Drakes

Drakes are humanoid, Dragon-like beings, and one of the races of Innworld. Though they are the descendants of the great Dragons of old, they only bear a passing resemblance to them, and distinctly are mortal beings who can level. Some Drakes are descended from Wyrms rather than Dragons, though the distinction is unclear.

Physiology

Despite their reptillian appearance, Drakes are mammals, giving live birth and possessing mammaries.

Appearance

Like their Dragon ancestors, Drakes possess sharp claws; if appropriately sharpened, they are tough enough to pierce Antinium carpace. Their necks are adorned with spines, which can bleach over time for certain individuals, akin to balding in humans. They also possess tails, the positioning of which is a large part of Drake body language.

Aside from neck spines and tails, Drakes have snouts, sharp teeth, slitted pupils, taloned feet and forked tongues.

Drakes have scales in a range of colors, with some even in coloration patterns. Green-scaled Drakes and blue-scaled Drakes are the most common, while very bright- or dark-colored are less common, even moreso without patterns. Even rarer are scales that have a bright glow or a unique flame coloration.

Drakes bear a certain resemblance to Lizardfolk, but it is a grievous faux pas to point this out to a Drake.

Lifespan

Drakes generally live past seventy or eighty years on average. This lifespan can be lengthened through consumption of numerous potions and artifacts, with some having reached a hundred and forty.

Senses

• Smell:

• Sight: Drakes can see farther than humans.

Magical Abilities

Drakes are capable of arcane magic.

Subraces

Drakes do not differentiate amongst each other based on scale colors like Humans are prone to. However, there are variants of Drakes:

• Oldblood Drakes are venerated as they possess additional attributes of Dragons: they are able to spit fire, acid or lightning or because they have wings and may even be able to fly. It is rare to possess both wings and a breath attack.
• Scorchlings are of the same cloth as Oldbloods, but are regarded as cursed failures, given that their inherited traits are harming them. This manifests as flaked-off scales or self-inflicted injuries when they try to breath.

Behavior and Culture

Stereotypically, Drakes are orderly people, readily obeying their own authorities, and sticking to their laws strictly. These laws are seemingly put in place, since Drakes tend to be very possessive and unwilling to share. Common personality traits include being immensely proud of their heritage (naming Dragons as their ancestors) and their culture. Naturally, not all Drakes follow such stereotypes, but a surprisingly large and vocal amount of them tries to enforce such traditions, making their overall culture somewhat unyielding and static.

If there was a ranking for "bad-tempered species", Drakes would probably be at the top of that list, competing for first place with Centaurs and Minotaurs. There are various sayings about Drakes, like "one Drake’s trouble, two is a fight, three will burn your house down, and four means war" or "if the world was destroyed and there was only dust left, Drakes would fight over who had the most dust", which respectively describes the aggressive and greedy stereotypes of Drakes.

Environmental preferences

Drakes like dry climate, enjoy the sun, and open spaces. When it comes to choosing their home, however, Drakes prefer to settle behind safe and large walls, ideally enchanted.

Childhood

Very young Drakes like to bite everything they can fit their mouths around. Later, they enter into a hoarding phase, when they can't share anything with others and even take other people's stuff (like the toys of fellow children). Even as adults, Drakes may retain that strong hoarding instinct.

Military and Adventurers

Commonly for Drake cities, Drake armies are efficient, well trained and possess great officers and generals. However, this makes it harder for individuals to stand out, resulting in fewer high-level individuals outside of War Leaders compared to the Human armies in the north, who use elite forces supported by militia. Everyone is a bit higher level, but fewer are highest level.

Similarly, their better funded and trained City Watch are called to deal with monsters as much as adventurers are, resulting in fewer adventurers in general and of a lower level on average, as they aren't as needed. Drake adventurers tend to be loyal to their city, and can be called upon akin to a militia. Adventurers from smaller cities may switch loyalties from their home to a bigger city that courts them.

Inter-city warfare is more civilized than against other species. In those battles, Drakes will usually surrender and be ransomed rather than fight to the death.

Drake armies are famous for their spear charges. Drakes are one of the only civilizations able to create siege weapons, allowing them to field them. The only other armies capable of fielding siege weapons to the same degree are other manufacturers like the Minotaurs, or rich and powerful nations able to purchase and stockpile the weapons from them or the Minotaurs. They are also the only armies that can use Dragonbreath support with their Oldblood Drakes, though only the Walled Cities are able to field hundreds of them.

Customs

Drakes have many customs regarding their tails. They consider their tails to be private body parts, and it is considered erotic to touch a drake's tail. Another Drake tradition revolving around tails, is in regards to their marriage customs: proposal among Drakes is done by placing a ring around the tail of the Drake they wish to marry.

