Dragonkin

Dragonkin

(Creature)

Type

Dragon

CR

By class level

Environment

Any (Triaxus)

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Images of dragonkin

Source: Alien Archive, pg(s). 40-41

More information about this subject might be available on PathfinderWiki.

Dragonkin are humanoid-looking dragons that fall somewhere on the spectrum between true dragons and drakes or wyverns in both power and intelligence. Native to Triaxus, they are capable of forming a permanent bond with a partner, a deep and meaningful connection that ends only with death.

Appearance

Dragonkin can stand on their hind legs much more easily than true dragons, and have opposable thumbs that allow their hands to manipulate objects. The average terrestrial dragonkin is 15 to 20 feet long and weighs roughly 2,000 pounds. Some dragonkin have delved into genetic tinkering to adapt their physiques to life on a starship, reducing their size and flight capability in exchange for the ability to fit within narrow ships: they can be as small as half that size.

History

In the Skyfire Mandate, a region of Triaxus that connected the ryphorian-controlled Allied Territories and the true dragon-held Drakelands, some dragonkin historically bonded as mounts with ryphorians during their war against the evil chromatic dragons, while others fought on the dragons' side. As spaceflight was developed and the territorial wars became moot, particularly after the Gap and upon the signing of the Absalom Pact, active ryphorian-dragon hostilities ceased. In the wake of this truce, most dragonkin and their riders repurposed themselves as the Skyfire Legion, a mercenary league that protects innocent colony worlds that are beyond the reach of the Pact's laws, with the rest taking to the stars independently.

Society

Dragonkin have a near-magical ability to bond with a non-dragonkin partner, historically a ryphorian whom they served as mounts in battle. The two are in constant telepathic contact with one another, so much so that those enemies that survive often believe that they faced one creature instead of two. In modern times, mounted combat has become rare and dragonkin more often use their link to make a starship crew or ground assault squad with their partner. Such a partnership affects every aspect of their lives and must be accommodated by outside relationships. On Triaxus, dragonkin and ryphorians work so closely and frequently in all domains that many offworlders consider them two complementary halves of the same species.

Dragonkin tend to be intimidatingly stoic to strangers but loyal and fun with their friends. Despite the heroic code of the Skyfire Legion, many dragonkin and their partners are content working for the evil chromatic dragons in the Drakelands. As ancient vesk religious scriptures claim that the souls of the Veskarium's greatest warriors would be reincarnated elsewhere in a dragonkin-like form, the vesk have always respected dragonkin.