ChoShadow
That One Fear In My Enemy's Eyes
Welcome to the Dragon Culture page.
Please pay attention to this thread as it has some of the most important information about the RP's most important race.
Let's begin with their sizes:
Size
Dragons range in size from the smallest of Dragons which are around 7' in height at the shoulder, and around 20-40 feet from nose to tail. The largest of Dragons is around 25' at the shoulder and 120-180 feet from nose to tail.
Age
Dragons live for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of years. The oldest Dragon alive today is the King of Dragons who is about to celebrate his 44,388th birthday.
Dragons typically reach sexual maturity, as well as their maximum size, at around 100 years of age.
Mating
Dragons mate for biological reasons. Love is not part of it unlike the humanoid races which often prioritize love above all.
Dragons will typically mate once every fifty years or so, and they will care for their young only for the first 10-15 years of their lives before letting them leave the nest and start their own lives.
Random Genetics
The Dragons were gifted by Sil'Eph Niir with the blessing of Random Genetics, which has a two fold meaning.
First, it means that the birth of hatchlings will be different for every Dragon copulation. A Dragon mother who gives birth to a batch of five hatchlings, for instance, might not see a single one of her offspring with red scales. The color always varies.
Second it means that the resulting hatchlings do not share the same DNA as their parents despite all laws of genetics pointing to the contrary.
How is this possible?
Allow me to explain!
Sil'Eph Niir realized the biological weakness of having Dragons share DNA like other species. Because they are larger and more powerful, they would naturally come to be seen as either predators or a threat to be eliminated by other races created later once they came into their own intelligence to recognize a threat.
To accommodate for this and to prepare the Dragon Race for any eventual drops in population, Sil'Eph Niir created the Dragons in a very specific way against the advice of the rest of the Gods.
Within the body of a female Dragon sits a sack where her eggs develop over time as she comes of age. When she comes into heat and is ready to mate, the eggs trigger the release of a hormone within her which infiltrates the shells and causes the DNA of the eggs to separate down the helix and randomize effectively making them entirely new creatures separate from the mother. However the helix remains incomplete during this stage...
There is a chemical within the eggs which lies dormant until the eggs are fertilized by a male Dragon. This fertilization is not the male passing on his genes as it is with most other animals. Instead he is depositing a biological chemical which acts as a catalyst to finalize the process of the DNA helix within the eggs to come together forming fully realized strands of newly randomized DNA.
This is how the Dragons are able to exist and never suffer the negative effects of inbreeding. Even though they may be born of the same batch of eggs, their genetics make them biologically unique and thus they are able to mate with any Dragon when and if necessary.
Dragons can smell when they were born of the same egg batch as hatchlings and often avoid mating with one another because of it. However if times became dire and the Dragon Race's population began to dwindle, they would mate and it would not cause any negative biological effects thanks to Random Genetics.
Names
Dragons have two parts to their name: A notable feature of their bodies, and a feature of the world present during the time of their birth.
For instance if there was a Dragon born who had red scales on its body but turquoise eyes, then chances are high that the turquoise eyes would become the feature their parents focused on given the contrast with the body scale color. As well let's say it was a full moon overhead and the number of stars seen in the sky was uncountable. Chances are the uncountable stars would be the feature of the world.
So the Dragon would likely be named Blue (turquoise as a color doesn't exist in Dragon culture, it's just blue) Star.
Blue Star translated in the Dragon Language is Sen'Viir (Sen being Blue and Viir being Star or Stars).
The two words are separated by an apostrophe indicating a subtle pause in the word when it is spoken aloud. So when spoken it would be "Sen (momentary pause) Viir".
All Dragons share this naming scheme.
Sil'Eph Niir, the Dragon Goddess, is the only member of the Dragon Race (Divine or otherwise) who has three parts to Her name.
Sil'Eph translates to (Golden Eyes), and Niir is the word for "God" or "Goddess" depending on who it's referencing (notice its similarity to the word Viir which means "star" or "stars").
So Her name translated straight is "Golden Eyed Goddess."
Conversely, Maglissos, the evil Dragon God, is the only member of the Dragon Race who has only one part to His name. His name directly translates to "Black God" in the language of the Gods themselves which is different than the language of Dragons created by Sil'Eph Niir and imparted onto Her Children of Earth.
Maglissos speaks in the language of the Gods, and only Sil'Eph Niir or another God would be able to understand what He is saying.