Mourning and Wills

Drake cities throw military parades for their fallen soldiers. The cheering of the crowds is sometimes used to express grief, not just to celebrate the fallen as heroes. Drakes are often cremated, though richer and more important Drakes may be buried in a graveyard.

Soon after the funeral, wills of the deceased are read and their possessions are divided up. Almost everyone aged sixteen or older in Drake society has a will, and everyone over the age of thirty has one. They are necessary due to the possessiveness of Drakes, to prevent blood feuds over inheritance. It is also a way to show that they cared about the people they knew and leave them something to remember them by, or to tell someone they hated them one last time by leaving them nothing. Even distant relatives are expected to receive a trinket at least. Of all the laws in Drake society, wills are treated as the most ironclad. The only known exceptions are possessions lost in war, which are forfeit.

This practice was inspired by the Dragons' custom of gifting a cherished piece from their hoard to mortals who had known them before their passing.

Language

Drakes speak the common language (Earth's modern English) but have a distinct written script that is different from the Latin alphabet that Humans use. Learning to read that script has been reported as rather easy. Drakes also speak with a slight sibilant rasp, elongating their s's and l's.

Clothing Habits

Most Drakes wear ancient-Greek style togas or robes. Some of them wear sarongs, though likely only female ones.

Some of the male Drakes wear rather little clothing, sometimes leaving their chests completely bare save for a light cloak. Female ones usually wear more garments.

Sexuality

The traditionalist Drake society is somewhat sexist or at least paternalistic with regards to partner choices: Female Drakes, especially young ones, are regarded as not fit for marriage outside of their species and suggesting otherwise makes huge scandalous waves. Meanwhile male Drakes choosing a non-Drake partner are much more accepted.

As gender-intended symbols, Drakes use a straight tail for men and a curly tail for women.

A huge taboo among Drakes is homosexuality. The term "Turnscale" is a derogatory term for homosexuals among Drakes. There's implication this stems from the belief that such behavior goes against their place in the world given to them by the Ancestors. The Watch in most Drake cities and towns violently crack down on the private affairs of "Turnscales" and displays of same-gender affection are widely regarded as offensive to Drakedom itself. Even if those who say so are a vocal minority, they have forced queers - including transgender - into the criminal underworld.

LGBT Community

Despite the threats of persecution, queer individuals of all species in Drake cities still come together in secret places, such as hidden bars. They are very cautious about security and discovery.

Members of these gathering places are divided into Citizens, Guests, Architects, Sentries, and Masons. Citizens are the regular patrons, who come to relax and enjoy themselves. Guests are allies who are allowed into the establishment. Architects are people who create and organize those kinds of safe spaces for others like them, and sometimes travel to different cities to do so. Sentries are guardians that ensure the safety of the patrons within. Masons create covers in order to ward off suspicions about one's sexuality and maintain secrecy, such as acting as one's beard. Those latter three are who Citizens go to if they have a problem or are in danger.

There exists internal discrimination against bisexual people, due to their easier time hiding their sexuality, which is percieved as them stopping to be "Turnscales" when they feel like it. Thus, some don't consider bisexuals to be full members of the bars.

These bars are said to have originated in the Walled Cities, though those in lesser cities believe it is now too difficult to set up new ones and too risky to maintain them. Those LGBT bars do still exist in the Walled Cities, though it was shown with various degrees of knowledge by the authorities so far. In times when persecution becomes worse, queer communities are known to leave the cities to join the Gnoll tribes.

Justice System

The Drake Judicial System has provisions which allow the Watch Captain or Council or army to have a certain overruling presence.

Drake cities generally prefer punishing crimes with a model of high fines and low incarceration time. The idea is that the criminal pays for their mistakes in a literal sense.

Weddings

Traditional Drake weddings do not just have a best man, but also a Nemesis of My Hour. The Nemesis of My Hour is the groom's worst enemy, assuming their hatred isn't so deep as to attack on sight. When one accepts to be the Nemesis, they stand with the best man and are privy to the groom's finest hour. Thereafter, their grudge would be resolved. It is one of the highest honors one can be given. There may be months of negotiations leading up to the moment, to address their animosity and make sure both parties can cooperate.

Old traditional attire for the groom resembles a robe of glittering metal with a triangular hat of Truegold-laced cloth, adorned with little charms hand-made by his closest friends and family. Wedding gifts are meant to be expensive, as a display of wealth, which sometimes cause fights. The bride and groom walk under swords held by the best man, the Nemesis, and the bridesmaids. They may hold daggers instead if they aren't trained warriors. Sometimes, a tail band will be used in place of a ring.

History

In ancient times, Drakes had a virtually unstoppable empire, and allied with their ancestors, the Dragons, though it has been stated that said Dragons often treated them as little better then slaves. They had forced the Gnolls underground in a period that the latter would dub the Time of Hiding. According to Fetohep, the only reason the Drake empire fell is because they started infighting.

