May to Z: R

Roa - taken from Ra.

The Draken god of the Sky, the Sun, Fire, and serpents. Roa is so enormous that he takes up the whole of the heavens. The sun is merely one, burning eye of the great snake. Everything in creation falls under his gaze, but so very little on the earth is worthy of his consideration.

Draken strive to be noticed by the endless serpent. Their lives must be very laudable indeed to garnish even a fleeting glance from the Eternal One.

Humans lost contact with the Draken of the tropics for many many years following the rising of the sea that drown and devastated most of the Atilaen culture. By the time these two cultures met again, the humans had turned from worship of the sea to worship of the sun. Thus there was little dispute between the races on the concept of a sun god; however, they differed in their interpretation of this deity.

To the Draken, Roa is usually depicted only as a reptilian golden eye, ringed in red flames/scales, implying that he is a great red dragon. The humans, of course, see their sun god (Aelos) not as a serpent at all, but a man. To them he is a bald man with a beard of fire and an ageless face. The sun is always shown shining from his forehead, symbolizing the light of knowledge.

The Draken believe that Roa, the Eternal One, the Sky Serpent, is the father of all dragons via Nenaea the Earth Mother. It was Roa that gave dragons their wisdom, the gift of flight, and the ability to breath fire. They are not legless, like Eastern dragons, but have 4 legs that tuck beneath them in flight. There are also 2 legged wyverns, but these are far less common and seen more like reptilian vultures/raptors - nowhere near as noble as their quadruped cousins. The bipedal and wingless Draken race believe themselves - all reptiles for that matter - to be direct, yet distant descendants of Roa.

Whether one is a scholar or pit fighter, on down to the lowliest of lizards crawling the jungle, is dependent on how much knowledge and divine wisdom you are willing to accept from the sun god. If you show no interest in learning and live your life without looking up and beyond, then you are further removed from receiving Roa's grace and teachings. Some Draken believe Roa did not take Nenaea as a wife and accept their dragon children fully because in his infinite wisdom, Roa knew that the world needed dragons more. Others feel that there is some inherent unworthiness in the mixed dragon blood of their godly parentage and they must seek to overcome it through devout and righteous endeavors. "May Roa's light shine on you." is a common blessing among the Draken. This gracious prayer, willing wisdom and protection, is not just a casual saying - it is truly hopeful that one will be blessed and watched over by the Eternal One.