Vraak, commonly called dragons, are a sapient draconic species with an ancient interstellar diaspora. They have large winged bodies, prolonged lifespans and the ability to create humanoid avatars through which they participate in other societies.
Vraak society is organised through houses, bloodlines, personal domains, corporations and states. Vraak make more extensive use of client species than any other species, and these relationships are typically extremely exploitative. The Vraakhest Compact and Morgraakh Dominion are distinct interstellar factions; no government represents the species as a whole.
Vraak is both the singular and plural form of the species name. Dragon and dragons are common descriptive terms. High Vraakhic, also called Vraakhun, is used by many houses in formal introductions, law, treaties and oaths. Public languages and everyday naming customs vary among the societies in which Vraak live.
A permanent birth-name consists of a personal name and a blood-name identifying one immediate parent, normally the mother. The word vruun means “blood”. A consonant-ending parent’s name takes -avruun, while a vowel-ending name takes -vruun. House affiliation is political and is recorded separately, as are earned epithets. An avatar may use a public identity unrelated to its owner’s birth-name.
Vraak have four limbs: two muscular hind legs and two wings that also serve as forelimbs when grounded. Their bodies are narrow, with long necks and tails. Wingspans average at least three times total body length. Hollow bones composed of mineral fibres and crystalline structures support the skeleton.
Flight relies on aerodynamics. Vraak use running take-offs, thermals, gliding and air currents rather than continuous powered flapping. Heat-resistant scales insulate the body, but resilience to heat does not protect against vacuum, radiation, severe injury or sufficiently powerful weapons.
Mental development is much faster than physical maturation. Young Vraak develop speech after approximately one Cycle and reach young-adult mental faculties by their late teens. Physical and reproductive maturity occurs at about 200 Cycles, when typical body length is approximately 8 metres, wingspan exceeds 25 metres and mass is approximately 2,750 kilograms.
Vraak do not undergo ordinary physical senescence. After maturity, they continue growing in size and strength, adding approximately 10 centimetres per Cycle to both body length and wingspan. Increasing size places greater demands on the secure chambers in which their natural bodies rest while they inhabit avatars.
Mature females ovulate once every 100 Cycles, with a fertile window lasting ten Cycles. A fertilised clutch contains up to twelve eggs, each approximately 30 centimetres long. Incubation lasts five Cycles under suitable conditions. Vraak can reproduce through their natural bodies or biologically functional avatars. Only an avatar matching its owner’s natural sex is fertile.
Some unions with other species produce Dragon-Blooded offspring. These resemble their non-draconic parent while inheriting exceptional longevity and physical resilience. They do not constitute a single faction; their relationships with their Vraak parent and with wider society vary.
Vraak are facultative carnivores. Meat is their principal food, supplemented by animal by-products. An avatar follows the ordinary dietary needs of the humanoid body it resembles. A torpid natural body still requires food, water, ventilation, waste management and physical care.
Only male Vraak possess fire glands. Separate chemicals are projected from jets beneath the tongue and ignite together in the presence of oxygen, producing an adhesive incendiary substance. Adult males can project dragonfire to approximately 100 metres. The chemical reserves are finite and can be exhausted.
A Vraak can create a single humanoid avatar from prepared organic and mineral matter. The avatar is a second living body coupled to the same consciousness through the Void. It is not shapeshifting: its appearance is fixed when created, it ages normally for the species it resembles, and changing its form requires ending the existing avatar and creating another.
Only one body can be consciously inhabited at a time. The inactive body enters an unresponsive state. Transferring consciousness takes approximately one uninterrupted minute, during which both bodies are helpless, and can occur regardless of ordinary spatial distance. This can carry personal knowledge across interstellar distances, but does not transfer material objects, other minds or arbitrary data.
Creating an avatar divides the Vraak’s physical and mental capacities between the two bodies. This allocation remains fixed for the avatar’s lifetime. Memories, skills and identity remain those of one individual, although performance depends on the capacities invested in the active body. An avatar is biologically complete and can be injured, poisoned or made ill.
Voluntary reabsorption requires physical contact with the natural body and approximately one hour of uninterrupted concentration. The avatar then ceases to exist and its invested capacities return. Creating a replacement takes several days and suitable raw materials.
Destruction of an avatar ordinarily returns its invested capacities to the surviving natural body. A Vraak whose consciousness occupied the avatar is forced back in a state of shock. Destruction of the natural body kills the Vraak if its consciousness was there; if it occupied the avatar, it survives permanently confined to that body, loses the capacities retained in its natural form and cannot create another avatar.
Vraak are territorial and difficult to subordinate to one another, but participate extensively in the institutions of other societies. Through avatars they may hold citizenship, public office, businesses and estates. Houses and bloodlines can extend across planetary and political boundaries, although common ancestry does not guarantee common loyalties, technology or access to information.
Cooperation commonly takes the form of house agreements, treaties, contracts, arbitration and reciprocal obligations. Independent domains coexist with larger Vraak-led factions and with Vraak living within states governed by other species.
Vraak make more extensive use of client species than any other species. These relationships are typically extremely exploitative. Client populations occupy subordinate positions within arrangements directed by Vraak patrons, whose interests take precedence over those of their clients.
A hoard consists of durable possessions and claims to control. Traditional holdings include land, precious materials, artworks and archives. Interstellar holdings can include corporate equity, patents, asteroid claims, mineral reserves, orbital habitats, debt instruments and gate-access rights. Personally owed obligations may persist across many generations of shorter-lived species.
The Vraakhest Compact is an association of independent Vraak houses bound by agreements, mutual defence and arbitration. Its capital is Ghestavar System. The Morgraakh Dominion is a territorial faction centred on powerful houses and their holdings; its capital is Khorveth System. Both capital systems lie in the Perseus Arm.