Dragonborn

## Physical Appearance

The dragonborn of Balarume bear a more humanoid resemblance than many other depictions. They are anywhere from 6 to 7 feet tall on average, with broad shoulders. They bear the long snout, scaled skin, and talons of dragonkin, as well as a vestigial tail that varies greatly in length, from a short and stubby foot to a long and elegant 4 feet.

The spines, tendrils, and spikes that decorate the faces of dragonborn vary from person to person, as to the pattern of scales on their skin. No two dragonborn ever look quite alike, no matter their parentage.

## History

No one really knows how the dragonborn came to be. They are an ancient and uncommon race, with a small population that rarely leaves their volcanic homes within the Dwarven Kingdom. The common theory is that the Dragon gods who created dragons tried to create a more perfect human, mixed with the blood of dragons and maybe a few other races to create their race.

The history of Dragonborns is wrought with conflict with the “mortal” races, humans and orcs mainly. Dwarves have always had a pact with the dragonborns, dwarves don’t cross into dragonborn lands and vice versa. Elves have mainly ignored dragonborns, as they are too far across the world to bother with at length. Humans on the other hand, a few thousand years ago, set out on a campaign to wipe dragons off the earth as much as possible, killing the young, the adults, even combining their strength to kill a fair number of the ancients. Part of this included declaring war on the dragonborn and attempting to wipe them out, with little success. Because of this dragonborn and humans have been on uneasy footing even now.

## Alignments

There are two dragonborn clans, metallic and chromatic. Each have laws and beliefs that follow those of their dragon ancestry. The metallic are good, and believe in helping others, protecting the innocent, and otherwise embracing the high moral ground. The ideal metallic dragonborn is Neutral Good. The chromatic are not inherently evil, but rather they believe in protecting themselves, their clan, and in the notion of self before the notion of greater good. This does mean that chromatic dragonborn have a higher chance of being evil, but the ideal chromatic dragonborn are Chaotic Neutral.

## Society & Culture

Dragonborn in Balarume are broken down into two very large clans, the metallic scaled and the chromatic scaled. Within those clans each color acts as a “family”, though interbreeding is common and expected. The two clans are not technically at war with one another but they are somewhat hostile. Skirmishes are common, small bands of 5-10 at a time fighting with one another. Most of these are settled by blood or by the elders of the families.

Due to their small numbers within Balarume, Dragonborn are famous for their genealogical studies. They have ancient archives of their fmailies going back centuries, at least 1500 years of family history.

### Gender Roles

Dragonborn society is completely equal when it comes to gender. Dragonborn children are raised in a communal “daycare” kind of system, where men and women take turns looking over the younglings until they are 10 or 11 years old, when they are fully grown. Though women give birth, men are important to the process. Men and women have equal opportunities for jobs, to learn to fight or gain knowledge.

### Half-bloods

In present day, dragonborn are not able to mate successfully with any other race. However, at some point in the past that must have been possible, as the rare sorcerer born with dragon ancestry might attest to.

### Linguistics

Dragonborn speak draconic, an ancient language, some claim that it is the original language of the gods, before they spoke Celestial. It is a coarse language, with many gutteral noises. Dragonborn find it easy to speak, obviously, but some non-dragonkin who attempt to speak it find that it hurts the throat. It is a beautiful language when sung, however, and dragonborn are expert singers, preferring song to poetry.

### Education

Dragonborns have a communal education. Younglings are grouped together in each clan in a large group, and their elders take turns teaching them on a diverse array of subjects, from physical strength to mathematics and the basics of magic. Once the dragonborn is fully grown at the age of 10 or 11, they will go through their rite of passage to become an adult, and from there will dive directly into working in their chosen profession.

### Architecture

The dragonborn region is based around the volcanoes located in the dwarven lands. The fire based families live within the actual volcano, while the rest gather around the boundary of it, each having created their little environment. The community buildings lie within caves carved into the volcano, warmed by the lava within. Here there are the seats of government and education. Each family has a different environment carefully crafted by the sorcerers and wizards of the dragonborn clans. There are volcanic lakes of warm water, plateaus of ice and snow, green and moist forests. These little bubbles all sit against one another and the clans reside together, though occasionally clashing.

## Government & Laws

Each clan of either metallic or chromatic dragonborns is ruled over by a Chieftain and his council. The Chieftain is chosen by the eldest of the clans and along with his council rules over in a democratic fashion, where all the adults of the clan voe on passing new codes, and on resolving disputes.

Though technically they live within the borders of the Dwarven Kigndom, they are not bound to the authority of the moot or to the authority of the dwarves. Their land is their own under an ancient treaty with the dwarven people.

The metallic clan’s government focuses on doing good, they help because they can, because it’s the right thing to do. Their laws encourage action towards the positive, being proactive and helping others. The chromatic focus internally. Protect the clan, protect yourself, do things that are good only if you benefit. Each side however, does have basic laws against murder of other dragonborns, and stealing from within the clans. The difference is that the chromatic rarely see the bigger picture, and have no qualms taking from outsiders or those not well-protected.

## Economy & Resources

The dragonborn don’t have a global economy. Their internal system doesn’t even rely on the gold, silver, and platinum currency that the rest of the world does. Instead, they do business entirely on the barter system. Work for food, items for items. Rarely, when they need a currency, they will do so in gemstones, and most dragonborns who leave their homeland will have a small cache of gemstones with them as opposed to gold to help them get through.

Each of the families’ lands provide some benefit to the rest of the families, like minerals from the mines, lumber from the forests, wool from the sheep herded by the mountain. They trade these items off and maintain the stock extremely carefully. Each resources is a commodity that is replenished methodically, each plant is replanted, each sheep is replaced. The dragonborn have very important rules and guidelines for maintaining their independence from outside influence.

## Marriage & Relationships

Marriage is not a known construct within dragonborn society. They have mates, and kin. Mates is anyone with whom you are not a direct blood relative (no closer than second cousin). Kin is anyone you have close blood ties to.

Dragonborns have casual relationships with mates. They pair up with them fairly frequently for sex but they don’t form any romantic bonds. They do form close friendships however, and enjoy spending time with mates whether or not they are sexually involved. They also become good friends with kin. Dragonborn only get pregnant once every few years, when all the females will jointly go into heat in a grand ceremony called the Furrowing. Mates in this ceremony are pre-selected based on genealogy, to ensure that the two who end up mating have the smallest shared ancestry possible. Males will be housed with the female and the female will not have much choice once her heat hits in mating. In general, a dragonborn will be friends with anyone of their own clan. However, metallic and chromatic tend to butt heads, each of them well aware of centuries of history behind their hostilities.