Lords and Dracine Knights of Azure's Dominion

Nominally, all the citizens of Azure's Dominion pay homage to the Dragon Emperor who rules in the name of Azure until the great dragon wakes again.  Yet in order to administer the growing empire the Emperor declares 400 families to be noble. The leader of that particular family is granted the title of  "Lord of the Dominion" and wears a diadem with a obsidian Gemstone from the Volcanic Prizon of Azure. Family Members display intricate silver broaches to identify their status.  Many families produce similar bronze broaches for clients to display their alligence.    

According to the Founding Documents and philosophy of the Dominion only the Dragon Emperor may make policies, pass judgement and lead armories.  Very quickly the Dragon Emperor s discovered they needed help so the created the Lord of the Dominion who can be authorized to exercise aspects of Imperial Power.  Only the Lord him or herself may exercise the power, but families and clients tend to make up the ideal body of aides, beurocrats , subordinates and bodyguards.   

There are a number of requirements a Lord must fulfill. They pay a tax, must provide a number of trained Dracine Knights to the Emperors Armies, and they must be able to perform their assigned duties in person.  Lords are not permitted to bequith their title to their heir without reviving  confirmation from the Dragon Emperor.   Many Lords retire and relinquish their diadem to their successor before their deaths. Traditionally the successor provides a pension for the household of the retired lord.

Dracine Knights are heavy cavalry soldiers mounted on the savage dracine, a swift, horse sized lizard with sharp hungry teeth.  These are often recruited from noble families and is considered a right of passage to serve atleast a decade as a Dracine Knight.  After a decade many choose to take off their wicked spurs and return to their families, but a number who excel remain and may be selected to be a Baneret.  The highest honor a Dracine Knight can achieve is to be selected as one of the five Dracine Lords. These are Lords of the Dominion who are charged with leading the five most elite cavalry squadrons.  

Azure's Dominion

A 500 years ago the spirit of the Great Dragon Azure called upon an Elven prince to serve him. The Prince, named Zireimen, managed to convert a number of Elves to their service of the Dragon and amassed not only an Army bit a nation. The Religonof Azure spread like the flame from the Dragon's breath across all the spires and elves, in the solemn secrecy of their hearts pledged their fidelity to Azure above all others. The Spire Lords sought to eradicate this threat to the Elven way of life and they outlawed worship of beings other than the gods of their forefathers. Having incited an existential war of faith the now organized Children of Azure fought the alliance of Spires to a draw in the north west city of Bala-Tol. There Zireimen accepted defeat on the terms that the followers of the Dragon be free to leave the City and live as Exiles.

Azure lead the Prince where his exiled children to a new home. The Exhiles, as they came to be called in history, disembarked on Volcanic Island where the Feyfolk had Imprisioned The dragon ages before. There they subjugated the tribal dragonkin race, the Drakes, and built a new civilization. They expanded, conquering and assimilating peoples, establishing an Empire they reverently named "Azure's Dominion."

Outsiders often refer to the Elves of Azure's Dominion as Dark Elves. This is for two reasons. Firstly where Spire Elf architecture is dominated by glorious towers, the great buildings of the descendants of the Exiles are a dark ashy color, often decorated with black volcanic glass. Secondly, though elves are typically dour and severe the cultural tone of Azure's Dominion seems much more sinister than the aloof intellectualism of the Spire Elves. Most Dark Elves do not take offense to that name but they refer to themselves in their own tounge as Brin-Ou, meaning Children of the Exiles.

The Dragon Emperor, and all his faithful subjects, seek to prepare the world for Azures coming at the Dawning of the next age. Though the Brin-Ou are the chief citizens of the empire, sometimes refered to as Azure’s Chosen, the dragon kin, called Azure’s Children, and men alike serve Azure’s Dominion. 

Spire Elves

The elves in the east are proud members of the oldest surviving civilization. Though they are disunited people, each pledging allegiance to their city-state, their Spire. Despite this they share a rich  cultural tradition and a disregard for the world outside the hegemony of their race. They are only called Spire Elves by outsiders, a name derived from the ornate towers which rise up in the center of their cities, they identify themselves by the Spire they call home.

Each spire governs according to their own customs though the most common form of government is an Oligarchy.  The Sidean model is popular, named for the ancient elven philosopher who proposed it.  Sidean Spires have a chamber of lords, representative Chiefs of the great households who rule, and the chamber of elders, the old and wise elves who debate, study and consult portents to guide the young and bold Spire Lords.

Most conflict between spires is short and decisive. The Spire Elves fancy themselves artisans rather than warriors so most spires have very few professional soliers. The bulk of a Spire elf army is made up of citizen phalangites doing their civic duty in defense of their home. Archery and horseback riding are much more difficult skills to master. The elf archers are the guards and police in civil times and the elite warriors in time of war. The cavalry are made up of young members of noble houses and they form well trained and equipped units of cataphracts.

The elves, as a whole, are fascinated with astrology. Many of their greatest philosophers were astrologers. Outside of that field man elves undergo formal and somewhat detached studies of magic and the Feyfolk. Other than that most elven intellectuals are consumed with their own cultural and intellectual tradition reflecting and commenting on the great elven poets and the wonderful hidden meaning in the architecture of the spires.

The elves themselves are exceedingly fair and graceful and their bodies do not fail as man's does. They do age though and with age comes long straight beards and silver hair. They often describe aging as growing weary and death at old age to them is like crawling into a warm bed after an arduous day.

The Spire Elves worship the ancient Gods of the Fey. Their religion is not zealous. They give to the gods their due in a matter of fact attitude with only skin deep reverence. Many elves have a belief that their race is on a slow ascent to god-hood, and they will continue to perfect their knowledge of the world until such time as they are the spiritual masters of it.

Song of a Waning Age

Song of a Waning Age

I fell in love with Andrea Sfiligoi's fantasy skirmish Rules Song of Blades and Heroes. It's easy, fast paced, unique and most importantly it leaves plenty of room for imagination and creativity.  Though the fantastic new edition, known as Adanced Song of Blades and Heros, takes place in the whimsical world of Norindaal I decided to make my own world that accommodates all the adventures and characters I want to see.

The Song of a Waning Age setting takes place in a world after a decline of an elf and fairy golden age. The rise in the Dragon Cult and the corruption of Fae Magic through man's study of necromancy has destabilized the old regimes as younger people's challenge the old ones for dominance. Like the moon, as it wanes, there must be darkness before it waxes again.