Introduction

The Ddraig are a complex species and created solely for the Chronicles of Aereth. They are playable characters. However, before attempting to create a character, you need to read all of the documentation. Since there is so much to cover to detail the species’ lore, the documents have been broken into sections.

Basics

Because dragons have no correlation to the real world, there is a tremendous amount of information to sift through. To make this easier, the dragon lore documents have been divided into chapters based on the main subject. It is strongly recommended that you eventually read all of the lore provided.

Aereth's dragons were inspired by Ms. Anne McCaffrey’s wonderful Dragonriders of Pern book series. They took off from there!

Some of the character traits, dragon anatomy, and evolutionary history was provided by the fictional documentary, Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real. It is available on YouTube.

Who are the Ddraig?

The Ddraig – or dragons - have evolved sentience and intelligence. They are the eldest of all the sentient species on Aereth. Generally, they serve as guardians of Aereth and an ally to the bipedal species in the ongoing battle between the Light and the Shadow.

They can communicate using mindspeech, i.e., telepathy even with people that do not have the gifts of dragonsong and dragonspeech. However, the Ddraig are not fond of idle chit-chat and usually do not speak unless they feel it necessary. Dragons can establish psychic bonds with certain individuals. These individuals usually join the ranks of the Morrighan or Macha (free riders).

Aereth’s dragons are homeothermic (warm-blooded), scaled, have rudimentary feathers, and lay eggs. Yet, they are not mammals, birds, or reptiles. Dragons are in a unique class of animals called draconidae.

For more in-depth information on Aereth’s dragon physiology, read the information under the Physiology section.

How to Play a Dragon

Dragons should not be played as standalone characters. They are designed to be played in conjunction with a character or characters from one of Aereth’s indigenous biped species. This does not mean that you cannot play a dragon as a standalone character. If you choose to go that route and find it is not providing you with enough posting outlets and plots, you can always look at adding a rider or putting up a Character Wanted ad for a rider. You may also choose to play your dragon’s rider or another biped that he or she has bonded with on some level.

Note: From a dragon’s point of view, the Drakeri, Sídhe and Humans are bipeds. They do not use it as an insult or sneer as they do not understand the use of social epithets. However, they also realize that the inhabitants of Aereth are different species, although they can interbreed with one another (the bipeds) and have viable offspring. Ddraig can only mate with other Ddraig.

Archetype and Role

Dragons are protectors and guardians. They have an instinctive loathing for anything connected with the Shadowborn or Dark Ley. They are fierce warriors who will fight to the death to rid their world of evil. To this end, they have formed alliances with of Aereth’s indigenous bipeds. This does not mean that some dragons do not develop agendas of their own.

There are dark dragons known as the drakhmar. They are detailed in the lore of the Shadowborn.

Species Information

Genus: Draconis Sapiens

Species: Draconidae, Dragon, Ddraig

Race: Not applicable.

Ddraig (p. thr’aye’g, the g is hard as in gut) and means dragon in the ancient tongue of the Drakeri (based in Welsh Gaelic).

Other Species

Sea Dragons (NPC Only)

The sea dragons are an equally intelligent species of draconidae with highly evolved societies. They do not generally ally strongly with individual bipeds. Sea dragons will often accompany the Gwerin y Môr on their seafaring quests.

However, as they dwell in the sea 100% of the time, except for egg-laying and nurturing, they can only be NPC’d. They cannot be played as a primary character.

Water Dragons (Not Playable)

These are the freshwater versions of sea dragons. Of necessity, since they inhabit smaller bodies of water, they are somewhat smaller.

Read Next: Ddraig Physiology

Chronicles of Aereth Ddraig