Introduction

## **History**

### **Age of Legends**

The earliest reputable and widely accepted history of Drakonius begins when records of Aenarion Dragomárus building the city of Drakonia were dated back to roughly 10,303 years ago, marking the end of the proto-historic Age of Legends and the beginning of the First Era -- however, archaeological history dates back much further than this, with scrying magic able to discern the first signs of agricultural society being readily established as far back as c. 25,000 BC in the foothills of northern Gardoria and the eastern plains of the Zaentovi Wild, albeit significantly primitive and isolated; most of humanity retained a hunter-gatherer society for several millennia thereafter, and some disconnected societies still yet remain in this state of development.

In the case of the Zaentovi, a controversial claim has been made by fringe academics in recent years that they established the first true civilization some millennia before Drakonia, and have retained the same tribal form of government for untold ages. This is a view seldom held by those influenced by Edrossian teachings, and some of those with more extreme viewpoints have even gone as far to say that the Zaentovi directly influenced and inspired the development of Drakonian government. Whatever the truth may be, the majority of scholars use the founding of Drakonia as a universally-known benchmark of what constitutes history, to contrast against the prevailing myths that defined the aptly-named Age of Legends prior. What each culture considers history and what its members have accepted as myth as time passes is vastly different; the Hylati people are a unique ethnic group with oral history dating back to the Second Era, but have a culture that is heavily influenced by Drakonian social mores and the Dragonlord religion, which serves as a reminder of the Drakonian Empire's colonization of their archipelago.

It is not known to what extent humanity had lived before the earliest dates able to be determined by scrying, but it has become evident that virtually nothing exists from before then, or could not be detected by magical means, which would have great implications for the limitations of magic if this could be proven; with the loss of magic in either case, it seems unlikely that the people of Drakonius will ever discover the truth of their origins, with most instead relying on religion and folklore to explain the days before civilization.

On the topic of the founding of Drakonia itself, scholars subscribe to a number of different theories, and these beliefs are as varied as the scholars themselves; the two most prominent, however, are that Aenarion actually founded the city by himself and utilized his dragons to aid him, or the common, somewhat more scholarly alternative is that this popular tale is simply that -- a tale -- and Drakonia was naturally founded before the Drakonians acquired the ability to tame dragonkin, and thus a chieftain named Aenarion Dragomarus created the drakocentric story, or was the subject of it, in order to instill marvel and fear into rivaling tribes. The result, these proponents say, is that with the Dragomari tribe's conquest of the Drakonian peninsula, they were able to promote this story as the formal lore of their people, and the line between fact and fiction blurred over dozens of generations until this story was simply accepted as being true. Other alterations of the myth include accounts of similar stories from other chieftains who were merely silenced by the Dragomari's military conquest, or more extreme ones, such as the Drakonians formerly being dragons themselves who took on a human form when they landed at the site of Drakonia's founding. As these events took place more than 10,000 years ago, the underlying truth and its nuances are almost certainly lost to time, but there is scant, yet sufficient evidence to support several of the theories.

Somewhere around a generation before Drakonia's founding, northwest of the Drakonian peninsula, an Edrossian tribal chieftain named Alzar who lived in the Leyse Woodlands was killed and most of his tribe, the Prokotori, were massacred in part for their geocentric faith -- now referred to as Geodalism -- which resulted in Alzar's body purportedly rising into the sky and being absorbed into the heavens. The earth cracked and rumbled, as if quivering with excitement and joy. In a single moment, a blinding flash of light either killed the disbelievers who still remained, or left those who survived awestruck and full of newfound zeal for the supernatural show of power they had just witnessed. Alzar would be considered the first Paragon that would form the Five Paragons, which became the world's most practiced faith in the Sixth Era, following the fall of Drakonia. The survivors of the Prokotori -- few as they might have been -- traveled to other societies to find a new place to live following the destruction of their lands, inadvertently beginning a mission to spread the tale of the chief's deification by telling stories about their tribe's collapse, and the subsequent events that killed the skeptics and heathens. This, they believed, was proof enough that the earth had chosen its god and its inhabitants had a choice to make; to believe in Alzar's sovereignty, or to die.

Though far from being an organized religion in this state, belief in Alzar started taking its hold somewhere in what would later become the city-states of Doras Edrossi, and at the time was only referred to as the *Fedi Prokotori* by the Drakonians -- the Prokotori faith (which is still a valid title for the faith in modern day, according to legal cases settled in Edrossian courts). Alzar's unique nature as the first paragon (or rather, first known individual to purportedly ascend to the heavens in such a manner) also led to some scholars determining that he was the one true god, and the rest were pretenders meant to undermine him. This monotheistic religion, which still exists in some parts of the world, is quite aptly known as Alzarism, and is as old as the Five Paragons faith itself, though did not have differentiating substance until more Paragons were deified by the Church of the Five. Geocentric faiths still existed in various forms, but the former followers of Geodalism were conflicted as to if they should combine the aspects of earth worship with belief in the Paragons, and so a heresy was founded known as Geognosticism which heralded the earth itself as the chief deity, with the Five Paragons subject to it. Unlike the initial conversion of the Prokotori, no deaths resulted from the establishment of these beliefs (at least none from similar circumstances as Alzar's deification), and no supernatural event occurred that reasonably portrayed the truth between the two, but Geognosticism has few followers in present day and is all but forgotten by the general public, save for the scholars of theological academia.

In the far north of the known world, catastrophic events transpired that led to the dissolution of an entire prehistoric culture; the sudden glaciation of Koshtahdivlann, and the subsequent migration of Koshtadic people to various places in the world. Some among them held the belief that the gods had cursed them and their homeland due to their lawless ways -- the Koshtadic society, as it had been since time immemorial, was defined by bouts of needless violence and rule by might, stagnating their society's growth and often erasing any progress they had made in the arts and sciences. They divided into initially three factions; those who wished to stay in Koshtahdivlann, those who wished to emigrate and continue their traditional lifestyle, and those who wished to emigrate and adopt a new culture. There was a schism within them, and some decided to settle in Tegrush and become the Tegrushkin -- these were the ones who emigrated, yet continued the Koshtadic traditions. Others chose to continue sailing west, eventually landing in Frostfall and becoming the Northmen, who sought to get away from what they assumed were the sinful ways that had brought their lands to ruin. A lone, rogue group of these Tegrushkin later became disillusioned with Tegrush, and sailed south until they reached Deimia, colonizing the island -- they became the native Deimians, and within a few centuries forgot everything of their past, developing their own isolated culture based on animal husbandry and exaltation for the earth that bore little similarity to their Koshtadic origins, and was coincidentally so close to their Edrossian neighbors that for centuries it was assumed that the Deimians were just Edrossians who had sailed west, due to their proximity. Those who stayed behind retained their ways despite the quickly-changing environment, and nothing is known of their fate for certain, though many a sailor has repeated tales of a frigid land in the far northeast which is host to cannibals and savages, which carries with it many disturbing implications for what may have happened to the Koshtadic people. Even beyond that, In the far, far east, past the furthest extent of the Haajidi people or the Zaentovi, legends also tell of a great empire beyond any peer, falling to dark, evil forces that were old when the world was new. Whether these ancient cultures had advanced civilizations that predated even the Drakonians or Zaentovi is impossible to know, but in the case of the Zaentovi and the Tegrudics, their descendants claim as much.

### **First Era**

Once Drakonia was built, a kingdom emerged around the city, and it continued to expand and spread its influence, with the Dragomàri descended from Aenarion typically at the helm (with some notable exceptions, such as interim reigns by rival houses such as House Varalys). The Dragomari consolidated their power by coercing or invading other rival tribes and assimilating them into their culture, which is known to have been just one of many different types of Drakonian culture that existed before the unification of the peninsula. Why the Dragomari were so successful at this in comparison to their peers is unknown, but it is, of course, also believed that the historical record is highly skewed in favor of them. As a result, it is not truly known when the Dragomari dominated the entire peninsula, but it is believed to have happened as early as 300 years after Drakonia's founding, and no later than 500 years after its founding. After accomplishing this task, the Dragomari sought to develop their people into a unified whole, and began to push societal boundaries that were not appreciated by everyone in the kingdom.

Journeying beyond the Embergleam Ridge at this point in history was not frequently done, owing to an old superstition of the Drakonians that the Dragonlord did not intend for them to venture beyond the land he had created for them, and that they would not be protected by him if they were to do so. The Dragomari challenged this belief by sending dragonriders beyond the mountains to act as scouts, which in turn inspired colonization of the lands beyond Drakonia. This gave rise to the City-States of southwestern Doras Edrossi, the majority of which were indeed founded by Drakonian colonists not very long after Drakonia itself was founded, and the ones that existed prior had seen an influx of Drakonian migrants, once it was proven with reasonable certainty that going beyond the mountains would pose no threat to them. Due to land transportation being quite difficult through the Embergleam (and the relative scarcity of dragons in service to the Drakonians compared to later eras), the city-states soon developed their own cultures independent of the Drakonians and maintained little contact with them other than for trade; however, proximity to Drakonia greatly affected the degree to which the culture diversified. Vecys, the city-state closest to Drakonia and the Embergleam, retained the most Drakonian culture and began work on a tunnel through the Embergleam during this period to connect to the heartland, which was later completed in the Third Era with the assets of the newfound Empire. The first Explorati also came to prominence during this time; the Explorati were renowned Drakonian explorers who would utilize all available methods of transportation in an attempt to discover the true extent of Drakonius. In the course of the early First Era, the Explorati are known to have discovered Tegrush, the Zaentovi Wild, the Haajidi Wastes, and the isle of Deimia. Further exploration in the era led to the Drakonian discovery of Andoras and its fledgling tribes, but this was a find which had already been documented by the Edrossian cultures some generations prior (in fact, many members of Edrossian cultures had emigrated to Andoras before the city-states had even been founded).

