The Travelers

The Travelers are a large tribe of dragons that occupy the continent of Ir'resthel.

Owing to their deeply impure bloodlines, Travelers are highly varied in appearance, with some dragons having feathers, others with fur or scales, and some with hide. Some dragons have a mixture of them all! A common thread in their appearance is that they are extravagant; an old joke amongst the lesser tribes is that the Travelers are so proud and celebratory of their culture that they live every day in full festival regalia.

The Travelers are split between settlers and nomads, with the latter faction being known as the Lost Travelers who walk the Trail to honor those their ancestors lost on the path to their new land. While there are several subgroups of Travelers they are all deeply integrated and dragons often migrate in and out of subgroups with relative freedom.

The Travelers have few large Settlements but are known to briefly gather around the lesser tribes for festivals, rest and trade as they're passing.

While Travelers have little interest in hoarding massive piles of treasure, they are accustomed to more portable shows of their sometimes-extraordinary wealth. They often drape themselves with exquisite textiles and cloth, often with precious metals woven into the fabric. They have a particular love for elaborate jewelry and especially silver, as well as body paints and carved bone. Wealthy Travelers will often hire artists - often small bands of kobolds who are unaffiliated to a dragon - to spend weeks on end carving scrimshaw patterns into their scales, horns, teeth, and claws, scarifying hide, or braiding and threading beads and rare stones into fur or feathers. For only the most astonishingly rich Travelers, their custom hires kobolds who will spend months inlaying exceedingly rare metals into their horns, claws, teeth and scales.

They have a rich oral tradition and partake in storytelling with great gusto. They particularly love to share their Histories, though will readily regale anyone who will listen for a few moments with a story of some great adventure or deed.

 

Trivia#

Travelers toss their horns as a common gestural body language. It's typically a heavily-slung clockwise-counterclockwise shake of their head, which can communicate a wide array of intents depending on the context. It is also thought to serve as a Traveler's natural signaling of wealth and status, as their horns are often heavily decorated with jewelry and treasures. The known meanings of The Travelers' horn-tossing gesture have thus far been recorded to include the following:

• Yes
• No
• Maybe
• Probably
• Probably Not
• Over there
• I like you
• I respect you
• Good morning
• Hello
• Good night
• Goodbye
• I hope that you'll be careful but I trust you to take care of yourself
• This isn't for sale unless you have something nice to trade..?
• This is for sale if you have something nice to trade
• You shouldn't but I know you will anyway

Travelers are frequently heard speaking a phrase in Old Draconic; 'Hi aal dahmaan zu'u tinvaak thu'um saraan, fahdon'. This is typically heard when conveying mild irritation at having their choice of Common words corrected when they feel their point had gotten across appropriately in spite of potentially unconventional use of the language. It translates directly to “You must remember I speak Dragon first, friend.”