You pace the deck of your flagship, Blood River, nervously. For the past few months you have been cooped up on the deck of this ship, unable to use your true form due to lack of space and your lack of practice transforming mid-flight. For this voyage you have adopted the form of a six foot tall purple reptilian humanoid. When taking the form, you thought to give yourself wings, but to your dismay they were too small for long distance flight so you had to settle for flying between ships to actually commune with the lesser beings you have chosen to drag along as minions.
Grom-Chul, the half-human nephew of the Orcish Pirate Lord who took your precious hoard and provided your ships and slaves, is the one you come closest to liking. He is an ambitious little shit, who volunteered to control your 7000 or so Clownfin slaves with only his team of 90 Orcish slave drivers. He is cunning, ruthless, and you do not find his desires distasteful; The half orc isn't pretentious enough to covet your friendship, or the wealth of Doomrus that is rightfully yours, but merely a position of power over the High Elves which he plans to obtain by running the slaves that kept them fed, sheltered, and clothed.
As for the slaves themselves, Grom-Chul is confident that there is minimal chance of escape or uprising so long as you are not an especially abusive master. Clownfin are at the bottom of the ocean's pecking order, so if they flee, they are only likely to find themselves slaves or dinner to something else. The real issue is likely going to be protecting their eventual settlement from underwater beasts and raiders looking to make your slaves their own. The half orc suggests finding them a harbor with a small entrance that they can turn into a defensible choke-point if you don't want to put the effort into defending them yourselves.
When you inquire if the slaves keep an internal leadership structure, Grom-Chul explains that each Clownfin household typically manages its own affairs, but the population turns to their magic users for conflict resolution and spiritual advice. Clownfin arcane tradition includes very basic fire, water, and poison magics. The Clownfin are cagey, and usually keep the identity of their mages secret from their masters, but Grom-Chul has been driving merfolk slaves for decades and knows what to look for. He has identified a middle aged female on his ship called Flyooshy as such a caster. He could find more mages for you, but that would involve him traveling between ships to seek them out, and he suggests that one Clownfin mage is as good as another anyway.
While the Clownfin seem to have more or less accepted the yoke of slavery, the high elves are also pathetic in their own right. They are split into two main camps of about 1400 humanoids each, each lead by a scholar looking to open a satellite campus of his or her respective university on Doomrus.
Dr. Henrique Seville is the wizened head of the FFB Magics (Flora, Fauna, and Brewing) college at the University of High Haven, and you can tell right away that earning his respect will be an uphill battle. He is several centuries your elder, and often, right to you face, compares you unfavorably to other dragons he has met over the course of his long life. In addition to his followers and their supplies, Dr. Seville also has brought his flock of 100 horse sized omnivorous and slightly magical flightless birds called Color Runners along for the adventure. They look delicious.
Dean Mayleen Mapleseat is younger and more affable than Dr. Seville, but also happens to be the only being on your voyage that scares you. Dean Mapleseat has only been head of the Goldwalls University College of Forgotten Magics for a decade and a half; Before that she was a consultant for the high general of the Xinut Empire. She travels with a personal guard of about 70 fully armored dwarves, most of whom are retired or discharged Xinut soldiers. From what you can gather through the whispers of her students, she knows the Xinut rituals to make powerful artifacts from dragon remains, and her guard has brought at least one dragon killing siege weapon along for the voyage. When confronted with this, Dean Mapleseat neither confirms nor denies anything, and simpily tells you that she wishes to establish a suitable base from which she can scour Doomrus for ancient ruins and un-contacted civilizations.
In addition to the scholars and their students, you are also joined by Princess Ni'gwent of the Singing Canyon, a pretty young elf who in the old days you would have kidnapped in a heartbeat as either a meal, a decoration for your lair, or a short term sexual plaything. This one, however, is rather annoying in that she seems to have overly romantic notions of what in means to run off with a dragon. Admittedly a skilled architech, she has spent the whole voyage drawing up plans for a dream castle which you are to share with her, and has dropped several unsubtle hints as to what she is looking for in an engagement ring. As annoying as the brat is, it may serve you well to play her game; Her 200 strong retainer of guards and servants includes some of the mightiest mages on the voyage, and as an actual princess in good standing with the High Elfish High King, she would be well within her rights to pull rank and boss the scholars around.
Far more numerous but no more likable than the elves are the Tieflings, who are also split into two groups.
The first and smaller Tiefling faction calls itself the Typhoon Coast Enclave, and has persisted in relative isolation for several generations. Their stated goal is the creation of a superior race of beings through the selective breeding of Tieflings and other demonic creatures, and they must have been having some success as the Xinut Empire has recently been trying to press them into military service, which is of course what prompted them to run away with you. The enclave is about 4500 Tieflings strong, and is lead by Cameron and Cori Moonblood, a pair of fraternal twins in an incestuous marriage. You find the moonbloods to be sickeningly friendly and selfless, and you cannot quite figure out if this is their genuine personality, or a misguided attempt to butter you up and add dragon blood to their eugenics project.
The larger Tiefling group is known as the Cult of the Four Limbs, a young Tiefling faith with about 7000 practitioners. You know little about the religious pratices of the cult, save for the fact that it only welcomes the worship of the demon blooded, and that the object of said worship is Bahammed, one of 13 fallen gods defeated by the dwarven pantheon at the beginning of time. The worshipers themselves seem to come from all walks of life, but as is true of Tieflings in general, most are outcasts from whatever land they originated in. They are lead by the Prophet Diabold, who was rendered mute years ago by a dwarven torture master. He 'speaks' by writting in demon rune, a language of which you understand only the bare basics. Communication is going to be an issue.
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It is one Grom-Chul's orcish underlings who rouses you from your deep thoughts on the minions you brought. "Lord Harkarus," the Orc begins with a slight bow, "Boss wants you to know that we are only about a week out from Doomrus now! Do you have any instructions on how to proceed?"
The question catches you off guard. Instructions? Who'd of thought that having minions would be so much work? You snarl, a light mist of negative energy escaping your nose, and dismiss the Orc in frustration. After considering the question for a bit, however, you admit there is some merit to it. Perhaps you should have some orders ready for the fools, at least by the time the ships reach the coast. To give wise orders, one must have wisdom. Knowledge of the situation. Your late mother used to preach that, and seeing as she used to lead a large cabal of Elemental Elves, you suppose that she knew what she was doing in that regard.
Yes... As loathsome as the thought of a dragon such as yourself working is, this last week of the voyage should be spent acquiring knowledge. Perhaps you should spend time with one or two of your important minions, learn more about them and their people, and quiz them about their knowledge of Doomrus. Perhaps you are better off taking wing, flying ahead, and checking out your new home before the mooks arrive. Perhaps you should spend some time in the cargo holds of your fleet, taking careful inventory of your follower's belongings. Or perhaps you have a better idea all together.
How do you proceed?
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Topic: (SG) Flight of the Dragon Lord (Read 8215 times)