Language
The Dragons, while in Dragon form, do not speak as humans do. Their mouths are not properly shaped to deliver humanoid speech, so instead the Dragons must communicate with body language, roars, growls, grunts, and various frequency rumbles.
To get a sense of how subtle a gesture change can be to deliver an entirely different message:
- Flared wings held at a 180 degree angle is a sign of aggression
- Flared wings at an angle greater than 180 degrees all the way until one touches them to the ground is a sign of submission
- A snarl with the lips curled below the tip of the snout is a sign of displeasure
- A snarl with the lips curled at the corners of the mouth is a sign of hunger
- A head held high with the chin parallel to the ground is a sign of pride and confidence
- A head held high with the chin dipped is a sign of sorrow
These subtle changes in posture and body language mean various different things for Dragons. For the most part, due to the fact that humanoids have no contact with Dragons, these gestures are entirely foreign and mean nothing unless one is taught their meaning. For those few humanoids who encounter Dragons in their lifetime, they need to learn fast or potentially risk the Dragon's ire.
However when the Dragons are in human form they do in fact have their own spoken language. The basic structure of the language will be detailed below shortly.
The basic rules for constructing words in the spoken language of the Dragons are as follows:
Sentence Structure
- Subject + Object + Verb
* Subject + Pronoun + Object + Verb
Verbs
- Verbs are simple words often consisting of only four or five letters and have no apostrophe marking separating any of the letters.
- Example: Khiin (To Die)
Adjectives
- Adjectives begin and end with a consonant. They are either four, six, or eight letters long, and for those which are six to eight letters in length are always separated exactly in the center by an apostrophe marking which indicates a momentary pause when speaking the word aloud.
- Example: Aoul'iaas (Glorious)
Nouns
- Nouns commonly between three to five letters in length and always begin on a vowel.
- Example: Uilno (Bird)
Pronouns
- Pronouns, which identify ownership or establish identity, come in the form of a double vowel ending with "a" and separated by an apostrophe in the middle. The pronouns are as follows:
* I/Me/My - E'a
* You/Your - I'a
* He/She/His/Hers - O'a
* They/Them/Their - U'a
* We - Y'a
In context, these pronouns take on their proper meaning. They do not need to be changed or adjusted.
Other Notes Of Importance
In spoken conversation, context is established at the beginning of the conversation and implied throughout the remainder. In this way, if you say "I am hungry" and then wish to say that you are feeling something else, you do not have to say "I" again. All verbs or adjectives are implied to be directed onto yourself. So while in English it sounds funny, the Dragons would say the following sentence using the example listed below:
- English Phrase - "I am hungry. I am also thirsty. I want to go to a restaurant."
- Dragon Phrase - "I am hungry. Also thirsty. Want to go to a restaurant."
The subject of "I" is implied in this example. If the Dragon in question were addressing another of their race and the subject changed between "I" and "You", the speaker would need to reestablish the implied subject only once.
- English Paragraph - "I am hungry. You are also hungry? You want to eat at the restaurant? Oh. You want to eat at the other restaurant. I would like to eat at this restaurant. After that I would like to go fly for a while. I think flying is fun. You like flying too? You want to fly with me? Okay. We can fly together."
- Dragon Paragraph - "I am hungry. You are also hungry? Want to eat at the restaurant? Oh. Want to eat at the other restaurant. I would like to eat at this restaurant. After that, like to go fly for a while. Flying is fun. You like flying too? Want to fly with me? Okay. We can fly together."
Notice how the subject only appears once for as long as the subject is implied to be the focal point of the conversation. Once the subject switches, it does so only one time before it becomes the implied subject. It remains implied until the subject is switched again.
Religion
Dragons do not have religion. Instead they have what they refer to as "True Love", or in their language, Grokh'Tah.
True Love in the cultural sense of the Dragons means that they all know of the existence of the All Mother, the Goddess Sil'Eph Niir, and love Her as their Mother. Unlike other forms of worship by other humanoid races, all Dragons known instinctually that Sil'Eph Niir is very real and that She is their original Mother. Other races have developed various religious beliefs, but many of them are unfounded and untrue based on nothing but myths and mortal-created fantasies or ideologies.
The fact that Sil'Eph Niir came to the Mortal Realm to create the Dragon Race is proof enough for the Dragon Race in its entirety that She is real and that their love for their Mother is well founded. As are the accounts of the ten thousand year slumber known as The All Mother's Respite.
