The Yellow Dragonkin

Okay, so here is the third of five posts on the five types of dragonkin which I outlined in a previous post for my new campaign world under construction.  The first two posts sketched out the black (water) dragonkin and red (fire) dragonkin.  Each write-up will include a couple small additions to the original basic dragonkin race build and then some cultural-political notes.

Yellow Dragonkin (Earth)
Typical Alignment: Lawful Neutral
+5 to saves against petrification or poison

The yellow dragonkin were born amidst the mighty mountains at the center of the world and their memories dwell there still.  Alas, few of them today still live in their ancestral heartland.  Those still living there mostly inhabit and defend the temples and monasteries of the Divine Earth Dragon located on her sacred mountain at the very center of the world, Kularazhanura.  The rest live in smaller communities scattered far away amongst the surrounding human lands.  Those living far afield try to make a pilgrimage back to the sacred mountain at least once in their lives.

The tragedy of the earth dragons and their dragonkin was due to their central location, around the elemental pole of earth which was their home and their responsibility to defend.  The other dragons were fortunate to strategically have their backs to a wall at the edges of the world.  Thus they could focus their forces for attack or defense.  The yellows were beset literally on all sides during the early Drake Wars and the later War of Angels and Demons.  Eventually their leader, the mighty immortal dragon Emperor Hharuduun was cut down in battle by the archangel Mordirrian.  Broken in spirit they clung to their mountain fortresses in desperation for a time.  However the growing numbers and power of the surrounding humans and their patron deities gradually wore them down.  In a series of one-sided treaties they gradually handed political dominion over to humans in order to avoid extermination.  Most became mercenaries and hired on as heavy infantry, particularly to the Empire of the Dusk to the west.  As the years went on they were joined by family members and formed settled communities.

The yellow dragonkin are particularly famous for their monasteries where masters teach martial arts to generation after generation of monks.  The earth element which infuses them gives them patience and an enduring spirit.  Thus the discipline and meditation of the way of the monk comes quite naturally to them.  The large fortified monasteries, filled with monks hardened of body and focused of mind, defend the sacred mountain and lend support to communities all throughout the world.

Like all dragonkin cultures the yellows worship the Divine Earth Dragon which birthed their particular race.  Also prevalent is a reverence for the dead Emperor Hharuduun, sometimes including worship as a demi-god.  The earth dragonkin believe that his soul returned to the Divine Earth Dragon and will be reborn again as a mighty hero to restore to them the glories of ancient times.

By the same token the archangel Mordirrian is a cultural villain.  The yellows hate him, any who follow him, and all the angel deities associated with him.  This has often led outsiders to consider the earth dragonkin to be followers of evil.  And indeed there are enough historical cases of the yellows allying with the demon lands against their common enemy to give credence to this belief.