CrysDrawsThings

Due to the circumstances of their creation Drakkan are known for their innate mastery of the elemental magic, specifically of the four "natural"
elements as they call them - fire, water, air and earth. Light and darkness, in Drakkan tradition named "ethereal" elements, and no Drakkan are known to posses the innate mastery of these schools.

Prominent elemental lineages of today haven't always existed among
the Drakkan and only emerged following their migration across the continent where particular magical affinities made settling of certain territories easier and more comfortable: affinity for water magic being the key for establishing flourishing settlements on the eastern archipelago, for example.

But before this the majority of ancient Drakkan were more akin to
the continental Drakkan of today - rarely having strongly-developed elemental adaptations or elemental specialization also called elemental affinity. With the rise of the elemental lineages in remote areas of what is now Drakkan Empire came the Drakkan as we known them today - differing between regions in dominating elements and, therefore, presence of strong elemental adaptations.

Elemental affinities in Drakkan appear to be "genetic", for the lack of better term, considering their manner of reproduction, but while parentage would be a good indicator of the child's element it is far less certain when it comes to the magnitude of the talent.

Most of Drakkan tend to have either one strongly developed elemental
affinity or a pair of less pronounced ones, depending on their area of origin. Nowadays, for example, Drakkan from the Fang Mountains tend to most often have strong fire affinities, while continental Drakkan are usually in possession of a pair of weaker affinities. Multi-affinity or wild card affinity, where one would be in possession of all four types of them is exceedingly rare outside of Erre, even more so for advanced affinities.
Complete lack of affinity for magic is as well rare, even more so a complete absence of magic talent.

Following the initial conflict between Drakkan city-states and the newly arriving Wave-Tamers, the latter were driven far to the North, into the
Frozen Wilds beyond the continent, where most of them reside to this day in the keeps, massive city-sized superstructures going deep into the earth of the northern archipelago.

This arrangement, understandably, is far from ideal for them, so many of the Wave-Tamers ended up moving to the Free Cities and all over the
world, with other sizeable group nearly permanently living on massive icebreaker city-ships, that both travel between keeps and venture forth into warmer waters.

Gradual ease of scrutiny from the new Drakkan Empire have allowed Wave-Tamers to not only establish outposts and way-stations along the northern shore, but also to send their icebreakers further South, going as far as to reach the Far Away Shores. While making these trips, some of the ships were given additional tasks of finding any locations suitable for further expansion.

Dangerous task on its own, but also due to how, should trouble happen, ties between these ships and their keeps would be separated - all to protect the cities from the possible ire of offended mainlanders. Drakkan, most often.

One of such wandering icebreakers was named Fortunate, sailing under
the command of Admiral Hadal (accompanied by an elder water elemental Talassa) and Researcher Nycta (accompanied by an adult darkness elemental Gloam).

Last known transmission from Fortunate to the Frozen Wilds have marked her location as a volcanic island near the eastern shores of the continent, Flamestone Island, team led by Researcher Nycta reporting that forward camp on the mainland was successfully established.

Long time no see! Finally adding another entry to the works here with the basic outline map of the Old Forest, situated on the eastern shores of the continent.

Main inhabitants of the Old Forest are Forest Folk, cat-like humanoids notable for the their symbiotic relationship with plants. According to their demands Old Forest is forbidden ground for outsiders, closest of neighbors being Drakkan Empire on the continent and Wave-Tamers whose ships are infrequently seen on the horizon.

Stilt Village is among the rare exception to the "forbidden ground" rule, as scientists and researchers living there have arranged for their invitations and guidance of Forest Folk to study the forest and it's inhabitants, many of which are rarely if ever seen outside of the Old Forest.

As a continuation of the previous post, here is some more information about the many faces of drakkan and specifically about their elemental affinities.

Typically, they do not have more than two. One being the most common in the areas with well-definited elemental lineages and two being prevalent outside of those. Not having elemental affinities at all or being equally attuned to all four elements is quite rare, but it occurs sometimes.

Strong affinity for an element often locks drakkan into practicing magic almost exclusively of said element and being able to access the most powerful forms of it, while having weaker affinity or multiple thereof makes it easier and less draining to practice the magic of unrelated elements, which in cases of particularly strong ties to an opposing element can even lead to death.

Drakkan are dragonkin native to the world of Uluthana, mostly found in the lands controlled by the Drakkan Empire. According to their knowledge, they were created in the distant past by the direct intervention of their pantheon, the Triumvirate, and their potent magical abilities are also attributed to this divine intervention.

The same magical abilities and how well they are attuned to the ambient world's heart emanation also reflect in how magic shapes their bodies, with the first axis being how "draconic" they appear, while the second axis would have to do with their affinity for a particular type of elemental magic or several of them.

The magical—or unnatural, as some would say—way drakkan came to be also reflects in several of their unique traits having to do with their means of reproduction, connection with Uluthanian wild life, and their blood memory.

The last (for now) entry in the series describing Uluthana animals introduces kesal in general and rainforest ones specifically.

These brightly colored pseudodragons are mostly found in the eastern and southern parts of the Drakkan Empire but can be found all across the continent in the present day.

Brightly colored rainforest kesal are also believed to be a thousand eyes of the imperial spymaster and harbingers of their arrival.

My group haven't encountered glimmer wyrms in the main campaign yet, but they saw a few of them in the backstory oneshot we have finished some time ago. And specifically, they have encountered ones "employed" by the Golden Legion as the mounts for the Wyrmriders unit.

Another interesting fact about glimmer wyrms is that they have a very light-sensitive eyes, maybe a bit too light-sensitive for the waking world, but working perfectly fine at night, in darkness - or it the ethereal veil.

They also chirp and click, instead of a more expected hissing or roaring.

Taking another departure from maps - this is the first of three animals I plan to post about, as players in my Uluthana DnD campaign have recently encountered these creatures and I wanted to provide them with a visual aid.

Gahra specifically being a mount of choice used by an antagonist of a current sidequest - semi-disowned noble leading a group of outlaws, who as of now ended up in troubles with a bank he owes money to and unable to pay back. The reason why he can't is closely tied to actions of the party, who disrupted a rather important ritual some time ago.

The next map I have made for my DnD campaign set in Uluthana, this time featuring Baylar, the capital of the Free Cities.

The oldest and biggest settlement in the Free Cities, it houses the majority of their guild headquarters as well as the Hall of Meetings, the place where leaders of the guilds gather to decide the future of the country as a whole.

Being as old as it is, Baylar is often built "upon itself", when the city's development turns from advancing outward outside the three might walls to advancing further up as well as further below. Although some of the turf and ground are artificial and added by hand, going further down isn't always an option, as one would risk burrowing into the rushing waters of the river Lament, flowing from the western part of Watcher's Peaks.

Trying out a different format and approach to sharing the world's lore! This time around, with these loading screen-styled lore blurbs.

Scalebreakers were quite an invention, something that could for sure challenge the drakkan dominion over the skies; however, their usage came with a set of certain issues: ammunition instability, very expensive production, and most of all, the Void Plague following Celestial Blood everywhere.

Expensive production was caused not just by the need for rather sophisticated and well-maintained tools but also by the cost of purchasing both Celestial Blood and Frozen Fire.