Round 26!: Dragons!
'Gxe'dhok the Brinefather
Summoned to the lands of Bhule with promise of fitting tribute to her magnificence and beauty, the dragon known to the ‘Ridi’x as 'Gxe'dhok the Brinefather takes what will be her final flight across Emjata, sailing into Bhule on wings of storm and lightning to witness the temple built in her name. A great event had been held to honor her, and the dragon’s ego demanded she attend. She was not without her suspicions, but they were buried deep beneath her desire for tribute and worship assuaged by the construction of a temple to her glory. A retinue of ‘Rigx accompanied her, twisted wyvern servants who circled the bitter cold skies like carrion birds watching events unfold as their master entered the massive complex made in her honor and the doors sealed behind her.
When the trap was sprung, it was already too late for 'Gxe'dhok though she didn’t yet know it. Tens of thousands of soldiers from across the northern continents swarmed into the temple from unseen tunnels to poke and prod the massive beast with equipment rivaling legends of Dejan’s personal retinue. The dragon lashed out with her warping magic and huge mass, killing many in her struggle to escape the carefully laid trap, but its construction had been exceedingly sound and, while many died, the trap remained secure, allowing the Sultanate and its allies to leverage their advantage over the grounded terror. Combat with the ‘Rigx outside the temple claimed many more lives, including those of non-combatants and bystander guests brought north by invitation of the Sultan, unaware of his murderous plot. Many fall in the struggle which lasts over an hour but at the end there is only one death that matters.
'Gxe'dhok is no more. She lies dead in Bhule, her body left in the base of the temple turned tomb that bore her name. Her ‘Rigx levies are destroyed or driven off to rejoin ‘Ridi’r, and the participants in the assault are left with an uneasy stretch of silence in which they may begin the somber process of counting their dead. Victory had been achieved and another dragon lay dead, but at no small cost to the stability and integrity of the entire continent of Regner.
‘Gxe'dhok Trade Posts return to their original owners! ‘Gxe'dhok Holy Centers remain DRGN! Regno loses 4 Units, CNS loses 3 Units, Overvann loses 3 Units, Ti Linnad loses 4 Units (2 to distance, 2 to dragon), & Izbefe loses 1 Unit!
Bhule (86) gains “Dragon Tomb” Great Project modifier + 1 to one roll of any attribute/round within the region of Bhule (86).
Bhule currently contains 'Gxe'dhok’s carcass composed of the following “sections” which require an action to move between regions:
The Brinefather’s Head (+2 Stability or Investigation Roll once per round)
The Brinefather’s Claws & Bones (+2 to one Raid action or offensive battle once per round)
The Brinefather’s Heart (+2 to roll involving Magic once/round, Unknown Effects in Region Located)
The Brinefather’s Wings (Negate 1 distance loss or +2 to Buyout once per round)
The Brinefather’s Hide (Counts as a TP for Hard Metal, +4 to resist theft)
The Brinefather’s Eyes (+2 to one Faith action or defensive battle per round)
The Brinefather’s Flesh (Counts as a TP for Meat/Food, +4 to resist theft)
Ridi’r gains 1 Unit of ‘Rigx Wyverns who seek revenge for the death of their matron!
Ve'va'qa'qadvo the Skyfather
Beseeched by each of his vassals for a gift demonstrative of the Skyfather’s manifold glory, the blade winged dragon acquiesces with graceful generosity. Sfaire’s request for a relic to aid their efforts to reach beyond the confining mountain chain that corralled them north is granted, in a certain light. Rather than grant any mere object, the Skyfather sundered the very mountains on their behalf, gouging out ton after ton of stone over the course of weeks, until a new, beautiful mountain pass was made between the southern hills of Sfaire and the northern reaches of Perivan. Left behind in the wake of this marvelous spectacle are hundreds, if not thousands, of the Skyfather’s scales, be they embedded in rock like swords, resting upon the graven earth like feathers, or simply scattered upon the mountainsides all about. Already, enterprising explorers have begun cataloguing the mountains to an even greater degree in their search for more of the scales to recover and sell, and shrines and temples to the Skyfather have been erected from his sheddings on either end, to study the swirling designs the great creature left in the rock.
Dvatla requests more material rewards, hoping to see their iron mines in Dažytija expanded under Dvatlan banner. Burrowing into the mountainsides of the region, Ve'va'qa'qadvo’s spinning blade-like form opens access to a large number of previously inaccessible minerals, though it will remain Dvatla’s impetus to populate the new tunnels with miners. The Skyfather can’t do everything for the Dvatlan King after all: such would be unbefitting of his magnificence...not to mention quite difficult without affecting the would-be miners in a manner the King would likely find quite objectionable.
