Message #1042360

[Le maître du jeu(Eretas)]

The Skyfire Mandate

In the rise of the true dragons, many Triaxians saw not only enslavement, but the potential extinction of their race. It was only through an alliance of Triaxian men and women, dragonkin, and  metallic  dragons—an  army  the likes  of  which  has  never  been  seen before or since—that the menace was halted.  Huge  sacrifices  were  made, including  the  lives  of  most  of  the humanoids’  true  dragon  allies,  yet the spirit of their alliance continues to live on today in the form of the Skyfire Mandate.
The  Skyfire  Mandate  occupies  the  long  land bridge  between  Triaxus’s  western,  dragon-controlled  continent  and  the  eastern  lands of the Allied Territories. Rather than being a single nation, it is instead a vast collection of semi-independent  military  units  in  charge  of protecting  individual  regions,  called  holdings. Together, these soldiers make up the famed Dragon Legion, sworn not to a monarch or a government, but  to  the  promise  of  keeping  the  Drakelands from expanding.
Though  all  races  are  welcome  to  take  up  the Dragon  Legion’s  cause,  in  practice  the  group consists  almost  entirely  of  Triaxians  and dragonkin—hence  the  legion’s  reliance  on  its iconic dragonriders. These legendary pairings are fearsome in combat, the dragonkin often fighting with huge lances and glaives while their riders support them with archery or magic,  yet  it’s  a  mistake  to  think  of  the dragonkin  as  steeds.  Rather,  these  duos are  true  partnerships  between  equals, bonds  of  love,  trust,  and  fellowship that  extend  beyond  the  battlefield,  with the  Triaxians  acting  as  the  dragonkin’s domestic partners and caretakers.
The  governmental  structure  of  the  Skyfire  Mandate  is a loose one. Commanders of the various holdings must be chosen  by  the  acclaim  of  their  soldiers  and  sponsored  by two existing commanders from other units. Once instated, only  a  vote  of  no  confidence  from  the  men  and  women under their direction can remove commanders from power.
Policy and overarching strategy for the legion as a whole is set  in  meetings  of  the  Tribunal—13  of  the  most  seasoned and  respected  commanders  in  the  service—but  beyond this,  commanders  have  complete  authority  within  their holdings. Though disputes between commanders are heavily discouraged, they can be settled through meetings arbitrated by  other  commanders  (called  “parleys”)  or  brought  before the Tribunal, or in extreme cases can be decided through single  combat.  Outright  military  action  against  another commander  is  considered  high  treason,  with  all  other commanders  immediately  seizing  the  offender’s  holding and carrying out the sentence of death by high-altitude drop.
Of  course,  the  majority  of  citizens  within  the  Skyfire Mandate  are  not  legionaries,  but  rather  simple  farmers, woodcutters,  merchants,  and  other  common  people.  They organize primarily into small townships and even city-states, though the formation of full-on nations is discouraged by the  legion  (a  process  many  would-be  rulers  get  around  by establishing  far-reaching  guilds).  These  people  are  largely left to govern themselves, though the Dragon Legion both recruits from their ranks and retains the right to requisition what  supplies  they  require—a  little-loved  process  known as  “tithing.”  Though  the  commoners  naturally  grumble about the military “fatting itself while producing nothing,” those who’ve seen the legion or its enemies in combat rarely challenge the practice.  Lately,  however, many of the larger city-states to the east have begun protesting, demanding that the legion leave them alone, and sometimes even going so far as to claim that the dragons are no longer a threat.
As the Skyfire Mandate is hundreds of miles wide, the border holdings naturally see far more action than those in  more  eastern  regions.  While  this  gives  those  gung-ho commanders  who  claim  the  border  fortresses  that  much more  respect  and  prestige,  the  eastern  holdings  still pull  their  weight  by  regularly  rotating  units  into  certain fortifications along the border maintained specifically for that  purpose,  running  minor  invasions  and  annexation missions, dealing with local governments, and patrolling the  vast  stretches  of  sea  to  the  north  and  south  to  make sure the dragons don’t simply try to fly around. Still, the fact that these soldiers get to retreat to relative safety rather than  constantly  living  in  the  contested  Parapets  makes “eastlander” a popular insult among western legionaries.