The All Mother's Respite is a period of time known to all Dragon kind as the most prosperous and peaceful time the Dragons have ever enjoyed. Despite their near utopian existence now, it pales in comparison to the unity and peace they enjoyed whilst the All Mother slept.
The Dragons do not actually worship Sil'Eph Niir. Instead they love Her as all children do their mother. Her memory is enough to serve as a constant reminder to the Dragon Race that they exist solely because of Her and Her love for them. And thus they return that love to their Mother unconditionally.
Status
Dragons have a hierarchy to their culture, and it's a very simple one.
Older Dragons command more respect, as do Dragons of a larger size. Even when in human form, Dragons can sense the size and age of another Dragon when they're also in humanoid form.
They greet each other differently based on these gaps of age and size:
- Greater Size = Tor'Ma
- Greater Age = Siith'Mii
- Both Greater Size and Age = Tor'Mii
Dragons who are smaller than the Dragon they are greeting will bow their head in submission and await the word of approval from their kin before speaking or engaging them in any way. If no approval is given, they must wait with their head dipped until their kin passes before raising it again. To raise one's eyes to meet the gaze of a larger Dragon is a challenge, and one which is to be met with ferocious aggression.
Dragons who are younger will take a knee to an elder and await either a roar of approval or a low frequency rumble as a sign that they are free to raise their head and greet them. As before, any eye contact or raising of the head to one's elder without approval is a challenge which will be met with ferocious aggression.
Dragons take respect amongst themselves very seriously, giving exception only to the youngest who have yet to learn their manners. But to any and all others they treat each other with the respect their age and size deserve.
Relationship with Humanoids
The Dragons have long since isolated themselves from the humanoid races, none of whom come to The World's Wing unless they have a death wish.
However on occasion a Dragon who is tired of living in seclusion will seek to travel the world in search of a more fulfilling life. If and when they encounter other humanoids there is generally some culture shock, as there are no such methods of respect among most humanoid races as there are for Dragons. No bowing of the head. No taking a knee. Nothing. Sometimes a simple nod of the head or aversion of one's eyes is all that's necessary when addressing someone of importance, and that makes no sense to a Dragon.
Please pay attention to this thread as it has some of the most important information about the RP's most important race.
Let's begin with their sizes:
Size
Dragons range in size from the smallest of Dragons which are around 7' in height at the shoulder, and around 20-40 feet from nose to tail. The largest of Dragons is around 25' at the shoulder and 120-180 feet from nose to tail.
Age
Dragons live for thousands, sometimes tens of thousands of years. The oldest Dragon alive today is the King of Dragons who is about to celebrate his 44,388th birthday.
Dragons typically reach sexual maturity, as well as their maximum size, at around 100 years of age.
Mating
Dragons mate for biological reasons. Love is not part of it unlike the humanoid races which often prioritize love above all.
Dragons will typically mate once every fifty years or so, and they will care for their young only for the first 10-15 years of their lives before letting them leave the nest and start their own lives.
Random Genetics
The Dragons were gifted by Sil'Eph Niir with the blessing of Random Genetics, which has a two fold meaning.
First, it means that the birth of hatchlings will be different for every Dragon copulation. A Dragon mother who gives birth to a batch of five hatchlings, for instance, might not see a single one of her offspring with red scales. The color always varies.
Second it means that the resulting hatchlings do not share the same DNA as their parents despite all laws of genetics pointing to the contrary.
How is this possible?
Allow me to explain!
Sil'Eph Niir realized the biological weakness of having Dragons share DNA like other species. Because they are larger and more powerful, they would naturally come to be seen as either predators or a threat to be eliminated by other races created later once they came into their own intelligence to recognize a threat.
To accommodate for this and to prepare the Dragon Race for any eventual drops in population, Sil'Eph Niir created the Dragons in a very specific way against the advice of the rest of the Gods.
Within the body of a female Dragon sits a sack where her eggs develop over time as she comes of age. When she comes into heat and is ready to mate, the eggs trigger the release of a hormone within her which infiltrates the shells and causes the DNA of the eggs to separate down the helix and randomize effectively making them entirely new creatures separate from the mother. However the helix remains incomplete during this stage...
