Salamanders

Salamanders are an offshoot of humans that are considered stable and numerous enough to be considered their own separate race. The end result of magically compatible humans cross breeding with dragons in ancient pre-history, human-exemplar salamanders resemble humans in the face, torso, and upper thighs whilst their forearms, shins, feet, glutes, and head display draconic traits ranging from claws, scales, tails, horns, and slit-like lizard eyes. Draconian-exemplar resemble more of a dragon that has taken human shape by being draconic in all ways except for being bi-pedal humanoids. Salamanders are inherently magical, but this natural display of magic only manifests as pyromancy, though some salamanders do become mages to further train these abilities or branch out into other magics. Most however, tend to become blacksmiths, weaponsmiths, and armorsmiths as their affinity for fire and natural talents make them exceptionally skilled, with their natural magics easily being infused into their metallic creations much like how dwarves used runes.

Salamanders are chiefly known for three aspects, their skills as smiths, their determined isolation, and their ancient magic. Salamanders are consummate smiths, being creators with fire and forge in ways that rival the rarest and highest quality dwarven artifice. Salamanders infuse every bit of steel they work with a part of themselves, each hammer blow cracking the metal and filling the seams with fractures of that particular smith's soul. Salamanders put such a heavy pretense on smithing and this cultural belief that the metal is infused by the salamander's very soul that most salamanders can tell who forged an object at a glance, if it was made by one of their own. It is for this reason that a salamander home is most easily spotted by the forge and workshop attached to it, the smoldering chimney a sure sign of its draconic inhabitant. That said, few ever see a salamander's home as they are determined to be as isolated as possible. Salamanders despise the company of others, tolerating only their immediate family members or chosen mates. Even among their own, salamanders are loathe to live in towns larger than a few hundred people and it is a given that homes are spaced far enough apart that one could not see their neighbors house from their porch.

The bonds that salamanders do make, however, are considered as sacred as their forges. Salamanders primarily enjoy the company of other salamanders, humans, trolls, and kaxxis that they have bonded with over long periods of time. A bond with a salamander is often recognized officially by the offering of a heart scale, a scale that grows over the back of the neck. This particular scale is heart shaped and grows very slowly, for it is incredibly sturdy and will never break. Because of how long it takes for this scale to regrow if pulled off and offered to another it is considered a deep sign of affection, more so because the removal of the scale leaves the salamander's neck unprotected by their natural armor and thus physically as well as emotionally vulnerable. This somewhat known ritual is merely another facet of salamander culture that is often steeped in mysticism and ritual, though their separate and isolated nature leaves many salamanders with unique and novel rites that differ from family to family. The heart scale ritual is the only one shared among all salamanders.

A quick-start guide:

• Draconic exemplars gain +10 robustness, toughness, cognition, and -15 spirit. In addition, draconic exemplars may conjure a fireball in hand to act as a ranged weapon and take 50% less burn damage from all sources (magical and non-magical).
• Human exemplars gain +10 robustness, toughness, mechanical, and lose -15 spirit. In addition, human exemplars may repair damaged weapons and tools they are holding and get a base +5 to every stat across the board from a perk. This adjusts there total stat change to +15 robustness/toughness/mechanical, -10 spirit, and +5 cognition/vigilance/biology/vitality.

Biology

Salamanders are a hybrid race between dragons and humans and carry a mix of both traits. Starting with what is collectively called human exemplars, salamanders of this breed have a large portions of their humanity still remaining and represent the best qualities humans can have. Human exemplar display draconic traits in the forearms, below the thighs or waist, often have horns or webbed spines on the head, and have draconic tails. The remainder of the body is human with the exception of the back of the neck and shoulders having scales and due to their draconic blood is often physically fit, without flaws, supernaturally beautiful, and supernaturally tough. The human exemplar of the salamander are often exceptional both physically and mentally, though they lack the stronger magical natures of the draconic exemplar. Draconic exemplars lack the human aspects, being entirely draconian aside from the shape of their humanoid bodies and potentially having hair on their heads. Both groups vary greatly in appearance and due to isolation and slow population growth, some salamanders can have their lineage recognized solely through their scale, skin, and hair color. In general, coloration tends to be complimentary, with scales being darker and skin or hair being lighter. Colors can range across the spectrum but tend to favor darker, more earthy colors. Scales are commonly black, brown, gray, red, orange, and yellow while skin tones tend to be brown, tan, or lighter shades depending on lineage. It is not unheard of, nor uncommon given the recent propagation of weavers, for a salamander who have more exotic colors such as green, white, blue, or even purple. Regardless of lineage, all salamanders have indestructible claws, tough scales, and unbreakable horns. While this does not extend to their other, internal bones, the unbreaking nature of their horns and claws is considered a prize among necromancers, but the use of such practice is so anathema to all lawful people across the world that to carry a weapon or item made from a salamander's bones is a swift way to be imprisoned or killed.

Culture

Salamander culture, for what exists of it, is so highly varied and changing between families and extended clans who make a huge effort to keep as far away as possible from each other that it would be a genuine challenge to describe more beyond the broad overtones. Salamanders universally despise being around others for long periods of time and must have extended periods of total isolation from nearly everyone, even close lovers and family members. This trait is well known and structures much of their society, as salamanders will often refuse to even tolerate the presence of outsiders in their homes unless forced and racially only enjoy the company of trolls, kaxxis, and humans familiar with salamander culture. Of the former two, trolls and kaxxis equally enjoy isolation, so they are known never to overstay their welcome and, if they are bothering a salamander, do so for a good enough reason. For humans, the result are mixed, general humans are avoided but salamanders will tolerate humans who can adapt to their need to isolate themselves. Salamanders are also, due to their nature of lineage, often forced to enter human settlements and areas for the sake of survival, commerce, or search for a mate. Given their exceedingly long lives, salamanders tend to be more forgiving and friendly when they are younger and only grow a more ornery nature as they reach the century mark in age.