In the city-states, the faith of Alzar gradually began to compete with the faith of the Dragonlord that the initial colonists had established; this primarily owed to the fact that the Edrossians were generally not ethnic Drakonians, and therefore felt no ties to their god. This was supported by the fervor with which the zealots of Alzar would preach; it did much to convince many that either Alzar was the solution to becoming one's own god in a fashion similar to his, or that the earth had chosen Alzar to demonstrate what can happen to such an individual if they lead a life of virtue -- the meaning of virtue, of course, being a hotly-debated term across cultural lines. Both ideas are now heretical to the Church of the Five, and this lack of correlation on critical matters of faith was one of many issues that stood in the way of the Paragons becoming a mainstream faith; and yet, it did little to hinder it in its seizing of Edrossian hearts. A small subset of these zealots felt overwhelmed with a conviction to actively convert as many people as possible, and various missions spread throughout the known world, keen on making this a reality. In many places, such as Tegrush or Haajid, these missionaries were met with much hostility and were often publicly executed to make a point to any other such missionaries, and as a result, the faith made little headway outside of its Edrossian origins on the continent. The Drakonians did not heed it as a viable religion. and pointed to a combination of faith and logic prevailing over faith alone; their god, they claimed, was visible in each and every creation, not the least in the Drakonians and the dragons. While some among the Drakonian populace did convert, they were shunned for what was held to be an illogical conversion; Drakonians who worshipped Alzar were seen as actively diminishing their nature as Drakonians, as if they were superior to the faith itself by their very being.

Near the end of the First Era, Varen Diomadron, an Edrossian philosopher from Merythaia who contributed to founding the city of Meyron specifically to cater to like-minded intellectuals of the time, was convicted of treason and sentenced to death by the government of Merythaia for upholding quite politically scandalous viewpoints, especially for the time period, such as con-crownism and the separation of church and state. Upon being executed, he too experienced the same deification that Alzar had undergone; what was controversial about this event, however, was that unlike Alzar's ascension, no one was killed by a flash of light or driven to madness for having seen it. It is known that there is a statistical outlier owing to many of the bright minds of the next few decades having witnessed this execution in person, leading some scholars to conclude that Varen released a divine essence distinct from Alzar's, granting incredible intelligence to anyone who had believed in his divinity, much as Alzar's apotheosis event spared any who believed in him; for this, and for Varen's contributions to the political diaspora at the time, he was recognized as the Paragon of Wisdom, and thus the Church headquarted in Ethryke declared the faith to be based on the Two Paragons. This led to some intense disagreements on behalf of the Alzarite zealots, who fiercely defended the godliness of Alzar and denied that Varen could equal him. On the other hand, there were disciples of Varen who said precisely the same thing about Alzar, and almost instantaneously, the Paragons had generated its first two heresies; the governing body that would eventually become the Church of the Five decreed that they were equal and part of the same faith, but this was just the start of what would become a number of heresies pertaining to the Paragons, and it would only grow exponentially with the addition of each Paragon.

When the church had satisfactorily reformed and the opposing zealots had been killed, silenced, or converted, there remained one place where the church had not yet traveled; Andoras. Being a land ripe for conversion, missionaries flocked in droves to sail to Andoras, and there they often found success in conversion once the language barrier had been circumvented. Most of what is known about Andoras in the First Era but not the few Eras thereafter until reliable records came from Andoras themselves is because of the meticulous detail that the missionaries would write down, in order to tell those back in Doras Edrossi about the Andorasi and their ways of life. The missionaries also gave the Andorasi their method on how to write, as most of their native languages used a separate script that made the translation and communication with other languages difficult. They facilitated the creation of a *lingua franca* which would eventually become the Common Tongue, based on a combination of Ethrykian and Alettonic -- and to this day, the majority of writing in both Andoras and southwestern Doras Edrossi is done in the Drakonian alphabet.

Notable exceptions to the rule are Edrane, the Moonlyt Peaks, and Frostfall; whether it was due to strong preference for native beliefs, an inability to access these lands, or a mixture of both, the Paragons faith was never able to penetrate these lands like it had taken hold in just about everywhere else on Andoras, with some other exceptions such as the Alettons and the more conservative Gardorians. The schismatic issues which had plagued the worshippers of Alzar and Varen were also made manifest in Andoras, and one of the first recorded conflicts on the continent was a battle between Alzarites and Varenites after both unsuccessfully attempted to convert the same tribe in the Wetlands. Those who had believed in both -- that is, the Two Paragons -- tended to avoid western Andoras and primarily did their conversion work on the east coast in Thyllanor, Raunerre, and the Kingsland, where they could more easily sail back to Doras Edrossi if apprehended, and they were also susceptible to being attacked by Varenites and Alzarites for being heretics.

The Two Paragons faith was met with more appraisal than the individual faiths of each; it is believed that the infighting between the zealots of individual Paragons seriously hurt the chances of tribes willing to convert in any regard, knowing that they already had a natural enemy for converting. By the end of the First Era, a Thyllanorian kingdom, comparable in size to an empire, arose under the leadership of the Tribe of Karth, who were Ethrykian migrants from Doras Edrossi to Andoras. They landed at the spot of present-day Faercrest during the aforementioned Edrossian migration, and began to conquer the territory that would become Thyllanor, driving out and subjugating the native Alettonic people who were present. The Edrossian wave also included the Raunerrians, who hailed from the area near Lavos, and the Sigorians, who emigrated from Sigon and combined with the Alettons in order to form the Aletto-Sigorian culture, more commonly known as the Kingslanders. By the empire's peak, they had control over modern-day Thyllanor, Raunerre, the Kingsland, and parts of the Moonlyt Peaks and the Wetlands. The Tribe of Karth -- and by extension, the Thyllanorian kingdom -- represented the first major power in the world that worshiped the Paragons as its state religion. Though the empire was short-lived, it made a lasting impression on the continent for years thereafter and supported the missionaries in their quest to convert the populace; in particular, the people of Raunerre, who were conquered by the Thyllanorians roughly five years before the collapse of the empire.

### **Second Era**

   With the collapse of the Thyllanorian kingdom and the ushering in of a new faith, Andoras was poised to start a new era. In the kingdom's power vacuum formed several disparate nations, many of which practiced an amalgamation of Thyllanorian practices and laws interspersed with their native culture. As a result, war between the minor powers was almost certain, and the parts of Andoras that had been under Thyllanor's sphere of influence began to fight nigh-incessantly with each other, leading to a battleground that would persist until the nations were able to reform themselves in the ensuing chaos -- this process took anywhere from 20 years, in Thyllanor's case, to as long as 400 for the northern provinces of the Wetlands. Even after these nations were reformed, they were often a nation in name only; the autonomy of these realms bordered on independence, and some, like the Moonlyt Peaks, embraced this, creating something of a confederation, but also setting the stage for the Warring Clans Period that would later engulf the region for centuries.

On Doras Edrossi, change was also imminent, and the Drakonian Kingdom was in a period of instability and threatened to collapse right around the same time as the Thyllanorian Kingdom. The kingdom was about to endure the Reviscio (called such by the Vescia Scrolls), which would transform the nation into the Drakonian Republic in c. 7242 BC. Earlier in their reign, the Dragomàri had recognized the Thyllanorian kingdom as a valid country, and even opened the doors to trade with them, which would mark the first instance of this being done between two major powers across the White Sea. This was a very controversial decision in Drakonia, and the Dragomari were quietly removed from power as the Reviscio began. For 405 years, the crown in Drakonia changed hands several times, almost akin to a republic, and eventually ended up in the hands of a dissident faction that sought to establish the republic outright. This ensured a peaceful transfer of power, as opposed to a military transfer.

It was also around this time that magic became a major prominent point in Drakonian life; Vaelo, one of the most innately gifted magi in Drakonia, started the Magical Revolution in 7200 BC by discovering the first formula that would break the laws of reality -- using one's life force, they could do things that were typically seen as impossible, such as transmute items into whatever they pleased, or see the future with clairvoyance. This even led to the creation of a philosophy rooted in these magically-based discoveries called Magopurism. Vaelo and his students became close advisors of the nobles and came to be called the Stremagi, literally the "discoverers of magic". They earned a permanent place in society, eventually forming the Strezici, "elder ones", who would be magic-users that would act as councilmen to the consul, and later Imperator when the Republic turned Empire. Magic was an impressive feat and perhaps Drakonia's greatest achievement, but attaining mastery of it was a long and grueling process with years of study required, and even being able to claim yourself a sorcerer was a feat in itself. Of course, the Drakonians had been known to have innate magical ability among some of their people, and so for some it was not difficult to adapt to the way of thinking and reinforce their intrinsic powers. This ability to tap into this magic made the Drakonians incredibly adept at all forms of research, but their sparsity also made it so that they were not able to bring their civilization to unimaginable heights, such as the fabled Eastern Civilization that fell thousands upon thousands of years prior to even the first Drakonian cities -- so long ago, in fact, that only the Zaentovi retain knowledge of their grandeur and even in their never-changing ways have mutated the tale still.

### **Third Era**

With the guidance of their dragons and the Strezici, the Drakonians were prepared to form an empire in due time, as Aevorius Ignitius Dragomarus, also known simply as Aevorius, united the entire Drakonian peninsula and all of the city-states in the Third Era, in a conquest known as the Primun Impetus. The Drakonian Empire was slowly growing with every passing year, but it came to depend on a certain industry; slavery. By the late Sixth Era, a slave uprising, later named the Gladiator War, freed or killed all of the Empire's slaves, and in return, decimated its economy, led by the folk hero Senzesuole and his mutilated lieutenant Setho of Dornum. Drakonia was mostly united in its attempts to restore its infrastructure, aside from a few disgruntled lords who still desired the commerce that their slaves generated. Civil war, however, was then unlikely.

### **Sixth Era**

Drakonia could have perhaps returned from this, but before long a strange force began to interfere with various people throughout the world -- The Shadow had come to the world, then unbeknownst to anyone. Through this evil force weaving the lies of deceit, inspiring men to take up arms against one another, and bringing many dragons to near-feral states, the Dragon Wars began. After 30 years of constant warfare, Drakonia resembled a wasteland, with the peninsula all but covered in ash and the majority of dragons dead in the carnage. If that wasn't enough for an already physically and economically crippled Drakonia, the Shadow's earthly forces began to invade; disgusting, twisted creatures that resembled humans only in bodily form. Their unmatched cruelty and inability to care for oneself's safety meant that these mutated beings were far harder to kill than any man. It seemed that Drakonia was all but cursed, and many tried to emigrate before long. Drakonia's population had been declining from the constant warfare, and some places were completely uninhabited by the time the Shadow reached them. All hope was lost, save for a man named Draqipane Dragomàrus.