There is a chemical within the eggs which lies dormant until the eggs are fertilized by a male Dragon. This fertilization is not the male passing on his genes as it is with most other animals. Instead he is depositing a biological chemical which acts as a catalyst to finalize the process of the DNA helix within the eggs to come together forming fully realized strands of newly randomized DNA.
This is how the Dragons are able to exist and never suffer the negative effects of inbreeding. Even though they may be born of the same batch of eggs, their genetics make them biologically unique and thus they are able to mate with any Dragon when and if necessary.
Dragons can smell when they were born of the same egg batch as hatchlings and often avoid mating with one another because of it. However if times became dire and the Dragon Race's population began to dwindle, they would mate and it would not cause any negative biological effects thanks to Random Genetics.
Names
Dragons have two parts to their name: A notable feature of their bodies, and a feature of the world present during the time of their birth.
For instance if there was a Dragon born who had red scales on its body but turquoise eyes, then chances are high that the turquoise eyes would become the feature their parents focused on given the contrast with the body scale color. As well let's say it was a full moon overhead and the number of stars seen in the sky was uncountable. Chances are the uncountable stars would be the feature of the world.
So the Dragon would likely be named Blue (turquoise as a color doesn't exist in Dragon culture, it's just blue) Star.
Blue Star translated in the Dragon Language is Sen'Viir (Sen being Blue and Viir being Star or Stars).
The two words are separated by an apostrophe indicating a subtle pause in the word when it is spoken aloud. So when spoken it would be "Sen (momentary pause) Viir".
All Dragons share this naming scheme.
Sil'Eph Niir, the Dragon Goddess, is the only member of the Dragon Race (Divine or otherwise) who has three parts to Her name.
Sil'Eph translates to (Golden Eyes), and Niir is the word for "God" or "Goddess" depending on who it's referencing (notice its similarity to the word Viir which means "star" or "stars").
So Her name translated straight is "Golden Eyed Goddess."
Conversely, Maglissos, the evil Dragon God, is the only member of the Dragon Race who has only one part to His name. His name directly translates to "Black God" in the language of the Gods themselves which is different than the language of Dragons created by Sil'Eph Niir and imparted onto Her Children of Earth.
Maglissos speaks in the language of the Gods, and only Sil'Eph Niir or another God would be able to understand what He is saying.
Language
The Dragons, while in Dragon form, do not speak as humans do. Their mouths are not properly shaped to deliver humanoid speech, so instead the Dragons must communicate with body language, roars, growls, grunts, and various frequency rumbles.
To get a sense of how subtle a gesture change can be to deliver an entirely different message:
- Flared wings held at a 180 degree angle is a sign of aggression
- Flared wings at an angle greater than 180 degrees all the way until one touches them to the ground is a sign of submission
- A snarl with the lips curled below the tip of the snout is a sign of displeasure
- A snarl with the lips curled at the corners of the mouth is a sign of hunger
- A head held high with the chin parallel to the ground is a sign of pride and confidence
- A head held high with the chin dipped is a sign of sorrow
These subtle changes in posture and body language mean various different things for Dragons. For the most part, due to the fact that humanoids have no contact with Dragons, these gestures are entirely foreign and mean nothing unless one is taught their meaning. For those few humanoids who encounter Dragons in their lifetime, they need to learn fast or potentially risk the Dragon's ire.
However when the Dragons are in human form they do in fact have their own spoken language. The basic structure of the language will be detailed below shortly.
The basic rules for constructing words in the spoken language of the Dragons are as follows:
Sentence Structure
- Subject + Object + Verb
* Subject + Pronoun + Object + Verb
Verbs
- Verbs are simple words often consisting of only four or five letters and have no apostrophe marking separating any of the letters.
- Example: Khiin (To Die)
Adjectives
- Adjectives begin and end with a consonant. They are either four, six, or eight letters long, and for those which are six to eight letters in length are always separated exactly in the center by an apostrophe marking which indicates a momentary pause when speaking the word aloud.
- Example: Aoul'iaas (Glorious)
Nouns
- Nouns commonly between three to five letters in length and always begin on a vowel.
- Example: Uilno (Bird)
Pronouns
- Pronouns, which identify ownership or establish identity, come in the form of a double vowel ending with "a" and separated by an apostrophe in the middle. The pronouns are as follows:
* I/Me/My - E'a
* You/Your - I'a
* He/She/His/Hers - O'a
* They/Them/Their - U'a
* We - Y'a
In context, these pronouns take on their proper meaning. They do not need to be changed or adjusted.
