Dragon-Fae Crossbreeds

by Mark Schumann

"Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should."
-Tom Olam, quoting a Chaotician of the Twentieth Century, Fourth Earth.

If Humans can breed with Fae, and Humans can breed with Dragons, then it is a logical assumption that Fae can breed with Dragons. This assumption is true, but the practice is not looked upon with favor, as the result is sterile, and by anyone's definition, not altogether sane. The main problem comes in that fact that two races of very singular purpose are crossbreeding. The main driving force in a Dragon is its obsession with collecting things. Seelie, thanks to the actions of Auberon, are driven by the Compact to protect humans from the Unseelie. The Unseelie, thanks to the Adversary, are driven to destroy humanity. These obsessions mix disastrously. Thankfully, these cross-breeds are very rare. Only two Faerie Dragons and four Annwn Drakes have been reported throughout all of history.

Dragon-Seelie Crossbreeds

The Dragon-Seelie cross, also known as a Faerie Dragon, is truly a majestic creature. They look very much like a Daoine Sidhe, averaging seven to eight feet tall, with cat-like dragon eyes gazing startlingly out of their Seelie faces. Faerie Dragons have all the abilities of a Daoine Sidhe, as well as all the draconic powers, memories, and the sorcery skills of their dragon parent. Faerie Dragons are vulnerable to Cold Iron, and can cross into the Faerie Veil just as any other Daoine Sidhe. Anyone viewing a Faerie Dragon will see a kind of inner radiance, caused by the being's inherent physical and magickal power. In fact, Faerie Dragons give off a soft luminance that is enough to read by at night. In the past, they have often been mistaken for Angels or other supernatural beings.

The Seelie cold reserve crossed with the draconic calm detachment has resulted in a creature that feels detached from the rest of the world, feels almost no emotions, and possesses no morals simply because it does not understand the need for them. Their inhumanity makes them seem cruel to humans.

Faerie Dragons are dedicated foes of the Unseelie. Although they dwell in the remotest, loftiest areas away from all other life, they will take a clinical interest in anything that enters their territory. If it is Unseelie, they hunt it mercilessly. If it is human, they take it home. Faerie Dragons feel the compulsion to protect humans from the Unseelie, but they do it by collecting them - by taking humans back to their lair, and suspending them in time. In any Faerie Dragon's lair, you will find a collection of humans from all ages, stored away safely until such time as the world has been rid of Unseelie. Periodically, Faerie Dragons will go out into the world in search of important people that should be "saved." Anyone out alone when a Faerie Dragon is on the prowl may disappear without a trace.

Dragon-Unseelie Crossbreeds

The Dragon-Unseelie cross, also known as an Annwn Drake (prononced Anoon) , is as hellish as a Faerie Dragon is majestic. Their appearance, both in human and dragon forms, is so horribly twisted that they have been mistaken for demons, devils, and other mythical creatures spawned out of nightmares. Annwn Drakes have all the abilities of a Daoine Sidhe, as well as all the draconic powers, memories, and the sorcery skills of their dragon parent. Annwn Drakes are vulnerable to Cold Iron, and can cross into the Faerie Veil just as any other Daoine Sidhe. As Faerie Dragons give off light, Annwn Drakes absorb it. Even full daylight will dim in any area an Annwn Drake is present in.

Annwn Drakes are, even in Unseelie eyes, insane. The conflict between the Unseelie obsession to destroy humanity and burn the earth crossed with the draconic obsession for collections has resulted in something so unstable it is a wonder that it doesn't kill itself. For this reason, Annwn Drakes are even more antisocial than normal dragons. You will never find more than one Annwn Drake in any given area, not even at the command of the Adversary or during a Wild Hunt. If an Annwn Drake ever encounters another, the two will fight until nothing but bloody scraps are left.

Annwn Drakes are dedicated foes of the Seelie. While Faerie Dragons dwell in remote, lofty areas; Annwn Drakes dwell in remote caverns in the depths of the Earth, often deep within the calderas of active volcanoes. At least once every five hundred years, an Annwn Drake will leave its lair to hunt and terrorize. If it finds a Seelie, it hunts it mercilessly. If it is human, well, pity any human that falls into the clutches of an Annwn Drake. In the lair of an Annwn Drake, and along its flight path home from its hunting grounds, you will find pieces of its prey. Driven by the conflicting desires to destroy and collect, anything caught by an Annwn Drake is usually slowly nibbled to death, as the Annwn Drake eats a bite here, tears off a limb there, all the while saving the rest, so as to fulfill both desires.

When not out hunting, an Annwn Drake squats in its lair like a bloated spider, snarling and snapping at shadows, driven to destroy so much that it is filled with hatred and loathing for itself, but unable to kill itself (or finish eating anything it has collected) because of its obsession for preserving things. Even the Adversary is wary about approaching such creatures in the dark labyrinths of their lairs.