All you need to know about Dragons.

This publication was written by Caelen Alemenor, Magistriss and scholar, who was burned alive by the Demon knight in the public square of the town of Ganthor, for his amusement.

Dragons are a majestic species, full of grace and power, and at the same time taken by curiousity and compassion for smaller things. They seem at times to violent beasts, and at others passive animals, but do not mistake: they are wise, intelligent, and have a culture all their own. They have been around long before any of us, and will probably outlast us by thousands of years to a soul.

Despite my best efforts, all that I have learned is still woefully little of the whole of what may be learned about dragons. I shall scribe here my studies and my discoveries, in the hopes that it may some day be completed and used as a guide for the formation of an alliance with these grandest of beings.

Dragon Language, or Draconic, is extremely confusing to the newly introduced. It is not at all like our languages, in their many forms, and rightfully so. Our language is formed in regards to our way of thinking, the manner of which we communicate being with words and sounds that have meaning. Dragons communicate very differently, using sounds yes but also sight, communicating images, feelings, and raw perception and concept to each other. Dragons do not think using words, so much as they do with images, intentions, feelings, and perceptions. Thus their language is structured with that in mind.

Where as a human may form a sentance designed to directly present information to others, Dragons form sentences as descriptions of events, concepts, perceptions and images. They paint pictures with words.

As a primary example.

Oro Ak Namen Caelen Alemenor Tuunthora Mako Hun'Wakn Min'Aknor Boont Amora

The above sentence describes myself as being a female human named Caelen Alemenor with pale skin and white hair. Saying this sentence to a dragon would explain to them that you have either something to say about me, or something to do with me. Its all about context with them.

When talking with a dragon, you have to keep in mind the sheer intelligence your communicating with. They come to conclusions and work through thoughts much much faster than we do, so theres no reason to waste time with redundant questions or statements. Theres no need to tell a dragon who you are or where your from, they'll figure it out themselves, and more often then not they enjoy puzzling it out besides.

The important thing to remember is context. When trying to communicate with a dragon, you have to clearly define what your communication is about, whether it's specificaly a person place or thing, or if it's a question, a thought, or otherwise.

The biggest limitation in communication is the lack of understanding their individual words. Because they think without words, they rarely actually put words to impressions, images or other such things as we are used to. For that reason alone, scholars have dedicated their lives to the uncovering of as many Draconic words as possible, though usually not so much for communication as for their use in magic. Dragon magic is the most powerful kind, but can only be used with Draconic Sigils and words. Can't use a dragon spell without dragon spelling, heh.

Dragons have a unique and vibrant culture all their own.

While art and writing is not within their venues, music most certainly is, and there are few things in life as beautiful as Dragon Song. Dragons will sing about pretty much everything, anything, and nothing. Sometimes they'll sing just because they want to. It has been noted that dragons will hum to themselves in their sleep, the surest sign that a dragon lives nearby is the vibrations that come through the ground from the acoustics of their caves while they sleep.

Indeed, that very feature is what leads them to choose their dwellings. Dragons, whether they live in palaces, castles, or caves, choose those places based on how the acoustics of the dwelling is. Damp and mossy caverns are largely avoided, while solid rock and granite are preferred. Wood is avoided as well, though primarily because it is flammable, more so than it's lack of acoustic value.

In addition to music, magic is a large part of dragon culture. Being a race of beings whom hold magic in their blood as well as in their minds, Dragons are capable of Extremely powerful feats of magic that rarely can be matched by other species. Beyond that, dragons use magic in a day to day fashion to do simple tasks that we tend to overlook entirely. It makes sense, considering that these tasks they use magic for are things that they generally cannot do themselves at all. If you've ever wondered why a dragons cave, being a cave, is always so clean, it's because they use magic to polish and scrub and repair. Magic is so integral to the upkeep of a dragons dwelling that when a dragon gets sick or old, the caverns begin to show the same wear and tear as on the dragon.

In addition, the magic that permeates the dragons dwelling often leaks out into the surrounding area, invigorating the life of the flora and fauna around the dwelling. Animals reproduce faster, become hardier and stronger, and plants become more vibrant and filled with life.

There are a handful of things in dragon culture that are similar to our own. Dragons hold separate views of mating and marriage than we do, for example. Dragons often only "marry" once, to a single individual, and not always to another dragon. There are records of dragons who married humans, and used their magic to extend the lives of their partners far beyond natural states. This said, dragons do not always mate with the same partners. For them, procreation and love are very separate things that are not taken together, though they do sometimes overlap.

Dragons will sometimes have anywhere from five to fifteen concubines or "playmates." These tend to be humans who are either purchased from families, in exchange for power, wealth, or status. The playmates are not slaves nor are they imprisoned, they are free to leave at any time they wish, and may return as often as they like. They generally will carry some mark of the dragons design that indicates their affiliation. This alone often provides the playmate with protection and providence, as any harm or misfortune that befalls the dragons playmate often brings the dragons ire with it. More than a few foolish bandits made teh mistake of harming a dragons plaything, and were destroyed as a result. The concubines are well provided for in the dragons home, usually free to do whatever they wish, and only expected to sleep at the dragons side to provide warmth and companionship, much as dogs or cats do for humans. Male dragons tend to participate in this arrangement more often than females, though females do participate as well. It's suspected that three out of five dragons practice this tradition.

As stated previosely, dragons participate, to an extent, in marriage. When dragons marry, they will give something of symbolic value to their prospected life mate, usually something that cannot be replaced. Such a sacrifice indicates to their mate that they value them to such an extent that to lose them would be to lose the sacrificed symbolic item. Dragons do not perform ceremonies or celebrations for such things, they have no need to. Very little outwardly changes after two dragons become life mates, save that they are more often seen together than not at that stage, and they will almost always sleep together in a tightly wrapped bundle of scale and wing and claw.

However, dragons will also sometimes take humans as life mates. This is rare, but such events have been recorded. As with love in general, it may never be known what pushes a dragon to fall in love with a human, but the methods of courting do not change. The Dragon offers the human something of personal, irreplaceable value. Should the human accept, they will become the dragons life mate, and will be protected and provided for without exception.

Since the increased interaction with humans, some dragons have taken to living in massive palaces, so large as to be considered cities themselves by humans. These dragons hire humans to live in their palaces, to provide music, artwork, and other avenues of culture for the dragons to enjoy. These Dragon Cities are more prevalent in the outskirts to the west of the kingdom, and more than one hopeful low born human has made the risky, arduous and dangerous journey in hopes of a life of luxury and enjoyment in the dragon city.

For all that is known about dragons and their culture, much more has developed that has not been revealed to us, since the kings fall, may the gods take him unto his own. It is my strong recommendation that any would be negotiator seeking to form an alliance with the dragons take to a close study of their new forming culture before any attempts of talking to the dragons themselves. Dragons are each and to a one independent of each other, and they only gather together once every three hundred years, or when a great need moves them.