Other Notes Of Importance
In spoken conversation, context is established at the beginning of the conversation and implied throughout the remainder. In this way, if you say "I am hungry" and then wish to say that you are feeling something else, you do not have to say "I" again. All verbs or adjectives are implied to be directed onto yourself. So while in English it sounds funny, the Dragons would say the following sentence using the example listed below:
- English Phrase - "I am hungry. I am also thirsty. I want to go to a restaurant."
- Dragon Phrase - "I am hungry. Also thirsty. Want to go to a restaurant."
The subject of "I" is implied in this example. If the Dragon in question were addressing another of their race and the subject changed between "I" and "You", the speaker would need to reestablish the implied subject only once.
- English Paragraph - "I am hungry. You are also hungry? You want to eat at the restaurant? Oh. You want to eat at the other restaurant. I would like to eat at this restaurant. After that I would like to go fly for a while. I think flying is fun. You like flying too? You want to fly with me? Okay. We can fly together."
- Dragon Paragraph - "I am hungry. You are also hungry? Want to eat at the restaurant? Oh. Want to eat at the other restaurant. I would like to eat at this restaurant. After that, like to go fly for a while. Flying is fun. You like flying too? Want to fly with me? Okay. We can fly together."
Notice how the subject only appears once for as long as the subject is implied to be the focal point of the conversation. Once the subject switches, it does so only one time before it becomes the implied subject. It remains implied until the subject is switched again.
Religion
Dragons do not have religion. Instead they have what they refer to as "True Love", or in their language, Grokh'Tah.
True Love in the cultural sense of the Dragons means that they all know of the existence of the All Mother, the Goddess Sil'Eph Niir, and love Her as their Mother. Unlike other forms of worship by other humanoid races, all Dragons known instinctually that Sil'Eph Niir is very real and that She is their original Mother. Other races have developed various religious beliefs, but many of them are unfounded and untrue based on nothing but myths and mortal-created fantasies or ideologies.
The fact that Sil'Eph Niir came to the Mortal Realm to create the Dragon Race is proof enough for the Dragon Race in its entirety that She is real and that their love for their Mother is well founded. As are the accounts of the ten thousand year slumber known as The All Mother's Respite.
The All Mother's Respite is a period of time known to all Dragon kind as the most prosperous and peaceful time the Dragons have ever enjoyed. Despite their near utopian existence now, it pales in comparison to the unity and peace they enjoyed whilst the All Mother slept.
The Dragons do not actually worship Sil'Eph Niir. Instead they love Her as all children do their mother. Her memory is enough to serve as a constant reminder to the Dragon Race that they exist solely because of Her and Her love for them. And thus they return that love to their Mother unconditionally.
Status
Dragons have a hierarchy to their culture, and it's a very simple one.
Older Dragons command more respect, as do Dragons of a larger size. Even when in human form, Dragons can sense the size and age of another Dragon when they're also in humanoid form.
They greet each other differently based on these gaps of age and size:
- Greater Size = Tor'Ma
- Greater Age = Siith'Mii
- Both Greater Size and Age = Tor'Mii
Dragons who are smaller than the Dragon they are greeting will bow their head in submission and await the word of approval from their kin before speaking or engaging them in any way. If no approval is given, they must wait with their head dipped until their kin passes before raising it again. To raise one's eyes to meet the gaze of a larger Dragon is a challenge, and one which is to be met with ferocious aggression.
Dragons who are younger will take a knee to an elder and await either a roar of approval or a low frequency rumble as a sign that they are free to raise their head and greet them. As before, any eye contact or raising of the head to one's elder without approval is a challenge which will be met with ferocious aggression.
Dragons take respect amongst themselves very seriously, giving exception only to the youngest who have yet to learn their manners. But to any and all others they treat each other with the respect their age and size deserve.
Relationship with Humanoids
The Dragons have long since isolated themselves from the humanoid races, none of whom come to The World's Wing unless they have a death wish.
However on occasion a Dragon who is tired of living in seclusion will seek to travel the world in search of a more fulfilling life. If and when they encounter other humanoids there is generally some culture shock, as there are no such methods of respect among most humanoid races as there are for Dragons. No bowing of the head. No taking a knee. Nothing. Sometimes a simple nod of the head or aversion of one's eyes is all that's necessary when addressing someone of importance, and that makes no sense to a Dragon.
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