A Treatise on the Dragonborn of the Fiery Reach
A quick historical piece I generated for a Dungeons and Dragons character I play. It's the backbone history of his family and the fief that they rule, becoming the basis of the trials and tribulations that pre-date the beginning of the game. I've already written a story about the character here ( LJ Link) that takes place in the midst of the current campaign.
The curious case of the Fiery Reach
Many wonder how it is that while the vast majority of the Dragonborn population throughout the lands of this realm scattered to the four corners that this singular fiefdom survives (or more keenly, how it is that the rest have not organized themselves similarly). The Fiery Reach is the most inhospitable of all the fiefdoms of Abeir. It is my belief (from studying their lore and some firsthand accounts of the people there and in the surrounding fiefs) that they are in fact the last vestige of the Arkhosian Kingdom, though none there would dare to boast of such.
Historically, the rise of the tiefling nation of Bael Turath plays a major part in the fragmentation of Arkhosia. My research suggests that the rise of human power in Abeir coincided with the growth of the Fiery Reach. Perhaps it had started as a stronghold for training Dragonborn warriors, but as the ravages of time disintegrated many of the universal ties of the Kingdom, the Dragonborn of the Fiery Reach remained tied by oath and honor to that land.
It is unfortunate that the Bloodfort Library was burned in the reign of terror of the last Lord Veyron, for it is said to have contained one of the most complete histories of Dragonborn kind. But it, like most of its steward’s line and that of Veyron are now lost to us. In its place are the oral tradition of their shaman and wise people and the fiery heart of a warrior culture that would give their all to rebuild the Kingdom that was, no matter how impossible a goal as it may seem.
All that is in the hands of House Dracarys. All told, House Dracarys has been in power for a mere forty-two years. In that time, they have had one ruler (the noble Lord Harkir) and he sits in the seat that he won by bloody war* with the overlord whose family had ruled further back than any Dragonborn can remember, all information lost in the same war. So, it shall be interesting to see what may happen when Lord Harkir dies. Because while the Dragonborn are bound by oath and honor, if his heir is not prepared for the job at hand, bloody war could return to the Fiery Reach.
* On the ascendancy of House Dracarys
The stories say that when Harkir Dracarys was but an adolescent of nine years, he envisioned the fall of House Veyron. His older brothers thought him a fool; Veyron was too powerful, they said, nothing would shake them! The Lords of Abeir's Fiery Reach were the most puissant in all the land and, they remarked, that so long as they were held up by the shield of Dracarys nothing would lay them low. To think otherwise showed cowardice and a lack of faith in not only the honorable Lord Veyron but in the strong shield that their blood represented.
Nine years later, Lord Shedinn Veyron disgraced himself in the eyes of all Abeir. In his shame, he diverted the blame onto House Dracarys. Slanderous though his claims were, Veyron's power was incredibly strong. He struck like lightning, overwhelming his once allies before they even knew the score. House Dracarys was massacred and their fortress of the Bloodfort destroyed.
All but Harkir, who (unbeknownst to Veyron) was studying in the Citadel of Bahamut at the time.
Harkir returned with a band of stalwart friends to find the walls of their ancestral home pulled down and put to the torch. Blackened stone and charred timber was all that remained. His own gout of fire incinerated the remains of the home and he wept angry tears while his companions guarded their inconsolable friend.
As the stone melted away under his breath, a glitter caught Harkir's eyes; his father's signet ring showed through the destruction. He reached into the fire and slipped the ring on. It seared his flesh, bonding with it eternally. He turned to his friends and bound them to a blood oath to help him avenge his family, set the Reach to rights and restore honor as the foundation of the Stronghold of Firesong.
The band split, swiftly moving across the Fiery Reach, rallying support amongst it's people against the tyrannical House Veyron. Support was hard in coming, loyalty and binding oaths making many stout Dragonborn leery of abandoning their sworn overlord. Some, those closest to House Dracarys, found sense in the band's words, unable to believe the slander that brought their allies' end. Others watched the degradation of Veyron and soon the oaths to defend Abeir and the Fiery Reach began to supersede those to Veyron.
As the groundswell built, Harkir and his closest friend, Balasar Ghesh trained in secret deep below the ruins of the Bloodfort, in the catacombs that held Harkir's ancestors. Day and night they trained, awaiting word from their fellows that the time had come.
When it did, Harkir led an army of the most stout Dragonborn warriors against Firesong. Balasar carried his banner and the band of friends led the van against the befuddled Lord Veyron. Veyron met them in the field thrice, each time underestimating his foes in number, skill and (most of all) in will. Harkir and his army won each battle, the final one beneath the walls of Firesong. Covered in blood and grime, Harkir sunk his talons into the neck of Veyron and with a savage battle cry ripped the head from his shoulders.