Draqipane came into power, and by some stretch of a miracle, managed to convince all men of Drakonius to unite under his banner and push out the supernatural force that now plagued them. Typically at odds with each other, the Andorasi and the Edrossians, the Tegrushkin and the Zaentovi, even the Thaurosians and Yalendans took up arms behind Draqipane, and eventually pushed back the Shadow, marching all the way to the east until reaching the Shadowlands itself. Herein they confronted many higher-ranking creatures in the Shadow's army like the Uldor and their general Sceledrus, and eventually killed a physical manifestation of the Shadow itself, at which point the War of the Shadow ended, but at a great cost; the newly formed Alliance of Men lost its young leader so soon after he had established the greatest standing army still yet known to Drakonius. Demoralized, the nations within returned to their homelands with a heavy heart and weary of the years away from home. The Drakonians, however, had no true homeland left -- as the most powerful people on Drakonius, they were able to turn this power on themselves and then were responsible, albeit indirectly, for turning the entire peninsula into a burning wasteland. They could only go to where they might be accepted and mete out the rest of their existence, their appearance the only reminder of the power they once wielded. The world temporarily entered a dark age as Drakonia's influence faltered in most places save the nearest city-states, and pureblood Drakonians became a rare sight due to their extensive loss from such profound death. With the fall of Drakonia and burning of the peninsula, most of the civilization was also lost, including their magic use, their extensive knowledge of the material world around them, their cultural, military and economic dominance, and their teachings of harnessing magic were lost to time -- even today, the practice is shunned in almost all societies (save Balbadia and The Wetlands) and anyone with the innate ability is often ousted or killed for fear of another Drakonia-like event occurring.

### **Seventh Era**

#### First century AC

Not much else of note happens for about half a millennium, but even if it did the historical record is mostly defunct during this time. Around 473 years after the War of the Shadow's conclusion, in 5 BC, Draegon I Dragomàrus began his conquest for the western continent of Andoras, from the island of Dragomyra, an ancient House Dragomàrus holding that was all that remained of the old Drakonian Empire, in an attempt to restore his family's prestige and legacy. Armed with a relatively small army -- but several dragons -- he began his conquest, starting with House Dayton of the Kingsland, who proved to be the wealthiest and most well-armed of all kingdoms but fell after five years of assault, at which point the first year of post-conquest was declared and Draegon declared himself the King of Andoras by right of conquest. Immediately, The Wetlands were the first to swear fealty without war, and later became the Dragomàri's most loyal subjects. Kingdom by kingdom fell -- launching simultaneous conquests of every nation on Andoras, he had eventually subjugated Gardoria, Thyllanor, Raunerre, and the Moonlyt Peaks and Frostfall within 8 years, and then peacefully vassalized Edrane two years later. For the first time in history, a man held the entire continent of Andoras under his reign, and it was only fitting that it was a Dragomàrus -- the rulers of the old Drakonian Empire attempting to reinstate their legacy to the world.

#### Second century AC

With Doras Edrossi still recovering from the effects of the Dragon Wars and the War of the Shadow even half a millennia later, it was now Andoras's age. Under the guidance of the Dragomàri, they brought the Academias to the western continent, introducing the Drakonian concept of lifelong pupil tutelage to their vassals. They revamped the Westfarer and Eastfarer Routes, turning them into Drakonian highways that still gleam in the present as though they were built recently. Draegon was also personally responsible for refurbishing many of the paramouncies on a fundamental level, turning their archaic governments and military structures into organized structures in the spirit of the old Drakonian ways. This also opened the door, however, for the first beginnings of anti-feudalistic sentiments, such as Con-crownism, as the Andorasi did not like the tampering with of their systems. Ironically, con-crownism also supported the renovation of these governments -- at least the form of it developed by Tyno Greeves, known as Andorasi con-crownism, when he migrated to Thyllanor in the 180s AC under the Highlord Richard III Karthmere -- known as perhaps the finest Karthmere ruler of this age thus far, who did little to dissuade the movement. It would later lead to a revolution in 326, known as the Farmers' Revolution.

#### Third century AC

Eventually, the dust settled and life went on for most as it always had in Andoras. Even with a liege lord, most of the Highlords did not find life under the Dragomàri to be too harsh or tyrannical. As the years went by, many even came to appreciate their lords, and the Dragomàri began marrying off to some of the noble houses in Andoras to better cement relations with them. Andoras, and by extension appreciation of the Dragomàrus kings, peaked during the Daerod di Piazz, an 84 year period during which Andoras did not wage any wars and instead turned inward to develop internally, on matters of culture, infrastructure, and so forth. Whether intentional or not, the Andorasi people came to appreciate this while havoc was overtaking Doras Edrossi, such as in the Inferno Wars, the second War of Woods, and the Lavosi Gang Wars. Trade brought in all sorts of exotic items to Andoras, such as Edrossian apparel and foodstuffs -- some of which were then taken and grown in Andoras themselves. Many in Doras Edrossi immigrated to Andoras in search of a better life, such as Victor Damius at a young age, the man who would later come to be called the greatest diplomat of the era. He later returned to his homeland of Lavos and took the reigns of leadership during the tumultuous period of the Gang Wars, and successfully abolished their dominating presence from the city-state. He also established the Premiership form of government, formulated the Dealing system, and remained the Premier of Lavos for nearly 70 years until dying peacefully.

#### Fourth century AC

Come the 300s AC, in Andoras, a failed invasive war in 286 AC brought on by the estranged 2nd Premier of Meyron Sulyefel Dzaeyron, which came to be called The Mournare Nights due to the repeated targeting of the city of Mournare in nightly raids, had already ended the long-standing period of peace and brought negativity back to the forefront of the kingdom's mind. With the third War of Woods bearing down on the east, the kingdom was persuaded to join the Ethrykian Alliance and come to their aid. Grueling battles held with crafty fighters who were adept at adapting to the terrain and using it to their advantage, the Zaentovi Horde proved to be the greatest challenge the Andorasi fighters had faced since the Dragomàrus invasion. They left following the signing of the Treaty of Lavos and some speculated that perhaps Andoras would return to another period of peace, but the brighter horizon for Andoras would soon leave with the Thysian Conflict. After corrupt officials in Andoras in charge of trading commerce with Thysia decided to extort the city-state for the euralaya herb, which was highly desired for the effects it would have on both food and the mind, Thysia declared war and destroyed Andorasi ships, retreating back to Thysia where they were pursued by the king Aeramor Dragomàrus. Aeramor was killed in the ensuing battle, and his son Aeganar Dragomàrus rode in on the dragon Vhalax some days later, torching the entire fleet and parts of the city. Thysia unconditionally surrendered, but Andoras sought no further conflict and instead embargoed the nation. Aeganar was later crowned Aeganar IV after his return, but unbeknownst to him and the entirety of Andoras, he would be the last king of the continent.

#### The rule of Aeganar Dragomàrus and the Farmers' Revolution

Aeganar IV Dragomárus was initially a good king like his father Aeramor -- his own golden age of reign, from 320 to 325 AC, is known as Aeganar's First Five, during which he attempted to reduce Andorasi presence in other nations and reenact the policies that brought the kingdom so much success during the Daerod di Piazz. However, sometime around 324 AC, he began to be afflicted with a strange madness that drew comparisons to Nobilis Karthmere some 150 years earlier, in which he began acting out erratically. Sometimes, he was reported to speak in tongues, and ordered the deaths of those who had done nothing wrong or no proof existed as to their crime. At first, this was very sporadic, but just a year later it had become a regular occurrence, and the con-crownist movement which had been brooding for years sought to take advantage of the situation. Michael Avleston and Veddel Markwell, leaders of the Farrowhalt Freehall in southern Thyllanor -- whom had secretly just drafted a supreme law for their Planned Union of Freeholds, known as the Farrowhalt Codex, which was the first of its kind in Andoras -- made a petition to the Highlord Dalan I Karthmere for a land grant with which they would declare independence with. Anti-Dragomàrus sentiments had existed in the Karthmeres as far back as Dalan's father Malveus III Karthmere in the 280s AC, when he saw the Dragomàrus kings as inept and weak for succumbing to war. Dalan himself shared these beliefs, and acknowledged the large following that the Freehold had amassed thanks to its promises of promoting civil rights and freedom. Knowing that this would be tantamount to declaring war on the Kingdom of Andoras as a rebellion, Dalan readied his armies, and the Farmers' Revolution began.

#### The Tentative Years

Being the first major revolt against Aeganar's rule, it did not have much backing, and as such fell -- though not quickly. It took five years to finally break down Thyllanor and the Freehold. Even when the Six-Day-Siege of Faercrest passed and their military force was all but gone, including Dalan who was killed by the young and promising Daemalor Celtheon, Avleston and Markwell fled to Meyron to prepare for the Dealing of 330 AC, where they attempted to garner support for their dying cause and to call off the Andorasi. Though the Pryiore Villa was a sanctuary while within its walls and thus no fighting or forceful political maneuvering would be tolerated within, as soon as the two men left, they were captured, brought back to Andoras, tried for their crimes, and executed. There was also an unspoken expectation that Dalan Karthmere had of the Freehold; should they have successfully won the rebellion, they would have been goaded into rejoining Thyllanor. The Farmers' Revolution, though eventually unsuccessful and ending with the death of all three men behind it, showed Aeganar that animosity existed against him and he would have to combat it. He experienced a period of lucidity during which The Tentative Years took place, so-called because they were the years between the two major rebellions and the attitude of the Andorasi vassals against war was always 'tentative', as in they did not know when enough of Aeganar's policies/mandates were grounds to overthrow him.

#### The Andorasi Civil War

By 346 AC, the madness had almost entirely engulfed Aeganar Dragomàrus, and it permeated with the unjust demands he had been making of his vassals. He had even fed prisoners to his dragon, and this was the final straw for many. By the time of the Dealing of 345 AC, he was provoking others and engaging in heated debates, only to begin insulting his opponents and causing havoc in the spirit of sparking chaos. He left the Dealing in such a fury, it is said, that as soon as his ship returned to Andoras he immediately cleared the cells of Dragonspire and fed them to Vhalax. A coalition of Thyllanor, Raunerre, the Moonlyt Peaks, and Gardoria had formed against the Crown to combat this tyranny and hopefully prevent its spread before others like Aeganar would rise up. However, Andoras still had its loyalists, those being the Wetlands, Frostfall and Edrane. Each of them had their own reasons for staying on the opposing side -- for the Wetlands, it was longstanding loyalty. The Stenwulfs of Frostfall wished to remain honorable, and would not demean themselves by bringing about the crown's fall. The prevailing belief in Frostfall's higher echelons was that it would be blasphemous to rebuke an oath they made three hundred years ago to serve the crown, and they would not go back on it despite the potential benefits of doing so, unlike their southern neighbors the Moonlytes; this is where tensions between the once-close allies of the Moonlyt Peaks and Frostfall began to develop, which has spilled over into war in the present day. Edrane, ever the opportunists, remained on the Crown's side both out of loyalty and also because they felt that the rebellion would be over quickly without any loss of life or capital on their part.