As salamanders are innately magical, tough, and independent, they will often create self sufficient homes in the wilds, being only one of two race known to be capable of surviving the dangerous predators of the world without serious challenge and struggle. Those living within larger communities will generally choose housing on the edges of towns and will almost always choose small communities, usually struggling frontier towns trying to grow into established towns and often specifically choosing communities so small they lack defensive walls common to nearly every community. Their presence is often very discretely welcomed and celebrated, as salamanders will offer both their skills and smiths and their survival knowledge to these fledgling communities in return for respect, payment, and deferential treatment. Another aspect of salamanders within these communities is they are often looking for a companion. While salamanders of both genders are extremely choosy, to be courted by a salamander offers more than mere companionship for a human. Due to the magical nature of salamanders, their chosen mates will gain extended life spans after procreating with a salamander, their age matching that of any other salamander. This somewhat known fact is another aspect that both works for and against salamanders, as many people would be more than happy to double or even triple their lifespan, but the incredibly selective nature of salamanders means few ever become lucky enough for this to happen and being overly forward is a great way to earn a salamanders ire.

While salamander culture is so widespread that much of it boils down to the individual guided by their general instinctive natures, two aspects of salamander culture are entirely universal and shared by all within their blood. The first is the ritual of the heart scale. The heart scale is, unsurprisingly, a heart shaped scale found at the back of a salamanders neck just above the spine. This scale is the only scale on a salamanders body which cannot break, being made of the same material as their horns and claws. This slow growing scale takes years to regrow if lost and, should it be pulled from the flesh, will leave the salamanders neck exposed and vulnerable. Removal of this scale is done almost entirely as a sign of love, pulled off and given to another as a physical sign of vulnerability in mind and body. Few salamanders will ever pull this scale free, with the only common occurrence done due propose marriage between two individuals. It is tradition for salamanders to exchange heart scales and wear them as necklaces to signal they are married to another. Within salamander families, salamanders will rarely have more than one child and at most may have two or three, usually spaced apart so that when the first comes of age the second is born and so on. Salamanders care for immediate family members and are willing to tolerate them for longer before seeking isolation, but generally once a child leaves his or her family they will only return every few years or decades to retain a vague sense of contact unless they have business or other non-familial reasons to keep in touch.

The second universally shared trait among salamanders is their innate skill and understanding in metal smithing. A salamander without a forge would be like a human without hands and eyes, directionless and helpless. Salamanders believe that the shaping of metal is sacred and will spend potentially years working on a single blade, a single suit of armor, or even just a set of braces of a wagon wheel. If the quality is anything less than perfect a salamander will not stop until it becomes so. The common belief and desire for perfection in their metal work stems from the belief that the working of metal creates fissures within the material, letting the soul of the earth escape as it is beaten out by a salamanders hammer and the cracks filled with the soul of the smith. This belief is further reinforced by the fact that most salamanders can tell a salamander forged object at a glance and those familiar with a particular smith can spot an object made by them solely based off what they refer to as reading the soul of the metal. To produce an imperfect object is to make an imperfect vessel for the smith's soul and this belief creates an extremely high material that is in higher demand from the smallest racial populations in the world. Salamanders are aware of this and will establish incredibly lucrative one sided business deals with extremely wealthy patrons who are often willing (or forced) to bend over backwards to meet the demands of a salamander smith. How they are paid is often subject to change but salamanders will often demand specific materials, supplies, or a wealth of gold and gems in compensation. Salamanders apart of fledgling communities who are younger will generally work for the benefit of their small communities by demanding supplies needed by others, while middle aged and secluded salamanders will often demand very exact forging supplies, food, and other necessities of extreme quality in compensation. Old salamanders, one whose works are capable of producing artifacts of legends, will often have so much wealth and influence that they will rarely be tempted by any offer, only willing to part with their work for a literal dragon's hoard of gold and gems.

Mentality

Salamander mentality is often directly obvious in their nature and culture as a whole. Salamander are few in number, being the only race besides trolls who have no established communities and can be considered fewer in number than even the garm. With long lives, desire to remain alone, and finding happiness in their labors and self sufficiency, some may go their entire lives without ever even encountering a salamander in person. This rarity gives them an air of myth that is spoken of like a legend, though in reality most salamanders are much like humans despite their marked differences. Salamanders themselves are almost self centered in how they think and believe, a decidedly inhuman trait believed to come from their draconic heritage. They concern themselves with their own happiness, own life, own direction, and those they deem worth caring about. Even the care a younger salamander has for the fledgling communities they become apart of could be considered selfish, as the success of this frontier village can be considered their success. Salamanders carry a degree of ego that only grows as they get older, becoming more demanding, greedy, and often short tempered with outsiders beyond their established social circles. In a way, salamanders are born human in mind and become more draconic with age, a trait that most salamanders are aware of and some try to keep tempered for decades before falling to the same hubris that age forces upon al.

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