On the Drakynmer, most ferocious.

I, Akaron Corvus, First Knight of the Realm and Loremaster to our most benevolent lady Wraith, have once again embarked on another quest to describe to you yet another of the myriad peoples in the Blessed Vale. Herein lies the detail of that most ferocious race, the Drakynmer.

Aeons past, present unborn. Age of strife, heaven’s war.
Dark gods many, daemons birthing. Fell creatures cry, the night spawning.
Old ones wrathful, aid requiring. Firs’born Arkmer*, in droves were dying.
“Not enough” said Old One-Eye, dragon king. “The Arkmer alone are too weak a thing.”
He called to his brother-dragons, Red, Green, Azure. Offering unto them elf-maids pure.
The elf-maids ravished, with child did grow, and soon they were in birth’s painful throes.
Many were birthed, but a few stood above. Warriors and Mages that the women did love.
The greatest of these took upon them many wives, and from them sprang the tribes five.
Ashnar the Great, warrior and mage.
Drakar the Skilful, hunter and sage.
Bartok the Mighty, frenzied in war.
Karlon the Wise, of the thought-tempered sword.
Last of these five brothers magnificent,
Came Abrecan the Fiery, the wizard beneficent

-from Da verda wereda

This excerpt is a fine starting point for learning about the Drakynmer. Da verda wereda is the premier piece of drakynmer literature, said to have been revealed to the Malrykan the Sage some five thousand years previous. It is said that the gods write this epic still, and when they decide to release the next installment they will speak to another sage in this way. It is clear that this story pertains to the war in heaven, which has been touched upon in my earlier commentary on the Riada “Saga of the War in Heaven.” (see: On the Riada, most fierce.) It is also clear from the text about the Drakynmer’s disdain for other races, even other elves, who they see as weak and fragile.


*more commonly known as High Elves.

The Drakynmer physiology is most astounding O Malevolent One. They are like their High and Wood Elven cousins in most respects, though possessing many characteristics that clearly and sharply set them apart. Superficially, they possess larger, swept back ears. They bear sharp fangs and patches of scaled hide. Many possess limbs similar to the dragons they call kin. This subject’s left arm is fully dragonlike, ending in powerful rending claws. He is also possessed of dragon-like wings like many of his kind. It seems that these creatures have different subspecies within them. Some bearing wings, others possessing powerful natural weapons, still others being built more sturdily. I hypothesize that these differences are based on the tribe’s sire-dragon.

But it is internally that they are most remarkable, O Supreme Lord, being built of an unusual muscular, circulatory, and respiratory system. Their lungs seem able to handle the thin air of mountains to the suffocating thickness of the jungle. They possess many of the same organs as any elf, though they possess two hearts, a tertiary lung, and two strange organs the use of which I have been unable to ascertain.

Their musculature and general bodily resilience is much closer to that of Orcs or the thrice-cursed Riada in capability and potential for damage absorption. This marked difference makes them far tougher and stronger then elven cousins, and their body mass is far greater.

It is my opinion, your Most Heinous One, that Drakynmer would make for superior specimens for your terrible hosts. I submit this report to you, in full understanding of the consequences of failure.
-Farkis Viel, “Autopsy of a Dragon Elf.”

Farkis Viel was a blood mage beholden to the necromancer Ja’gald, who in turn was henchman to the Sanguine King. Shortly after this autopsy, Master Viel was killed along with Ja’gald, by a strike team of Drakynmer assassins led by the great warrior Aryulin Warsong, during their war with the Sanguine King. The team had been dispatched to retrieve the body of their fallen kinsman and if possible, to kill Ja’gald. This report is very accurate and detailed, among the most reliable texts in the entire collection of the Keep.

It was then the hosts of Aachen Warsong, called "Half-elven", fell upon the Dark Lord's citadel, Half-elven leading from the front. They swept through his fell city, routing his armies with red slaughter. His warriors fought like daemons, his drakynmer brethren engaging the dark lords Wretches in the sky, with sword and glaive flashing. His own dragon-glaive split the keeps doors in twain and he rushed to face the Dark Lord. They met in single combat, and the Dark Lord's magic nearly felled the mighty warrior, it was then Aachen's lover, Lyra New-elven, fell upon the Dark Lord, breaking his focus. The Dark Lord turned on her, but Finn Bloodfang, King of the Wolves, threw himself onto the Dark Lords blade, saving Lyra. At the death of Finn, Aachen's battle madness peaked, and it was then he slew the Dark King, casting him from the battlements. In this act, the darkness retreated, and Aachen was made the first Emperor of Talinor.
-from 'Drakyn-God: the story of Aachen Half-elven' by Numair Orellian, Mage and annalist of the Emperor's Dragon Blades.

While this text does not speak so much on the Drakynmer people as a whole, it does illustrate a few facts. The Drakynmer are one of the few races to maintain an airborne force, being as it is easier for them, so many having wings. It is also clear the weapons they favour, the Dragon Glaive is the most revered artifact among the Drakynmer, and is probably the most ancient weapon in its world. They typically favour the Glaive and the Sword, using the bow almost exclusively for hunting, an oddity among elfkind. Furthermore, Aachen Half-elven was, in fact, actually Half-elven, his father having been the legendary Northron warrior Albemar of the Thousand Skulls and his mother being the Princess of Drakyr, one Allrana Warsong, daughter of the only slightly less famous King of Drakyr Albren Warsong, primogenitor of the Warsong line.