In every generation, the nobility considered overt dragon features a sign of status and this factored into marriage decisions. In every generation, dragon-like eyes were by far the most common dragon-like feature.
Wings and breath weapons were usually first things to go. Then tails, then horns, then claws, then fangs, then scales. Then were somewhat draconic noses and ears became less common. Dragon-like eyes were very genetically persistent.
Everything is relative. The first “relatively human” Dragon Blooded nobles of the Third Generation had far more draconic features than the “most draconic looking” Dragon Blooded nobles of the tenth generation.
First Generation
The first generation of Dragon bloods really looked more like dragons than humans. They were humanoid but they had draconic heads with snouts and sharp teeth. They had wings on their back and tails. Most had breath weapons.
They had a lot of major difficulties relating to normal humans save for the ones that learned illusion or transmutation to become more human looking when dealing with their subjects. A lot of the first generation of Dragon bloods’ rule was spent with showy displays of force and very elaborate and showy acts of generosity.
Most didn’t die of old age, but they aged much slower than normal humans. The oldest first generation dragon blood survived to 411.
Second Generation
The Second Generation was only slightly more human looking than the first. If anything, this made the Dragon Bloods look more hideous.
The Second Generation witnessed the four Founding Dragons all dying or leaving. The Second Generation may have been the most ironfisted of all generations towards the peasants because they had terrifying appearances and they didn’t have the legitimacy of full dragons backing them up.
This generation saw the young nation of Swynfaredia get in bloody wars with both the Wood Elves of Codenya and the Elven Empire.
Most didn’t die of old age, but they aged much slower than normal humans. The oldest first generation dragon blood survived to 375.
Third Generation
A small number of Dragon Bloods were born with mostly human appearances. The peasants generally reacted better to the more human looking lords, but most of the Dragon Bloods still looked like humanoid dragons, so the human looking dragons were a somewhat discriminated minority among the other nobles. Also, there were still more than a few first generation still alive calling the shots and they favored grand children that looked like they did.
The peasants were very fearful of their terrifying lords, but they were accustomed to the status quo and didn’t make waves very much. On the other hand, the land now had a LOT of dragon bloods and a relatively small amount of land to administer. Infighting among Dragon Bloods was brutal. Lots of murders, betrayals, accidents, whisper campaigns, and scandalous trysts.
The war with the Elven Empire died down a lot, but they still saw occasional skirmishes.
Most didn’t die of old age, but they aged slower than normal humans. The oldest second generation dragon blood survived to 353.
Fourth Generation
About one in four Dragon bloods had a mostly human appearance. Roughly one in ten Dragonblood physically resembled the half-dragons of the first generation. Most looked like pretty ugly hybrids combining the worst aesthetic traits of humans and dragons. This generation was the last generation were anyone had a functioning breath weapon (without using a magic spell to mimic a breath weapon of course).
A tiny number of squibs were born this generation. It is rumored that squibs were born in earlier generations but they all suffered “accidents.” Despite people’s educated guess, Dragon Bloods that retained a very draconic look were no more or less likely to be a squib than Dragon Bloods that looked mostly human.
The Fourth Generation King Elgan ordered a major military invasion of a neighboring human kingdom. The first major offensive war Swynfaredia ever engaged. Swynfaredian Historians often view him as the strongest and wisest king Swynfaredia ever had. Not only were his military campaigns generally successful but he managed to quell most of the internal squabbles between Dragon Bloods. He was also the first king to condone the marriages of sorcerers from outside the bloodline of the Founding Dragons into the nobility, though he did not do this often. He was the first King to formally recognize minor houses, creating five. Two of these knew houses were sub-branches of House Freymiss which was eating itself with infighting until King Elgan stepped in with the new houses as a compromise.
Swynfaredia had not fought the elves for many decades but they were still technically under an armistice. What really cemented the reputation of King Elgan I was that “he was wise in the ways of wars and the ways of peace.” While Elgan was warring with nearby human nations he cemented lasting peace treaties with the Elven Empire and Condenya. In future years, the peace treaty Elgan hammered out would evolve into profitable trading partnerships for Swynfaredia and the elves alike.
