Friday, March 27, 2009

Dragonborn Culture on Returned Abeir.

Here's an excerpt on Dragonborn from Forgotten Realms Players Guide.
Dragonborn have always cleaved to a complex set of principles to guide their beliefs. Dragonborn society is highly ordered, with rigid castes and social
expectations, but nowhere does the race’s sense of honor reveal itself more than in combat. A dragonborn always shows his enemies respect, giving his opponents the greatest due regardless of the cause that makes them foes. Few dragonborn would sully
themselves by using treachery to defeat their adversaries, and they give each opponent the chance to acquit himself in the same honorable fashion.

This adherence to proper behavior eclipses the race’s views toward the gods. Since Abeir was without divine influence, at least in a way that most people of Toril understand, dragonborn regard the gods and their servants with suspicion, for they have ever held themselves accountable for their own actions and never to the expectations of others, especially to some remote god or other. Although a few dragonborn have found themselves in the service of traditionally wicked institutions, they cannot share the tenets and beliefs of the organizations they serve.


The Dragonborn on Returned Abeir is somewhat different than the free Dragonborn on Faerun. While all Dragonborn believe in the importance of honour, the definition of what is dishonourable can range greatly. There are 3 groups of Dragonborn in Returned Abeir: Slaves of Dragon Empires, scattered freed dragonborn slaves living in pockets here and there with no nation to call their own, and the free dragonborn of Relmaur. Of the 3, the Relmaur dragonborn are the most different from the norm.

The free dragonborn of Relmaur are a small minority (10%?) of the population of the dragonborn in Return Abeir. Living mainly in 3 small community of 400-800, the nation of Relmaur consist of less than 2500 members, of which half are young adults or younger. The enviornment is harsh, and the war with the orcs and other monsters are constant realty. Mature Dragonborn have no time to rear their own clutch, and the eggs of Relmaur are hatched and raised by specialized members called Spawn Parent, where he/she take care of all the eggs & its hatchlings of a particular year regardless of their clutch.

Therefore, the young have no Bloodnames(Lastnames) in Relmaur, as their parentage is unknown. As they approach adulthood, those who wish to earn their own Bloodnames may do so by earning it in a process known as the Bloodname Quest. The way to earn it is to gain honour outside their world, and return once they have found honour and knowledge to strengthen the nation. It is especially honourable to return with dragonborn immigrants who wish to become a part of Relmaur. The mortality rate is very high in Relmaur, and it need a constant influx of honourable adult dragonborn

Not all young adults chose to earn their own Bloodname and start their own clan. Those who did not take the Bloodname Quest are drafted/adopted by an existing clan, starting at the bottom in honour and rank and must work their way up.

Of the few that return, most of those are bounded so closely through battle as well as spawn, the survivors form the heart of a new clan. There are exeptions where more than 1 return wish to be on their own, with his/her own Bloodname.

Honor is very different for these Dragonborn. For most other Dragonborn, Family name (the Clutch) is the most imporant thing to honour. Like the dwarves to dishonour your family and ancestors is the worse sin, as well as dishonouring your own self. Here, the clans are not related by blood at all, other than circumstantially adopted.

Living in a land where war is constant and the environmental dangers is just as harsh, Honour in combat is least of their worry. There is a saying here. Nation before Self, Spawn before Nation, and Clan before Spawn. To dishonour your Clan is the worse sin, and those without a Bloodname must honour first and foremost their other Bloodnameless spawn brothers/sisters.

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