Draxar

Illus. by Elsa Kroese

Description
The draxars are a humanoid race closely related to dragons. Their bodies are covered with a tough scaly skin that is usually brown, black, or green in color. The heads of these creatures look very dragon-like, and are adorned with horns while their snout displays three rows of sharp teeth. Draxars also have long stout tails that extend 3’ from their body, but they do not have wings like their dragon ancestors. These creatures stand upright on their two hind legs and are about 8’ in height.

Origin
Centrukal is the draxarian capitol city in the southeastern region of Pertinon. It is a very wealthy city, and its inhabitants are well protected from Darkyn invasions. Though it is home to many different races of the world, it is primarily populated with draxars.

Another major city that is draxarian inhabited and run is Athgar Gate. It is a mystical city that is home to the powerful Dragon Oracle, and some of the most renowned seers in the land. It is also built on the draxars’ love of competition, and houses the world’s largest arena, which has many tournaments, gladiator competitions, and their favorite sport, Arfecticon. This is a tactical game of two teams in which they attempt to transport a mock artifact from the center of the field to their goal while dodging opposing teams, treacherous traps, and other dangerous obstacles. The players are highly respected in this city and treated as nobles.

History
It has been said that long ago when the dragons roamed the world freely, it was not uncommon for one of them to shape-change into the form of a human to explore the towns and cities. Sometimes, dragons were so intrigued with humans that they would actually fall in love with one that they thought to be beautiful. Often, the dragon would even stay as a human forever in order to stay with his or her lover. The offspring of these couples would look like a baby dragon without wings, and most of the time, the mother and child were killed as demons. The creatures that would actually escape this fate were afterwards known as the draxar race. Draxars do not believe that they are part human, but rather a creation of the Gods that would be able to bring people and dragons together.

The draxars have become very close to humans over the years, and they are quite respected due to their sense of honor. They are very intelligent, and will usually use their diplomatic skills before rushing headlong into a battle for useless purposes. Because of this, there have been many draxars that have become generals or taken roles of leadership in human armies.

Beliefs
These creatures dedicate their religious beliefs to one of the 3 major Gods, depending on their alignment. They will either put their faith in Ensis (the God of Light), Centairia (the Goddess of Balance), or Sen (the God of Darkness) since they are believed to be the creators of this world. It is very rare to find a draxar that truly follows the path of Deltayn no matter how evil he or she is, as they are not easily converted to His ways.

Habits
Honor is of the utmost importance to a draxar, and being anything less than honorable is not accepted. They love a good war as much as the next guy, but will not force themselves into it unless they feel a need to. If they ever do get pushed to the point of going into a battle, they can be quite dangerous because their strategic techniques surpass all others. Draxars have a very quick thinking mind, and will use it to their advantage when possible, making them quite good at political matters as well.

Abilities
These characters have night vision (can see normally in non-magical darkness).

Their skin is very tough and scaly, giving them +1 AR in all sections of the body and +50 towards Fire Resistance.

Draxars do not lie often, and are not very good when attempting it. Any time they try to lie, it is detected if the listener makes a +20 MNT check.