Needless to say, in every generation that follows. Elgan is a very popular name for boys.
At this point it was discovered that the more draconic a Dragon Blood looked, the greater their expected longevity was. The oldest fourth generation made it 347, but was considered a throwback to the old blood. The king himself was the second longest lived of his generation making it to 338.
Fifth Generation
This generation had zero throwbacks that could have passed physically for a member of the First Generation. Roughly half looked mostly human and roughly half looked like gross scaly humans. This was the last generation where any Dragon Bloods at all had working wings and those that did, the wings were mostly for enhancing jumping instead of true flight (though many learned magic could let them fly). Even the mostly human Dragon bloods had very striking eyes of odd colors that seemed to glow in the dark.
This generation saw a noble girl born with normal human eyes. This was the first time it happened outside of a Dragon Blood-commoner pairing. She was rumored to also be a squib, she committed suicide at age thirteen. Historians believe roughly one in ten children of Dragon Bloods of this generation were Squibs.
King Elgan outlived most of his sons. King Elgan’s successor took the throne as an old man and only ruled roughly a decade before his son Gwydion took over. The men of Fourth Generation may have started major military campaigns but it is mostly young men who fight wars, so the bulk of warriors were of the Fifth Generation. This generation was a very martial minded generation of Dragon Bloods.
The oldest member of the Fifth Generation survived to 299.
Sixth Generation
This is the first generation were mostly human looking Dragon Bloods were the majority. Maybe one in twenty children were born with human-like eyes. This was viewed as a bad omen and such individual faced discrimination though it was rare for these outsiders to commit suicide or suffer “accidents.” Geneologists believe that 12% of the Dragon Blood births of this generation were squibs.
King Gwydion grew up listening to stories his grandfather’s great martial prowess. This made him thirsty to prove himself. Gwydion was the most expansionist king Swynfaredia ever had. King Gwydion conquered slightly more land than his grandfather King Elgan did before him, but Gwydion was not the careful tactician that Elgan was. Losses were heavier both among Dragon Blood sorcerers and common born soldiers. King Gwydion made up for this short coming by recognizing five new Houses and bringing in a lot of powerful foreign born sorcerers and sorceresses via marriage.
King Gwydion led a lot of men to their deaths and he was rocking the status quo. This made him unpopular with the old guard. King Gwydion died in battle, but the circumstances of his battlefield death were fishy. Many suspect he was set up by rival Swynfaredians.
The oldest member of the Sixth Generation survived to 241.
Seventh Generation
About one in four children of this generation had overtly dragon features apart from their eyes. Fewer than one in ten of this generation had dragon features that were utilitarian and not just cosmetic (sharp claws, exceptional senses, protective scales). Roughly one in ten children of this generation had human-like eyes. Prejudices were softening, but human-like eyes were still considered highly undesirable.
A small number of draconic looking nobles began showing noticeable signs of madness attributed to inbreeding. This was rumored to have occurred in earlier generations, but it was carefully hidden and covered up. In this generation, it was too widespread to fully cover up.
Geneologists believe that 15% of the Dragon Blood births were squibs. At the time a prominent genealogist made a controversial claim that was hushed up (and the genealogist died in a suspicious “suicide”, but generations later he was exonerated. He discovered that human-looking Dragon Bloods less likely to be Squibs than overtly draconic looking Dragon Bloods.
King Elgan III rose to the throne at a very young age. Even as adult he was fairly weak willed and easily swayed by his advisers. Some historians called him the Puppet King. Some of his contemporaries called him the Puppet King. A lot of reforms were pushed through that gave the dukes more autonomy reducing the power of the crown. This would lead to increasing tensions as the dukes and counts fought and quarreled without a strong king to keep them in line.
The oldest member of the Sixth Generation survived to 217 though the lady that survived to 217 had a very miserable last three decades requiring divine healing magic every other day to stave off death. This practice became less popular in future generations leading to drastic drop in maximum life span.
