Page 115 - D&D - Player's Handbook

of other humanoid races, which were pale imitations of
dragonborn perfection. Io shaped the dragonborn and
fired them with his breath, then spilled his own blood
to give them life. The first dragonborn served Io as
companions and allies, filling his astral court and sing-
ing his praises. The dragons he made only later, at the
start of the Dawn War, to serve as engines of destruc-
tion. This view of dragonborn history is shared by those
who believe that dragonborn are superior to other races
and thus should be the masters of dragons and not the
other way around.
Despite their differing conclusions, a common theme
binds all these legends together: the dragonborn owe
their existence to Io, the great dragon-god who created
all of dragonkind. The dragonborn, all legends agree,
are not the creations of Bahamut or Tiamat- and so
they have no predetermined side in the conflict between
those gods. Every individual dragonborn, regardless of
one's particular draconic ancestry, makes a personal
choice in matters of ethics and morality.

THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM
Dragon born hail from Abeir, the primordial twin of To-
ri!. On that world most of the dragonborn are slaves to
their dragon masters, though many won their freedom
and formed nations of free dragon born. During the
Spellplague, the two worlds intersected and one of those
free dragonborn nations, Tymanchebar, was transported
to FaerG.n. It displaced the nation of Unther, and out of
the ashes of these two kingdoms, the surviving drag-
onborn formed Tymanther, a new dragonborn nation
in FaerG.n.
For a time, the dragonborn of Tymanther sought to
integrate with their new world while maintaining their
own traditions and culture. These efforts gave the na-
The aftermath of the Sundering has tested these prin-
tion and its people a reputation for being honorable and
ciples, leaving some clans fractured and decentralized.
worthy of respect. Only a few generations later, however,
Some dragonborn in FaerG.n seek to recapture the sort
the events of the Sundering returned Unther to FaerG.n,
of connection they had with a now-lost clan or family by
and the formerly displaced land sought to reclaim all it
forging new relationships among their non-dragonborn
had lost to Tymanther. Reeling from this disaster, the re-
allies and companions.
maining dragonborn in FaerG.n now find they must work
Dragonborn in FaerG.n have the racial traits of dragon-
even harder and with fewer resources to find their place
born in the Player's Handbook.
among the people the world.
PHILOSOPHY AND RELIGION
HONOR AND FAMILY
Their code of honorable behavior and unswerving
Every aspect of dragonborn life is dictated by the race's
code of honor and strict adherence to tradition. Drag- loyalty serves the dragonborn as a kind of faith, and,
according to the traditionalists among them, that out-
onborn society is highly ordered, with each member
look is all the religion they need. Because they were
expected to do one's utmost for family and clan. This loy-
forced to worship their draconic masters in times past,
alty and sense of duty sustained the dragonborn during
dragonborn are generally skeptical about religion, see-
their long history of enslavement and also enabled them
ing it as a form of servitude. The skeptics believe that
to form communities and nations of free dragon born.
In dragonborn culture, the family is made up of one's no matter how their original god, Io, brought them into
being, that ancient deity is either long dead or uncaring
direct relations, while a clan is a collection of families
about their fate, and the dragon gods that supplanted Io
brought together by alliance, intermarriage, or shared
seem primarily interested in amassing soldiers for their
history. Although they are rarely forced to choose one
ages-old conflict.
over the other, the clan's welfare is more important
Still, some dragonborn do hear the call of the gods
to most dragonborn than the family's. The promise of
of FaerG.n and choose to serve them, and are as loyal in
honor within the clan drives them to acts of heroism
daring, or excellence, all meant to bring glory to the ~Ian this faith as they are to any other cause. Bahamut and
Tiamat have dragonborn worshipers, and both Torm
first and the individual second.
and Tyr appeal to the dragonborn sense of honor and