Harkir held the head of Veyron over his head and those warriors honor bound to defend the ruler of the Fiery Reach stopped fighting Harkir's forces, falling to a knee to honor their new overlord.
At that the portcullis rose, revealing the young Lady Nala, niece to the late Lord Veyron. She strode out into the battlefield, garbed in the colours of her family. Without a word, she cut the gown from her body and, baring her breast to Harkir, offered him the ceremonial dagger she had used to do it. The blade seem to glow, its hilt hot in his hand.
"Here in the shadow of Firesong, I, Nala of House Veyron offer up my heart's blood. It is the last blood of my uncle's treacherous line in all the realms. Mete out your justice, Lord Dracarys." Pleased with her final words, Nala dropped to her knees and lowered her head, prepared to meet Bahamut with honor.
Instead, Harkir buried the dagger in the ground and withdrew his own. Taking Nala's right hand in his, he plunged the dagger between them, cutting them both dearly, mingling their blood.
"Before these witnesses," Harkir called out, his voice carrying further than should have been possible, "I avow Nala daughter of Torrin clean of the taint of House Veyron's dishonor. Further, I give her my own name as mate and Lady to stand beside me in setting the Fiery Reach to right!"
A ragged cheer grew quickly into thunderous applause, and so it was that House Dracarys came to prominence on the blood of two otherwise destroyed lines...
House Dracarys
The ages old House Dracarys (meaning dragonfire) was amongst the esteemed and noble houses in what remained of Dragonborn society within the Fiery Reach, almost a nation unto itself in that most inhospitable region in all of the southern nation of Abeir. All but destroyed in the reign of terror of {Shedinn Veyron}, it’s last scion Harkir Dracarys put an end to his reign and re-established the power of Dracarys in becoming overlord of the Fiery Reach. Their heraldry is a field of gules with a sable party per bendy; a coiled dragon in Or is poised to strike in the lower field, a burst of Or flame in the upper field.
HARKIR DRACARYS, Lord of Firesong Keep, Overlord of The Fiery Reach
- his wife, NALA, once of {House Veyron} now taking only the name Dracarys
- - their children;
- - TORRIN, Heir of Firesong Keep, named for the previous Lord Dracarys
- - KAVA, the only daughter of the line, a sorceress of great power, on walkabout throughout the lands of the realm
- - {BALASAR}, their second son, ritualistically killed by the warlock Saruth while attempting to summon a daemon to destroy The Fiery Reach
- - - BALSAR's sons;
- - - {KRYAR}, killed avenging his father against Saruth (but not before taking the warlock’s life
- - - KAELNOR, a Guard Captain at the young age of seventeen in service to Firesong
The curious case of the Fiery Reach
Many wonder how it is that while the vast majority of the Dragonborn population throughout the lands of this realm scattered to the four corners that this singular fiefdom survives (or more keenly, how it is that the rest have not organized themselves similarly). The Fiery Reach is the most inhospitable of all the fiefdoms of Abeir. It is my belief (from studying their lore and some firsthand accounts of the people there and in the surrounding fiefs) that they are in fact the last vestige of the Arkhosian Kingdom, though none there would dare to boast of such.
Historically, the rise of the tiefling nation of Bael Turath plays a major part in the fragmentation of Arkhosia. My research suggests that the rise of human power in Abeir coincided with the growth of the Fiery Reach. Perhaps it had started as a stronghold for training Dragonborn warriors, but as the ravages of time disintegrated many of the universal ties of the Kingdom, the Dragonborn of the Fiery Reach remained tied by oath and honor to that land.
It is unfortunate that the Bloodfort Library was burned in the reign of terror of the last Lord Veyron, for it is said to have contained one of the most complete histories of Dragonborn kind. But it, like most of its steward’s line and that of Veyron are now lost to us. In its place are the oral tradition of their shaman and wise people and the fiery heart of a warrior culture that would give their all to rebuild the Kingdom that was, no matter how impossible a goal as it may seem.
All that is in the hands of House Dracarys. All told, House Dracarys has been in power for a mere forty-two years. In that time, they have had one ruler (the noble Lord Harkir) and he sits in the seat that he won by bloody war* with the overlord whose family had ruled further back than any Dragonborn can remember, all information lost in the same war. So, it shall be interesting to see what may happen when Lord Harkir dies. Because while the Dragonborn are bound by oath and honor, if his heir is not prepared for the job at hand, bloody war could return to the Fiery Reach.
* On the ascendancy of House Dracarys
The stories say that when Harkir Dracarys was but an adolescent of nine years, he envisioned the fall of House Veyron. His older brothers thought him a fool; Veyron was too powerful, they said, nothing would shake them! The Lords of Abeir's Fiery Reach were the most puissant in all the land and, they remarked, that so long as they were held up by the shield of Dracarys nothing would lay them low. To think otherwise showed cowardice and a lack of faith in not only the honorable Lord Veyron but in the strong shield that their blood represented.
