The Dragaeran race controls the expanse west of the Eastern Mountains known as the Dragaeran Empire. The Dragaeran population also extends to landmasses like Elde Island and Greenaere outside the Empire. The normal Dragaeran lifespan is about two to three thousand years and they stand about 7 feet tall on average. They do not grow hair on bodily or facial areas. Dragaerans usually have dark hair colors (Kierons and Phoenixes don't but they are exceptions). In the Empire, citizens are divided into seventeen Great Houses, each named after a wild animal which embodies specific traits and values. Each of these animals is represented on the Great Cycle which turns over the millennia to allow every House a role in power.
Dragaeran magic, referred to as sorcery, depends on a special source of energy to work. The Dragaeran method of swordsmanship is its own art which requires facing an opponent with one's entire body and can present openings to an Eastern fencer. Dragaerans call their species "humans" but Easterners disagree.
History[]
In the beginning, Easterners and Serioli were probably the only intelligent species around Dragaera. The arrival of an alien Jenoine species in the name of science set some changes into motion. The Dragaeran species was born from genetic modification's to the existing stock of Easterners with reference to some local wild species. The resulting specimen were larger and shared specific traits with a certain animal which affects their physique and personality, but it is not known which part of the Jenoine's experiments caused the other changes which distinguish them from Easterners. After the Jenoine were blown off Dragaera, the species were separated somehow into thirty two social units, or tribes, at least seventeen of which trace their ancestry independently back to an animal. The actual event which caused the Cataclysm leading to the Jenoine's disappearance is not clear, but has to do with their research on Chaos. Perhaps it was a resistance on the part of their servants or a dispute among them, or some combination, since a number of Jenoine were killed and a "sea of Chaos" was born.
At some point, a leader of one of the most prestigous tribes was sent dreams by a group of beings which had recently formed around this time, the gods (some of which were the Jenoine's servants), inspiring him to unify the tribes. Kieron led his "Tribe of All Tribes" to fight the "Eastern Devils", which turned out to be successful. Before the war, though, Kieron's brother of the Dragon Tribe had somehow betrayed his tribe which caused his torture and expulsion. Kieron had united sixteen of the thirty two tribes by the time his brother, who was called Dolivar, managed to gather together his own group from the remaining tribes, mainly by killing the leaders who refused to join him. They called their tribe the "Tribe of the Jhereg" which was a joke because all the other tribes had named themselves after the animal they resemble. The Tribe of the Jhereg survived by ravaging the rest of the Dragaeran tribes. Because of the tribe's special ability at spying and skill with hit-and-run tactics, Kieron proposed that, if Dolivar's tribe would help them fight the Easterners, he would be offered a place in the future Empire that he planned to create. The Jhereg agreed but after the war, Kieron the Conqurer was killed by warriors from the Tribe of the Lyorn who refused to hold to the bargain, but didn't actually manage to prevent the Jhereg from joining, The end result was seventeen Great Houses and an Empire of Dragaerans with a superior attitude.
It should be noted that many Dragaerans (including Aliera e'Kieron) appear to be unwilling to admit to the part about their ancestry being originally Eastern.
The birth of sorcery had come at some point roughly during the formation of the Empire. There were people at the time called Shamans who could use the existing area occupied by Chaos to transform things to their will. Zerika was among these and is believed to have had either a sole or instrumental role in somehow producing, with some material, an Orb which refines the power of raw Chaos into form which can be manipulated more safely by a mind which has contact to it. The old magic, manipulating Chaos without the aid of the Orb, was made illegal. Kieron the Conqueror and his relatives and descendants have the power to create Chaos rather than only manipulate it.
Dragaeran legends say the souls of those of their race who die and are sent north to the Deathgate Falls encounter the gods for their lives to be judged and reincarnated. The gods who author the legends hold back the reason why they chose to do this which is, in fact, to search for talent in the souls which may be used against the Jenoine.
Notable Dragaerans[]
Current[]
- Zerika IV
- Sethra Lavode
- Norathar e'Lanya
- Khaavren
- Aliera e'Kieron
- Morrolan e'Drien
- Pel
- Sethra the Younger
- The Demon
Deceased[]
Unknown[]
- Soramiir