Draconic Emissaries

Wherever there are dragons on Rachma, there exists some form of emissary, acting as a halfway point between dragons and humans. These emissaries vary depending on the country and type of dragon that inhabits the area, but each emissary typically has superhuman abilities and the ability to speak a form of Draconic

Aperonian Emissary
For more information, see Sh'kish Greymor

The Draconic emissary in Aperion is actually a two-person position known as Sh'kish Greymor, a pair of twins who are held in high regard in the area known as the Maelstrom. Aperion's circumstances are somewhat unusual-- Because the population of dragons in the country has dwindled to a small handful, the Sh'kish Greymor are relatively unheard of and typically are chosen from the Grelue Emari.

Abilities
Sh'kish Greymor abilities are typically electricity and weather-based, given to the country's type of dragon. They have been recorded, to varying degrees, as having the ability to create or dissipate storms, sense the weather patterns that will create such weather, and predict where lightning will strike. In rare cases, they can create and manipulate electrical currents. They are born in pairs, like Aperonian dragons, each attuned to either positive or negative charges.

Heruban Emissary
Heruba actually has two different types of Emissaries: the White Culturalists and the Lady Harbinger.

White Culturalists
White Culturalists are the highest rank of Culturalist. There exist at any given time in Heruba as many as six Whites. This rank is achieved when a culturalist is given permission to travel to a certain secluded island in the Great Sea and gain the permission to train and live with the Heruban Lung. Many are never granted the right.

Should one gain acceptance, they live with the Lung and are raised with their children for a period of no greater than 15 years. When they return, they are forbidden from breeding, as a child who has inherited the gifts of the Whites, as opposed to the culturalists who have earned them, cannot control themselves and are a danger to society. Culturalists are marked by gold eyes, the same color as most Heruban Lung's. They are also noted as being withdrawn from normal society, and act distant and uninterested in rekindling any former relationships, even among family.

Abilities
White Culturalists have the ability to breathe underwater for extended periods of time, grow second, gold translucent eyelids for traveling through water, and gain the ability to manipulate water to varying degrees of control. They speak Heruban Draconic. Whites are also reputed to be the last line of defense for the Emperors against encroaching threats to the crown, as they are masters of martial arts, augmented by their time among the Lung.

The Lady Harbinger
Despite the involvement of the Culturalists, the Heruban Lung reached the decision that the Whites were too biased towards their emperors and instated a single woman who would act as their messenger and executor of their will. This woman is chosen from the First Emperor's family, as his wives will more often than not give birth to women. She is raised among the dragons and trained by them, and wanders Heruba, acting as their harbinger and mediator. She is the only member of the Heruban Empire that Shouxian will let aboard their nomadic fleet and treat with any modicum of respect. She is rumored to have seen beneath their masks.

Abilities
Little is known about the Lady Harbingers skill set, though many theorize that it is somewhat similar to that of the White Culturalists. Sightings of the woman (and those actually able to identify her) are so rare that she is a relative enigma among Emissaries.

Vidbeli Emissaries
The Vidbeli Emissaries are known in their native tongue as "Children of Isolde." They are selected by the elusive Vidbeli dragons to act as their messengers, as the creatures are solitary, and tend to interfere in Vidbeli matters only when they feel it is appropriate. Like the Vidbeli heroine Isolde, the emissaries discard their family ties, surnames, and clan names in order to act as a neutral party. They often find themselves acting as mediators between inter-clan disputes. They are also sought to take part in Vidbeli wedding ceremonies, though they usually decline the invitation.

Abilities
Vidbeli Emissaries have the ability to survive in the more harsh terrain of Vidbel. They have a higher body temperature than most humans, and they can walk on top of snow drifts without the aid of snow shoes. Like their cousins, the Sh'kish Greymor, they can manipulate snow and snowstorms, though they tend to refrain from doing so unless it is a matter of life and death. Children of Isolde are known to speak Vidbeli Draconic and are marked by the cloak they wear that is made from the hollow quills of Vidbeli dragon fur.

Ti'kala Emissaries
The emissaries of Ti'kal are just as unusual as their circumstances. Because humans live and work alongside the relatively small dragons of Ti'kal, their society's relationship, and thus their emissaries, are far more symbiotic and commonplace. The emissaries of Ti'kal are large corp of specially-chosen men and woman who are raised alongside a dragon partner. These pairs do many of the more dangerous jobs in Ti'kala society, such as opening new tunnels, taking messages to remote settlements, and, most importantly, recovering technology and artifacts from the surface.

Abilities
Dragon Rider units focus on balancing the abilities of their humans and their dragons. Dragons have what is referred to as woodsense, and can follow paths through root systems and identify "memories" of trees that have survived since the days before Ti'kal's great distaste. Most Ti'kala humans have an attunement to the underground Aether; those with a high aptitude for this talent are usually chosen to be riders. The dragon's Woodsense and the human's Aethersense are augmented as they work in tandem, creating the balance and harmony that is so inherent in Ti'kal society.