Eighth Generation
Roughly one in eight children of this generation had human-like eyes. About one in ten children of this generation had overtly dragon features apart from their eyes. Fewer than one in child in fifty had dragon features that were utilitarian and not just cosmetic, one of these children was Elgan IV, the crown prince of the realm. Elgan IV had superior senses and functional claws. He was also a squib. About 20% of Dragon Blooded births were squibs. Historians estimate that 5% of the Dragon Blood population showed overt signs of physical or mental deformities due to inbreeding though a lot of these individuals were murdered or house imprisoned.
The First Swynfaredian Civil War began when Elgan IV tried to take his birthright to the crown and large segments of the nobility refused to accept a squib king. It was mostly nobles of the ninth and tenth generation that did the actual fighting.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 157.
Ninth Generation
About one in five children of this generation had human-like eyes. About one in twenty children of this generation had overtly draconic features other than eyes. There was no major uptick in the number of squibs recorded BUT many historians believe official records were inaccurate. A lot of squibs were murdered or banished during or after the Civil War.
This generation was defined by the First Swynfaredian Civil. Virtually every sorcerer fought in some capacity and a majority of sorceresses also participated directly in the war.
Several new houses were formed in the aftermath of the Civil War. A few old houses were dissolved.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 117.
Tenth Generation
About one in four children of this generation had human-like eyes. The number of overtly draconic traits remained steady at about one in twenty but that was mostly because new draconic blood from outside the Founding Dragons was married in during the previous generation. Historians figure 24% of the noble births were squibs. This was still a very bad generation to born a squib.
Accusations of madness and inbred deformities spiked five-fold. Historians believe this was wildly inaccurate as noble feuds increases, this was a common accusation to seed through whisper campaigns.
When the tenth generation of nobles the majority of adults, this was a dark time for Swynfaredia. A lot of squibs were banished, imprisoned, or murdered. The First Swynfaredian Civil War was over, but many grudges from the war simmered. Lots of bad blood lead to a lot of cloak and dagger politics. Crop yields were down and there were flare ups of disease.
Neighboring human nations as well as intelligent monsters like orc and goblin tribes took the recent civil war as a sign of weakness and stepped up their attacks and raids. Furious that their leaders seemed so corrupt and impotent, a lot of peasants revolted. The general response of noble leaders to their problems was an iron fist.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 125.
Eleventh Generation
Compared to the previous generation, this generation was only slightly more human looking. The smallest generational change so far. Squibs made up about 30% of all births but this uptick is largely attributed to the fact that cultural norms made it less common for noble houses to figuratively or literally hide their squibs away. Problems with inbreeding seemed to be falling.
This generation saw some reforms for squib rights. Sorcerers had been putting their squib children into minor government offices for many generations, but the practice really took off in this generation. This irked the commoners a bit as it became even harder for commoners to amount to anything when squibs were given preferential treatment over them, but there wasn’t much the average commoner could about this. There was an upsurge of wizards quietly stepping up their recruitment and training among the commoners. The various priesthoods also stepped up their recruitment to try to induct more priests and theurgists. Squibs that manifest draconic cosmetic features are all but guaranteed a cushy government job.
As the realm stabilized, the king and the dukes created reforms that generally pushed the realm into a more militaristic direction. The newly stabilized and strengthened realm began a military campaign to drive out the orcs and goblins nearby and to punish the human nations that tried to take advantage of their weakness earlier. Swynfaredia annexed a fair chunk of new land.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 118.
Twelfth Generation
About one in three children of this generation had human-like eyes. About 4% of the Dragon Blood population had draconic features other than their eyes. Genealogists believe about 32% of the births of this generation were squibs.