Relations

Lizardfolk

Many if not most Drakes do not like Lizardfolk at all, possibly due to their resemblance. Drakes are mammals and see themselves as superior when compared with egglaying Lizardfolk. Seeing how Drakes tend to be orderly, proud and often grumpy, they loathe the super-social, talkative nature of Lizardfolk. The other way around, Lizardfolk seem to be aware of the animosity towards them, but find it funny.

"Lizard" is one of the ultimate insults towards Drakes, especially when uttered by non-Drakes. Non-Drakes who honestly confuse the two races should expect to be subject to stern lectures by Drakes.

Gnolls

Most Drakes officially accepted Gnolls in their cities as a large and helpful minority, given that there are much more Drakes in all of Southern Izril than Gnolls. Only rare Drake communities have up to a third of their population being Gnolls; one fifth or less is more common; and at some places there are lower percentages even.

In some cities (especially the more traditional ones) Gnolls are often discriminated against, with loopholes in laws to prevent them from gaining societal advantages such as citizenship. Interspecies marriage is often frowned upon or derided by more traditional Drakes, though it is decidedly more common than Drake-Human marriages or Gnoll-Human marriages. In Drake cities where Gnolls are a minority of the population, they tend to be segregated in "Gnoll-districts," whether it be forced or by choice. Some cities force Gnolls to work as Paworkers, which are essentially indentured servants, making them wear collars as a sign of ownership. Drake-Gnoll relations are more accepting in places such as Liscor or Oteslia, both locations with a larger Gnoll population.

Gnoll tribes like the Woven Bladegrass Tribe often come into conflict with these more traditional cities. Raiding and sacking them whenever they can get away with it.

Humans

Humans had landed on their shores millennia ago, and the Drakes never forgave the land they had ceded to them. Drakes always considered them a threat and a foe. It was more of a bad rivalry now, as neither side did more than send armies to the Bloodfields each year to kill each other. But give them half a chance and the Drakes would happily invade the north, while the Humans would do the same.

There were quite a few Drakes who’d decided to live in Human lands, for all they were actively discouraged from doing so by the Drake cities. Conversely, there is a large minority population of Humans in the Walled City of Fissival, though they are born into Second-class citizenship and are unlikely to be granted First-class, as even the Archmage Valeterisa faced prejudice from her home. But while they hadn’t invaded each other in decades, the Humans and Drakes were still nominally at war, having conflicts every year at the Bloodfields.

Dullahans, Garuda and others

Both the Chandrarian race of the Garuda, the Balerosian race of the Dullahans and the Terandrian race of the Dwarves are minorities in Southern Izril. Multicultural Pallass has a larger population of the first two, but this is probably due to them standing out even in the Walled Cities. It is implied that they have their own prejudices to deal with, as Bevussa Slenderscale, captain of the Wings of Pallass, is forced to masquerade as one of her team's members in Pallassian society.

Dullahans by contrast once possessed a deep seated animosity between themselves and the Drakes. Likely due to the ancient Drake/Dragon Empire. Though some Drakes have forgotten and see Dullahans as a noble ally of the Drake race. Others see them as little more then giant metallic freaks.

Antinium

The Antinium are universally despised and hated by most Drake cities. With [Soldiers] from even the incredibly isolated Yolden having served in the Antinium Wars. Though cities like Yolden and Liscor remain neutral or incredibly positive of the Antinium. Most Drake cities see them as monsters in the night, their version of the Boogeymen. With the Walled Cities and those close to the Hivelands being especially hostile.

While many Drakes still haven’t forgotten Sserys death at the hands of the Hives. Most except for cities close to the Hivelands border know about the continuous raids conducted by both sides. Often leading to heavy casualties on both sides.

The Free Hive has since shaken up current views of the Antinium for the world, Humans and Gnolls especially. Though few Drakes consider it indicative enough to change their viewpoints.

Goblins

Like most species, Drakes regard Goblins as monsters, even more so after the recent Goblin Lord. However, Liscor discontinued the bounty on Goblins.

Vampires

Like the humans of Northern Izril, the Drake cities consider Vampires to be their enemies due to the Reign of Blood. Known Vampires will be killed or captured to be exploited.

Trivia

• Like Dragons, they really love shiny objects.
• Drakes usually don't consider Humans attractive, describing them as too fleshy.
• Kebabs are the favorite food of Drakes.
• The Triumph of Scales is a classic Drake military book.
• Drakes don’t have that many mages. They don’t take to magic as some other species do, claiming its dishonorable, too easy—not military.
• Geneva identified a Drake blood type, calling it FS.

Gallery

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  Male Drake by FlauscheSoeckchen

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  Female Drake by FlauscheSoeckchen

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  Child Drake by FlauscheSoeckchen

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  Drake by Scrooge MacDuck

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  Drakes by Enuryn