The Civil War began in 346 AC, and it was a relatively quick war. At first the Crown sought to defend all of its holdings, winning a few early battles as the rebels rushed to gather their forces. Around 347 AC the war was at a deadlock, but it was broken with the Battle of Corcivaetas, which gave the Crown blinding morale. They had been confident that the rebels would return back to their held lands and attempt to reinforce, but instead they went straight for Dragonspire City itself, beginning the First Siege of Dragonspire. Unprepared for this, the crown forces were fought into the city, where they were forced to entrap themselves. Eventually, they starved, and as a distraction the forces of Daemalor Celtheon began destroying the then-occupied city of Corcivaetas, believing that the rebels were hiding a force there disguised as citizens. In what has been called the bloodiest three days in modern history from March 11th to March 14th, 348 AC, the armies of Dragonspire were slaughtered as they attempted to leave, emaciated and weak from months of siege; the forces of the rebels were severely diminished as they were cut off by two flanking armies; Daemalor's force was equally affected; and the entire city of Corcivaetas was left a gaping ruin, in the Destruction of Corcivaetas. The only thing that could be done was to retreat back to their respective holdouts and hope to reinforce and overpower before the other side was able to. Had Aeganar not been king, it is likely a peace would have been negotiated by this point to satisfy both sides before more blood had to be shed.

The rebels beat the crown forces to reinforcement, and in the south a joint Gardorian-Raunerrian army forced Edrane to leave the war in the Battle of Stebal on July 11th. With this, the promise of Edrane's support was lost, as well as the potential for them to deploy the Army of the Sun in the battle. In this regard, they are sometimes seen as the first independent nation on Andoras, beating out the other paramouncies by a few months. The Second Siege of Dragonspire began on April 12th, and the Final Spark, as it has come to be called, was the storied final assault as the walls of Dragonspire were breached. Over the course of five days from October 27th to November 1st, the Dragomàri regrouped every force they still had and made their last stand before Aeganar's death and deposition. All heirs were believed to have been killed, but Taeronys Dragomàrus, son and heir of Anganor, had escaped the turmoil.

#### Aftermath of the Andorasi Civil War

Immediately after the war's ending, discussions of how to solve the problems that would now arise without a centralized power to lord over everyone became a priority. To that end, a group of Edrossian diplomats affiliated with the Dealing Council, the committee in charge of overseeing the quinquennial Dealing process, decided to step in and offered their aid. They, like many of the Crown's supporters, were holed up in Dragonspire during the siege and managed to stay unscathed due to their extensive security measures and their diplomatic immunity. Though the majority of Andorasi lords did not want the Edrossians to meddle in their politics as had been done three hundred years before, there was a considerable amount of pressure to agree to certain terms so long as total war would not break out on the spot. Already, without a common foe to focus on, tensions between the lords rose with every passing moment.

As it turned out, the diplomats had already been drafting a treaty in the event that Dragonspire was successfully besieged and the rebels achieved victory. By the next day, while all of the lords took shelter outside of the city in various siege camps, they finished the Treaty of Dragonspire and all Andorasi Highlords signed it -- those who were not present were also put down via proxy diplomats who were part of the Council but temporarily took on the ambassador role of the respective lord, even if they did not agree or were unable to. The Dealing Council declared some days after the Treaty's signing that they would temporarily rule the city of Dragonspire until a more suitable lord was chosen, which drew the ire of some Highlords and local lords who were scheming to take it for themselves. They held control of the city for a period of roughly eight months, assembling a council composed of those who both came forward to offer their aid and those who the Council reached out to for membership. Some ulterior motives may have been at hand in their choosing process, as they eventually they chose a council of rulers led by Dunstan of House Chambers -- a man known for his pro-Edrossian opinions -- and returned back to Meyron, leaving the Andorasi to their own devices. As it sits, his ownership of Dragonspire alone makes Dunstan Chambers the most powerful man in the Kingsland, though many challenge his authority; his position is, at best, tenuous unless he can earn the admiration of the other Kingslander lords or one of the paramouncies.

Now, unlike with other wars where the conclusion promised peace, the ending of the Civil War only seems to promote more conflict. No Highlord actually took the Treaty as viable for the long-term, and although some tried to follow it in some regard, others blatantly disregarded it. In Andoras, the War of Embers begins to rage on -- Thyllanor and Raunerre, former allies in the Civil War, now turn against each other for the right of superiority in the old kingdom. Thyllanor's tenacious methods and their imperialistic nature has led many to turn against them, and has left only one ally of theirs, the Moonlyt Peaks, to remain on their side in the face of mounting adversity. It is unclear which direction the Andorasi will take from here, especially now that they are divided once more.

Meanwhile in Doras Edrossi, things have calmed for now. No major wars are breaking out, besides a potential conflict with Raunerre over the isle of Deimia and the powerhouse of the region, Ceryne, in what has come to be known as the Ceryno-Raunerrian Border Tensions. The city-states all retain good relations with each other, and due to the obscure-yet-standing Drakonian Union that they agreed to in the Treaty of Lavos, as soon as (or if) Raunerre goes to war with Ceryne, all of the other city-states are obligated to join in the conflict as well. In the north, the Tegrushkin, notoriously absent for most of recent history, seem to be planning something unprecedented, and this has become a cause for alarm, albeit mostly ignored. In the east, the Zaentovi are also planning something, as news of the dissolution of the Kingdom of Andoras has finally reached them and they may try to take advantage of this once more. The Haajidi struggle without competent rulers, a problem they have dealt with for centuries ever since they lost the War of Buurza.

Finally, the mysterious arrival of Taeronys Dragomàrus two years ago has only been noted by a few, and no one dares approach him or the island of Dragomyra he lives on out of superstitious fear, due to its proximity to the ever-burning land of Drakonia. To this day, his survival is still only known by rumors, and most in Andoras outright dismiss them, saying that there is no way he could have lived through the carnage of the Second Siege. However, all places in Doras Edrossi have one thing in common, and that is the potential for change, much like what is happening in Andoras on a continental scale. Some cultures are arriving at that conclusion sooner than others, and Drakonius may be on the brink of the most active period of history it has ever seen. It has even been suggested that a new Era may be on the horizon...

## **Andoras Prologue**: The Ides of Vengeance

Andoras; the lands which had kindled the rich culture of the various Andorasi realms and been host to the rulership of the Dragomàri for centuries, had come and gone. No longer was there a singular kingdom, as the fall of the central power lead to the borders of the former Andorasi kingdoms to be restored -- with one lacking a key component, a strong ruler. When House Dayton was exterminated in the Dragomàrus conquest, the Kingsland's traditional ruling family was the Dragomàri. With both gone, the dukes and counts in the Kingsland are autonomous, and, depending on which side you're on, ripe for conquest.

Just after The Civil War ended in 348 AC and Aeganar IV Dragomàrus and his heirs were killed on a dark autumn night -- November 1st -- in Dragonspire City during the Second Siege of Dragonspire, all Lords and independent counts who were formally direct vassals of House Dragomàrus and the kingdom they led were now completely in charge of their own fates, and were free to dictate everything and anything within their traditional borders, now unbound of giving to their former liege their men in times of war and wealth to spend on his own desires. While they could be kings themselves outright, and were recognized as such anyway, the Treaty of Dragonspire which they all agreed on two days after the Second Siege ended had decreed that they could not take that title out of fear of simply replacing the Dragomàrus'simperialism. At first, a post-Dragomàrus Andoras appeared to be a cooperative and diplomatic continent, but for the men in charge of their nations, the chance to exploit such a situation was practically in their face, and often melded their every move, from martial warfare to much more quiet affairs in the realm of intrigue. Great houses, those who ruled realms, squabbled and quarreled over the status of their borders and the state of affairs. Andoras was truly disunited for the first time in three and a half centuries, and almost certainly following after, chaos would break out as it was ought to be.

Not all was settled in the kingdom's former lands, to start off. War permeated the air as it was, but to simply overthrow their liege lord was not enough for some. With the lords of the Kingsland lacking a lord to act as protector, they could only rely on coalitions and alliances to defend their independence; two lords in particular, the Highlord of Thyllanor and the Highlord of Raunerre, wanted to take advantage of their predicament.

On one side is House Karthmere of the Realm of Thyllanor, led by the young Dalan II Karthmere who supposedly fought and killed Aeganar IV Dragomàrus in personal combat. Dalan, however, was seen as just another bad omen in a sequence of bad years for Thyllanor; following his father's death in the Six-Day-Siege at the eve of the 326 AC rebellion's bloody conclusion, Dalan became the ruler of Thyllanor, which few people liked (or tolerated). This rubbed off on Dalan detrimentally in his teenage years, and only recently have his ways turned towards acceptable ones. Dalan's history is not a clean one, either; just two days into his reign, his mother's life was claimed by rioters in the brutal Bloodmoon Riot.

Opposite the Karthmeres are House Grimolt, of the Realm of Raunerre -- led by Byron Grimolt, a naval commander beyond his years. Raunerre had recently expanded its power to the island of Deimia across the sea to the east, and bordered the Kingsland to the north, which had adopted the nickname Ember's End towards the end of the war and after; so did Thyllanor, with Raunerre to the south of the Kingsland and Thyllanor to the north. Both believed that they should have it; even further, they both believed that one of them should be seated on The Throne of Embers, the former seat of the King of Andoras. Attempts to subjugate the lands into their own hands proved unsuccessful, as although disunited, the lords who still dwelt in the Kingsland resisted any attempts of annexation. Not long after, communications broke down between the Karthmeres and Grimolts, and war broke out. The War of Embers was declared by House Karthmere towards House Grimolt, and an official declaration was sent demanding an immediate surrender and the denial of any claims in the Kingsland, to allow Thyllanor's expansion to the south to go unimpeded. House Grimolt, as one might have surmised, didn't respond to this threat very well; as a result, a war ensued.

