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General infoThe dragons are the least numerous, the most secretive and possibly the most unique of the Five Known People. They are shapshifters and can in addition to their own dragon shapes take on the form of humans, dwarfs, elves or wights at will -- though how much control they have over this transformation ability depends on the dragon; younger dragons usually have less control and are limited to just how many forms they can take on while older dragons have greater control and are often able to change the appearances of their alternate forms in more subtle ways. All dragons in their true forms can breathe fire and fly -- in fact, in their true forms they very seldom come down from the sky at all, preferring to take on a bipedal and smaller form on the occasions when they need to land.
They seldom walk among other People in their true forms, preferring to pass as humans, elves, wights or dwarfs without hinting at their real nature -- most dragons, especially older dragons, are a little paranoid and don't like to share too much personal information about themselves. Younger dragons are often more open and friendly, but often rather arrogant; they know very well how immensely powerful they are and take it for granted that they can do anything and meet any challenge.
All dragons, like elves, are immensely magical and effectively immortal, and in their true forms extremely hard to kill or even hurt. They are a lot more vulnerable when wearing other forms, though.
In their true forms, dragons are huge -- the average dragon is 30-35 meters long, but there are many dragons who are much larger and quite a few who are much smaller -- Ruzika's dragon form, for instance is a measly eight meters in her full dragon form, while her father, King Valdaak, is easily ten times her size. They have long, serpent-like bodies, four legs (though the front legs have opposable thumbs and can be used as arms). long tails and most often lion-like manes. Some of them also have horns on their head or spikes on their tail. They can be any color at all, though hues of red, blue and green seem to be the most common. In their true forms, they are genderless, though most dragons identify as one gender or the other (usually the one they were born as -- see below) and their shapeshifting will usually reflect this. That said, all dragons are to some extent genderfluid and don't see the big deal of switching between genders, even if this is a stronger trait in some dragons than others.
Societies
Dragons have their own kingdom, Kandrazaal, which is ruled by Valdaak the Dragon King and his family. All dragons are counted as citizens of Kandrazaal even if they've never been to the country, and all dragons are subject to the Dragon King and dragon law, whether they're aware of it or not. The government is simple enough; the King's word is law and his decicions are final. The king's children, the fifteen Dragon Princes and Princesses, are not only the royalty of dragons but also their authorities and law enforcers; they have the right to apprehend those dragons who break dragon law and act as judges and deal out sentences if need be. However, as long as dragons don't directly oppose the King or break one of Kandrazaal's few laws, they're generally allowed to do as they will.
(The Dragon Princes and Princesses are, in order from oldest to youngest, Lintila, Aldor, Rashak, Verena, Reneth, Obayana, Reet, Zelen, Elya, Lynn, Darak, Shayna, Nilus, Ruzika and Kiriani. They can all be identified by the gold ring in their right ear.)
One important thing to remember is that while dragons might be able to hide their true nature from everyone else, a dragon will always recognize another dragon as a dragon, no matter what shape said other dragon might be in.
Families, breeding and children
Since dragons are shapeshifters, they can live undiscovered among any of the other People, and a lot of dragons secretly do just that -- largely because this is the only way for them to have children. Dragons are not only the only ones of the Five Known People who can interbreed with the others, but are in fact dependent on doing so; a dragon/dragon coupling will never result in children; one of the parties needs to be either a human, a dwarf, an elf or a wight. This is a problematic situation, and one of the biggest reasons why dragons remain the least numerous of the People.
One of Kandrazaal's strictest laws is that no dragon must ever have children with someone who isn't completely aware of what the score is. Partly because it's immoral to use someone like that against their knowledge, but mostly because no dragon is ever born in their "true form" as dragons; they're born as completely normal-seeming members of whatever species their non-dragon parent is. This is known as the dragon's "birth form," and it's the form all dragons have throughout their childhood. However, when the dragons reach the Hotblood stage (which may be in their early teens if they're born as humans, or in their fifties if they're born as elves) they start being able to take on their dragon forms -- and usually the first transformation is involuntary and triggered by a strong emotional outburst. If the dragon or the family then haven't been prepared bit this, it's an incredibly traumatic experience that's very likely to end in tragedy.
