kaito9049
Perpetually Cold
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They're back. Or perhaps...they've never left.
Dragons, gigantic beasts with enormous power, lorded over the earth long ago. The humans, a slave race to the Dragons, grew tired of their forced labor and rose up against their supernatural masters. Mysteriously, despite being much weaker than the Dragons, the humans succeeded in hunting the creatures to extinction.
But while the Dragons died out, their DNA did not. Unbeknownst to anyone, their magical aura altered the biology of their former slaves, and beings with a mixture of human and Dragon genes came into existence. These beings held the ability to shift, or manifest, into a dragon-like form at will. They were named the Draki. The humans, fearful of this remnant of their enemy, hunted down the Draki, extinguishing the Dragon bloodline once and for all.
But unlike the Dragons, the Draki were able to hide among the humans. Through the next thousands of years, they repopulated and spread throughout the world. Their numbers are few, due to the efforts of the Hunters, humans descended from the greatest of the rebels and trained to fight the Draki.
In present-day North Carolina, a small town by the name of Avon is home to both a pride of Draki and a family of Hunters. Both groups live as normal humans, going to school, working, doing everything a typical person would be doing. Often times, the Draki and the Hunters would come face-to-face without even realizing that they were speaking to the enemy. It was a harrowed time, but relatively peaceful.
But three months ago, the peace broke. The Hunters were holding two earth Draki in captivity, using their magical abilities to find precious stones and metals under the ground. The pride of Draki residing in the town, led by its male Alpha and his family, launched a rescue mission to retrieve the Draki. The local Hunters, made up mostly of members of the well-renowned Jaeger family (which included the Lead Hunter, the champion of the Hunters), rushed to defend their bounty.
The resulting battle was hard-fought, but proved to be a huge victory for the Draki, who escaped not only with both of the earth Draki, but also the daughter of the Lead Hunter. Both sides now have to decide what plan of action to follow…
Fire Draki:
The gold and crimson scales of a fire Draki in its Dragon form are said to blaze like the sun. While in their human form, their hair color is naturally red or dark blonde. They hold the ability to breathe scorching fire, but they can also bend existing flame to their will. Their internal temperature is very high, and can increase when they are angered.
While their destructive potential is high, an inexperienced or panicked fire Draki can run out of oxygen quickly if it breathes too much flame, causing them to become temporarily weakened and unable to spout fire.
The most experienced fire Draki have been known to be able to call lightning down on their enemies.
Water Draki:
Water Draki scales have been prized as sapphires; they are blue and violet. Streaks of purple in one’s hair and striking blue eyes can be indicators of a water Draki in human form. They are at home in seas, oceans, and lakes, being able to dart through the water at dazzling speeds. Water Draki are amphibious and can breathe underwater, even able to take a nap under the waves if they wish. They have command over water in all of its forms, including snow, ice, and vapor.
While water Draki are quick in aqueous environments, they are relatively slow on land and are the 2nd worst flyers, behind earth Draki. They can also become dehydrated if they do not replenish themselves with a water source periodically.
When a water Draki becomes older, it may develop the ability to absorb water from other beings, leaving their enemies dry husks.
Air Draki:
Few are lucky enough to catch a glimpse of an air Draki’s pale scales, which some have erroneously claimed to be transparent. In their human forms, they usually have light skin and white or platinum blonde hair. They are the most innately talented flyers and are important in maintaining the secrecy of the Draki, for they have the ability to produce a mind-altering fog that causes Draki to appear human to onlookers, even in their Dragon forms. This mist can sometimes carry light poisonous or tranquilizing effects. Air Draki, of course, can control wind.
Though air Draki have many impressive abilities, they are usually the first to be targeted in a fight. The thin bones that make them able to glide through the air better than any other Draki also make them susceptible to being damaged and knocked around.
More experienced air Draki can alter their fog even further, even giving it a hypnotic effect to temporarily control the mind of whoever breathes it.
Earth Draki:
With their brown and green scales, is not uncommon to mistake an earth Draki for some fallen trees. Green eyes and brown hair are common characteristics of their human forms. They hold the unique ability to sense valuable stones, metals, and even caverns within the earth, making them prized targets for the Hunters. They usually rely on their impressive strength and defense, so they don’t use their ability to control earth as often as one might expect.
Though a raging earth Draki might be a fearsome foe (or ally), such creatures are quite slow, and are the worst flyers out of all of the Draki. They canfly, if needed, but they are perfectly content to trudge to their destination.
Metal is but a malleable bauble in the claws of an older Draki.
General Draki Information:
The average Draki is about the size of a pick-up truck. Larger Draki have larger human forms. Do not mistake Dragons for Draki; despite taking a similar form, Draki are much smaller and less destructive than the ancient Dragons were.
The blood of a healthy Draki is colored dark red or purple, and can appear to be deoxygenated human blood unless examined properly in a lab. A diseased Draki may have black blood.
While their scales offer hardy protection, the wings of a Draki are venerable, as is the underbelly.
Draki live in a tribe, or Pride, fashion. Each Pride is separate from the others, and is governed by the Alpha, usually the strongest male, and his royal family.
For the entire Pride to survive, Draki must live in a fertile environment with a nearby water source.
Draki usually consume sustenance in their human forms so they do not have to do so in their Dragon forms. If necessary, however, they may consume large animals, such as cows. Earth Dragon can absorb nutrients from the soil, meaning that they can live without actually “eating” for a time, depending on the fertility of the ground.
The royal family has increased physical attributes compared to their fellow Draki. This is believed to be due to a higher concentration of Dragon DNA in dominant families.
Manifestation
“Manifesting” is the term used when a Draki shifts into its Dragon form. When a Draki shifts back into its human form, it is said to have “demanifested”. Draki usually first manifest somewhere around the ages of 11 or 12.
It can take anywhere from 5 to 10 minutes to manifest. Once the process has begun, it takes an extreme amount of willpower and energy to cancel it. Demanifesting is faster, only taking a couple of minutes.
If adrenaline begins pumping through a Draki’s system while it is in its human form, such as when it believes itself to be in imminent danger, it may begin manifesting without warning.
A Draki’s injuries carry over to both forms; a left leg broken while in Dragon form will likely result in a broken left leg in human form. However, this also means that healing carries over to both forms. It is common for injured Draki to reside in their human forms until they have healed. Also because of this ability, Draki can carry items with them in both forms, but it should be noted that unwanted items, such as trackers, should be carefully searched for—they will not disappear after manifesting/demanifesting.
A Draki may permanently become human by living in an arid environment and not manifesting. This process can take years to complete, and has only been done a handful of times.
The Rule of Secrecy
Though each Pride is self-governed, there is one rule that all Draki agree on: “Do not fly in the daytime”. To do so would risk the existance of the Draki’s entire Pride. A common punishment for the violation of this law is the clipping of the offending Draki’s wings, removing its ability to fly. The process is extremely painful, and is usually done in a way so that the wings do not fully heal.
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