Daughters of the Dragon

"One of the primary non-human races."Booming footsteps, cast in shadow, dragon horns on looming maiden. The Daughters of the Dragon are female-only giants appearing like human women but with dragon horns, a dragon tail, and subcutaneous lattice of scales. They still mostly reside in the mountains but increasingly their presence has spread into the rest of the Fatherland as well.

Legend
Myth tells of an ancient dragon speared through the side by a bold knight. Bleeding profusely, it managed to escape and flew for a day and a half before collapsing atop a mountain peak. An elderly witch lived nearby with her seven daughters in a small cabin, and they found the fatally wounded dragon writhing in pain. In order to ease its suffering, the old woman produced a poultice and applied it to the gash after yanking out the spear. The initial shock was so great that the dragon crushed the hag in its agonized thrashing. Realizing what had happened once the salve took effect and the pain subsided, the dragon vowed to make amends with the old witch's daughters, and gifted them its own heart. After preparing and consuming the dragon's heart, were transformed, raised to the stature of giants and imbued with the dragon's strength.

They remained in the mountains but many a story tells of travelers disappearing when isolated from groups, or lone explorers who never returned from those mountains. These disappearances were attributed to looming creatures of otherworldly beauty, enormous women with slitted reptilian eyes that glowed in the moonlight. Labeled 'Daughters of the Dragon,' it was falsely believed by the commonfolk that they devoured their prey and with their stomachs engorged on the flesh of men, they gave birth to the next generation of Mountain Ladies. Since the Edict of Unification, physiological research has since replaced the incorrect notion of 'anthropophagogenesis' with the accurate reproductive classification of 'kleptogenesis.'

Description
Standing between 19' to 23' with an average of 21' (and weighing between 2.5 to 4.5 tons, with an average of 3.5 tons), Daughters of the Dragon are most well known for their considerable size. Getting past their stature however, one can definitely see the draconic influences of their anatomy. Atop their heads they possess two (or rarely four) horns, similar to those of goats, often growing longer and more curled the older the Daughter. Emerging from the base of their spines are scaled dragon tails of varying sizes depending upon the familial line of the Dragon Daughter. These range from so small and slender that they are largely vestigial aside from minor aid to balance, up to large enough to be used as an impromptu weapon. Some Dragon Daughters possess a pair of wings upon their backs though these are incapable of providing the ability to fly no matter their size, with the largest being only able to minimally slow the rate of descent from falls. And the fourth and most beneficial of draconic features is the flexible grid of subdermal keratin laminations that give their skin a vaguely scale-like texture.

Capabilities
In addition to the protective nature of their reinforced skin which provides a natural armor, Dragon Daughters are notoriously difficult to kill. This is in no small part due to their size, but even when suffering proportionally severe wounds, the Ladies of the Mountain are capable of surviving damage that would incapacitate or kill a human.

Their colossal size gives Daughters of the Dragon a similarly massive amount of strength. This renders them capable of wearing armor thick enough to stop small arms fire and wield weaponry that would normally otherwise require mounting to operate. Such gear must be custom designed and is still extremely rare, but even unmodified weapons like field mortars can be carried by Daughters of the Dragon without the need for teams of horses and wheeled chassis.

Physical advantages aside, the Daughters of the Dragon also possess a unique form of magic known by many different names, though the most common is the Exhalation. This form of magic is more akin to an innate ability than an arcane practice, invoking primal elemental forces to breathe plumes of flame, unleash a supernaturally fear-inspiring shout, or blast a cone of freezing wind.

Limitations
Although size has its advantages it is not without its drawbacks. Being the largest target on the ground means drawing the fire from infantry and artillery and aerial units alike. While is is good for friendly ground targets who can appreciate a bit of a reprieve, it is certainly dangerous to be on the receiving end of so much concentrated fire. In addition, Daughters of the Dragon must eat... a lot. Far more than the normal soldier, though luckily not as much as their size might otherwise suggest, due to their efficient metabolisms. They are notorious for their appetites however and while they are certainly worth the increase in logistical complications, it is still something that must be taken into account. As must sleeping arrangements and other base accommodations.

Additionally, the majority- up to possibly 70%- of Dragon Daughters report an irrational fear of waterfowl. Labeled 'anatidaephobia,' this fear confounds Dragon Daughters and humans alike regarding the reason or origin, but there are numerous bits of folklore surrounding the antagonism of fantastical geese or transformed swans having terrorized the first few Daughters of the Dragon, even a story of one of the original seven being pecked to death by a jealous team of murderous ducks. These are all believed to be fictitious, yet the fact remains that most Dragon Daughters are unreasonably terrified of aquatic birds.