Dragon (Patronage Supplement)
Dragons
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The first Patrons to abandon their servile races, the Dragons ceded the lands now known as the Free Kingdoms, allowing mortal civilization to flourish. All that is left behind are their well-guarded hoards. Realm: Dragonslands (now gone)
Noble: Halfling
Base: Sparti
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Dragons are a Patron race. Any dragon appropriate for the epic tier of play might be encountered as a dragon. Dragons appropriate for heroic and paragon tiers of play are considered unintelligent (or barely intelligent) beasts called "wyrms", and are considered more kin to wyverns than true dragons. The dragons' Realm was called the "Dragonlands". Since their disappearance, this land has become the land now occupied by the Free Kingdoms.
Halflings
Halflings are the noble race created by the halflings to serve their Dragon Patrons. The were bred to be small and unassuming, but shrewd and competent administrators. Since the Dragons receded from the world, the halflings have been conquerors, grifters, kingmakers, and thieves.
Thousands of years ago, the halfling race was cursed by their own Empress Lucinda. They cannot be affected by a Landbond, and are forbidden from every holding noble title. This has relegated halflings to the role of itinerant wanderers, tinkers, traders, sailors, and mercenaries, a role they have adopted with relish.
Halflings are still found primarily in the lands where the Dragons once ruled. They can be found in significant numbers in Midhaven, Minia, Ironguard, Verdant, and Nidvalar, and in lesser numbers in the Caliphate, Winteren, Carraway, Oncia and Chisel. Halflings are known as wanderers, and a handful of halflings are likely to be found in every city in the world, even the cities ruled by Patrons.
Prominent Halflings
- Philip and Persa: The parents of Lucinda, but heroes also in their own right as leaders of the halfling rebellion against the Dragons.
- Lucinda: There may no more prominent halfling or mortal in Patronage history than Lucinda. With the aid of her human mentor Aris, Lucinda vanquished the Dragons -- her own Patrons -- and successfully waged wars against the Anthropophagi, driving them onto Mongrel Island. Her Empire consolidated all the Dragonslands briefly under one mortal's rule. When her troops mutinied, she cursed her own people so they could never partake of the landbond, and then she disappeared. To commemorate her rule, she commissioned two mighty artifacts -- the Jade Crown and the Marbled Scepter -- now lost to time.
- Pasion: The shrewdest of halfling traders, she established rules of banking and coinage that became the standard throughout Patronage.
- Daro: Lucinda's most accomplished general, and the only officer in her army who opposed mutiny, he was made the first Halfling King after her curse. He also founded the Testament, a secret society of halflings who are the living embodiment of Lucinda's curse.
- Evara: A halfling queen, she wielded the sword that would be named after her and used it in single combat to defeat and slay an Avatar, thus securing for her people the right to travel freely through the lands that would become the Alabastrian Empire.
- Vologasia: She engaged in a massive deception when she founded the Vologasian Dynasty of the Second Empire, using illusions to pretend to be human, and avoiding Lucinda's dread curse. Her dynasty lasted more than a century, before it was overthrown.
- Dario: A thief, adventurer, lover, and leader, who stole every major artifact in the Vologasian Dynasty for the beautiful halfling queen of his age.
- Dara: The current halfling queen.
Sparti
The sparti were the base race serving their Patrons, the Dragons. While the noble Halflings attended to their territory, the Sparti served the Dragons personally, as guards, attendants and valets. After the Dragons retreated from the world, the sparti withdrew to the Blackscale Swamp. Occasionally a sparti will leave the safety of the Blackscale Swamp. Most venture only to the surrounding Free Kingdoms of the Caliphate, Ironguard, Midhaven, Carraway, and Dragonseye.
Any race that resembles a cold-blooded beast might be considred a Sparti, including the following:
- Bullywug
- Dragonborn
- Kobold
- Lizardfolk
- Yuan-ti
These creatures are considered various breeds of Sparti. They can interbreed, the offspring being a breed of one of the parents, but Sparti cannot interbreed with other races.
Prominent Sparti
- Echion preserved the Blackscale Swamp from all incursions during the Xalian Age, and his reputation of honorable ferocity is so prominent, it has helped preserve their independence to the present day.
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