Dragonborn

"Before the Shantil, before the Humans, before the Brevenni, we inhabitted this land. We were the stewards of the world under our masters, until the reign of Ash-Shaytan, Lord of Cicadas, the Breaker of Worlds. Our covenant was broken, and our masters were lost. Now we guard the lands of the ancient enemy, both against the new races and against the old enemy returned. We will survive, as we always have."
- Stone inscription found in a long-abandoned Yatiri temple.

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The Yatiri are a species of hardy lizard-like humanoids. Much of the Yatiri live in the Tarragon wastes, a land inhospitable to most, under a system that has not changed much in thousands of years. The Yatiri are the distant cousins of the Malbud, and both claim a glorious draconic ancestry. The Yatiri have an uncertain future in Halaran. While they are currently able to go head-to-head with other more technologically-advanced species, the pace of their technological development is far slower than anyone else's. Only time will tell if the Yatiri will keep up.

Hardy Survivors

The Yatiri have weathered every major event in history. During the Archaic Age, when much of the world was still uninhabitable, the Yatiri thrived and spread out across the whole of Isan. This hardiness came to serve them during the later days, both during the Great Collapse following the War of the Shadow and during their self-imposed banishment to Tarragon. The average Yatiri can go for days without food or water in the desert climate, and a well-trained Yatiri warrior can run for 50 miles a day and fight a battle at the end of it. They are also blessed with resilience against diseases. The Sickness of Tarragon, a creeping disease that slowly kills other races repeatedly exposed to it, does not have any effect on the Yatiri whatsoever. The Yatiri are also blessed with a predator's natural cunning, making them able to still fight technologically-superior opponents like Humans with relatively low losses.

Clans and Caravans

The Yatiri typically live semi-nomadically, migrating between pools of water after their last pool dries up. In Tarragon, wars are frequently fought over these water pools, meaning that blood feuds are common among neighboring clans. Clans will occasionally make permanent settlements in more hospitable areas, such as The Cold Valley, a small canyon with a ready supply of water at all times and the water is not in the sun, meaning it is cool when drawn up.

Clans are a loose structure of individuals numbering anywhere from about 100 to 300 people. Clans often unite to form federations, or if conquered, subsume smaller clans into their group. There are hundreds of clans who live within Tarragon, all fighting often. This constant conflict makes the average Yatiri far better at conflict than most species. Clans are headed by a chief, who are elected from the rest of the clan following the death or deposition of the previous chief. Voters typically look for who is both the physically and mentally strongest among them, along with the highest honor. Should there be a tie in voting or no clear consensus, the aspirant chiefs will fight in a one-on-one duel to the first blood. It should also be noted that both male and female Yatiri can become chiefs. After the chief is decided, the would-be chief must adventure into one of the many ruins that dot the wastes of Tarragon. If the chief emerges alive and with the markings of a chief (usually a tattoo of some kind), they are fully recognized as a chief.

Due to their semi-nomadic lifestyle, many Yatiri either form a caravan separate from their clan or in the name of their clan and travel the various lands of Isan. Leaders of caravans tend to be aspirant clan chiefs that failed in becoming clan chiefs. This way, these aspirants can have some position of leadership within the clan and not be able to challenge the current clan chief.

Draconic Heritage

The Yatiri consider themselves the descendants of the True Dragons, the nobler of Dragons who disappeared after the War of Devouring. The True Dragons taught the Yatiri the way of the True Path, the ethics code they now follow, and made a covenant with the Yatiri before the War of Devouring. The terms of this covenant have been lost, although it is believed by most that the Yatiri somehow violated the terms of this covenant during the Age of the Shadow. The True Dragons they once served disappeared following the Age of the Shadow.

This service, though long-forsaken, has given the Yatiri many abilities they would not naturally have. Sorcerery is very common within the Yatiri species, and Yatiri also can tap into their ancestry to gain abilities similar to those of their draconic masters. Being able to breathe elemental energy, and the ability to fly are some examples of this.