The Northern Council’s request for magical knowledge is more esoteric, and perhaps more fitting to be asked of 'Vahi'huj than Ve'va'qa'qadvo, but the Skyfather would hear no such slander of his wisdom, and seeks to grant the requested boon to the Council’s leadership. However, flying en route to the northern capital of Ti Linnad the Skyfather senses the death of his elder sister 'Gxe'dhok and when he arrives in Ti Linnad to hear the Linnadi army had marched west presumably to join in the slaughter of the Brinefather, the magnanimity of Ve'va'qa'qadvo sours. The Skyfather still seeks out the Premiere and his council, but the boon he grants might more accurately be labeled a curse than a blessing…
The prominent acts of generous magic carried out by the Skyfather draws the attention of many dissatisfied priests and laymen of Abhidi and Coatl Perijanism alike. Reverence for this living god who offered such kindness to those clearly his inferiors has led to a spate of conversions across Inyaka where the Skyfather’s presence was most acutely felt.
(Sfairi Free Alliance gains Great Project in Sfaire: The Clear Sky Pass, granting +1 to one Buyout per round attributed to controlling access to this new valuable trade route! Mountain Pass between Perivan and Sfaire negates distance losses for traversing mountains; with a Fortification Great Project, this can be made to require permission of GP-maker!
Dažytija (13) Iron upgrades from [Minor] to [Good] with TP 2 Open to buy outs!
Premiere Illeard Mertinneis will receive +1 Faith in addition to the +3 accrued from taking six Faith actions within Round 26, however no stat gains will accrue for Round 26 if any combination of actions other than 6 Faith actions are taken.
Dažytija (13) HC 2, Sfaire (106) HC 3, Perivan (15) HC 3, and Ti Linnad HC 3 become DRGN!)
Xo'xa'va'j, The Cinder Queen
When news reaches Palmor of the happening in northern Regner and the defeat of another of the Cinder Queen’s siblings by mortal hand, the fiery dragon lets her frustration be known to those who have served her obediently for years. With 'Gxe'dhok dead, Xo'xa'va'j now stands unrivalled as eldest and largest of her kin, and she seeks now seemingly to protect herself and her siblings from further assault by mortalkind. Confident in her chosen servants’ loyalty to her cause, and even more assured of her own creations’ ultimate loyalties, the Cinder Queen reveals where her work for the past few years has gone; transforming the tribute brought to her by Azenhal, Coatl, Khirus, and Whitefeather into an army of fiery wyverns equipped with plates of hard iron armor to protect them. This great army joins with her Pician Leviathan-Dragon cultists from Fresia and she divvies these forces up between her loyal sycophantic realms with but two goals imparted for their use: halt the dragon slaying by any means necessary, and ensure the Cinder Queen remains secure in her lair at the burning heart of Azenhal.
(Xo'xa'va'j reveals 12 Dragonforged Units equipped with Cinderscale Armor (+1 to battles, requires Hard Metal, Armor & Wards), Ashwing Wyverns (+1 to battles, requires 3 combined DRGN HCs and TPs, Warbeasts/Live Weapons), and Pyroclastic Engines (+2 to attack, requires 2 DRGN HCs and TPs and 1 Fuel/Fire Source, Fortifications and Siege Engines) and bequeaths their services thusly: 5 are sent to serve CAL as the most loyal agent of the Queen, 3 to serve CTL for their gift of copper and steady tribute, 3 to serve KRS befitting their loyalty once the Queen’s terms were made clear to them, and 1 to serve WFK for their consistent if effervescent efforts at tribute! These units do not count toward unit cap but expire at the end of Round 28 when they return to the Cinder Queen’s direct authority!)
'Vahi'huj, the Father of Silence
'Vahi'huj is disturbed by news of the events in the north in the wake of his and Venusa’s pair bonding and the rituals undertaken to grant her to take draconic form. If the Regnans were determined to end dragon presence upon Emjata, the cooperation enjoyed between scholarly Regno and enlightened scholar 'Vahi'huj was under serious threat. Desiring firstly to know the extent of Venusa’s complicity, 'Vahi'huj meets with his lover in a private audience whose goings on is known only to the two participants. Whatever transpires between the two seems to quell any rising fury within the Father of Silence, though the scholarly giant does still make his influential presence known more prominently throughout the Sultanate in the wake of the attack, hoping tales of his wisdom and kindness will snuff thoughts of violence directed against him.
'Vahi'huj is intrigued by the Kunai’s efforts to construct a vast network for tributary offerings, and with relations between themself and Venusa grown more tense in the wake of her family’s attack on their sister the Brinefather, the Father of Silence adjusts the amount of time he spends in Hathgjil off of Llët̨sällë towards Les Alpes de Sang, that they might more easily monitor the Kunai’s progress. The dragon’s presence among the paranoid and militant warlords of the region does not help ease tensions within the region, though 'Vahi'huj finds a bevy of worshippers hoping the wise magician dragon might grant them a boon to aid them in overcoming a rival.
