Dragonkin

Summary


Dragonkin are humanoid beasts that are considered a Race, as they are the sons of Iccus.

Origin
When Iccus, the god of Fire, created the Pyro Mountains, he created a race to inhabit them. The Dragonkin are the result of that endeavor. It is believed he intended to create the perfect hybrid of man and dragon.

Culture
Dragonkin are almost entirely reserved to the Pyro Mountains, settling few other places. They are slow breeders, living lives four centuries long and rarely having more than one child. As such, there is no abundance of Dragonkin, and following the Frost War, their numbers have been at an all-time low.

They have a series of rituals and customs involving the maturing of a Dragonkin, as well as several sacred practices to teach one to use his breath properly.

Physical Features
When a Dragonkin is born, he looks very much like a scaled, devilish human. Over the next two decades a Dragonkin will slowly grow his horns and talons and his tail. By the end of his first century of life, a Dragonkin will have grown wings. It will then take an undetermined amount of time for his fire breath to develop, if it does at all. A Dragonkin could live 422 years, and develop his breath minutes before death, or not at all. It is unknown.

A matured Dragonkin will stand as tall or taller than a High Elf and have horns aplenty as well as a barbed, hooked, or spiked tail of some sort. Scales akin to dragonscales will cover his body, a series of spiked teeth lining his mouth, and a snaked tongue within.

Their eyes have slit pupils, with gray scleras and irises usually somewhere on the spectrum of reds - pink, orange, red, purple and brown being common, with instances of gray, black and white not being unheard of.

Sub-Species
There is one known sub-species of Dragonkin.

Frostkin
Frost-Kin are a mysterious breed of Dragonkin whose origins are entirely unknown, and who some speculate don't even exist. Around eight centuries ago, the Dragonkin first discovered the Frost-Kin. Texts speak of them coming from across the Infinity Mountains themselves, being aliens from another realm entirely. Whatever the case, they held an unexplained grudge against the Dragonkin, and subsequently warred with them in what is known as the Frost War, sometimes the War of Fire and Ice. This was devastating to the slow-breeding Dragonkin, depleting their population and laying waste to many of their cities. The Frost-Kin were eventually beat back, and the retreated to whence they came, back beyond the Infinity Mountains. They have not returned since.