spitting out a sticky and acidic type of mucus. Drakes are pure carnivores, and as such, need to be fed livestock.

### **Wyvern**

Wyverns are the closest thing that many will ever see to an actual dragon, with many mistaking them for such. Fearsome in their appearance, being the size of a large war stallion on average, wyverns are generally more docile than aggressive, and will only usually attack humans in the wild if they feel that they or their territory is being threatened. As such, wyverns are used alongside drakes as mounts in the military, with the added bonus of being able to take flight, which they can sustain, even carrying a fully armoured soldier for several hours at a time.

While they are of a more docile nature, if a wyvern does engage in aggression, they can be fearsome beasts. The talons of their feet and wingtips are deadly sharp and can easily slice through flesh and bone, while their wings and tail can be used as bludgeons, with extreme force. Finally, as well as being able to bite, they can breathe streams of fire, which is often the method they employ to kill and cook their food. Wyverns are expensive to feed, as unlike a horse which is happy to graze on grass and hay, wyverns are purely carnivorous like their drake cousins. Unlike drakes though, wyverns require much more food on average, and have to be fed continuous stocks of livestock, such as pigs and chickens. When stabled, they must also be separated from horses, as they have been known if hungry to try and eat them.

### **Syle**

Syles are rarely seen but despised pests.

Carrying a somewhat similar appearance to their dragonet cousins in looks and size, they are more akin to salamanders, and possess no wings, confining them to the ground. Syles are always found in groups, and if one were to spot a solitary syle, more would no doubt be nearby.

Most at home in damp and squalid places, many of them are found within the network of tunnels comprising Paris's sewers, scurrying through the various crawlspaces and cracks while on the lookout for their next meal.

While alone they are of little threat to an individual, the danger becomes far more prevalent if one was to encounter a group of them. Syles are purely carnivorous, and are not picky regarding their prey. The moment they sense blood from an open wound, they will attack on force, leaping at their victim and going at them with their fangs and sharp claws. Even members of their own species are not safe from this frenzy, and if one of the group becomes injured, the others will round on it and cannibalise it.

As with dragonets, they come in a variety of colours, all dangerous, though those of black scales are noted to be particularly deadly and aggressive.

### **Gaurin**

Gaurin are the largest variety of draconids next to actual dragons, usually outgrowing the tallest of warhorses in both size and stockiness.

Despite their fearsome appearance, they are generally rather docile, and popular in their use as beasts of burden, to transport large cargo and lift heavy weights. Their own strength is enormous, being able to easily crush through wooden and even stone structures. Like all draconids, they possess razor sharp claws and rows of fanged teeth.

A peculiar feature of Gaurin is the crystalline formations atop their bodies, that of draconite, a mineral that is used in the suppression of draconic magic. It has not been theorised as to why creatures of draconic lineage would be carrying the very weakness of their ancestors.

### **Drac**

Dracs are a creation of the Ancient Dragons, originally intended to serve them, and are generally reviled by humanity. When the last of the Anicents was felled, the dracs seemingly lost their purpose. Far taller and stronger than the average man, dracs are easily identified by their reptilian appearance, including their scales, draconic eyes, claw-like digits and razor sharp teeth. In addition to heir strength and utilisation of their claws, teeth and tails, they can also spit an acidic-like substance.

In most societies, dracs are either forbidden entry, or resigned to a specific part of a city, usually a run down and shanty area. In the case of Paris, they have been decreed their own part of the city, Rot Town, though said part is a shanty town cobbled together on the banks and outer wards of Île de la Cité. They are however, prohibited from interacting with certain levels of society, becoming a more common sight throughout the poorer regions of Paris. In this manner, dracs are a solid choice for manual labour by more unscrupulous merchants and entrepreneurs.

By their nature and coupled with their treatment by society at large, dracs are openly hostile to humans. While the same laws of humanity apply to dracs in terms of violence, as in any drac violence towards a human would be viewed as a crime, dracs are a naturally aggressive species, with fights between them being of common occurrence. While all dracs are dangerous and inclined towards violence, the scent of fresh blood drives them into a frenzy, making them unpredictable, savage and deadlier than ever.

Whereas outside of Rot Town, dracs are subject to human laws, within their home they are a very much lawless society, with the concept of 'might makes right' dominating them. Fights, brawls and even murders are commonplace among them, although the news of a dead drac being washed up on the shore of the Seine is of little note to the citizens of Paris at large.

Although as a society the dracs are not possessing of any kind of hierarchy and claim to fear or follow no leaders, they will follow and obey if ever recruited and led by a dragon, out of both fear of them and their shared hatred of humanity.