Historians argue whether the king was a madman, a fool, or simply a good person who was unlucky. Swynfaredia tried to expand the realm militarily but they suffered several defeats and even their victories were costly. This led to unrest among nobles and commoners alike which would pave the way for the Second Swynfaredian Civil War. Swynfaredia even went back into war with the Elven Empire after a duke tried to back a nearby Imperial colony to secede. One of the major rebel leaders was a half-elf, and the duke in question was hoping to get him to marry his daughter to create a new Swynfaredia province.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 95, and the circumstances of his death were slightly suspicious.
Thirteenth Generation
About 40% of noble children of this generation had human-like eyes. About 3% of the Dragon Blood population had draconic features other than their eyes. Genealogists believe about 35% of the births of this generation were squibs.
By the dumb luck of the genetic lottery, more males were born as squibs than females. Disastrous wars started from the previous generation led to a lot of male sorcerers dying. In this generation, adult sorceresses outnumbered adult sorcerers roughly three-to-two. The royal family’s male line was hit very hard, no direct male heirs at all. The Second Civil War pitted the previous king’s eldest daughter, Eleri against the king’s nephew.
Princess Eleri won and became Swynfaredia’s first true queen. Laws were rewritten in all levels of nobilities titles passed to the eldest child with sorcery regardless of sex.
The oldest member of this generation on record died at the age of 107, Queen Eleri in fact was the longest lived member of her generation. Eleri became an extremely popular name for baby girls for every generation onward.
Fourteenth Generation
About 45% of noble children of this generation had human-like eyes. About 2.5% of the Dragon Blood population had draconic features other than their eyes. Genealogists believe about 38% of the births of this generation were squibs.
This was the first generation born into egalitarian succession rules. During this time, nobles quickly realized that if a first born sorcerer from married a first born sorceress, their child could inherit the titles from two houses, essentially merging them. Marriage politics became far more complicated as some nobles sought to merge holdings while others fought against this viciously. This period of history saw many new houses form and old houses change or dissolve. The Office of the Arcane Registry changed from a collection of bored academics into being a collection of savvy power brokers.
Fortunately, Queen Eleri was a very strong and shrewd leader. Without her leadership, the realm probably would have collapsed. She kept her vassals in line, and took a firm hand vetting most noble marriages.
A new reform in succession was pushed through without a civil war. The sorcerer children of squibs were recognized as true Dragon Bloods if they could trace their lineage to ennobled sorcerers. This was also viewed as a useful tool for preserving a house’s power. If you marry your eldest sorcerer to a squib born sorcerer, the royal line is true enough to breed true heirs, but you don’t have to worry about a rival house trying to steal your house’s lands and titles.
At this point, Swynfaredian nobles were only barely outliving the nobles of other nations. This is probably the last generation that benefited from any draconic longevity.
Fifteenth Generation
Roughly equal numbers of dragon blood had human-like eyes. . Fewer than 2% of the Dragon Blood population had draconic features other than their eyes. Genealogists believe about 41% of the births of this generation were squibs.
This era was viewed as Swynfaredia’s Golden Age. Crop yields were good. Trade enriched the noble’s coffers helped by the fact that new treaties were hammered out with the Elven Empire. There were no major wars or monster problems. Relatively few Dragon blood nobles were dying mysterious deaths.
Swynfaredians didn’t realize just how good they had it…
Sixteenth Generation
Roughly 55% of the Dragonblood population had human-like eyes. Only about 1% of the Dragon blood population had draconic features apart from their eyes. Genealogists believe about 43% of the births of this generation were squibs. Quite a few of this generation had mental instability seemingly brought on by inbreeding.
The golden age inadvertently created a generation of spoiled brats. There were exceptions to the rule, but on the whole the lords and ladies wasted a lot of money on hedonistic parties. Relations between nobles and commoners soured. The army fell into a state of neglect. Trade relations with neighbors soured. Monster attacks got worse. Everything got worse and most of the leaders didn’t stir from their drunken stupors to deal with it. Crop yields went relations. Relations soured between the nobilities and the various priesthood.
When the nobles did act for the benefit of the realm, they tended to act in a tyrannical fashion. There were a lot of bastard children with sorcery running around. Worst of all, infighting between noble houses became worse.