Among House Karthmere's other conquests were earlier campaigns encouraged by Dalan Karthmere's uncle, Tyralt Karthmere, in an attempt to regain their heritage; the land in question was lost by Dalan's father, Dalan I Karthmere, after a similar rebellion twenty years prior, the Farmers' Revolution, was lost by him and his compatriots, the leaders of the Farrowhalt Freehold -- Veddel Markwell and Michael Avleston. These conquests, too, were thrown under the War of Embers, quickly becoming a catchall term for any sort of Karthmere aggression that they weren't allowed to act upon when the Dragomàri ruled, as crown laws for the better half of the 4th century AC dictated that vassals could not fight each other. Now, House Brackwater of the Realm of The Wetlands was immersed in the conflict; nearly all of this land belonged to the northern part of their lands, given to them by Aeganar for their loyalty and assistance in putting down the Farmers' Revolution. House Brackwater had long waited for a reason to fight House Karthmere, as many houses at the time despised House Karthmere for its posh attitude, lavish lifestyles and exuberant wealth. What soldiers that refused to fight for Thyllanor, Dalan could hire twice as many in mercenaries, and so that is what he sought to do.

The mercenaries worked well in combat, and as men trained for battle and only battle, they did their job to the fullest extent. The War of Embers was not truly a three-sided war; House Grimolt and House Brackwater were not officially allies, but were both under assault from the Karthmeres. Unfortunately for House Karthmere, political feuds were about to result from one of the mercenaries' deeds; whilst in battle in the northern Wetlands near the captured town of Riverbay, a band of mercenaries was blamed for killing the lord of the House Gallomont, who was trying to avoid the war and was fleeing from the sight of the battle. The mercenaries were unsure of the orders that they were to follow, and also killed a good portion of the nearby population in Riverbay as well. Mere days later, the news would cover Andoras, of allegations that House Karthmere murdered innocents and slaughtered entire towns.

Dalan was faced with even more opposition on his part, and more threatened to join the forces of Houses Grimolt and Brackwater in defense against his proclaimed tyranny. His uncle Tyralt and brother Adrian met with him to discuss a plan of how to deal with the issue, when a letter from a Raunerre courier arrived. Byron Grimolt and Rolland Brackwater, the Highlord of the Wetlands, now officially allies, offered to call off the unpleasantries for a short while and conduct a peace summit. The designated location was the Karthmere summer estate of Vicarshall, just a few miles north uphill from the capital of Faercrest. Upon reading this and some personal debate between the three Karthmere men, it was agreed and the courier was sent back unharmed; a rare occurrence at the time for Dalan, although the lack of aggression was mostly due to the help of his brother and uncle to avoid any unnecessary conflict. The courier returned some days later, after the Battle of Lampar Falls on the Lampar River, in which the Grimolt and Brackwater forces joined together and defeated the Karthmere force there. Dismayed by the loss and disappointed with the state of affairs, Dalan learned that both lords would be travelling to Vicarshall as soon as it was known that the soldiers of Thyllanor would not try to backstab or ambush any of their soldiers, who had been told to stand down. Dalan agreed in a returning letter, and prepared Vicarshall for a peace summit.

After getting out word for the soldiers to stand down and Vicarshall been prepared for the event between the three lords, A final letter was written addressed to Dalan that the two would be travelling. Now, Dalan was displeased that Byron and Rolland would be coming in person; he had never had good relations with either of them. Byron, the Grimolts, and the Raunerre lands had always been bordering on the wrong side of neutral for Thyllanor, and the Brackwaters were loyalists through and through to House Dragomàrus; the Karthmeres, on the other hand, were still facing tensions even after the Civil War's success for their nearly Con-crownist attitude towards the higher royalty. In the battlefields, no battles continued to be fought at large, and most warfare had come to a halt while the men would -- hopefully -- end the war between the two sides.

At long last, word was that Rolland Brackwater and House Grimolt, accompanied by a large force of royal guardsmen and henchmen, had arrived in Faercrest and were approximately an hour away from Vicarshall. Dalan's nerves began to react negatively and he had a hard time concentrating. He found it best to simply be cold and witty, which kept him on his toes and amused, which in turn kept him excited and alert. He was practicing how he would act when a servant came to him and reported that the two men, and a woman he was not aware of, were at the gates. Dalan would not greet them; instead he waited in the royal quarters, in the central dining room and throne room, which had been converted to a meeting hall for the purpose. He paced around at the other side of the room from the door, waiting.

When they arrived, Dalan had his arms behind his back and simply looked in their direction, scoffing. "The eagle and the bear grace me with their presence." The peace summit continued mostly fruitfully; Byron and Rolland both presented their cases before him, and the woman, who was revealed to be the sister of the lord Gallomont, was the most vocal of the two, but not emotionally so. She was oddly logical for a woman who had lost her brother to a war he did not fight in; she relayed her thoughts and gave critical information that changed the treaty into more of an expected surrender on the Karthmere's side. Dalan would not lose this. He began insulting the two, making it an ad hominem session, and when Rolland began to mutter something about his dead lord, Aeganar IV, Dalan said:

- Dalan II Karthmere, early 350 AC

This sparked a verbal war, and the three men began berating each other all at once. The Lady Gallomont had long since left to attend to her own matters, and it was only the bodyguards who bore witness to the chaos that erupted. Rolland began insulting Dalan's mother, Viviana Messys, to which Dalan replied by striking Rolland in the jaw with a plated fist. Rolland fell down, but did not lose consciousness, and the insults continued. Disheartened and angered, Dalan stormed out of the royal quarters and left the two to their thoughts. Eventually, the two men left, but not before forming a close bond with each other, and Dalan returned to his villa in Faercrest, fuming in anger at the two men. However, thanks to the guidance of his uncle, he resisted the urge to continue any fighting, and instead, by the idea of his brother, began to undergo diplomatic training, to control his anger and his polite demeanor; something he had virtually none of at the time. At the same time, Tyralt began his own project to legitimize the former title of Thyllanor; when it was a kingdom before the Dragomàrus invasion of Andoras. Dalan and Adrian have contributed to this cause, as well as a mysterious bard named Merell Cerynai whose true motives are still unknown.

In short, an armistice agreement was signed between Thyllanor and Raunerre, and as of yet, a ceasefire has persisted between the two sides since March. It is currently June 7th, 350 AC. Men know that these treaties and documents, Edrossian in origin and born out of pacifism, hold no weight -- the only thing that exerts power and influence in Andoras is physical force, and these men are poised to add fuel to the well-kept flame...

## **Doras Edrossi Prologue**: The Dragon Watches And Waits

Lost in all of the confusion of warring politics in Andoras, across the sea in Doras Edrossi, the dragon watches and waits for the moment to strike.

This dragon is one of the last surviving members of House Dragomàrus -- the late King Aeganar's son Taeronys. Unbeknownst to everyone in Andoras, he escaped from what they believe to have been certain death in the Second Siege of Dragonspire, and lives now on the island of Dragomyra in the Dragomàrus Villa, the ancient home of his family, staring with seething hatred across the sea.

- Taeronys Dragomyr

His motives are unquestioned, but the way of accomplishing his goal is most prominently an issue; clearly he wants the crown back, which is rightfully his, but with almost every power on Andoras ready to rise up against him like his father before, and faced with an invasion situation much like his ancestor Draegon, many would say that it is a hopeless cause that he follows. The only thing he has on his side is his loyal protectors -- the King's Shield and the Dragonshroud -- and the obliviousness of the Andorasi, who do not realize he survived the Second Siege of Dragonspire. He will need to be covert yet strong when, or if, he returns to Andoras to reclaim his birthright. Perhaps his greatest shield is the news of his death, but physical barriers and superstition also limit the wary as well; no one dares approach Dragomyra for fear of being too close to Drakonia and burning up, as the legends say.

Support may exist for Taeronys beyond his bodyguards, however -- the Dragomàrus'sinfluence is still felt in many places throughout Doras Edrossi, and it is a name both equally respected and feared. As the former lords of Drakonia for thousands of years, and bearing a bloodline that includes names such as Aeganar Dragomàrus and Aevorius Ignitius Dragomarus, Taeronys should have no problem securing allies. Some may avoid association with him, however, due to the negative connotations now following his family, and Andorasi agents who believe him to be alive may lie in wait in the Summerlands waiting for him or another surviving Dragomàrus to emerge.

Elsewhere in Doras Edrossi, change is coming for many cultures. The Zaentovi people seem to be on the verge of reuniting for the first time since the third War of Woods that Taeronys's grandfather Aeramor was famed for having brought the Kingdom of Andoras into the fray. Under the guidance of the Khaegan clan, they are slowly expanding south and westward, and seem intent on returning to the Leyse Woodlands which they have been denied many times by the Ethrykian Alliance. Now that the Kingdom of Andoras has splintered, the Zaentovi seek to take advantage of this, and the chances of fending the Zaentovi Horde off without strong support will probably not end well for the Edrossians.

The Tegrushkin, descendants of the Koshtadic emigrants who were fleeing their freezing homeland, are also being spotted beyond the Tegrushkin Mountains. It is known that within the conveniently-placed mountain range, the land of Tegrush is harsh to those foreign to it, and the people even more so. Surviving is a matter of strength -- there are few books in Tegrush aside from those that can teach a man how to fight, and the woman are taught from a young age that they will either be maidens of battle or strong mothers who give birth to the new generation of fighters. The weak are intolerable and often killed at a young age, due to the strenuous trials that often pit the youth against each other to ensure only the strongest live on to wage war and have children of their own. This amount of training seems to serve no purpose outside of the traditional vows that the original Koshtadic people followed, as the Tegrushkin only bother fighting each other. However, much like the Zaentovi, it would appear that something is changing and they may soon act upon it. Beyond the knowledge of their warrior culture, they and their intentions are a complete mystery to the southerners, and this is perhaps the most frightening aspect of it all. There are also a band of Tegrushkin mercenaries known as The Ebon Band, who are known to contact the south often and have an aptitude to take on seemingly-impossible contracts and return alive. Taeronys may also consider enlisting their aid, though it is doubtful he even knows of their existence.