### **Dragon**

Dragons are first and foremost, the purest ancestors of the Ancient Dragons, and as rare as their forefather counterparts. Believing themselves far superior to humans, their overall goal is to conquer human societies and create a world ruled by their kind. However, as they are both exceedingly rare in number, and also ultimately obsessed with their individual status and power, these wishes have not as of yet come to fruition, with the dragons so far only having managed to amass great influence within Spain and Portugal.

As to not give themselves away at first glance, dragons have the ability to cloak themselves in human form through dark arcane magic rituals, a lengthy and bloody process involving human sacrifice. Through this, they can appear not only human, but also eternally beautiful or handsome and youthful, as dragons are long lived creatures, with their lifespans far surpassing that of humans. However, if the dragon chooses to reveal their true form, the ritual must be commenced every time they wish to take on a human appearance. As such, when dragons take on a human form, it is usually that of a noble or a person of great importance and wealth, all the better to integrate themselves into higher society and manipulate those of importance around them.

When a dragon reveals its true form, it is both a marvel and a daunting sight to behold. Far taller than the average human, or even drac, they appear as bipedal humanoids with muscular bodies and various scale patterns. Their limbs contort from human fingers and toes to claws and talons, while they grow a long powerful tail and wings, fully capable of flight. In their true form, a dragon is not only taller, but far stronger, sturdier and faster than any human, drac or half-blood, with the added ability to breathe fire like their draconid counterparts.

### **Ancient Dragon**

The true embodiment of terror, Ancient Dragons once plagued the lands and brought chaos and destruction wherever they roamed, until they were eventually hunted to extinction.

The Ancient Dragons were massive and fearsome, tall and wide as grand palaces and possessed of fantastical strength and the ability to level cities with their fiery breath. While they were destroyed and have not been seen since in well over nearly half a millennia, stories of them are still widespread, and are used as fantastical bedtime scare tales to young children to tales around fireplaces to strike fear into the hearts of men.

But while the world at large would prefer they stay as stories, there are those who wish for their return, although have never succeeded in their attempts to bring them back. But the dragons' pursuits are never-failing, and they are determined to one day bring back their sires.......

## Draconic Culture

While it is a largely unexplored outside of deeper recesses of the church, and often seen as taboo topic, it is known that the dragons did indeed have their own cultural significances and practices, and likely do to this day. There are few in the world who know of these things, let alone study it.

### **Draconic Magic**

Draconic magic has existed since near time immemorial, but yet is understood by few.

While the church succeeded in reverse engineering aspects of it to serve in their war against the Ancient Dragons, much of the nature of the magic is still unknown, and often well guarded, being seen as evil and kept from the public at large.

What is known is that draconic magic takes the form of runes of the draconic language, and can be used to create magical occurrences such as barriers and wards.

While there exist scholars among the world who try and decipher the magic, they are few and far between, and must be approved by the church themselves to carry out their research. Any exploration into draconic magic outside of the church's knowing is deemed illegal and punishment by death.

It is unknown whether the dragons' abilities such as that to breathe fire and control flight is that of their own magic, or of a natural innate kind, separate from the work of the runes.

### **Draconite**

No one is sure how the mineral dubbed draconite came into being.

A rare mineral and in appearance a luminous green crystalline form, it seems to dampen and suppress the abilities of draconic magic, whether of the wards creating a ritual or that of the dragons themselves.

As such, it has been used in the past to create places of containment and restrictive items for captured dragons, such as handcuffs and prison cells, and even weapons to combat the draconic hordes. However, following the extinction of the Ancient Dragons and the past centuries of little draconic uprising, it is rare to find such things in use nowadays.

It is not harmful, but only takes away the abilities of those bound within it.

### **Golden Henbane**

Golden Henbane is a concoction developed by the Alchemist.

While the dragons can invoke blood sacrifice to grant them human forms, the difference between the species is not completely compatible, and the dragons will begin to feel pain if confined in a human body for too long. In response to this, the Alchemist created a miraculous liquid, Golden Henbane.

When ingested by a dragon in small doses, it soothes the pains brought on by wearing the skin of a lesser evolved being, and ensures that they can remain in human form in comfort. However, the drink itself is akin to ambrosia for them, and highly addictive once tasted. A dragon must be careful to not consume too much henbane at once, or their human form will shed, as it would if they wished to rid themselves of it and regain their true form.

The liquid can also be consumed by humans, which dragons will sometimes serve to notable acquaintances. It has no adverse affect on the human body, but as with dragons, it can become addictive, with the drinker craving more and more of it.