Draika



Draika was a PC in the Scales of Justice campaign.



Draika carries herself with the infuriating air of one who has never suffered the indignity of being bad at something. All too aware of her strengths, her overconfidence can lead her into trouble, though it is that very strength of personality that gives her power. It is true that she has great pride in her abilities, but she remains respectful to others, as her parents taught her. She has an adventurous spirit, seeking to understand her origins, to grow in power, to challenge herself, and of course to help others.

Background
Draika could not have been older than 2 when she was found, malnourished and half-dead, near some old ruins. She was fortunate enough to be taken in by a noble family who had recently lost a child and thought perhaps her discovery was a sign. Though many were wary of her appearance, they found she was a delightful and talented child. She excelled at whatever she put her mind to, and was spoiled by her adopted family who viewed her as a blessing.

However, her good fortune did not last forever. The island had, a long, long time ago, been home to a cruel and powerful green dragon. He had enslaved their people, forcing them to build shrines and temples in his honor, such as the ruin at which she had been found. Suspicion and rumors about her origins had largely died down as Draika grew up, but they came back stronger than ever when, furious with a man’s impropriety toward her in a tavern, her hands had grown wicked claws and dripped with acid.

She was only 16, barely more than a child, and surprised as anyone about the development. She knew that she would never hurt them, but she was afraid that the town’s history would cause her people to hate and ostracize her, and moreover, that their anger and distrust would harm her adopted family. Before the situation could escalate, she ran back to the estate, gathered some necessities, and fled the town leaving only a heartfelt note to her parents.

She explored the ruins of Al’korag the Vicious, the dragon that had once inhabited those isles, needing to understand who and what she was. She was talented, but without much training in the field of archaeology she was unable to make much headway. Fortunately, several months and dozens of shrines later, she came upon a research group that was excavating one of the older and more impressive temples. She approached, intent on gathering information on the subject, and perhaps a hot meal. One of the researchers was a sorcerer of moderate skill and recognized potential within her. She offered to teach Draika how to control her budding power, and, impressed with her talent, took her in as both a research assistant and an apprentice.

Draika's Actual Origin
Draika is unaware that she was one of many children abducted and experimented on by an evil witch who believed dragons to be the pinnacle of physical and magical perfection. The witch thought perhaps the dragon had, before disappearing, laid seeds (so to speak) among its slaves. As she suspected, she found traces of draconic lineage. Among those who tested positive, she performed excruciating rituals in an attempt to summon forth their dormant power; those who had no dragon’s blood were killed, and their blood used in fell rituals.

The magic of the ritual was raw and destructive. It left the children put through it dead or close to death. A very few did not seem to react at all, and were discarded. Others reacted, but their broken bodies could not handle the stress placed on them by the invoked dragon’s blood. Draika was among the former children, and it was mere luck that she was found in time to be saved. She had been the daughter of a practitioner of magicks, albeit small magicks, and it seemed perhaps such exposure had granted her a measure of protection against the powerful, primal forces of the witch’s spell. Slowly, though, the infused ritual magic summoned her ancestry to bear (or dragon, as the case may be.)