CREATION OF THE KROXIGOR:

The kroxigor aren't a naturally occurring species and were magically bred by the dragons of their world. Originally they were actually created as a quadrupedal species, walkin on all four and acting as little more than guard dogs and pack mules from the dragons.

Many decades or perhaps centuries down the line they were again altered by the dragons since their needs had changed. Increased interaction with the younger races of the world changed their needs. Some of these interactions were friendly and while the dragons didn't mind conversing with nobility of other races (even though they still had a bit of a superiority complex) and discussing treaties with kings and queens, the more mundane tasks of finalizing trade agreements, bartering for better livestock prices and such were seen as beneath them.

And some of these interactions were not so friendly and while the dragons are strong, they are vastly outnumbered and while their kroxigor beasts were strong in the role of huge angry guard dogs, they didn't fare as well against large, organized well-armed armies, although such skirmishes were rare, it was mostly adventurers or mercenary companies come to fight for bragging rights and riches. Still, in their current state the kroxigor were insufficient.

And while the dragons themselves were more impressed by actual power, be it magical, physical or material, they realized that living in groves, caves or on a solitary cliff somewhere hardly impressed the younger races. The dragons needed to advance their political goals and better their reputation. A big part of this would involve building a civilization that the younger races recognized, on that they could respect.

So what where the dragons new needs?

They needed an intelligent workforce to handle tasks such as trade, diplomacy, administration and other disciplines that require intelligence.

They needed an army that would be loyal and be able to wield similar weapons and tools as opposing forces, be they regular armies or glory seekers, and utilize strategy and tactics.

To build their impressive cities and infrastructure to once again be the crown jewel of civilizations they would need a workforce with dexterous paws, keen eyes and the will to work hard towards a common goal.

They could have hired people from the younger races to fill these roles, they already had it all and they had experience, but the dragons realized this would be a costly affair and there was still the problem of loyalty as that's something that's hard to buy with money.

Their other option was to breed a race to fill this role, but why waste their effort and power on creating a new race when they already had one: The kroxigor were strong, hardy and loyal to a fault. With some adjustment, they could most likely serve in these new capacities.

And thus, they were altered to stand on their hind legs so they could use their hands to manipulate objects with their front paws and more emphasis was placed on their intelligence which gave us the kroxigor we have today.

BIOLOGY:

A few quick facts that don't need too much attention would be that the kroxigor come in a multitude of colors, have a thick hide rather than scales, live to be around 500 years old at most and that their average height ranges somewhere between 10 - 11 ft, with the extreme ends of the spectrum having been recorded to the shortest know kroxigor being around 7,5 ft and the tallest around 14 ft. They are omnivores but have difficulty digesting very "hardcore" vegetables like grass and hay, although in cases of emergency, they will eat such things and it can sustain them. Under normal circumstances their diet is similar to that of humans.

One of the features of the kroxigor is that hey are both quadruped as well as bipedal. Even in their evolved state they work most comfortably on their hind legs, standing tall like any man but when time is of the essence they can achieve the greatest speed while traveling on all four paws. This is most likely a leftover from their earlier days when they were little more than beasts of burden.

Another one is their long, prehensile tongue which seems to serve no crucial role whatsoever. Given that the kroxigor haven't evolved naturally, but were rather cobbled together, by magical means, from various races, this could simply be a bi-product of their creation or some quirk that was implemented by one of the dragons that helped in their creation.

Another strange feature is that despite being part dragon (and lots of other things) they aren't reptiles at all, but are actually mammals and as such give birth to live young rather than lay eggs. The reasons for this are unclear and most likely lost to time. Some speculate that originally some dragons had ambitions to more or less conquer the entire world and as such, made them mammals to keep the possibility of making a furred sub-species to operate in arctic climates. Others speculate it was to prevent scandal, to ensure that dragons and kroxigor could not interbreed.

SOCIAL STATUS IN THE PAST

During their early years when they were still not yet sentient they were seen as guard dogs, pets, pack mules, beats of burden. Nothing more, nothing less.

When they were changed to be mainly bipedal and became sentient is when things become more complex. They were essentially slaves when first uplifted but they didn't mind. Ever since their original conception they were bred to be loyal, mixed with genes from several pack animals to be near unquestioningly loyal, although their increased intelligence diminished this somewhat.

They were still very loyal and since their loyalty was mostly guaranteed the dragons didn't have to oppress them physically with whips and chains, the kroxigor, with their ingrained affinity for helping the pack were happy serving a higher cause, being part of something larger than themselves. They basically handled all aspects of society except "being royalty", that was handled by the dragons and the occasional kroxigor that had excelled as either a military officer, diplomat or in some cases in scientific fields.

Of course this didn't mean they were free from oppression as they were more or less assigned work, rather than getting to pick their own profession. Most accepted this but there were always those who protested. They were either brought in line, exiled or thrown in jail.

SOCIAL STATUS IN THE PRESENT

While more and more kroxigor wanted to go their own way in life, they still saw the value in keeping in line and serving what they agreed to be the greater good.

The real change came with a scientific invention: Gunpowder

When gunpowder was invented the dragons came to the realization that with this new invention the balance of power shifted. If even a single platoon of kroxigor defected they could easily strike down an unprotected dragon if ambushed. Now the risk of this was minute as we established before, the kroxigor were bred for loyalty even if their intelligence somewhat dulled this sense of unquestioning loyalty.

The fear of what COULD happen was enough to force the dragons to action and in their minds, they had two options:

They could either start a civil war to diminish the kroxigor population and hope that things would just turn out alright for them in the end, despite the high risk that when faced with such aggression, the kroxigor would unite against the dragons or, in the off-chance that they wouldn't, the whole nation would be left weakened and open for attack from abroad.

The other option, the only real option, was to grant the kroxigor their freedom before they took it for themselves, as a show of good will, respect and friendship between dragon and kroxigor. That was the intended message even though the decision itself wasn't based so much on kindness towards the kroxigor as it was self preservation of the dragons.

Regardless, it worked out well in the end and the kroxigor remain loyal while legally being free citizens of the kingdom. These days they are viewed as equals by most dragons, even though subconsciously both dragon and kroxigor agree that dragons are of a slightly higher pedigree.

A side effect of this freedom is that not only have kroxigor left the dragon kingdoms to live elsewhere but members of the younger races have also moved into and become citizens of the dragon kingdoms although immigration laws are quire strict, still, they are treated fairly just like the kroxigor who move out are often valued for their services.

Some of them who just want to travel and see the world have even offered their services as mounts as they see nothing demeaning in serving another and it's a pretty sweet deal really: You get to see the world, you get paid for it and all you have to do is have a little person on your back now and then along with a bag or two. Sounds sweet.