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Drakine as a language is not inherently tonal, meaning that context, intent, and meaning do not rely as heavily on tone of voice as Common does. While a dragon speaking either language may employ tone for effect, this is not usually necessary in Drakine because intent is usually conveyed by context, and even when speaking Common, dragons may present an inflectionless, even bored tone in their speech, simply for lack of habit in using any other tone.

However, this doesn't mean that dragons rely purely on speech and language when communicating verbally. Most dragon species have an incredibly extensive vocal range, and will vocalize non-language sounds to convey mood or intent where they don't use tone of voice. From hisses and growls and roars, to chirps and snorts and even, in some species, a purr-like thrumming sound from within the throat, dragons make a wide range of noises with various meanings, most of which are universal to all species of dragon. Though there are too many to list in this section, I will present the most commonly-encountered vocalizations, as they are the most likely to be crucial to understand when encountering a dragon in the wild.

First and foremost, hostility is conveyed by loud, rough noises, such as roars and growls. Hissing is common, but is more likely to be a fear response than aggression. Snorts and sniffs have a wide variety of meanings, mostly context-dependent, but most often indicate amusement or contempt. Higher-pitched noises such as chirps, warbles, and the short "greeting call" some dragons employ- sort of a higher-pitched, short roar- usually signify some sort of friendly, or at least nonhostile, interaction. In general, the lower the pitch of the vocalization, the more caution is needed in dealing with the dragon, although some smaller species such as most Lesser Wyverns and Lurkers are unable to make particularly deep calls. These dragons are more likely to employ volume over pitch, and screeches and hisses are used rather than roars and growls.

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Dragons have a curious view of identity and how it is defined. They hold the largest stock in names, believing a name to be indicative of the bearer’s entire being, their existence, and indeed their very identity. A dragon will treat a name reverently, with utmost respect, especially that of a superior it may have. Dragons change names willingly only under the most exceptional of circumstances, and if a surname is present it is a sign of a prestigious lineage. Though normally names and identity would be noted separately, to dragons they are so heavily connected that for the purposes of this book, this section will be covering both.

Dragons are, by and large, named in Drakine. The meanings of these Drakine names vary, but often describe a notable physical trait of the dragon-- the shade of their scales, for example-- or some hope for the future the parent has for its hatchling. There are two syllabic roots a dragon’s name will typically never have if named, traditionally, by its parents: ri and us. Though a dragon may also be named in Acaranian, they continue to avoid these two roots in particular, and being named in Common is considered something worthy of mockery. However, a dragon living among humans may use the Common translation of its name in informal usage, for ease of the humans being able to remember and pronounce it.

In Drakine, these two syllabic roots are noteworthy for meaning and usage. Us is the more common of the two, and speaks of some sort of dishonor or fall from grace. This name is typically only given by other dragons, rarely at birth to speak of the parents’ wrongdoing but more often by a more powerful dragon condemning the one receiving the name. Indeed, a dragon may have its good name stripped away, replaced by one which forces it to wear its shame; this practice comes from the fallen Skyking Krthonius the Black, one of the nine Ancestral dragons. Krthonius was an open supporter of Koth Grimseeker, a known tyrant, and made frequent grabs for power. He was exiled after challenging his brother, Skyking Ausurath the Red, for territory and then later killed sometime after Koth’s defeat. Thus, to name a dragon similarly to Krthonius by including that particular syllable is akin to likening the dragon to the Skyking.

Ri is stranger in usage in that it is only self-given; it means “myself”, from the viewpoint of the one bearing the name. It represents a sense of self so strong that the dragon discards its previous name and gives itself a new one-- that it has grown into its own identity and no longer needs the one given by its parents. A dragon with ri in its name is held in a strange regard somewhere between respect and curious interest. However, it coincides with a Drakine word that is fairly common-- iri, meaning “light”, its root being ir. Thus, a dragon’s name is only considered to contain ri if the surrounding letters do not form a different root or word such as iri.

A dragon without a name entirely is one to be regarded with contempt, pity, or both. Dragons seem to have difficulty grasping the concept of themselves being an independent creature if they do not have a name to put to the idea. What results from this has been observed, sadly, primarily in young hatchlings who grew up orphaned. Without a name, the dragon loses the ability to think of itself as an entity in its own right, even in abstract form. Having lost this mental faculty appears to affect intelligence to great adverse effect-- as in, the dragon turns feral and loses its sapience. Dragons of this nature are found in the harshest reaches of Ethana; it seems that generations of this being the case has resulted in dragons of that continent being little more than bloodthirsty beasts.

All of this leads to perhaps the most potent insult conceivable to a dragon, summarized by a singular Drakine word: nevaui. Literally meaning “without identity”, it refers to a nameless dragon, which is regarded as a creature without self, an entity without identity as it were. It is much the equivalent to calling a human woman a whore, or a man a bastard; it is the worst thing to call any self-respecting dragon, and will nearly always provoke a fight. A dragon who has been renamed with us in its name is also frequently called a nevaui as if to remind it of its place in life. They are generally on the lowest rungs of draconic hierarchy, with rare exception.

Surnames are very rare among dragonkind, and are a tribute to a previous dragon in the bearer’s lineage. Surnames are passed down only from parent to hatchling, from the originating dragon gaining some title in life. A dragon’s surname is attached to the given name by a hyphen, with the original, titled dragon lacking the hyphen but keeping the title after the given name. A surname is also the most likely part of a dragon’s identity to be shed willingly, as young adults and older adolescents may grow weary or frustrated at the baggage their heritage and legacy bestows upon them. Shedding the surname, while still a matter of grave consideration and much thought, is thought of as a respectable way of growing into one’s own, and marks the dragon as ready to make a name for itself.

