Difference between revisions of "Age of Dragons: Blood Dragons"

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===Sphere Ratings===
 
===Sphere Ratings===
  
* '''Soma 6'''
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Dragons of this breed are Soma-Dominant. Their Soma must be at least 1 point higher than one other Sphere at character generation.
* '''Sophis  4'''
 
* '''Pneuma  5'''
 
  
 
===Birthrights===
 
===Birthrights===

Revision as of 07:51, 5 December 2008

Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Blood Dragons


Lords of Slaughter

While the Ghost Dragons are obsessed with the death-realm of the Void Beyond, and the Sable Dragons are loremasters of death and ending in the world, Blood Dragons approach their study of death in a much more literal fashion: they learn to kill.

To a Blood Dragon, slaughter and murder are fields of expertise to be mastered. They take pride in being the best killers in the realm - warriors without peer, war-generals of strength and prowess, magi dedicated to the most destructive arts and ruthless assassins who have mastered their art. Whether using steel, flame, sorcery or sheer physical might they are truly the Lords of Slaughter.

Character Creation: Game Rules

Sphere Ratings

Dragons of this breed are Soma-Dominant. Their Soma must be at least 1 point higher than one other Sphere at character generation.

Birthrights

Eyes of Murder - If something can be killed, the Blood Dragon knows how. Just by looking at a target, the Blood Dragon will instantly be aware of at least one way that the target can be killed, as well as being aware of the conventional ways the target can not be killed. For example, a Blood Dragon looking at a human would recognise that the human can be killed by physical damage, can be drowned, burnt, suffocated, starved, poisoned, etc. In contrats a Blood Dragon assessing a potent demon may instantly realise that the entity is immune to physical damage of most sorts, but can be killed by weapons made of silver.

Drinking of the Defeated - If a Blood Dragon drinks deep of the blood of someone he has personally killed in the last few minutes, it gives him a surge of strength, regaining an amount of Physical Energy. The blood of a mortal restores 1 Physical Energy. The blood of dragons and similarly powerful creatures restores 6 Physical Energy, and of especially potent supernatural creatures up to 12 Physical Energy. This cannot cause the Blood Dragon to exceed his normal maximum.

Breed Weakness

Appetite for Destruction - Blood Dragons find creative pursuits very difficult, and struggle with any task that involves creating rather than destroying. This would include artistic endeavour, architecture, magics that create, smithworking, etc. With any such task, Blood Dragons are at +5 TN. Note as a specific exception, this Weakness does not affect fertility and reproduction.

Physical Appearance

Blood Dragons are red-scaled, with dark crimson on their back plates and bright scarlet on chest and ventral surfaces. They are physically heavy built, have curved horns with underside serrations, and often have chitinous blades protruding in lines from their back armour plates. The entire appearance of the Blood Dragon lends to a sense that they were built for war and slaughter, from their squat bulldog-faces, to their powerfully muscled upper limbs. Blood Dragons regard other breeds as weakling cousins, and their blustering and brutish behaviour mirrors their physical appearance. Blood Dragon eyes are solid black, save for a pin prick of yellow in the centre.

Society and Culture

The self-proclaimed Lords of Slaughter have existed in much the same form since the beginning of the First Age, more interested in the glory of destruction rather than in creating Empires or a grand culture.

While individual Blood Dragons will often establish domains (through force of arms) and may raise armies and war-hordes, it is uncommon for them to oversee the building of cities or nation states. More often they will lead their followers in war after war, till they meet their ends in battle.

Before the Ascendancy, Blood Dragons would be as likely to war against each other as to cooperate, and the Blood Dragon dominated lands would often be little more than ruin-studded wastelands. With the rise of Endless Night, however, the Blood Dragons have found new purpose.

Now the Blood Dragons have been told that they are not just warring because it feels right, but rather because they are Holy Avatars of Destruction, and Priests of Slaughter. They now know that in war they serve the Rising God that is Endless Night. This has given them considerably more focus, and though still prone to the occasional short-tempered battle between brothers, they now follow the Ascendancy's grand War-Plan. The Breed are now the Warlords of the Ascendancy, with the fate of every Blood Dragon tied to the success of the Ascendancy.

Lifepaths and the Blood Dragons

Without a doubt, Blood Dragons are most inclined to be Warmasters. The art of war is one that is second nature to a Blood Dragon. Within the Ascendancy, the majority of Warmasters fall into two camps. On the one hand, there are the Lords of Slaughter, who pride themselves on personal strength of arms, and whose baroqued blacksteel armour is a mark of martial honour. On the other, there are the War-Priests of Endless Night who raise and command vast hordes, leading them into battle against the enemies of the Ascendancy.

Many War-Priests will also study as Demonbinders and Sarcomancers in order to add summoned creatures to their war-strength. Indeed, in the study of these Lifepaths, the Blood Dragons consider themselves to be unmatched experts.

In contrast, a Lord of Slaughter is more likely to seek additional battle techniques, perhaps as a Redtooth Berserker. The Lords of Slaughter refer to their berserkers as Knights of Bloodfury, and respect them as being amongst the greatest warriors in their number. A small number of Lords of Slaughter pursue the Lifepaths Scholar-Sages, but focus on the war-magics of the Battlemagi. Finally, a minority who are interested in the more artful forms of murder will pursue the Lifepath of the Physical Adept, and use the skills acquired to specialise as Redknife Assassins.

Outlook

Caress-of-Sanguine-Steel is a Lord of Slaughter, and she speaks of the weaker breeds:

  • Pure Dragons - "We have never worshipped their Goddess and we never will. Endless Night is my Lord, and the Death God is my patron."
  • Argent Dragons - "These are foes worthy to be met in open battle. I salivate in anticipation of the taste of their blood."
  • Solar Dragons - "Weaklings, especially at night time. I offer them mercy in a quick death."
  • Hunter Dragons - "Brutal creatures! I envy their claws and teeth, but ultimately I am the better Warmaster."
  • Forest Dragons - "Mere numbers do not compensate for their physical weakness. We win every fight against them."
  • Storm Dragons - "Hard to fight, if only because the cowards hide underwater. Still, they bleed as easy as any other wants you catch them."
  • Ashen Dragons - "Tricksy bastards, with more surprises in battle than you'd credit them for. All's fair in murder and war though, so I bear no grudge."
  • Velvet Dragons - "A Velvet stole my heart once, and laid a Harlequin seed in my belly. I repaid him by bloody castration."
  • Chimerical Dragons - "They are blessed with insanity, yet theirs is the weak sort of madness, rather than the strong rage-laden kind. Easily killed."
  • Ghost Dragons - "I never trusted the Ghost Scholars. I am unsurprised that they betrayed the North, but my steelclaws will wreak revenge on their feeble flesh when we catch them."
  • Sable Dragons - "Endless Night has given us purpose and unity, and for that I am forever grateful. The Sable breed are his children, and they are worthy of our deference."