Age of Dragons: Blood Dragons
Age Of Dragons: Main Page -> The Twelve Breeds -> Blood Dragons
Contents
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
- Soma 5
- Sophis 3
- Pneuma 4
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. His Soma counts as +1 till the effect fades. The blood of a mortal gives benefit only for an hour. The blood of dragons and similarly powerful creatures gives the benefit for a full day. This bonus is not cumulative.
Breed Weakness
Appetite for Destruction - Blood Dragons find creative pursuits very difficult, and struggle with any Soma or Sophis-based 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 +1 TN. Note that this Weakness does not affect tasks that involve Pneuma (such as reproduction, or magic).
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 Ghost Dragons
Prior to their migration, Ghost Dragons were traditionally Scholar-Sages, naming themselves Necrosavants and studying the mysteries of the Void Beyond. Many of their number retain this interest and inclination, though changing circumstances have changed the nature of their study from something academic to the possible way to finding the key to survival.
Some have redirected their studies, for example as Animist Adepts (or Spiritworkers) or even as Demonbinders (called Voidwatchers). They keep their studies secret from Alliance and enemy alike - their hosts would probably not look kindly on them studying such heretical secrets.
Changing circumstances have necessitated some Ghost Dragons taking up different lifepaths. It is hard to survive without Warmasters, so a few have felt obliged to ake up arms to defend their people. Likewise living on the move Breed caused a handful of Ghost Dragons to "devolve" into the path of the Beast Unbound, and the pracise of this path has occasionally been passed onto descendants.
Outlook
Sorrowful Burden has been called a Fatalist... he's actually just a realist:
- Pure Dragons - "The Goddess existed, yes, but praying to her will not keep the Void Beyond at bay. But then, nothing will, so keep praying if it makes you feel better."
- Argent Dragons - "You can't fight shadows with steel. Sharpen your minds rather than your blades, and you'll survive against the coming darkness a little longer than you would otherwise."
- Solar Dragons - "Scared of the dark? I don't blame you..."
- Hunter Dragons - "My father's uncle was killed by a Hunter pack as he crossed their territory. Ah well... he'd still be dead now anyway."
- Forest Dragons - "Each of you carries your own Prophecy Clock, and it is so short. How do you not go mad? Perhaps you already have."
- Storm Dragons - "They know. They know about the Void Beyond and though they call it something different... they know."
- Ashen Dragons - "You turned away my ancestors because you feared Endless Night. I cannot fault this logic, but I still hate you for it."
- Velvet Dragons - "Blind to the darkness around you because you are looking at your own reflection all the time. You'll die just the same."
- Chimerical Dragons - "Dreams are merely our mind's guard against the waiting emptiness in the world sleep. The dream will end soon, then they will be defenceless."
- Blood Dragons - "They hunted my ancestors, and killed many of them. If we are doomed now it is because they destroyed us so long ago."
- Sable Dragons - "They seek to master darkness, but they are its slaves. They are gone, and demons are in their place."
