Draconus

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Description: History of House Draconus House Draconus originated in what would now be the Apennine Mountains of Italy. The first settlers in this region had to endure numerous encounters with indigenous dragons which usually ended badly for the settlers. A small number seemed to embrace the challenge and actually moved higher into the mountains, closer to the dragons and their lairs. These are the ancestors of House Draconus and why their descendants have taken the name and are known as dragon hunters. Dragon hunting was not the goal of the original mountain settlers. Yes, they did become proficient at fighting dragons and defending their territory by necessity. But dragons are huge, dangerous beings and those who made dragon hunting their life’s work quickly perished. Instead, as they established settlements and learned to defend themselves successfully from dragon incursions, the intelligence of the dragons became apparent. The dragons and the ancestors of House Draconus were able to recognize individuals in each of their communities and establish a mutual respect and understanding. The fruits of this coexistence slowly emerged and gave both the dragons and these settlers a widespread and frightful reputation. Even as the settlers learned the lives and habits of the dragons which allowed them to avoid and coexist for the most part and fight when required, the dragons were also learning the habits and tendencies of people. This was a balance of power between dragons and men. New weapons and techniques were developed by the settlers and new hunting skills and stealth by the dragons. Both sides grew in skill through the routine encounters and rituals on both sides became rites of passage for the youth wanting to achieve maturity. This strengthened the mutual respect and even a shared fondness for each community’s skills and history. The downside of this arrangement came at costly times in history. Many argue that the dragon incursions in the cities and valleys were much worse because of the dragons seeming knowledge of humans and their behaviors. House Draconus firmly stands by the knowledge that these attacks would have been much more frequent and that dragons are intelligent and would have developed a better understanding of people as they have become more populous in the region and viewed them as prey. The source of the worst attacks can be traced back to two sources. The first are truly rogue dragons which House Draconus has aided in hunting down and destroying. Yes, large bounties were collected but personal sacrifice was required to travel and leave the mountain vineyards and orchards unattended. Plus, House Draconus was able to negotiate with the dragon community and avoid the dragon wars that inevitably resulted in every other region after such an incident. The second and most common source of dragon conflict resulted from humans who have attempted to hunt dragons for treasure and glory. Yes, this almost inevitably ended in a swift death for the hunter if they were lucky but the occasional warrior was truly exceptional and has killed a dragon. Usually this was a youth venturing closer to humans for their own show of skill or rite of passage, a sad event but one that was expected as part of the danger of their rites. The hunter that killed a dragon in their own territory and then mutilated the body to take back trophies to display or sell was a cause for revenge. Many times House Draconus was able to retrieve the items so they could have a proper burial. Other times the rogue human was taken down by a hunting party which caused much less destruction than a full dragon attack. Yes, these misunderstandings have given House Draconus a dark name to many people who claim their relatives were hunted down and killed for no reason. There was always a reason. Unfortunately, many raiding parties were formed over the years to venture into the mountains and seek justice against House Draconus because of these minor incidents. These conflicts have usually been brief and this false justice has never been achieved. Just as House Draconus has helped the dragons with their rough patches with the outside world, the dragons have also provided support to House Draconus. Invading the mountainous homeland is difficult enough but when flying dragons appear as well… most invading parties have managed to return home after only losing half their numbers, although some were never seen again. Today, House Draconus has no knowledge of the locations or lairs of the few remaining dragons. Do not even ask. The mountain homes are safe and well defended and it is rumored that an occasional dragon can be seen flying in the mountains. Vineyards and orchards still supply food along with hunting small game. There are many who are not satisfied with farming and offer their services as strong and fearless dragon hunters and travel far and are well rewarded. However dragons are not the beasts with prices on their heads anymore, at least not in the Apennine Mountains.

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