The city-states themselves are at peace and have been for some time; despite being politically and culturally separated like the paramouncies of Andoras, they are the most peaceful region of the world as of the present. The only exception to this rule is Ceryne, the most powerful and influential of all of the city-states -- and also the most Drakonesque -- who is on the brink of war with Raunerre over the island of Deimia in the Ceryno-Raunerrian Border Tensions. Taeronys could consider this an opening to Andoras, and also a way to secure an alliance with Ceryne and perhaps the other city-states; should Raunerre attack or vice versa, he could aid them in taking over Deimia, giving the Edrossians a larger foothold on the critical chokepoint and, by extension, Taeronys. Ceryne may not need convincing, given his Drakonian blood and the Magister Malos Tregello's affinity for House Dragomàrus, but it remains to be seen. The other city-states may not be so easily convinced -- Thysia is well-known for its anti-Andorasi sentiments ever since the Thysian Conflict, and even though Taeronys would be leading the charge against them, he still remains an Andorasi by origin and is viewed with a stigma in parts of the world where Andoras is blamed for negatively affecting them.

    The greatest chance for Taeronys's success probably lies in contacting the Drakonteian people; as the last bastion of what could be called Drakonians living in the Zyntano Rainforest, they have survived several invasions -- the War of the Shadow and the War of Buurza, to name a few -- and have prolonged where their western brethren have not. Though their distance from Drakonia meant their culture eventually mutated into a unique one of their own, this is not to say that they do not still share the same blood and history. From the perspective of the Drakonteian people, the alliance would seem mutually beneficial; Taeronys gets the aid that he needs to retake his throne and the Drakonteians would be the kinsmen who help him see the Drakonian vision reborn.

Unfortunately for Taeronys, the moment he makes himself known, a good portion of the world will want his head. The Andorasi have a hatred for him due to an extensive propaganda movement conducted during the Tentative Years and the Civil War, which made the Dragomàri out to be lunatic buffoons and incompetent rulers. Those in Doras Edrossi who would see him dead include those who are out for monetary gain or simply because his ambitions would get in their way. The aspect of madness seems to follow his family name now more than the latter; in truth, Aeganar was one-of-a-kind, being the only Dragomàrus of his time to be cursed with the madness that had plagued his people during the Dragon Wars, and Taeronys -- to those who knew him before his exile -- was a natural leader, set to take the crown from Aeganar and restore the Kingdom to the height it once held and deserved. What hurts him the most is the betrayal of people who he once called friend, led astray by blind scapegoating. The disappearance of his beloved dragon Saerelyon, whom he grew up alongside with, also has left Taeronys in sorrow and anger, and there are rarely days that he appreciates what he still has; his life.
Taeronys is out to settle the score. After being wronged for crimes he did not commit and denied the right to even live due to his heritage, there will be no mercy for his naysayers. He was promised a crown at birth, and is well-suited for one. He will return to Andoras and take his rightful place, or die trying.

## **Synopsis**

This section will give a brief summary of the situation for almost every nation on Drakonius when Season 1 officially begins.

### **Andoras**

#### The Kingsland

The Kingsland has been in a state of disunited counties and duchies ever since the Civil War ended and House Dragomàrus lost control of the land. There was a meager attempt following the Treaty of Dragonspire to reunite the region under the authority of the Dealing Council, but very few lords chose to accept it and its influence was only tertiary -- they could only call Dragonspire City their own. They left soon after they appointed an Edrossian-friendly council to rule the city, but with no official heir to receive the title of the Kingsland proper, the region splintered into newly-independent lords, with the title shattering and losing its legitimacy. After the war, the Kingsland is also popularly called the **Ember's End**, as it was where the last trace of the Dragons' fire burned on Andoras since then. In the Kingsland's place have emerged several duchies and counties, some of whom are ancestral holders of the land, and others who have conquered the land for their own glory and power. The Kingsland is fixing to be something of a proving grounds in Andoras, and the War of Embers is now primarily over who gets to control it between Thyllanor and Raunerre. The Kingslanders are not quite ready to take sides in this conflict, and are more concerned about defending their own lands before swearing fealty to a lord who is more concerned for his nation's glory than his people's prosperity -- of which both belligerents in the war can be attributed to.

Internally, the Kingsland is full of petty wars, over holdings of land that are sometimes hardly larger than ten square miles. The political landscape is immensely populated, with potentially hundreds of unrecognized barons and counts holding land in the unclaimed lands where the dukes end their borders. There are quite possibly thousands of noble Houses in the Kingsland, and coalition wars between two sides could have ten or more counts per side. In one word, the Kingsland is chaotic, and it would take a special kind of leader to arise and reunite this region again. Besides martial challenges, intrigue is alive and well and is practiced nowhere better on Drakonius than in the fragmented Kingsland. This ranges from rumors of plots involving outsider nobles and commoners alike attempting to reclaim lands they hold to be their ancestral homes, to assassination plots aimed at Drakonian lords, whose very ethnicity has become an easy scapegoat for Aeganar Dragomàrus's madness. Those who are not Kingslander natives but good with a sword or equally-sharp wit will flock here, seeking to stake their claim in the unstable region or join those whose causes seem the most promising.

In time, the people have come to appreciate the heritage that the Dragomàri have left behind for them, but many are once more citing House Dayton, ancient rulers of the Kingsland before the Dragomàri invaded, as the true rulers of the land. For someone to unite and retain the Kingsland, they would have to actively please both sides and usher in the glory that the Kingsland once saw in the days of old, while simultaneously fighting off the united paramouncies that desire to take the land for their own. It is a hard task, but surely someone on Drakonius is capable of it.

Currently, it would seem that the Kingsland is ripe for the plunder by either Thyllanor or Raunerre, but two houses -- House Sewick and House Chambers -- stand the greatest chance of mounting a defense and potentially uniting the region. Unfortunately for them, they face high resistance even within the Kingsland itself, as the aftershock of the disintegrated territory combined with the varying beliefs and political opinions of its denizens are the perfect ingredients for chaos and division.

#### Raunerre

With a young and inspiring leader, Raunerre seems ready to make their move and potentially dominate; not only on Andoras, but abroad as well. Byron Grimolt took the throne from his uncle Darius Grimolt when he was twenty years old, usurping it in a power struggle that has come to be known as the Stormholme Coup. Although at first disliked for his sudden taking of power, Byron proved to the people that he was worthy of their admiration, and was one of the first to join the Thyllanorian coalition that was amassing against the Kingdom of Andoras in the 346 AC rebellion. Now, Byron has fought the War of Embers for several months and has fought the war to a decisive stalemate, but following the heated diplomatic summit of which he, Dalan Karthmere, and Rolland Brackwater attended, an armistice agreement was formed between the two opposing sides, and the fighting has mostly been quelled; for now, at least. The situation that the Raunerrian are in is far less than ideal, but a cold war is better than total war, and as both sides grow in support and strength, that may soon become a possibility. One must also consider the relations that Raunerre has with its neighbors -- though they are technically allied with Gardoria and neutral with Edrane, both of them have had open hostilities with Raunerre in the past, and if given the right encouragement and bribe, fate could see the Raunerrian dealt a heavy hand indeed as they become completely encompassed by enemies.

As for other matters, Ceryne, a city-state on Doras Edrossi, and Raunerre have been facing tension on the island of Deimia, in a conflict known as the Ceryno-Raunerrian Border Tensions. Ceryne has the most powerful navy on Doras Edrossi, and are roughly equal with the naval capabilities of Raunerre, who are the most powerful naval force on their home of Andoras. While the War of Embers is in situ, the Border Tensions could spell even more trouble for Raunerre. It seems to matter little to Raunerre, however, as they seem content to negotiate the border tensions to a close rather than worry about their Andorasi brethren attacking them at the same time their Edrossi rivals do. Raunerre is in a precarious situation between attaining glory and power, or being defeated and driven back by two sides at once. If Byron can handle the pressure and the conflict and bring Raunerre to glory, they may be the ones who manage to restore their ancestral glory first, and perhaps go beyond and follow in the footsteps of Draegon Dragomàrus -- conquer Andoras...

#### Thyllanor

Thyllanor is perhaps in the greatest position of all to extend their power, but can they hold onto it? Thyllanor entered the Civil War as the de facto leaders of the coalition they established to end the Kingdom of Andoras, and the Dragomàri's three and a half-century long hold on the continent. Part of this was spite from the Karthmeres; Dalan I Karthmere, the father of Dalan II, was killed in another civil war 20 years prior called the Farmers' Revolution, or the 326 AC rebellion. However, one could not argue that war was soon becoming just, with Aeganar IV quickly proving that he was prone to bouts of madness (much like one of the Karthmeres' own family members, Nobilis Karthmere) and anger, snapping out at people without so much as a word.

Thyllanor is famous for being incredibly rich throughout most of its history, even when its administrative, diplomatic, and/or military power waned throughout history. Gold exists in the foothills of northeast Thyllanor, which was discovered there thousands of years ago by missionaries of the Two (now Five) Paragons in the First Era. Since then, the Karthmeres have stoically held power, and secured the title for themselves right around the time that Drakonia fell during the final years of the Dragon Wars. As vassals of the Dragomàri, Thyllanor remained initially skeptical of the crown, and then supportive of it; a war in the 280s AC called The Mournare Nights with Meyron ended an era of peace known as the Daerod di Piazz, and the Karthmeres saw the way they handled the conflict as folly and fruitless. Malveus III Karthmere, grandfather of Dalan II, was one of the first Karthmeres who returned to the skeptical approach that his ancestors had taken -- he'd never say it himself, however, given his timid disposition.

Eventually, Malveus III's son Dalan I joined up with two revolutionaries, Veddel Markwell and Michael Avleston, and they formed the Farrowhalt Freehold within the southern territories of Thyllanor, and subsequently declared independence from the Kingdom. After a five year war, all three men were killed and The Tentative Years began, draining Thyllanor's lavish treasury. As Dalan grew up, he was guided by his traditionalist uncle, Tyralt Karthmere, and took on his political identity more than his father's. He began to see the ideals his father fought for as pointless, and instead wanted to restore Thyllanor's glory as a self-sustaining kingdom that was both revered and feared -- something that continues into the present. Thyllanor, and by extension, Dalan II lead the coalition against Aeganar IV in the Civil War, and upon achieving victory, returned home to begin his preparations. Even though the Treaty of Dragonspire had decreed that the Kingdom of Andoras no longer existed, and that no new Kingdoms could be formed on the continent, Dalan was still willing to breach the treaty in order to push Thyllanor as the strongest power in the region early. The War of Embers began over this originally, but now it is typically seen as a control war over the Kingsland. A stretch of good luck led Thyllanor to get back on its feet after its fall during the Tentative Years, and they once more have emerged as the currently most powerful realm.

