| Bowein I | |
|---|---|
| Game Lore Character Info | |
| Name | Bowein I Aldrake |
| Kanji | ボウェイン 一世 アルドレイク |
| Romaji | Bou~ein issei Arudoreiku |
| Age | TBA |
| Gender | Male |
| Epithet | "Bowein the Great" "Bowein the Dragon Rider" |
| Height | 1.80 mts |
| Race | Draco |
| Titles | Dragon King Lord of House Aldrake |
| Family | [REDACTED] (wife) [REDACTED] (Son) |
| Noble House | House Aldrake (by adoption) |
Bowein I Aldrake, also known as Bowein the Great or Bowein the Dragon Rider, was the first Dragon King and the first Dragon Rider.
Appearance[]
Bowein was a tall man, broad shouldered and powerful in appearance. He had emerald green eyes and brown hair that became red at the tips, and he kept a stubble beard since his twenties.
Once he became Dragon King, he began to wear a red and gold doublet, black breeches and boots and occasionally a crimson cape that he fastened to his body with a golden brooch shaped like a dragon's head. His crown was a simple gold and silver circlet with rubies.
In battle, he wore a light armor of black scales with gauntlets and boots specialized for hand to hand combat. Notably, he also tied a white headband around his forehead whenever he fought. Despite not being particularly skilled at armed combat, he carried a bastard sword with him.
Personality[]
Bowein was a charismatic and fearsome military commander and a formidable warrior. He was confident in his abilities as both a warrior and dragon rider, sometimes to the point of being arrogant or vain, but most of his claims were often backed up with actions. This attitude earned him many friends and allies.
Having lived a big part of his life in the mountains with dragons, Bowein was ignorant of Draco history and customs, and even customs towards authority figures and women (once even earning a slap of his future wife). His lack of etiquette was often seen as rude by knights and nobles alike, especially considering he was seen as a savage commoner.
Despite this, Bowein was aware to some degree of his ignorance, and also prone to learning from his mistakes and thinking of ways to solve his problems. Once joining House Aldrake household, he learned etiquette from servants, martial arts from the master at arms, and politics from Lord Aldrake. Even when he became king, well knowing that he still had much to learn, he set up a council of experts that would advise him, recognizing that even a king cannot be good at everything.
A notable trait of Bowein was his love for all Dragons and his utter dislike for anyone who hurt, hunted, or killed them. This love steams of spending much time with his three dragons since young. As result, he sees dragons as people, no different than him or others. His dislike for dragon hunters, turned into hatred after the death of his mount, Red, at the hands of their then leader, Khasach. After that, one of his first acts as king was banning dragon hunting and dragon killing. At the same time, he dissolved the Dragon Hunters guild and placed bounties in the heads of prominent dragon hunters.
History[]
Little is known about Bowein's early life, as most of what is known of his life was written by the time he was an old man, in the book "Son of the Dragon: Memoirs of Bowein I."
Bowein was born a peasant in a Draco village during the War of the Draco Succession. When he was 6 years old, his village was attacked, ransacked, and burned to the ground. His parents died during the attack, and Bowein was the only survivor of the attack by fleeing to the desert, carrying nothing but his clothes and a knife. After wandering through the desert for several days, he found a cave and took refuge there, only to find that it was the lair of a dragon, with three Drake hatchlings roaring for their mother.
Despite finding food, he was incapable of killing the dragon cubs. The mother arrived a few days later and seemed rather angry to see an intruder in her lair. Bowein thought he was going to die, but then the hatchlings flew to him, landing on his body, and so the mother did not kill him. He spent the next few years with the dragon family and grew attached to his dragon siblings, even naming them after the colors of their scales, Red, Black, and Green, and the mother was Big Red.
During his time with the dragons, he developed his skill with Aera, especially with Fire, eventually creating a weaponless fighting style by observing and copying the movements of a flying Sky-wrym. Over the years, this fighting style would be developed into Dragon's Dance. At some point, he also learned how to ride a dragon, with Red becoming his mount.
During his time with them, he had little to no interaction with other Dracos. His first in years was when a group of Dragon Hunters captured Green. He approached them and asked them to leave Green alone, only to be laughed at. Left with no other choice, he killed the lead hunter himself with his self-taught martial art. The other hunters then turned their weapons at him, but Red and Black arrived shortly after, forcing the hunters to run away.