Nine years later, Lord Shedinn Veyron disgraced himself in the eyes of all Abeir. In his shame, he diverted the blame onto House Dracarys. Slanderous though his claims were, Veyron's power was incredibly strong. He struck like lightning, overwhelming his once allies before they even knew the score. House Dracarys was massacred and their fortress of the Bloodfort destroyed.
All but Harkir, who (unbeknownst to Veyron) was studying in the Citadel of Bahamut at the time.
Harkir returned with a band of stalwart friends to find the walls of their ancestral home pulled down and put to the torch. Blackened stone and charred timber was all that remained. His own gout of fire incinerated the remains of the home and he wept angry tears while his companions guarded their inconsolable friend.
As the stone melted away under his breath, a glitter caught Harkir's eyes; his father's signet ring showed through the destruction. He reached into the fire and slipped the ring on. It seared his flesh, bonding with it eternally. He turned to his friends and bound them to a blood oath to help him avenge his family, set the Reach to rights and restore honor as the foundation of the Stronghold of Firesong.
The band split, swiftly moving across the Fiery Reach, rallying support amongst it's people against the tyrannical House Veyron. Support was hard in coming, loyalty and binding oaths making many stout Dragonborn leery of abandoning their sworn overlord. Some, those closest to House Dracarys, found sense in the band's words, unable to believe the slander that brought their allies' end. Others watched the degradation of Veyron and soon the oaths to defend Abeir and the Fiery Reach began to supersede those to Veyron.
As the groundswell built, Harkir and his closest friend, Balasar Ghesh trained in secret deep below the ruins of the Bloodfort, in the catacombs that held Harkir's ancestors. Day and night they trained, awaiting word from their fellows that the time had come.
When it did, Harkir led an army of the most stout Dragonborn warriors against Firesong. Balasar carried his banner and the band of friends led the van against the befuddled Lord Veyron. Veyron met them in the field thrice, each time underestimating his foes in number, skill and (most of all) in will. Harkir and his army won each battle, the final one beneath the walls of Firesong. Covered in blood and grime, Harkir sunk his talons into the neck of Veyron and with a savage battle cry ripped the head from his shoulders.
Harkir held the head of Veyron over his head and those warriors honor bound to defend the ruler of the Fiery Reach stopped fighting Harkir's forces, falling to a knee to honor their new overlord.
At that the portcullis rose, revealing the young Lady Nala, niece to the late Lord Veyron. She strode out into the battlefield, garbed in the colours of her family. Without a word, she cut the gown from her body and, baring her breast to Harkir, offered him the ceremonial dagger she had used to do it. The blade seem to glow, its hilt hot in his hand.
"Here in the shadow of Firesong, I, Nala of House Veyron offer up my heart's blood. It is the last blood of my uncle's treacherous line in all the realms. Mete out your justice, Lord Dracarys." Pleased with her final words, Nala dropped to her knees and lowered her head, prepared to meet Bahamut with honor.
Instead, Harkir buried the dagger in the ground and withdrew his own. Taking Nala's right hand in his, he plunged the dagger between them, cutting them both dearly, mingling their blood.
"Before these witnesses," Harkir called out, his voice carrying further than should have been possible, "I avow Nala daughter of Torrin clean of the taint of House Veyron's dishonor. Further, I give her my own name as mate and Lady to stand beside me in setting the Fiery Reach to right!"
A ragged cheer grew quickly into thunderous applause, and so it was that House Dracarys came to prominence on the blood of two otherwise destroyed lines...
House Dracarys
The ages old House Dracarys (meaning dragonfire) was amongst the esteemed and noble houses in what remained of Dragonborn society within the Fiery Reach, almost a nation unto itself in that most inhospitable region in all of the southern nation of Abeir. All but destroyed in the reign of terror of {Shedinn Veyron}, it’s last scion Harkir Dracarys put an end to his reign and re-established the power of Dracarys in becoming overlord of the Fiery Reach. Their heraldry is a field of gules with a sable party per bendy; a coiled dragon in Or is poised to strike in the lower field, a burst of Or flame in the upper field.
HARKIR DRACARYS, Lord of Firesong Keep, Overlord of The Fiery Reach
- his wife, NALA, once of {House Veyron} now taking only the name Dracarys
- - their children;
- - TORRIN, Heir of Firesong Keep, named for the previous Lord Dracarys
- - KAVA, the only daughter of the line, a sorceress of great power, on walkabout throughout the lands of the realm
- - {BALASAR}, their second son, ritualistically killed by the warlock Saruth while attempting to summon a daemon to destroy The Fiery Reach
- - - BALSAR's sons;
- - - {KRYAR}, killed avenging his father against Saruth (but not before taking the warlock’s life
- - - KAELNOR, a Guard Captain at the young age of seventeen in service to Firesong