Races of the Dragon.pdf - The Techno Jesus

CHAPTER 2
SPELLSCALES
24
Illus. by E. Cox
Cotton, linen, silk, and wool are the basic building blocks
of fashion. An almost infi nite variety of fabrics can be
made from them, with varying degrees of softness, density,
weight, and fi nish. Textures can be smooth or coarse. Fur
and leather come from many different creatures and can be
treated in many different ways. Even with all this variety,
spellscales often use unusual materials for their clothes,
including paper, feathers, and even woven hair.
Diverse spellscale tastes have also driven innovations in
the dye and pigment industry for many years. They have
provided the consumer demand and the fi nancial backing
for alchemists, clothiers, and tanners to experiment. A
dye’s unique traits when applied to fabric can be as valuable
to a spellscale clotheshorse as the pigment’s rarity.
Colors can be solid, but stripes, checks, houndstooth,
and herringbone are only a few of the many patterns into
which thread or yarn can be woven to produce cloth. An
incomparable hue woven into an original
pattern can set a spellscale dandy apart
from his peers.
Clothes can be perfectly tailored
to fi t one’s body, but just as interesting
to the spellscale is clothing
that is intentionally too big or too
small. An oversized white jacket
that looks as if it would fi t an ogre
makes a memorable statement on a
lithe spellscale’s frame.
Long robes, tunics with many pockets,
trousers featuring numerous straps
and buckles—spellscale styles are as
numerous as snowfl akes in a blizzard
and just as unique. In addition to creating
their own fashions, spellscales
happily choose from among all other
humanoids’ styles. Spellscales enjoy both
selecting which articles of clothing to
wear and mixing or matching each piece.
One outfi t might be a purple velvet doublet
over dazzling white breeches made from the
tanned hide of a frost worm, with boots made
from purple worm skin and girallon fur. Another
spellscale might garb himself in plain
brown robes with fur trim and lining made
from rats captured at the local docks. The ensembles look
striking and are often attractive, but they clearly show a
whimsical, novel approach to fashion. Spellscale clothing
might be admired, but it’s too odd to set many trends.
GROOMING
In personal grooming, spellscales utilize as much creativity
as they do with their attire. While individuals tend to keep
themselves very clean, spellscale grooming techniques
allow for nearly infi nite variations on one’s appearance. A
spellscale’s innate vanity is often overcome by his desire to
make a statement with a new method of body adornment.
Spellscales have developed ways to highlight and tint
their scaly skin, much as other humanoids can color their
hair. Grooming options for their scales include simple
lotions and creams that give a glossy sheen to their skin.
This gloss is often tinted with colors hinting at any of the
A typical spellscale
looks like this . . .
chromatic or metallic dragons. Those seeking hues that are
more daring often choose amber, violet, or a pastel color.
Such tinting lasts for six to eight weeks.
Some spellscales have just the tips of their scales tinted
or tattooed. Simple lines serve to give depth and defi nition
to scales. Putting a wavy pattern on the edges of scales
lends a softer, almost ruffl ed look.
Tattoos offer even more options to audacious spellscales.
The permanent nature of a tattoo proves no deterrent to a
spellscale who decides to acquire one. A tattoo is seen as a
great way to capture a moment or a feeling that one wants
to remember forever. Spellscale tattoos also refl ect current
fashions and popular trends at the time of inking.
Given the changeable nature of a spellscale’s affections
and interests, tattoos provide a unique record of his life. They
might offer tantalizing hints to an observer. A sedate, solitary
spellscale known for his conservativism and his views
opposing intoxication might have a tattoo on his right
arm that reads “Don’t hesitate!” and sport the emblem
of the Tipsy Dragon Brewery on his neck.
These tattoos suggest that the spellscale wearing
them was not always so straitlaced.
Of course, numerous ways exist for
spellscales to rid themselves of their tattoo
chronicles. The simplest and most often
used way to do away with unwanted
ink is to incorporate a dated tattoo
into a larger design, using
some of its existing lines and
fi lling in others. Simple illusion
magic or items can be effective,
if temporary, ways of altering
these mementos. As an expensive,
extreme measure, some spellscales
resort to a regenerate spell.
Spellscales use their hair as another
way to show off their originality.
They test variations of hairstyles, including
curling, straightening, braiding, dreading,
and shaving. Many dye their hair. Some opt
for garish colors such as purple, yellow, and blue.
Color combinations tend to be popular. These are
sometimes modeled after other creatures, such as
couatls, tigers, or even phase spiders. Of course,
hair dyes need not color one’s entire hairdo—many hair
treatments just use one or more streaks or highlights.
PSYCHOLOGY
“One cannot understand the concept of free-spiritedness unless
one has met a spellscale.”
—Enialis the Erudite, loremaster
Of all the wondrous aspects of the world, the most exquisite
is magic. Spellscales feel the pull of their dragon
blood toward the magic that suffuses their very beings.
Magic sings and thrums throughout the multiverse, but it
resonates more strongly and purely in the spellscale race
than it does in any other humanoids.
Spellscales are perpetually curious and full of wideeyed
wonder at the beauty and diversity of life. They seek