Seventeenth Generation
Roughly 55% of the Dragonblood population had human-like eyes. Less than 1% of the Dragon blood population had draconic features apart from their eyes. Genealogists believe about 45% of the births of this generation were squibs though the official records put the number much lower than that.
For the first time in history, the crown heir did not have any overt dragon like physical features, but he was a sorcerer of great power for his age, so few nobles complained, at least not out loud.
Even as prince, he worked tirelessly to reform the corruption growing in Swynfaredia. Historians commonly view him as a good man who was burdened with corrupt advisers and unruly vassals. He had a very short reign of king as he was poisoned within a few years of ascending into the throne.
The king’s cousin took the crown. She wanted to reform the realm too, but she was not a woman courage. Fearing assassination, she mostly sequestered herself away and tried to rule her realm at a distance via written correspondence.
The queen’s efforts were neither complete failures nor complete success. While not as decadent as their parent’s generation. This generation was a Byzantine mess of cloak and dagger intrigue
Eighteenth Generation
Roughly 60% of the Dragonblood population had human-like eyes. Less than 1% of the Dragon blood population had draconic features apart from their eyes. Genealogists believe about 47% of the births of this generation were squibs.
When this generation hit adulthood, they finally managed to make some major strides against the realm’s rampant corruption. It wasn’t just the efforts of reformers. The realm as a whole lost a lot of wealth and prestige and this starved out the decadent party culture Swynfaredia had developed.
The biggest reform was probably giving more rights and status to sorcerers that do not tie their lineage to the Founding Dragons. Marriage mores were softened to reduce inbreeding issues and government appointments to sorcerers became more based on merit and less based on purity of blood.
A rising star was the sorcerer Rajeth, rumored to be a bastard son of one of the major Houses. Rajeth gained fame when exposed that one of the major houses was secretly ruled by a lich for three generation using illusion and enchantment magic to hide her undead state. Rajeth was also, by far, the single most powerful sorcerer in the world.
Rajeth became popular and wealthy but he wanted more. Rajeth stated that the old Dragon Bloods were corrupt and Swynfaredia should reform into a magical meritocracy. Rajeth started the Third Swynaredia almost singled handedly.
Rajeth and his followers were severely outnumbered. Very few conventional armies mobilized during this civil war. Almost all of the fighting was sorcerer-on-sorcerer fighting. Relative to the previous civil wars, far fewer commoners died, those that did were usually subject to mass executions for “disloyalty” for whichever side cornered them. To his credit, Rajeth tried to minimize commoner deaths, though not all of his followers were so high-minded
Proportionally, the nobles were hit much harder than the peasantry. Rajeth was eventually slain as were most of his followers, but three or four loyalist sorcerers died for every one of Rajeth rebels that was killed. This created a lot of power vacuums.
There are a fair number of grey haired members of this generation still alive and kicking. Many of them are still in positions of great power.
Nineteenth Generation
Roughly 65% of the Dragonblood population had human-like eyes. Less than 1% of the Dragon blood population had draconic features apart from their eyes. Genealogists believe about 50% of the births of this generation were squibs. Following the cue from the queen, many Dragon Blood have started using illusion magic or even simple cosmetics to fake draconic features. This was done for many generations, but now it is no longer taboo to get caught faking it. It’s no worse than someone noticing you died your grey hair.
The 20th generation is mostly too young to fully classify and the 21st generation of nobles is mostly in diapers.
Because so many Dragon Blood died in the last civil war, there is a general push by nearly all the house leaders to put the kibosh on noble-on-noble murders. But there were still a lot of power vacuums that need filling. Infighting is still intense as inter-house rivalries are stronger than ever but great effort is spent to catch and punish anyone caught murdering a Dragon Blooded noble, so murder is down…for now.
The current queen is 19 generations removed from the Founding Dragons. She is hoping she can stabilize the realm and quell the infighting by finding her vassals an exterior foe to unite against. She is quietly probing all the neighboring nations for weaknesses.
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