(There are several horror stories among dragons about irresponsible dragons who had sex with human or elven women without telling them what they really were, and then left without knowing the women were pregnant. When the children were born they had no idea about their true nature, and so during their first transformation they panicked and ended up killing both their mother and themselves. The moral of the story: Don't have casual sex, and if you absolutely have to, at least make damn sure there won't be any children.)
As such, the accepted method for a dragon who wants children is to enter one of the human, dwarf, elf or wight societies (humans and wights are most common, as they tend to be easier to mingle with than elves or dwarfs) and search for someone they feel they can trust enough to share their real nature with and perhaps have some sort of romance with. Given the dragons' natural paranoia and secrecy, this isn't always easy... but, of course, even dragons might fall in love. Sometimes they might even get married -- dragons themselves don't have any customs for marriage but are willing to go through with them if the partner wants to. The main law is never to start anything before you're certain that your partner knows you are a dragon and that your child will be a dragon also.
The children are then usually raised as normal humans, wights or whatever, but in addition to this they have to learn that they're really dragons; they have to learn dragon law and be prepared for that first transformation, maybe the dragon parent will even take them out flying; all to make the transition smoother.
After that first transformation the dragon will be able to switch between their birth form and dragon form at will, though it usually takes some practice to master it and often they might lose control and transform if they get especially angry, upset or excited about something. This is a pretty trying period both for the dragon and for the dragon's family, especially since non-family members aren't supposed to know about the dragons' true nature. Sometimes the dragon parent will take the child off to the wilderness or to Kandrazaal during this period of time, just so the accidental transformations can be made without raising any questions.
When the dragon has mastered the transformation between birth form and dragon form completely, that's when the preparations start for the first coming-of-age stage, and the Coming-of-age Journey. The Journey is a test that all dragons have to go through in order to prove that they're ready to be known as what dragons call "junior adults." For one thousand days minimum, they have to go out in the world and manage on their own, and during this time they are not allowed to contact or receive aid from their family. If they fail this test, for any reason, like contacting their family in some kind of emergency... they have to start from the beginning and take it again. (There are rumors of one dragon who's been taking the test for very nearly a century because he keeps failing it at the last moment -- like stopping by to visit his mother when there's only a couple of days left of the journey. The theory is that he's either very bad at counting of just likes being on the Journey too much to want it to stop.)
When the Journey is over, the dragon is then reckoned a junior adult. Which basically means they are adults in the eyes of the law, with all rights and duties of adult dragons, with one important exception: They are not yet allowed to breed. This right does not come until at least a century later, when the dragon reaches the "true adult" stage. A true adult dragon is a dragon who has complete control over the shapeshifting and can not only shift between dragon form and birth form, but can also shift into any of the Five Known People, and can change between genders.
Names
Dragons are as a rule named using the customs of their birth forms. Hence, a dragon born as a human will have a human name, and a dragon born as a dwarf will have a dwarf name. In addition, dragons might choose a "true" name for themselves to use when in their dragon form -- usually this name is inspired by the appearance of the dragon form or some sort of ability the dragon form has; Silverstreak, Ember, Bluebeard or similar. It's not mandatory to pick a "true" name, however, and not all dragons bother.
Relationships with the other People
Dragons in general have been conditioned to have the same attitude towards all the other People: They're not dragons, and while we may be stronger than them they outnumber us by so much it's not even funny. Treat them decently when interacting with them, because we need them, and certain individuals might even become good pals (or more), but be careful with trusting them with too many of our secrets. You never know when those secrets might be used against us.
However, most dragons do have a certain fondness for the People they were born into, so a human-born dragon will likely feel closest to and identify most strongly with humans, while a wight-born dragon tends to be fonder of wights.
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