The Yatiri, however, were not the only species to serve the True Dragons. The Malbud, or "Kobolds" as they are commonly known, broke the covenant between them and the True Dragons far quicker than the Yatiri. This has caused constant animosity between the two species. For example, during the Dragon War, the Malbud sided with Human defenders rather than capitalize on the amount of valuables they could loot from Human cities purely to fight the Yatiri.

An Alien Honor Code

The honor code of the Yatiri is strange to most and extremely complicated in its workings. Generally, it prioritizes the survival of the individual and the clan above all other things, but there are limitations that are bizarre to members of other species. This system, known as "The True Path" does not require its followers to abide by it at all times, but to accept their obligation upon breaking it in order to preserve their honor. Additionally, The True Path only applies to Yatiri, meaning other species are not expected to follow it. Both the protections and restrictions from the True Path only apply to Yatiri, meaning that Yatiri may do as they please to other species. However, other species are still viewed with a distaste for not following the True Path by most Yatiri. An individual with no honor is either banished from their clan and cannot rejoin until regaining their honor or killed outright if their dishonor is great enough.

Gaining Honor

Honor is typically gained through combat. Dueling opponents is an important part of the Yatiri honor, and the honor gained is increased slightly if the opponents are fought one-on-one. Trickery is also an important part of the Yatiri honor code. If an individual outwits their opponent, especially if the opponent is stronger, they gain much more honor if they win. Honor comes from combat in four different degrees. From least to greatest these are:

• Killing an opponent. This is considered the lesser of the honorable paths since the Yatiri believe that anyone can kill an enemy.
• Killing an opponent you have a blood feud with, or whose clan your clan has a blood feud with.
• Disarming and capturing an opponent. It is far harder to take someone captive than it is to kill someone. The disarmed opponent, if they are Yatiri, can become an Elkad to reduce their honor lost, and your honor gained. An Elkad must serve the clan that captured them for a year and a day, after which they are let go.
• Disarming and capturing an opponent you or your clan has a blood feud with.

For those unable to fight, such as blacksmiths, honor can be gained from creating great works or other great deeds. Note that this stipulation applies only to those unable to fight except for an Elkad.

It is also important to know that all Yatiri clans have a blood feud with the Malbud, owing to their oathbreaking to the True Dragons. Despite this, honor also dictates that one cannot capture a Malbud alive.  

Shameful Acts

Shameful Acts refer to acts that, if the following obligation is not met, will reduce the honor of the individual. The penance of the action is typically decided by the offended party or, in the case of multiple offended parties, the individual's clan. Typically it is punished by physical punishment, performing useless manual labor, or a simple apology. The severity of the shameful act affects how severe the punishment is. This does not apply to serious shameful acts, which usually have a set punishment. The following is a list of the many ways one can commit a shameful act:
Serious:

• Blacksmiths may not ever fight, except in the case of self-defense of themselves or their clan. Violating this usually results in exile for a time, usually to the Saltlands.
• Yatiri cannot wield swords. This is the only crime in the True Path whose only repayment is the death of the individual.
• Fleeing battle unless you are outnumbered by more than four-to-one.
• Stealing. Usually results in loss of a hand or arm(s), depending on how valuable the item stolen was.
• Yatiri taken as Elkad may not wield a weapon or fight in any way, they must serve their captor clan faithfully for a year and a day, and they must only wear white.
• You cannot harm a Yatiri blacksmith. Doing so usually requires your clan do what you have done unto the blacksmith tenfold.

Minor:

• Reminding or referring to an Elkad's life before being taken captive.
• Your clan taking more than one-fifth of the valuables when looting an enemy Yatiri clan or individual. This applies even if the individual or the entire clan has died.
• Taking loot you have not fought for.
• Lying. This does not apply to lies by omission, however.
• Breaking your oath. (Can be a serious punishment if the oath was serious enough)
• Being captured in battle. This is reduced by becoming an Elkad and serving your sentence.
• Asking publicly if you have an obligation or have commited a shameful act.
• Reminding someone of a shameful act or obligation they have already met.
• Losing a Quaraka (a ritualistic, poetic exchange of insults between two Yatiri.) The honor lost is lessened by kissing the ring finger of the victor.
• Speaking of another's mother-in-law before the other person has brought them up.
• Loss of property or family to another Yatiri
• Declining a gift from another Yatiri.
• Neglecting your duties to your clan. This included doing useless labor unless it is in serving for another offense.
• Neglecting the animals under the care of your clan.
• Wasting wood or water.

