Dragonkin what are they?

Having studied dragons for many years, I finally met my first dragonkin today.  He himself does not know what he is, but one of these days he will discover the truth.  When I talked to my Dragon friend and asked about the crossbreeding of dragons with other races, he laughed and answered that it was possible but rare.

You see it takes a very powerful human spell to change the shape of a dragon, and even then the dragon must be unaware of its being cast, or willing to make the change.  Once the spell has been cast the dragon must maintain control of his emotions, or run the risk of breaking said spell.  This happens most rapidly when they are changed against their will, usually the caster dies shortly after this as the dragon tears him to pieces.  The other side of the coin are the dragons that willingly make the change, they sometimes go years without anyone knowing they are a dragon, even forgetting it themselves.

Once a dragons shape has been changed into that of another creature though, it has the ability to breed with others of that creature type, usually humans for some reason.  The dragonkin I met today was interesting, he never met his father, and his mother died at birth, leaving me to believe that it was his mothers death that caused his father to return to dragon form.  Sadly this young man has a spell on him that hides his nature, but I can see that spell is weakening and soon he will break free of it and discover what a great gift he has.

You see, dragonkin have an unnatural strength, making them much stronger than they appear.  They are a touch taller than normal members of their non-dragon race, and tend towards the lean side, often appearing weak due to how thin they are.  They have very fine scales that cover most of their body, rarely over on the neck or face.  The scales themselves are just like dragon scales, being highly resistant to fire and very good armor.  The teeth are a bit sharper than a humans, and their finger nails are more like claws.

Most of the time when a dragonkin is born, the dragon parent will take it to the elves to be raised, as the long lived people swore long ago that they would protect any dragonkin they came across.  If the humans discover a dragonkin they normally will kill the child, if they can, and then proceed to kill its parents.  The end result of this is the dragon breaking the spell holding it in its altered shape, and an entire village or city being destroyed.

Upon investigating the matter a bit more, I was surprised to find out that there are a few human kingdoms being run by dragonkin these days.  One would think that after being hunted by humans for most of their lives, they would be tyrannical rulers, but for some reason they are very loving rulers instead. Currently I know of two kingdoms that have dragonkin kings/queens, both of them adored by their subjects for the most part.

If the one I met today is any indication of his kind these crossbreed children of the dragons have a very forgiving nature, but a very strong sense of justice.

I also asked why a dragon would change willingly into a human, and got an interesting response.

"Love, pure and simple.  Whether it be of a human or a village, invariably it boils down to love."

I guess that is why they always return to dragon form when their spouse dies.

I must thank Roult for taking the time to answer my questions, if anyone reading this should have any question,  please feel free to ask them.

Signed,

     Valarious the Historian