A Donut with Sprinklez

Overview

A reptilian race that prides itself on its militaristic power. They are known for their long wars that can last many of their generations and have even lasted multiple Human generations. However, they are extremely loyal to any group that becomes their ally.

They are believed to have split from a species of dragon, many ages ago. Compared to others, they are a significantly younger race, having only come to any real power only recently during the Third Age.

Most races think of them as vermin that invade kingdoms and empires only to suck the land dry of resources, and then repeat the process.

Males are commonly referred to as Drakes. Other races will call them Lizard, often in a derogatory way.

Physical Appearance

Due to their lineage, they share many similarities with actual dragons. Their fighting strength, short temper, and their diet are almost all the same, and some still possess the ability to breathe fire. They are the only race to possess the ability to regrow limbs without magic, which is a trait once again borrowed from dragons. This regrowth comes at the cost of strength and motor skills for the regrown limb.

Their appearance depends on their color. The largest among them are black and are about eight feet tall, crimson ones are around seven and a half feet tall, blue are about seven, gold are just above six and a half feet, and finally, the green and brown scaled ones are the smallest and can range from five to six feet tall.

Their size defines their physical ability to fight, where the smaller green ones are usually servants to those of larger size.

Living Conditions

Draktiliens can live on small amounts of water for extended periods of time if they have some source of food. This makes arid deserts an entirely viable spot for them to settle.

This is partially the reason for them growing so abundant in the Northern Isles while Humans from the Kingdom of Oskiris struggled to settle there at all.

Culture

Military

The way Draktiliens fight differs from enemy to enemy. They believe that bows and arrows are dirty weapons and refuse to use them against their own kind. Instead, they use only blade, as according to their beliefs, that shows their true strength and is a fair test to see who comes out on top. Whenever they fight against other races, on the other hand, there is a “nothing is off limits” belief that they have. They will use any means necessary to destroy their enemy if it means furthering their own race.

Their weapons are simple and not anything special, but their size and movement are what causes problems for their enemies. They strategically flank or outmaneuver their enemies to keep them at bay. Mix this with their raw strength and many enemies will fall in large-scale invasions.

Their only weaknesses when it comes to battle is their lack of good armor and their small numbers of magically inclined. This means if their enemy has a strong magic group with them or if they are unable to outmaneuver their enemies, they can be easily repelled.

Society

The Draktilien society is a complex setup much like any other race. Their society is based on a caste-like system. They split up jobs based on the color of their scales and physical ability. Those with certain colors have no choice in their job, while others will have a limited one.

Groups of Draktiliens are called hordes and can range in size from a few hundred to a couple of thousand, with rumors saying that there have been ones in the tens of thousands a few hundred years ago. These hordes will commonly fight amongst themselves over land but will group together in times of war to preserve their race.

A Drake can be exiled from their horde if a crime of enough significance is committed. Being exiled requires the horns of the Drake to be sawn off, and the Drake himself to be cast out of the land of the horde. If a drake is not yet of age for exile, he/she will be killed instead as that is seen as a more honorable and humane form of punishment to them.

Due to most of their population (around 90%) being made up of males, seeing any of the other sex is considered extremely rare. This has led to uneducated groups to believe that they are a solely male race, which can only be seen as an obviously false claim.

There are several colors that are used to differentiate between the types of Drakes. The Black Drake is the second rarest for various reasons. This is partially due to genetics and partially due to societal reasons. Only a single black Drake permitted per Horde. This is because the leader of a Horde is called the Drex, which they believe must be a black scaled Drake.

There is a mythical White Drake, in which Draktiliens believe will bring their kind back to their original glory. There has only been a single recorded instance of a white Draktilien, and it proceeded to lead a fearsome Horde into taking over the Northern Isles in the Third Age.

Origin

There are two origin stories that are spread over the land. There is the commonly accepted myth and a closely guarded Elven secret which is the truth. The myth says that the Draktiliens split from being actual dragons when a dragon mocked one of their gods a few thousand years before the Human-Elven War. The god then cursed him and his future descendants to never fly again, instead forced to walk the same as the other “dirty” races do.

The actual origin is known by a select few Elves. Those Elves that know the true origin are mostly the ones that form the Great Circle, a group of Elves that lead their people.