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<blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 8393865" data-attributes="member: 63"><p>A bit more, if I can get away with it.</p><p></p><p><strong>Two centuries ago, kings and nobles and adventurers hunted dragons to extinction. </strong></p><p>There was one nation where dragons had become fond of ruling over enslaved orcs, goblins, gnolls, and the like, rather than simply hoarding their own treasure. The dragon tyrants of Ber would fight over territory, breed great warbeasts infused with magic, and occasionally war against other nations. After enough time, it became a <em>cause celebre</em> to go slay dragons, and to see the whole country of Ber as evil. </p><p></p><p>Then two centuries something shifted in the nature of flight magic. Any creature larger than an albatross lost the ability to fly, and could at best glide. Flight magic never lasted more than five minutes. Permanent flying magic items were relegated to one or two brief aerial forays per day. </p><p></p><p>The dragons were vulnerable, and the great dragon slayers of the world leapt upon the opportunity. Within five years they'd slain the last of the dragon tyrants and shattered all the eggs of the next generation.</p><p></p><p><strong>Ber's shared history of enslavement created a national identity devoted to liberty.</strong></p><p>It took a few generations, during which many of the old minions of the dragon tyrants tried to cling to power, but eventually a union of leaders of five races - orc, minotaur, kobold, goliath, and goblin - broke the rule of these warlords and brought the whole region of Ber into a constitutional government, where slavery was forbidden and hoarding wealth was seen as a sign of draconic predilections, and thus frowned upon. They were eventually joined by lizardfolk, some dragonborn, and even a few gnolls, though on the isolated island of Karch, one group of gnolls remained convinced that their slain dragon tyrant, Gradiax the Steel Lord, would be reborn in a body of metal, so they refused to join the rest of Ber.</p><p></p><p><strong>Twenty years ago, the gnolls went all Wakanda.</strong></p><p>For reasons not publicly known, twenty years ago the 'steelmarked gnolls' who revered their Steel Lord Gradiax finally emerged from isolation. Revealing technology decades ahead of the rest of the world, they launched a coup by trying to replace Ber's ruler and close advisors with metallic duplicants that looked just like living people but were remotely controlled. Ber's military stormed the island of Karch with overwhelming numbers, and almost as quickly as the coup began, the steelmarked withdrew their forces from Ber's mainland. An uneasy peace began, with Berans watching the gnolls for signs of betrayal.</p><p></p><p>Instead, the steelmarked announced they had a new leader, a human industrialist named Benedict Pemberton, whom they called the Voice of Gradiax. Pemberton made plans to bring into the public eye all the inventions and mighty industrial works the gnolls had long toiled upon in secret, and today the island of Karch offers friendly laws and low taxes to industrial investors, who are invited to stay in a luxurious city with gleaming towers of glass and steel. Some whisper rumors that Pemberton is indeed the old dragon tyrant, who took human form to escape being slain, and now intends to conquer the world through capitalism, rather than fire and claw.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="RangerWickett, post: 8393865, member: 63"] A bit more, if I can get away with it. [B]Two centuries ago, kings and nobles and adventurers hunted dragons to extinction. [/B] There was one nation where dragons had become fond of ruling over enslaved orcs, goblins, gnolls, and the like, rather than simply hoarding their own treasure. The dragon tyrants of Ber would fight over territory, breed great warbeasts infused with magic, and occasionally war against other nations. After enough time, it became a [I]cause celebre[/I] to go slay dragons, and to see the whole country of Ber as evil. Then two centuries something shifted in the nature of flight magic. Any creature larger than an albatross lost the ability to fly, and could at best glide. Flight magic never lasted more than five minutes. Permanent flying magic items were relegated to one or two brief aerial forays per day. The dragons were vulnerable, and the great dragon slayers of the world leapt upon the opportunity. Within five years they'd slain the last of the dragon tyrants and shattered all the eggs of the next generation. [B]Ber's shared history of enslavement created a national identity devoted to liberty.[/B] It took a few generations, during which many of the old minions of the dragon tyrants tried to cling to power, but eventually a union of leaders of five races - orc, minotaur, kobold, goliath, and goblin - broke the rule of these warlords and brought the whole region of Ber into a constitutional government, where slavery was forbidden and hoarding wealth was seen as a sign of draconic predilections, and thus frowned upon. They were eventually joined by lizardfolk, some dragonborn, and even a few gnolls, though on the isolated island of Karch, one group of gnolls remained convinced that their slain dragon tyrant, Gradiax the Steel Lord, would be reborn in a body of metal, so they refused to join the rest of Ber. [B]Twenty years ago, the gnolls went all Wakanda.[/B] For reasons not publicly known, twenty years ago the 'steelmarked gnolls' who revered their Steel Lord Gradiax finally emerged from isolation. Revealing technology decades ahead of the rest of the world, they launched a coup by trying to replace Ber's ruler and close advisors with metallic duplicants that looked just like living people but were remotely controlled. Ber's military stormed the island of Karch with overwhelming numbers, and almost as quickly as the coup began, the steelmarked withdrew their forces from Ber's mainland. An uneasy peace began, with Berans watching the gnolls for signs of betrayal. Instead, the steelmarked announced they had a new leader, a human industrialist named Benedict Pemberton, whom they called the Voice of Gradiax. Pemberton made plans to bring into the public eye all the inventions and mighty industrial works the gnolls had long toiled upon in secret, and today the island of Karch offers friendly laws and low taxes to industrial investors, who are invited to stay in a luxurious city with gleaming towers of glass and steel. Some whisper rumors that Pemberton is indeed the old dragon tyrant, who took human form to escape being slain, and now intends to conquer the world through capitalism, rather than fire and claw. [/QUOTE]
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