Now with a recovered economy due to the abilities of Dalan's high council, the Upper Chamber of Lords, and a Thyllanorian military to be reckoned with, Thyllanor is poised to strike against all of its foes, but it may not be ready for the retaliation that follows. Dalan II, although he has recently improved his demeanor, is far from a saint himself, and still young and prone to all of the drawbacks that come with it. Although powerful and can probably stand toe-to-toe with any other nation on Drakonius, Thyllanor is still prone to its weaknesses, and if multiple houses joined the fight against them, they would certainly fall like the rest. The Wetlands are prepared to march against Thyllanor in the War of Embers should the ceasefire end, and Gardoria has threatened to join the fight if it is brought to their turf. All in all, Thyllanor could be Andoras's powerhouse, or it could be a distant memory in several years' time. How the next few months play out are crucial not only for Thyllanor's future, but for Andoras's.

#### Moonlyt Peaks

Generally isolationist like the Gardorians, but twice as fortified due to the vast mountain range from which the paramouncy gets its name, the Moonlytes have been some of the most savage and ferocious warriors ever to grace Andoras. Originally a conglomeration of hundreds of clans descended from the first men on Andoras, it took thousands of years for one man -- Garnder Golemont -- to rise from his clan's distinction and unite the region, alongside conquering lands across the west of Andoras that would come to be part of The Wetlands and Gardoria. The Moonlyt Empire, as it was called, collapsed after his death in 74 BC, and the Peaks briefly returned to their original clanhood autonomy, only bound to their 'supreme clans' such as Clan Stelmont through association and cooperation.
The Stelmonts were in an opportune position to reunite the fallen Moonlyt Empire, but did not deign the provinces outside of the Peaks proper necessary, and as such they renamed themselves House Stone to better fit in with the

southern Andorasi naming conventions, as well as officially converting to the faith of the Five Paragons. As a result, the Stones have ruled the Moonlyt Peaks for around 400 years, and they have remained mostly stagnant ever since the Dragomàrus invasion. Internally, all of the Stones' vassals are loyal to them, and they have forged a powerful bond with their northern brethren in Frostfall, but also with the Thyllanorians, which sometimes has created a conflict of interest -- in the 346 AC rebellion, for example, the Moonlyt Peaks and Frostfall were forced to go to war with each other due to their loyalty being divided by side.

Ever since the Treaty of Dragonspire was signed at the war's conclusion, the Stones and the Stenwulfs have been at odds, and the Stones have an alliance with the Karthmeres that will likely persist when the War of Embers inevitably returns -- their only such ally on a continent where nearly everyone else is out to get them.

#### Edrane

Out of the many nations of Andoras, Edrane is one of the most comfortable and safe. They exited the Civil War in a white peace and, after keeping the Army of the Sun home for a couple years, have almost entirely rebuilt their fighting force. Possessing the second largest Navy on Andoras and a dislike for Raunerre, they stand as a serious threat to the tensions on Deimia. Dessar Tyseth has been content with the land they currently have on Deimia, having made no threats or moves to it's regards but fiercely reinforcing their territory on the island.
He has kept strictly neutral in most Andoras affairs, even making extensions to Gardoria to improve relations with the former enemy. Many of the Andorasi nations have been visited by the crown diplomat, Cyrin Tyseth, to receive the good will of Edrane, such as Gardoria, Frostfall, The Wetlands, and Thyllanor. They keep good relations with Frostfall as they always have, as Dessar Tyseth's own wife is of House Stenwulf, the war had little effect on their relations.

Edrane is known well for its distaste for religion and focus on culture and internal prosperity, for as far as many can remember the country has focused it's trade with Doras Edrossi, trading valuable luxury goods and bringing some back. Only in recent years have they made negotiations with other Andorasi nations, as they now consider themselves an independent nation once more, and are ready to trade with the rest of Andoras.

The intentions of its ruling house and its people, however, remain as much an enigma as it always have. However, with Edrane being perhaps the second most powerful in the Andoras, surpassed by only Thyllanor, the paramouncy is in a clear position to make a serious difference in the coming year. Will the nations of Andoras take the opportunity to sway Edrane to their side, or does Dessar Tyseth have his own plans for the future of Edrane?

#### Gardoria

Beyond the vast forests of southwestern Andoras in Gardoria lies the Gardorian people, who have lived there perhaps the longest of any people in Drakonius -- the oldest settlement yet known was determined to have been established in Elkwood around 25,000 years before the Dragomàrus invasion. This brings with them a long history of tradition and pride, which touts that the Gardorians should be out for themselves first, and no one else. Negotiating with the Gardorians is not easy, as they expect any sort of deal or treatise to treat them equally, or if they can somehow stir the odds in their favor, to be advantageous for Gardoria. Alongside this self-protection includes remaining in the security of the ironwood trees which they have cultivated and grown for thousand of years to fashion their bows and arrows; they had gone to great lengths early in their history, under the reign of Gryge of the Dermii, to plant the seeds for a strong ranger-based martial culture. As a result, in the modern day, Gardoria is isolationist, powerful, and could be viewed as an autarky save for the fact that they still conduct some trading, such as food from other places in Drakonius which they could not grow in Gardoria. Being so self-sufficient can also be viewed by others as a weakness, and Gardoria has been stepped on before, such as in the Ironwood War when Raunerre attacked them to harvest a grove of ironwood trees -- the war was successful, and as a result, the Duchy of Arborea in the far west of Raunerre now has a grove of ironwood trees that the Raunerrian harvest to form the basis of their boats; just as the Gardorians use the wood for their rangers, the Raunerrian use it for their navy.

In modern times, however, Gardoria is going through a period of change. It is not immediately obvious to an outside observer due to how isolated the Gardorian people are compared to the rest of Andoras, but within Gardoria the opinions of commonfolk and the nobles are changing, including that of the Lord Marcus Dermond III. Though they have sat out of wars before simply because they felt no need to participate and shed their men's blood in a fruitless conflict, the threat of Aeganar IV Dragomàrus attacking everything they held dear because of their neutrality led them to take a side -- it was the rebellion, who later won the war. The Gardorians were known to be instrumental in the conflict, with their ranged expertise bringing, at times, almost half of an army down before they even reached melee range. Now, in an Andoras that they fought to bring personal freedom to, they are seeing it being threatened by imperialist warmongers in the War of Embers with the same ambitions, yet different claims. Despite this, they also find themselves pressed to choose a side, and while they remain officially neutral for the time being, they are aligned with Raunerre -- once bitter rivals due to their history -- and The Wetlands against Thyllanor and the Moonlyt Peaks. They view Thyllanor as a greater threat to their way of life than the Raunerrian, and so while they are not after glory or expansion, the Gardorians merely wish to retain the way things have always been in their lands for millennia. Will their noble aspirations remain unimpeded, or will they be forced to stand in arms against a foe who they just fought alongside in a just war?

#### Frostfall

Descending from the Koshtadic people who gave birth to the culture of the Tegrushkin, one would think the Northmen savages and brutes at first glance, and a brief overview of their history -- but, ironically, that term would better fit the berserking soldiers of the south in the Moonlyt Peaks, part of the group that makes up the native Andorasi. Comparatively, the Northmen are cool and collected people. Colonizing the then-uninhabited (by humans) land in the north in the Age of Legends, the Northmen were forced to band together against the giants inhabiting the region and take the land for their own, ensuing in a long and bloody war which never truly ended. Being so far away from Doras Edrossi and also difficult to get to by land, the missionaries of the Paragons never breached the Moonlyt Peaks to go further north. As such, in Frostfall, they still worship the Old Beliefs, which entails the praise of gods from all facets of life -- the pantheon varies as much between village to village and person to person. Their unity in isolation and religion served as all the glue they needed to hold their society together, and they have had a strong, unified kingdom ever since, never having a single civil war in all of recorded history. As with everyone else, however, they fell against the sword of Draegon Dragomàrus, surrendering alongside the Moonlytes in 8 AC and pledging their loyalty to the Kingdom of Andoras.

The Northmen were always loyalists -- they felt it was their duty to defend those who had proven themselves to be superior to them, a brief reminder of the society that they had originated from where defending one's honor and duels to the death were not mere commodities, but ways of life. Still adhering to these almost-tribal laws simply due to their culture and character, the Northmen stood by the side of the Dragomàri in the Civil War, despite the clamor within Frostfall to abandon the old ways and take up the side of common sense; even here, in the frigid north, the effects of Aeganar IV's tyranny could be felt, and accordingly Frostfall did not lend much aid to the crown, even if they felt honorably obligated to. This also brought them into conflict with once close allies, the Moonlytes, and the bitter feud that ensued is still affecting their relationship today. The ruling family, House Stenwulf, accepted their capture in the event that the Civil War was lost, but were surprised to hear that the Treaty of Dragonspire had been implemented by Edrossian diplomats, and that it was now technically a crime to take out post-war anger on those who had done the 'just' thing by defending the crown, due to their oath of fealty. They did not expect the other Andorasi to honor this in the same way that the treaty entailed, and their worst fears became true when the Thyllanorians announced their intention to invade the divided Kingsland and expand -- perhaps even to take the Throne of Embers to better legitimize their 'claim'. Raunerre has also begun the same process, and no one knows where it will ultimately end.

Now as one war replaces another with the War of Embers, House Stenwulf stands to settle the score with their newfound rivals in House Stone and maintain the good relations of other nations, such as Edrane. With the Moonlyt Peaks being allies of Thyllanor, this will mean that Frostfall will probably get drawn into the war just as the Wetlands has done so. However, as in accordance with the customs of the Northmen, they would probably drop out of the war once their feud with the Stones is over. Edward III Stenwulf is in a position to break this long-standing streak, however, with the Thyllanorians imposing an imperialistic threat rivaling that of the Dragomàrus invasion itself; this time, will the Stenwulfs march for honor, or for the sake of all Andoras's security?

