Dragon Tribes of Arrar

Player: Kerrus
Game: Ascension Isle
Traits: Arete Draconic, Dragon Pacts, Dragonspeakers, Flight of Wind. (Possibly Army of Gold)

History

The Arrar has often been a point of confusion among novice scholars in the Empire- many have called it a province, or a particular tribe or clan- but the truth is that the Arrar refers to a specific geographical feature- the a collection of jungles that have grown up around a particular mountain ridge, located at the intersection of two of the Zenith Empire's provinces.

In the ensuing time since the destruction of the capital, and the death of the last of the Dragon Emperors, the tribes of Arrar have begun working towards a new future. As those entrusted with the care of the great dragons descended of the Ascendant Dragons of storied myth, the tribes of Arrar have always held themselves aloof and apart from their countrymen, following their own variant of the Arete Draconic. But as each of the great dragons raised their voices to the sky in mourning for the death of the Emperor and his Pact Mate, the Speakers of Arrar knew that the world had changed- and like any predator in a changing environment, they too must change- or die.

But before change can take place, a being must know itself. For too long, the tribes of Arrar had been insular, tending only to their own needs- and only interacting with the outside world when called upon to do so by obligation or honour. As the Speakers for the Great Dragons took stock of their people, they saw much that needed change- and more still that needed reaffirmation.

Oaths and obligations were reaffirmed, debts were paid, and the people of Arrar came together under one banner, just as they would in times of war. But unlike times of war, this unity was born out of faith- not honour. Faith in a future yet unclaimed, but one that could be within their grasp, if only they had the resolve to seize it.

The Pact

By their very nature, dragons are an apex predator with little in the way of competition, however they also run the gamut from intellect to sociability. Early in life, a dragon will choose or imprint upon an individual- usually their parent- and from that individual take what will become the model of the individual they will grow to be.

In the wild, this results in successive generations becoming incredibly strong predators who know every detail of their hunting grounds thanks to successive generations of learning and inheriting knowledge from their parent. However with the advent of civilization, dragons have gained other options beyond imprinting on the parent. Now they can imprint on wise sages, studied intellectuals, or other paragons of their race- but that is only a small part of it. With the integration of the feykind into society, new outlooks, ideals, and concepts become available to them. Many dragons imprint on young men and women of the tribes, who become speakers and teachers for their bonded dragon, passing on their knowledge to the impressionable young mind, while gaining political and tribal standing and power.

This system was established some hundred and fifty years after the cataclysm, though the feykind have an oral tradition that claims to put the initial formation of their society some time before the Cataclysm. Ultimately, the system provided benefits for all those involved, save one:

Mortals are frail, weak things, vulnerable to malady or even the mildest of injuries. Dragons, on the other hand, are powerful and imperious- and learned early on that to lose the mortal one has imprinted on is terrible and potentially disastrous, if the dragon in question is young enough. For decades, dragon scholars searched their own histories for a solution, but none was found save that sharing in the bloodline of the ancestors, the true dragons of eld, those known to some as the Ascendant Dragons, could grant immense power to the bearer of that bloodline.

In the year 357 AF, a powerful mage- perhaps the strongest that the Arrar had ever produced- crafted a spell to forge a bond between his dragon companion and himself. They shared blood and magic, and he spoke the words of power that invoked the bond. Were he a lesser man, or his partner not of the great draconic lineages, then perhaps it would have failed or killed him- but instead, it succeeded.

He became the first to make the Pact, and through him a means was forged to grant the feykind a measure of draconic power- but also to grant dragonkind a measure of the fey's power and magic. This mingling formed the basis for many successor spells, and saw the bond breed true- the feykind's children being born with a measure of draconic blood.

Eventually, the ability to forge a pact- not just a mere imprinting during childhood, but actual potent magic allowing for a true sharing between the participants- became ingrained in the bloodline. Every dragon born since that time has been able to innately forge a blood bond with any that shares of its bloodline- as all the Arrar do.

Religion

The people of Arrar believe in a variant of the Arete Draconic- worship of the ascendant dragons of the Empire's founding- but also in the profusion of the driakin lines that derive from the great draconic houses, with each great house representing a virtues. The dragons of each house are subordinate to that house's leader, whom is usually the first dragon of that line, blessed by Azurdeena for their service to the Empire. Each of these dragons is deified by the Arete Draconic, and are treated as a sort of living saint, with their sons and daughters, and their vassals in turn serving as clergy and religious army for the faith.

As a result of this structure, the common people of the Arrar pay tribute by means of attending to the needs of the dragons passing through or in residence at their cities, ensuring they want for little. In return, those dragons carry their prayers- written on little strips of paper- back to the great house to be read by the house's archivist, and through him recorded and attended to as necessary.

Duty and Service

Arrar society is highly stratified, with each great house training its speakers and children for a specific role they are expected to follow. While there are occasionally those who rebel against the system, it accounts for those individuals also, by allowing those of any House to join the army in place of their 'expected' position. Additionally, any dragon and speaker pair may be selected by a High Speaker as apprentices.

Generally, however, each great house tends towards a specific post in society. The house of courage produces warriors, while the house of faith produces healers. A comprehensive list will be provided shortly.