After this incident, the Dragon Hunters approaching their territory became more frequent, and Bowein was left with no other choice but to fight them to protect his dragon siblings. Eventually, the rumors of a dragon-riding savage living in the mountains reached the ears of the then Lord Aldrake, who was surprised to hear of someone who had tamed a Dragon, something believed to be impossible at the time. Intrigued to find out the truth, he ordered his men to find that man and to bring him to his castle.
Lord Aldrake's son, [REDACTED], was the one took this task, despite his personal dissent with his father's opinion on the savage. He with a score of Aldrake men found and approached a wary Bowein, who much to the group's surprise, could communicate with them. Though he refused to go with them in that instance, he agreed to have a meeting outside of the castle the next day. The day after, Bowein met Lord Aldrake, and they quickly struck a deal: in exchange for being left alone in the mountains and making sure that no Dragon Hunter trespassed that territory, he would serve Lord Aldrake as an informant and warrior during the ongoing Draco Civil War, plus he could take the livestock of others who were not allies of Lord Aldrake.
After several months of this, Bowein earned the respect of many of the Aldrakes as a warrior and as a person, though there were others who still considered him an outsider. Bowein in turn began to open up to the Dracos, accepting and adopting some Draco traditions and even becoming friends with some of Lord Aldrake's men. Bowein eventually started teaching other Dracos how to ride Dragons, with a total of nine of Aldrake's men becoming Dragon-riding knights. The Dragon Rider also gained quite a reputation among Dracos. Also, notably, since Bowein followed a strict policy of not killing or hurting dragons, he was seen as a danger to the old Draco traditions, especially among traditionalists who saw dragon hunting as the ultimate sport, and Dragon Hunters and their then guild leader, the legendary Dragonslayer, Khasach.
After the death of the only son of Lord Aldrake, Bowein was adopted into the family and married his daughter and only living child. After this, Bowein was now the leader of House Aldrake, and one of the pretenders for the Draco Throne.
The battle of [REDACTED] was the final battle of the Civil War. Bowein defeated Khasach himself by using a new specially developed technique for that purpose. Despite his victory, Bowein had little to celebrate, as the victory came at the cost of his dragon's life. He'd later adopt Red's offspring, and eventually, he became her rider.
After the end of the war, Bowein was crowned not Draco King, but Dragon King, a small changing of the title to remind the Dracos that their society had forever changed. Some say that this change was also made to intimidate those House Aldrake had defeated, as to remind them not to trifle with him, as it would mean death by dragon fire.
One of Bowein's first decrees as Dragon King was banning dragon hunting as a sport, the dissolution of the Dragon Hunters guild, and the branding as outlaws of many of its former members. The killing of dragons would only be allowed only in self-defense and when all other options are exhausted.
Bowein created the Royal Guard and the Dragon Order.
Abilities[]
Bowein is widely regarded as one of the strongest Dracos in history, if not the strongest, and one of the strongest figures in Agea's history.
Most notably, Bowein was the first dragon rider and is still regarded as the best that ever was. Remarkably, he learned when he was quite young, and also, he did not use a saddle when he did (as he did not have the means nor the knowledge to make one).
Despite not receiving training in his early years, Bowein skill with Fire was incredible since young. This was in part influenced by being a dragon rider, as his Aera resonated with the Aera of his dragon. After observing the movements of a Sky-wrym, he was capable of imitating its movements, developing the basics of Dragon's Dance. After training with the Aldrake master at arms, he sharpened the style even further and even strengthened his strikes by wearing custom-made gauntlets and fighting boots. After training with the Aldrake master at arms, he sharpened the style even further and even strengthened his strikes by wearing custom-made gauntlets and fighting boots. At this point, he was powerful enough to present a challenge to the leader of the Dragon Hunters, Khasach, a far more experienced and renowned warrior (albeit with help of his dragon).
Once the martial art was developed to near perfection, he began teaching it to other dracos, becoming something of a national sport for the Draco Kingdom.
Legacy[]
Bowein is widely regarded as an important figure among Dracos that allowed them to become a single united kingdom.
Dragon's Dance became a very popular martial art among Dracos. Dragonscale also became a technique utilized by most Dracos.