From their new lair (of which they now possesses three, which many have been able to tell pleases them immensely), the Father of Silence petitions their loyal followers to gather relics to be turned over to Their Eminence for study and alteration. The dragon requests Izbefe hand over Dafi’s Staff and Regno hand over the Scepter of Bray. Failure to do so would be most disadvantageous to both realms, notably Izbefe whose tribute has previously been found lacking.
(Iadesh (7) HC 2, Regno’s Initia Holy Order, and Jherki HC 3 become DRGN!
Les Alpes de Sang (57) HC 2, Deux (56) HC 2, and Azure Coast (83) HC 3 become DRGN! Les Alpes de Sang is in Unrest!)
'Kidveva'dvuj, the Eater of Magic
Champions of the Magic Eater within Altessa had won their rebellion against the dark republican guard of the USRE, whose victory had been assumed a given at home in Khirus. With Heartsease firmly under her domain and with tribute of her requested materials trickling in from Karys and Varjik, the Bane of Pellos was feeling stronger than ever. Khirus had once again failed to pay her her due, and the Brinefather’s assassination by the northern realms was an ill portent, but even these events could not dull the southern dragon’s ambition. With Sofrid and now Sithara recruited to her side, 'Kidveva'dvuj uses the opportunity created by the Pride’s clash with Varjik to announce her new desires.
While she still desired the rest of her list be fulfilled, the dragon of southern Estensule felt it more important she end the needless fighting between the Pride and Varjik. Each had shown themselves willing to serve and each demonstrated powerful capability as warriors. So too had each tasted the bitter draught of the Magic Eater’s displeasure in Raesija, Palanam, and Sonil. Sofrid and Sithara, the famous generals pulled from each side to serve 'Kidveva'dvuj should be as symbols to these kingdoms, a demonstration of the unity and power these carriers of Avakonian legacy might bear if only they cooperated. Khirus and Dvatla, 'Kidveva'dvuj and her chosen generals proclaim, are the true enemies invading Estensule and 'Kidveva'dvuj would see the Pride, Varjik, and Karys united in opposition to these greedy foreign dissidents rather than lunging for one another’s throats. If the Pride and Avakonia’s successors agree to a new peace ensured by the Magic Eater’s word and focused with fury towards the republicans and Dvatlans, the dragon promises to lead the combined armies on crusade against these interlopers and to grant the Pride and New Avaokonia favors within her ability, ability which will only be expanded by further tribute of her requested resources.
As a demonstration of her displeasure with the republican faction who held the southeastern coast of her continent, 'Kidveva'dvuj flies over Wasipacha raining death from above on the Khirese held fortresses throughout the territory. While intended partially to cripple the republics, her primary goal lies in convincing the natives that her righteous fury was far more frightening than the threat of the Khirese Mask Makers. The region soon broils with tension to rival Altessa, and reverence for the Magic Eater increases tenfold among the dejected previously areligious populace.
Finally, 'Kidveva'dvuj tours the northern coast of Estensule, where the Kunai lay in conflicted claim between the Magic Eater and the Father of Silence. Aware of the Kunai’s long period of struggle, 'Kidveva'dvuj is merciful to the newly united clanlands, working only to grow her cult of devotion among the disparate clans. Still, the clanlands are warned that failure to provide proper tribute in the coming years in the form of resources or other demonstrations of loyalty to her cause will result in the unleashing of the Spellfather’s fury.
('Kidveva'dvuj proposes an alliance between the SMP and Varjik/Karys carried out in her name backed by her authority. Acceptance yields 2 Dragonspawn Units to the SMP and 1 to Karys & Varjik each usable at the start of Round 27 as well as a Mil 12 General ('Kidveva'dvuj herself), her own personal generals, Sithara Kkoya (10), Sofrid (9), each capable of leading 1 battle/round against Khirus/Azenhal/Dvatla beginning in Round 27. Rejection will have as of yet indeterminate consequences. Continuing to gift TPs will cause additional units to be granted
KRS loses 1 Unit, Wasipacha (60) is Unstable, and Wasipacha HCs 1 & 3 become DRGN!
Karys & Varjik earn the Magic Eater’s favor with their tribute of requested resources, and she grants the Jaine’s young heir a blessing (+1 to Faith stat for Anivine’s heir). She allows Sofrid to return to Karys’s direct service temporarily, the general having gained much martial knowledge at the foot of the Dragon (Karys temporarily regains Sofrid as a Mil 9 General. He will return to the Magic Eater’s authority at the end of Round 26).
The Spellfather still desires the following Resources: Incense; Huo-Ke Squid or Cloudwing Piranhas; Kansett; Living Ivory; Saphroxin or Medicinal Plants; Large Animal; Idol Fragments or Ruined Scrolls
Umibe (55) HC 2 and Azure Coast (83) HC 1 become DRGN!)