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When it comes to magic itself, dragons call it an "elemental convergence"; the spellcaster is using one or more of the dragons' recognized elements in combination to create an effect determined by the caster. The elements dragons recognize under this system are Fire, Water, Air, Earth, Light, and Shadow, and every possible cast is theoretically attributable to these elements, often in combination with one another. For example, a fireball would be considered a pure Fire cast, while a spike of ice may be thought of as a combination Water and Earth cast.

Additionally, dragons believe in something called "wild magic": the convergence of elements in nature, uncontrolled by a caster, unpredictable and often destructive. This can be anything from earthquakes to weather patterns to general anomalies and phenomena that dragons otherwise have no way of explaining. This is a fascinating idea, albeit inaccurate, and some of the more interesting examples include rainbows being a convergence of Water and Light, while adding Air would create an aurora, and lightning is a convergence of Fire and Air, with a thunderstorm resulting from adding Water.

Because of this, dragon mages tend to focus on some sort of elemental spelltype, though this isn't a requirement whatsoever, simply falling in line with how they were taught to think. When it comes to magical diversity and versatility, dragons are just as varied as humans, though (as explained later) a dragon is much more likely to be extremely skilled in one highly specific type of magic, as opposed to humans which tend to generalize even within a branch.

Speaking generally, there are two schools of thought among dragons when it comes to magic, and Mana in general. However, there is a third, outlier belief that is mostly prevalent in dragons which live among human mages, or have been exposed to ideas from offworlders, particularly those from our neighbor Ferona. That said, some very old and learned dragons, as well as nearly all Voidwalkers, fall into this category as well. As this category is by and large a melting pot of differing ideas, I will skip over it with the remark that these dragons' beliefs seem to be the most consistent with a human understanding of magic.

The first school of thought is that Mana is the seventh element that spellcasters are able to use to direct and control the elemental convergence. This is the more common, and ultimately more modern belief system revolving around magic, and while it seems correct by our own understanding, other facets of it appear wildly off-base and inaccurate as to how the mechanics of magic actually work under study. With that said, it is such a prevalent belief that challenging any dragon over it will merely get one scoffed at, and whatever they're doing with these beliefs, it seems to work for them.

The less-common of the two schools of thought is that Mana is itself a convergence of all six elements, and dragons which fall into this category are archetypically radical traditionalists, who cite their creation myth-- itself stating that the first dragon, Shyr, was created by all six elements coming together-- as proof that magic belongs to dragonkind. This is where we begin to see dragon terrorist cells such as the Fyrebornes and the Children of the Sun attempting to wipe out humans and Lupynn respectively, because they are of the firm belief that only a dragon should be allowed to control magic. Dragons with this belief system should not be challenged on their worldview, as it will more often result in violence than not.

A rather unique concept to dragons is that of Cha-he, or "arcane duty". This is the belief among dragons that if one is able to perform magic, they must perform magic, and by extension must grow in power and skill with it. This is a cultural belief, though not necessarily instinctual; dragons raised away from other dragons, or without this cultural value, typically end up as generalists instead, if they do develop their magic. This is especially the case for the Voidwalker, which has an inherent talent for magic and tends to generalize much more broadly than other species.

Interestingly, this seems to be where the tendency of dragon mages to hyperspecialize their magic comes from. In order to both fulfill their arcane duty, as well as to prevent overlap with other dragon mages they may encounter, a dragon will most often pick one aspect, facet, theme, or similar to build their spelltype around, and consequently become masters of one, often highly specific branch of magic. To a dragon, this ensures that if it encounters a situation where its magic would be helpful, it is unlikely that another dragon would fill the role and prevent the fulfillment of its arcane duty, and if the magic it specialized in is not helpful, its inability to assist means that it is exempt from Cha-he.

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Older dragons, as well as those in traditional families, hold stock in various divinatory methods to divine upcoming events. Though most often used to foretell outcomes of battle and disaster, dragons may use these methods to predict the migratory and grazing movements of prey, or to prepare for specific wind conditions. While humans using these same divination methods often results in questionable findings at best, dragons appear to have an innate skill in fortune-telling and a sense for what signs mean in their rituals.

Capnomancy, or divination of smoke and how it moves through the air, is the most widespread and commonly used method of divination by dragons, as most species have the ability to breathe fire and thus always have the means to conduct their rituals. True Firedrakes in particular stood by this practice, and were able to determine likely futures and outcomes via smoke trails with remarkable precision. Through divination, this species seemed to have an inherent sense of what futures are more likely than others, and how easily fortunes can be changed.

Less common, but still prevalent, is astrology. Used more often by younger dragons taught by their families, draconic astrology focuses on star brightness and celestial events such as comets and eclipses. Moon phases are often considered as well, though they appear to not hold as much weight in the results of the divination. This method is notable primarily because of the species’ inherent ties to the pantheon, including Cor and Rae; thus, one could assume that this form of divination involves the dragons attempting to communicate directly with the divine powers that shape Euthora.

Indeed, all forms of draconic divination involve the element of at least one divine force, with Myyr and Taelos being the associated entities to capnomancy. Similarly, dragons will use water and crystals for descrying purposes, possibly petitioning Kuu and Zyel respectively for wisdom. Thus, it can be discerned that all methods of divination these creatures use are methods of asking the gods and spirits for information and guidance.