Barbaric Savages

"... And they descended on Gahvasil in a ferocious charge. Scaling the wall, and disabling our guns, the inner city was left to fend for itself against the unexpected horde that had descended to ransack and burn the city to ash. Only the arrival of the Meshtat army and what remained of the men of Labros, combined with the continued resistance of the defenders, managed to drive those damned lizards from the wall..."
- Anonymous Account of the Dragon War, written 6101 2E

The Yatiri are considered backward barbarians by most other species around them. The Yatiri use little in the way of technology, sticking to their old ways that first emerged following the disappearance of the True Dragons. The Yatiri typically do little in the way of technological or arcane advancement. This is little problem for the Yatiri themselves, since a trained Yatiri's claws are just as effective as swords, and their favored ambush tactics make firearms lose the range advantage. By the time the enemy notices, a Yatiri warrior can close the distance and hurl a spear through the heart of the more "civilized" species.

The True Path of the Yatiri is also looked down upon by most other species. The honor code allows the Yatiri to do as they please as long as the target is not Yatiri and, during wartime, the Yatiri commit acts of cruelty and pillage far more often than other species.

Creating a Yatiri Character

• Your Role: The Yatiri have little in the way of defined roles for non-leaders. Still, there are a few positions that come with strings attached. Blacksmiths are expected to live peaceful lives, caravan chiefs are expected to gain wealth and honor for their clan, etc. What role do you fill in your clan, if any?
• Your Clan: What is your relationship to your clan? Have you been expelled or sent alongside a caravan?
• Religion: Do you keep to the True Path? Do you honor the True Dragons, or have you forsaken them and the path given to your species in favor of another?

Yatiri Cultures

The Yatiri are split into four subcultures, depending on the geographic region they hail from:

• Scorchlanders: Scorchlanders live in the vast, rolling dunes that make up much of western Tarragon. Scorchlanders tend to be wealthier than any other group due to their constant contact with merchants crossing the dangerous wastes of Tarragon. Scorchlanders are also one of the more numerous groups, alongside the Peaklanders.
• Saltlanders: Saltlanders live in the great salt flat in central Tarragon. It is an unforgiving place, and is usually used as a place of punishment by Scorch and Peaklanders to send their exiles. As such, Saltlander clans are the descendants of or made up of outcasts and criminals in Yatiri society. Life expectancy is low in these areas, but those that survive tend to be some of the most physically powerful or crafty members of their species. The average Saltlander is stronger, keener, and hardier than other members of their species.
• Peaklanders: Peaklanders inhabit the great mountains of eastern Tarragon. The peaks are home to some of the few trees of the waste, a very valuable resource to the Yatiri. Peaklanders have adapted to the mountainous environment, and are renowned for their abiltiies both with the bow and javelin.
• Greenlanders: Greenlanders are the Yatiri that spend most or all of their time outside of the waste. Greenlanders typically live in caravans. They are considered soft by wastelander Yatiri, but the exposure to foreign cultures often makes a Greenlander Yatiri more educated and unprejudiced to other races.

Yatiri Names

The Yatiri are given their names by their parents. Fathers name sons and mothers name daughters. The Yatiri also include their clan when giving their name. For example, "Murash of the Ephukil," has both their name and their clan name in it.
Male Name Examples: Altef, Barkhan, Hankuta, Kigaso, Siandas, Wefain
Female Name Examples: Amenan, Chilamis, Ghardah, Nomandiah, Sizanis, Zenzileh
Clan Name Examples: Albudan, Bardas, Ikuma, Mashur, Ruman, Umkenta
Male Yatiri without a clan are referred to as "Brotherless" or "the Brotherless." Female Yatiri without a clan are referred to as "Sisterless" or "the Sisterless."
Coming Up With Your Own Name: Yatiri names are typically based off of Arabic, Berber, Cheyenne, and Zulu names. It's easy to find a list of these online.