Dragonier
| Dragonier | |
| Capital | |
| Population | Unknown |
| Government | |
| Religion | |
| Imports | |
| Exports | |
| Alignment | |
| Naming Ideas | |
| Affiliated Characters | Dragoneri |
A troubled yet beautiful realm, Dragonier was known for its exoticism and wondrous flying landmasses which were said to have been created, ages ago by the magic of the Conqueror of the Skies, the Golden Scaled King of the Dragons. A lush and untamed land, Dragonier has long been native to dragon kind of numerous colors and flights. It drinks in the local mythology and magic of the realm in the form of dragons. Situated opposite of the Sky Curtain Mountains, these great snow-capped mountain ranges serve as the western border for the land. Sprawling woodlands composed of great pines, redwoods, oak and walnut creates the vast forest of Dragon's Peace. It was once home to several human duchies and a few small elven realms, while bearing rumors of slumbering dragon dens. However, now, the woods are dragon-haunted and unwelcoming to outsiders. The alliance of small states that formed the actual nation of Dragonier under a treaty of The Covenant of the Golden Dragon is gone, crushed under the skeletal claw of Heth, the Deathless Dragon. Dragonier is well known for the fact that portions of the region are actually floating landmasses, raised into the air an age prior due to magical effects. Some of the more famous portions of Dragonier actually reside in the air, including Caer Dragoras, the ruined capital city. Despite this isolation, they were not able to escape the ravages of war on the land.
People, Culture, Traditions
The destruction of the Covenant of the Golden Dragon by Heth and his skeletal brood has driven the previous inhabitants of Dragonier into exile.
The only remnants are the brave dwarves who mine the eastern face of the Sky Curtain Mountains. The Dwarven Enclave of Feld Mor is now an embattled fortress, with flame and claw-scarred walls and shanty towns piled with human and elven exiles. The dwarves of this region tend to be more barbaric and violent then the dwarves deeper in Khazad Duin. Gnomes, to, dwell in Feld Mor, having been driven from the edge of the forest of Dragon's Peace. The remaining Highlanders of Highland are a strong and sturdy race of humans who squat in the shanties and dream of a brighter past. They are not as tall as humans elsewhere but favor lean muscular builds, light armors and heavy weaponry.
Before the fall of the Covenant, Dragonier soldiers favored heavy armor, lances and heavy weaponry such as large greatswords and bastard swords. A truly intimidating sight, these knights and dragon riders were among the strongest and most fearsome of the armies of the world. Each duchy maintained its own militia but also contributed to the Dragon Armies as a whole. Seven holy Dragon Knights served as the chiefs of the army. These Knights had bonded with true dragons who had given themselves to the service of the land in the name of their slain king, Hyrenstralza. However, when Heth slew Hyren, the surviving Dragon Knights scattered to the four winds, and can be found across the continents – some have turned bitter, while others hope to keep the legacy of the Dragon Knights alive.
Government
Dragonier is a failed state, its structures destroyed by the ravaged of Heth and his brood. What former inhabitants remain are hunted for sport and for food, and are more interested in survival than governance. Only a few pockets of civilization, such as Feld Mor, remain.
The land itself has been quickly reclaimed by the wilderness, and is both unsafe to travel in and decidedly monster-haunted. The beautiful landscapes remain, but the place itself is anything but idyllic.
Sites and Settlements
Dragonier has become ago very untamed and primeval land, all under the looming shadow of skeletal dragon wings. Central Dragonier is cast in a perpetual twilight by the overhead movements of the floating islands of Dragoras and Skyglyph – a shadow of the death that resides there. Endless fields of rolling green broken up sprawling woodlands, great lakes and floating mountains crowned in cloud and storm with sprawling castle towns and great ornate airships providing a panoramic view. One of the most sacred of the floating islands is the so-named Fortress of the Dragon. Largely held to be the slumbering place of Heth the Deathless Dragon, where he rolls in pleasure upon the stolen horde of Hyren the Great Gold, the fortress is defended by enslaved Cloud Giants and Air Elementals and a number of vile magical wards that prevent visitors from haphazardly walking in.
Wyrmwood: This enormous forest carpets the western mountainsides and the lands beyond in a sea of primeval greenery. Within this great woodland, Heth’s brood have driven off the elven inhabitants and ravaged the human villages; it is also the resting place of several dragons of various colors who have bent their foreleg to the new masters of the realm – those who did not were slain, and their hordes claimed. The Wyrm Wood is a place of marvels and wonders, dominated by dragon-kind of less intelligence and scope then the true kings and queens of the wyrms. Some of these, such as wyverns, have broken free of any shred of training, and range the wood as hunters – some of the older wyverns, who remember the attempts at domestication, are particularly fierce and violent towards humans and elves.
The Highlands: The Dragonier Highlands are lands of shimmering lakes and sprawling woodlands and plains. Here ones strength and worth are measured by the strength of their sword arm – as the skeletal dragons often hunt the formerly nomadic inhabitants for sport in these open spaces. The dwarves of Feld Mor huddle in their besieged fortress now, surviving for the moment and learning to thrive in the adversity, even.
Caer Dragoras (Ruined Metropolis): This beautiful castle town was the capital city of Dragonier and floats upon a large landmass that bears its namesake. A magnificent city of magical study, learning and processions of dragon knights, Caer Dragoras’ has been utterly ruined by Heth’s invasion. Heth’s brood makes their home in the ruins, each claiming a section of the city. They and their minions squabble over territory, churning the broken stone periodically which their fury. Within the ruins, magical libraries are trapped and there are persistent rumours that not every dragon egg has been accounted for.
Recent Events
Alexandros' sudden disappearance, and with it the vanishing of the great and honored Myrrish king, plunged the world into chaos. Taara's rise seeded the fall, and with no other course left open to it, Dragonier shook itself as an aged dragon shaking its wings, and moved outward to play peacemaker and at times, enforcer.
As the chaos roared, Dragonier, never a large nation, found its recourses sorely taxed. The snapping point came when the greatest of the Dranei warlords, intent on expanding Dran into the world, stood on a mountainside facing a lone Dragon Knight. Debate ensued. The knight argued against the expansion, citing the need for peace as the warlord laughed in his face. “The world is for the strong,” as the bards recall his words and without further debate, the knight's dragon reared backwards and incinerated the warlord on the spot.
In Dran, he became a martyr, and while Dragonier saw the stopping of the warlord a necessity, they also saw it as evidence of how they had been stretched. Too, rumors of that elder dragon's death circulated though the kingdom.
They waited anxiously for Alexandria's return, and hopefully, Myrddion's king and the treaties which will bring long-sought-after peace but while the Dragon Knights were away, Heth, the Deathless Dragon stole into Caer Dragoras with his brood of skeletal dragons, and slew Hyran the Great Gold, usurping the court and slaughtering the inhabitants of the city in a week-long bloodbath of epic proportions.
The survivors fled outwards, leaving the cloud-islands in the hands of Heth. The remaining Dragon Knights spread to the four winds, ending up such places as both sides of the Myrrish civil war, running a slave ring in Veyshan, acting as a mercenary in Charn’s internecine strife.
His brood ranged below, ravaging the countryside, driving out the Dragonieri, who fled into the crumbling state of Rune, and towards Dun Mordren. Others fled towards Adomar and the Dran Tablelands – recent conflicts be damned.