#### The Wetlands

The Wetlands have recently been thrown into the War of Embers, the war spilling into their terrain and resulting in the death of one of House Brackwater's direct vassals -- Laris Gallomont, the duke of Alham. Along with the carnage against the nobility in Alham, there was also a notable case of Thyllanorian-hired mercenaries slaughtering an entire town. In Riverbay, a town close to the border where the two nations meet, orders were misinterpreted and every man, woman and child in Riverbay was dead before nightfall. It was widely condemned by everyone on Andoras when news of it was heard, and deeply hurt Thyllanorian relations with almost everyone, not to mention the Wetlanders, who now threaten to move to war when their newly-signed armistice agreement at Vicarshall expires.

In truth, the Wetlanders were the first ones to expect any sort of conflict coming to their terrain. Diplomatically aloof as they have been for millennia, they are not as isolated as the Gardorians or Moonlytes, but definitely enjoy composing themselves with an air of such. In truth, their weather and climate -- consisting of regular, unpredictable flooding, mudslides and avalanches where the Wetlands borders the Moonlyt Peaks -- are far more of a hindrance than in any of the paramouncies; the Wetlanders simply make a controlled effort to overcome this but maintain the illusion of inhospitable people in an uninhabitable land to keep them out of affairs that they wish to have no part of. Foreigners are not often seen in the Wetlands due to the undesirable conditions, and anyone who dares to trek it is seen as having ulterior motives, or are like the rest of the dryfolk who are far too busy and flustered to consider more possibilities than having to travel in the wet pit of Andoras. There are also the more seedy types in Wetlander society -- those who even the natives don't want to speak about -- who populate the deep swamps and bogs, where no man should be. It is said that these so-called Bogdwellers have to ability to use magic, a lost art that faded when the Drakonian Empire fell more than 800 years ago. How they came to use this ability so profoundly when the ability to 'learn' magic has been forgotten is unknown, but it is known that certain people, such as the Balbadians and the Drakonians themselves, were capable of having innate magical power, and perhaps these bogdwellers are the same way.

Whatever the case, the Wetlanders are intriniscally mysterious people, but never let their loyalties fool you -- ever since the Drakonians set foot on Andoras, the Wetlanders were the first to submit without protest. King Termel II Brackwater knelt before Draegon, and was bestowed the first Realm, in lieu of his former kingdom's title. Of equal power to a king but unable (and unwilling) to declare himself such, the Brackwater Lords served dutifully under the Dragomàrus kings, enjoying occasional rewards and gifts for their loyalty. The Kingdom of Andoras promoted the Wetlands as the archetypal state that they wished to see out of all other realms, that despite not having much to offer in resources or chokepoints for the Drakonians, they still gave them their wholesome trust. As such, it should come as no surprise that when the Civil War embroiled Andoras, the Wetlanders were also the first to respond to their call of arms, alongside Edrane and Frostfall. Though their side was considered the weaker due to Thyllanor and Raunerre -- besides the Kingsland the strongest army and navy, respectively -- they fought on, hoping to repel the odds and imprison everyone who had stood against the crown.

Being defeated in the Civil War led to a drop in morale in the Wetlands, and suddenly the bogdwellers have emerged, seemingly unified, promising that they can take the Wetlands to new and unprecedented heights. Rolland Brackwater is faced with a conundrum -- unlike other paramouncies, he has no doubt about whether the Wetlands will ride to war or not in the War of Embers, but does he accept the help of these bogdwellers, who strike his people as outcasts -- for good reason? And should he do so, what future do they really have in mind for the Wetlands?

### **Doras Edrossi**

#### Ceryne

Ceryne is very close to old Drakonia both culturally and geographically -- from the glistening built-yesterday architecture to the very appearance of the people who walk on its streets; given eyes of red, orange, purple, and blues that could rival the ocean, the Cerynese are doing a fine job of emulating the culture whom they hold to have been the greatest on the planet. The trade here is a bustling enterprise, and almost everyone in Ceryne is well-off and well-connected; again a solid representation of what the Dragoncity may have looked like in its heyday.

As of late, Ceryne has been involved in a various number of colonial projects, intending to spread their sphere of influence to other parts of the world and bring their prosperity to even new heights. To this end they have maintained and are adding onto a formidable navy, unparalleled by any in the Summerlands, and have set out to achieve this goal. They first looked to the south, where the uninhabited islands near Drakonia lie, such as Dragomyra, ancient ancestral home of House Dragomàrus; determining it to be too much of a risk, they settled for the eastern coast of Deimia, an island between Andoras and Doras Edrossi whose primary purpose had previously been to serve as a vital chokepoint when intercontinental wars arise. The Cerynese were beat to the punch, however -- before they arrived, both Raunerre and Edrane, nations on the western continent of Andoras, had already established fledgling colonies on the island. Faced with the choice of attacking the structured and strong Andorasi or exterminating the native Deimians to make room for their own colony, Ceryne chose the latter, and landed on the eastern shore of the island, swords in hand, and began cutting them down. They started expanding to fill the now-uninhabited land, and as of the present they control about a third of the island's territory.

This constant expansion inevitably lead to friction with the Andorasi -- Raunerre, who had dominance of over half the island's arable territory, had a colony on the southern shores of Deimia named Eagilton. It was a meager market town which imported produce from the mainland and sold it to the colonists. The colonists, on the other hand, would make their living by doing the same process; growing certain crops which would only tolerate the Deimian climate, fetching luxurious prices in the Raunerrian forums. The Cerynians did not face the same issues due to the colony and the mainland sharing the same climate, but nonetheless maintained their ever-growing hold in the east. A Cerynese town, Montecalvo, was founded quite close to where the agreed borders of Raunerre and Ceryne sat, as well as the town of Eagilton. On March 19th, 350 AC, the two towns had begun to encroach on each other's territory, and before long arguments broke out, which devolved into a full-on conflict between the citizens. A few buildings were burnt, as well as a Raunerrian frigate called the *Alatola* which was fired upon by Cerynese ships not long after the village battle -- the Cerynese on the offending side had believed the two sides were already at war, and took the initiative before the Raunerrian could strike. Now the conflict has come to be known as the Ceryno-Raunerrian Border Tensions, and it seems as though it could (and will) soon escalate into war, unless immediate action is taken to mitigate the turmoil that will surely unfold.

They received much backlash from the other city-states and the Dealing Council for this impulsive strike against Raunerre, and were threatened with diplomatic sanctions by the Drakonian Union due to their warmongering attitude, but the Cerynese had made their choice. Backed by their magistrate (who is slowly turning the title into a monarchy) Malos Tregello, Ceryne continues to move forward and intends to keep its position on the world stage, and they will do everything to ensure that Raunerre is just another bump in the road which will be soon behind them, and that they may one day form a Novae Imperri de Drakonia.

#### Meyron

    Meyron's political liberty may be its greatest attribute -- and perhaps its coming downfall. After the fall of the short-lived Kingdom of Meyron in 252 AC due to the death of sole king Leonardus Malos, Meyron became the second premier city-state, following in the footsteps of Victor Damius and the City-State of Lavos, which had just quelled the Lavosi Gang Wars -- violent organized uprisings of crime that decimated the country's economy and spilled over into others, with Meyron being one of them. The relations of Meyron and Lavos were hurt by this, but the savant-esque diplomat Damius was able to rekindle relations, and even convinced the declining Meyronians to convert to his political ideology. Vulnerable and grateful for Lavos's support and quelling of the Gang Wars (and also the recognition of their status during the Inferno Wars, despite Lavos being on the losing side of the war), Meyron became the only Edrossian power to convert to the premiership system. They also became the hosts to the Dealing system, holding a congregation of world leaders in the Pryiore Villa every five years to determine the best courses of action for each region, and the world at large. At first glance, Meyron may seem like a perfect place, untouched by the wiles of war and the plotting of lesser lords -- one could imagine the only disagreements in government are about the laws and regulations, and how better to serve the country and its people, not about the deceit and corruption of men in high places as the feudal system has become accustomed to. This is far from the truth, and in fact a dissent of ideals and lifestyles has poisoned the people of Meyron for quite some time now, and Meyron's 'perfect' government seems to mirror all of the others that failed in its time of weakness.

A hundred years have passed since the events of the Gang Wars and the establishment of the Premiership, and the attitudes in Meyron have changed. With the War of Woods that nearly resulted in the Zaentovi Horde ruling over them and the loss of their way of life, the Thysian Conflict that saw the death of Aeramor Dragomàrus and the potential war with the very saviors who had come across the seas to fight off the horde menace due to the Drakonian Union, and the eventual fall of the Kingdom of Andoras, the people in Meyron grow increasingly aloof about the long-term prospect of considering the premiership viable. The magistrates are prospering, and the warring of feudalism wages on forevermore in the west. Their system of voluntary service in the armies means that when the time comes to defend Meyron or their allies, they may not be strong enough to muster the forces required of them. Their economy has been chastised for not being merit-based; instead, certain systems are in place to ensure even the poor may get a meal or the crippled will be provided for despite being unable and/or unwilling to contribute or work.

From this, some have proposed a referendum that would change the country's very landscape; a decision as to whether Meyron will continue down the path of freedom, or discipline like its Edrossian brothers. Even Lavos, sunken into near-bankruptcy many times after the large void left by Victor Damius's death, has considered reconstructing the government to suit the future's needs. Unlike Lavos, however, there is a far greater disagreement over the state of affairs regarding the premiership system within Meyron -- the Lavosi will almost undoubtedly stay true to their ways, seeing what it did for them during the Gang Wars, whereas the Meyronians are divided almost equally. Inevitably, a call for independence was made by these dissenters; in the northeast of Meyron, they have attempted to form their own nation called Merythaia, taking inspiration from the city of Old Merythaia that rivaled Ceryne and perhaps even Drakonia -- and yet, the government refuses to allow this, citing the Dealing Council's supreme authority in emergency matters, and their ability to step in to facilitate a painless and efficient way of seeing any given problem to its end.

Many lords and magistrates alike have expressed concern that if a civil war engulfs Meyron, the Dealing of 350 AC will be canceled; this would be notable for many reasons, as it would be the first time that a Dealing would be canceled, and, if it remained, the first Dealing held after the dissolution of the Kingdom of Andoras and the termination of House Dragomàrus. All in all, Meyron faces pressure from the entire known world to keep itself together so that the leaders of the world may meet, and this may prove to be a greater challenge than any king or magistrate was faced with. Meyron's people may be free, but will the nation be free from adversity?