Drakona¶

"Johann of Drakaër was not the first to ride one of us. He was only the first to ride one of us in public. The arrangement between our people and yours is older than your city."
— Athrellis Drake-Born, Drakona elder of the Drakaër ancestral wing

The dragon-kin of Cadwallon — scaled humanoid people of true draconic lineage, descended from the Lanever dragons that have soared the peninsula since before Elhan arrived. The Drakaër fief is named for the human-Drakona alliance that produced Johann of Drakaër's 843 dragon-riding privilege. The "titanic kin" of the Lanever dragons that visit Dyrsin's Tower are not all the dragons Cadwallon contains — the smaller, walking-around kind live in Drakaër proper, and a few of them are among the most politically connected individuals in the upper city.

What They Are¶

Scaled humanoids with strong draconic features — scaled hide (colors vary by lineage), elongated faces, sharp claws, partial wings (functional for gliding rather than full flight in most lineages), and a constitutional connection to a breath weapon (fire, frost, lightning, acid, or shadow, by lineage)
Three lineages in Cadwallon by tradition:
Lanever-blood — gold, bronze, and silver-scaled; the Drakaër-allied majority; politically conservative and dynastic
Shadow-blood — black, deep purple, and grey-scaled; descended from the ancient dragons that allied with the pre-Cynwäll bloodthirsty people referenced in Daïkinee legend; a small, secretive community
Wild-blood — red, green, blue-scaled; less common, descended from non-Lanever dragon lines (eastern Aarklash, the Behemoth Mountains, Avagddu); often refugees rather than natives
Very long-lived — 250-350 years; the eldest Drakona predate Johann's dragon-riding privilege of 843 personally
Proud, formal, slow to anger — Drakona social custom is drenched in ceremony; a slighted Drakona will spend a decade composing a response

Where They Live¶

Drakaër — the largest Drakona population, perhaps 400 individuals, concentrated in the family wings of the Drakaër ancestral compound and the connected Wyvern Road estates. The Drakaër family is part Drakona by blood — [[Silnus Drakaër]] is fully Drakona; [[Eric Drakaër]] is half, by his mother's line.
The Embassies (Den Azhir) — a small group of Drakona serve in informal diplomatic roles, often as intermediaries between Drakaër and the embassy nations; their long lifespans make them ideal multi-generational contacts
Shaproa (Den Azhir) — the Drakaër dragon stables are technically a Shaproa institution; several Drakona keepers live above the stables and tend the actual Lanever dragons
Dyrsin's Tower — at least three Drakona of the Shadow-blood lineage have been inside the Tower in the past century, by Dyrsin's invitation; what they discussed has not left the Tower

In Cadwallon¶

The Drakaër alliance. Johann's 843 dragon-riding privilege was the public face of an arrangement that already existed: the Drakona community had been quietly living in the human settlement at the founding-era Drakaër estate, and the dragon-riding privilege was their formal entry into Cadwë politics. The fief and the people are co-constitutive.
The Lanever dragons of Dyrsin's Tower. When Lanever dragons "glide across the sky of Cadwallon to visit their titanic kin in the Dyrsin Tower," at least some of those dragons are escorting Drakona riders or are themselves Drakona in dragon-form. The transformation is a real lineage gift in the Lanever-blood line, though only a handful of contemporary Drakona can perform it.
The Shadow-blood question. The Daïkinee legend of a "powerful yet bloodthirsty people allied to the most evil dragons of the whole Creation" refers to the pre-Cynwäll Ophidian-era civilization that called Lanever home before Elhan arrived. The Shadow-blood Drakona are the dragon-side descendants of that alliance. They know this. The Lanever-blood Drakona know this and find them embarrassing. The Cynwäll know this and have, several times, asked Drakaër to expel them. Drakaër has refused, every time.
Guild ties — the Guild of Architects and the Guild of Cartomancers both have Drakona advisors; the Guild of Blades has only one (a Wild-blood refugee from the Behemoth Mountains); the Guild of Thieves has zero (Drakona consider thievery beneath them — publicly)

What They Know¶

Eric Drakaër's swing vote

[[Eric Drakaër]]'s political indecision is, in part, Drakona internal politics breaking through. Eric is half-Lanever-blood by his mother [[Hildra Var-Nokkt|Hildra]]'s line (which she does not know in full detail). The Lanever-blood elders of the Drakaër compound have been lobbying Eric quietly about the Duke's policies in ways the rest of Cadwallon's political class cannot see. The Shadow-blood community has been lobbying separately and against. Eric is genuinely torn — not just over the political issues, but over which dragon-blood faction he is more loyal to. A free league that figures this out has a lever on the most important swing vote in the upper city.

The Cynwäll-era alliance

The Shadow-blood Drakona preserve oral history of the pre-Cynwäll alliance that no other Cadwallon population can match. This includes:

What the pre-Cynwäll bloodthirsty people called themselves
Why the dragons of that period allied with them
What the alliance was preparing for when the Ophidians arrived and disrupted it
The names of three of the most-evil dragons, two of whom are still alive and live in distant lairs

The Shadow-bloods will not share this freely. They will share it for service — concrete, dangerous service against the descendants of the same disruption. The Marine Ruins are interesting to them. The Walled Library is very interesting to them.

The dragon in the stables

One of the Drakaër dragon stable's Lanever dragons has, in the past month, begun refusing food and breathing in long uneven sighs that crack the stable's stone walls. The Drakona keepers (led by Vassil Drake-Tender) believe the dragon is responding to Desire. They cannot ask the dragon directly — the dragon is older than any of them and considers direct questioning rude. They need free leaguers willing to bring the dragon into proximity with the Garden of Desire so it can sense the source clearly, without anyone in Cadwallon noticing. This is the kind of job that is paid handsomely if it works and gets the party permanently banished from Drakaër if it doesn't.

Relations¶

Drakaër family — co-constitutive; the fief and the people grew together
Dyrsin / Cynwäll — formal acquaintance; Shadow-blood Drakona have been inside the Tower
Ophidians / Ss'Alish / S'ylice — deep historical entanglement; the Shadow-bloods consider the Ophidian withdrawal "the disruption that ended our age"
Lanever dragons of Dyrsin's Tower — kin, by literal blood; the relationship is private and the Cynwäll mostly do not interfere
Acheron — the Shadow-blood community has historic ties they are not advertising; Sophet Drahas has reached out twice, and twice been turned down