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DRAGONBORNS
MAGICAL ALIGNMENT: Dark, always following a sin.
LIFESPAN:
Depending on how far hybridised a dragonborn is, as pure dragonborns are rare, their natural lifespan may vary widely (60-300 years). Family lines that have not intermingled with demons, animalfolk or other fauna may live to over two hundred with ease.
APPEARANCE:
Although mostly humanoid, dragonborns have a rather striking set of characteristics. All dragonborns possess horns with hard, outer plating* and indented rings, revealing the glowing core within. This is usually a bright, neon colour, and matches either their pupils, or a ring surrounding their pupils (central heterochromia). They have tails, but the appearance of said tails varies massively: from a typical reptilian to that of a bird, or even fish. Their saurian eyes are striking, too, with pupils like slits and sometimes a ‘sideways’ blinking mechanism. A dragonborn’s hair is rarely a ‘natural’ colour, coming in varying shades of the rainbow.
These beings are often slightly taller than your average humanoid, and have a slightly faster metabolism, though not as exaggerated as that of a werebeast.
*This hard outer plating is borderline indestructible, usually only able to be cut using a diamond saw. Because of this, donated dragonborn horn plating is often used as a building material, or for the production of ammunition and weaponry.
Though all dragonborns possess horns, large, batlike wings (usually kept cloaked), tails, and claws, there are some features that appear only in a select few.
Whilst most of these beings have pointed ears, a small handful do not. The same goes for having more than one snakelike tongue.
More uncommon or even rare features include:
- Extra eyes, usually paired above or below the main set.
​- Scales across the face and body.
- Upwards of three horn-rings, as the number of rings directly correlates to the strength of a dragonborn's abilities.
- More than six horn-rings is considered a sign of extreme strength.
- Five or more eyes, or eyes not localised to the face.
- More than three tongues, or differently shaped tongues.
​
In 'purebred' dragonborns bloodlines, these more exaggerated and uncommon features become usual. Some even possess brightly coloured skin.
ABILITIES AND TRANSFORMATION:
​
The most notable ability that a dragonborn has is their transformation into dragonshape. It’s where they get their name, their status as formidable foes in combat, and when their magic is most powerful. The transformation to and from dragonshape is quick and relatively painless, with the body contorting and scales sprouting taking around thirty seconds. In dragonshape, these beasts are far from human.
Some may resemble a western dragon, an eastern dragon, or other mythological beings.* All possess wings of some sort, and some may possess many legs, four legs, two legs (known as wyverns), or no legs at all (known as wyrms). They retain a lot more sentience after transformation than a werebeast, but are still operating mostly on
instinct.
*Dragonborns historically inspired numerous myths and legends, especially the medieval depictions of dragons.
Both in humanoid form and dragon form, these beings possess incredible magical prowess. Their powers are almost always elemental, and utilise so much energy that the usage of such an extreme amount of mana would kill a non-dragonborn in seconds. The most common dragonborn power is pyrokinesis.
OVERALL BIOLOGY:
The outer build and characteristics of a dragonborn are extremely similar to that of a human, even down to most of their organs. Where they differ, however, is in their vascular system - dragonborns possess a secondary “heart”, or bile sack, attached to the base of their esophagus. This has many purposes, but is mainly used to boost the function of their heart upon dragon-shape transformation, allowing for a great increase in size. It is also the cause of one of their more notable characteristics: unusually coloured blood. A dragonborn’s blood can be any hue, and any shade, with brighter colours being the most common. It correlates exactly with the inner core of their horns, and their eyes, and means that upon bruising or blushing, they stray from the standard reddish hue.
Although most magical beings possess some form of enhanced cellular regeneration, a dragonborn takes this to the absolute extreme. Upon removal of a non-vital organ, such as a kidney or gallbladder, a dragonborn is able to regrow it within a week.*
Depending on the purity of their heritage, some of these beings are able
to regrow tails or entire limbs upon detachment.*
*As dragonborn vasculature is compatible with most dark mana species, donating an organ or handful or organs is common practice. There is little consequence to doing so.
*Regrown limbs are often imperfect - deformed and unsightly. Still, they retain functionality.
DIET: Dragonborns are omnivorous, and have extremely powerful digestive systems. Although it is not medically recommended, they are able to digest non-organic material such as plastic and drywall, and even metal.
​
REPRODUCTION:
Female dragonborns are closer to reptiles than mammalian, and therefore reproduce similarly. Although most dragonborns are hybridised and therefore give birth to live young, a pure dragonborn produces young in thin, leathery eggs.*
If the young are born live, their gestation is similar to that of a human’s, if slightly shorter.
If the young are born via an egg or eggs, they will be born after six months and remain within the egg for around two months. They must be watched closely and kept warm.
Dragonborn genetics are extremely dominant, so upon interspecies breeding (which is possible with almost all species, even light fauna*), dragon traits may be retained for many generations. This can create some interesting combinations when it comes to a dragon form, like paws, fur or feathers.
SEXUAL DIMORPHISM:
Much like sirens, dragonborns prior to integration into the modern world were a mainly matriarchal society. Female dragonborns are more powerful, and possess larger horns, though males are often larger in both humanoid and dragon-shape. There is little difference other than this.
*Dragonborns cannot hybridise with: Angels, The Fae, Seers, and Dreamwalkers.
It is much, much easier for a dragonborn to reproduce with other dark-mana-fueled creatures. Other combinations are possible, not probable.
*This is likely to protect the maternal parent from being injured by the sharp spines on an infant’s tail, or by their hard horn-buds. Some even grow horns prior to birth or hatching.
​​
SLEEP/REST: Although present day society makes it difficult to do so, a dragonborn is able to sleep for days at a time, slowing their metabolism in order to accommodate this. Despite being able to do this, dragonborns actually require significantly less sleep than other humanoids, as the majority of bodily regeneration is handled by their ever-flowing magical bile.
CHILDHOOD AND DEVELOPMENT:
​
Known as hatchlings, a baby dragonborn
is independent from day one. They
emerge with an egg tooth, regardless
of whether or not they were born
in an egg, which falls off shortly
after birth. In young childhood,
these hatchlings are quick to
skip weaning and learning to
crawl - instead, they are quick
to walk, talk and exert magic
power. Unlike most magical fauna,
dragonborns possess their powers
from day one. This power is prone
to overloading, putting enough
strain on their tiny bodies to temporarily pause the growth of their horns. This is why their characteristic horn rings develop - the more powerful their magic, the more rings they will possess.
CULTURE:​
Being isolated from society for much of their existence, dragonborns have developed peculiar customs and traditions. One example is a naming scheme most dragonborn lineage’s follow, using harsh sounding letters such as X, Z, K and Y. If there’s a common name, there’s an uncommon dragonborn spelling. Another example is hoarding, keeping anything and everything that has ever had importance to them, and holding them close as heirlooms. If a dragonborn entrusts you with their treasure, you are a keeper to them.
ORIGIN:
Much like demonkind, dragonborns originated millennia ago, the result of hellborn interbreeding. Unable to even attempt to assimilate into society (as their horns and unnatural colourations cannot be hidden), most spent their lifetimes in the quaint silence of a cave.
As well as its unusual, luminous colour, dragonborn blood often tastes weirdly nice. Fruity, sweet, or sometimes even like sour candy.
Their blood also has some medicinal, healing properties. Like a superfood.
A less humanoid variant of dragonborn exists within The Underworld, and are at the very bottom of the social hierarchy due to their constant interspecies breeding. They are seen as little more than animals.