Chapter 336: Expired Treaties
Prince Fahad continued in a serious and sombre tone. "In fact, I’m not certain that Cygnia teaches them at all, either. After all, at the time, their Clan King was dragonkin as well. It’s not a fact that they like to openly acknowledge these days.
Axbridge still passes the memories directly, with a memory stone. All Royal heirs and potential heirs are given the important memories of our ancestors so that the knowledge isn’t lost.
What you likely know is that the final few Dragon Kings were pacifists. But they were that way because of the uprising.
At one time, close to six hundred years ago, the monster clans were organized. They marched from the fjords of what is now the Burlish Empire across the continent. At the time, the humans of the eastern nations were nomadic tribes, with only a few towns fully settled.
So, there was no real resistance as they moved across the southeast, scattering the tribes.
Only when they came north did their invasion slow. You see, the trolls and dragons of Wavemates Clan were violently territorial, and when the Ogre King’s army entered their territory, a massive war erupted.
The humans saw this as their chance, and thirty clans united to join the battle on the side of the Wavemates Clan.
Working together, they scattered the monster armies, but the Ogre King escaped. Still, it seemed like the end of his ambitions, and the war was over.
Then, as you have probably already guessed, the thirty allied clans turned on the Wavemates Clan. They were mighty, and the first Dragon King’s forces were depleted from the war.
But they didn’t win.
The Wavemates Clan returned to their territory, and after another decade of war, the old king passed his throne to his son, the first Dragon King.
He made a magically binding deal with the human clans. They would stop attacking Wavemates and its demihuman tribes, and in exchange, he wouldn’t take up where the Ogre King left off and wipe out the human clans of the northeast.
From then on, the Dragon Kings were pacifists, and the humans signed nonaggression pacts.
Naturally, they didn’t last long. Humans have short memories, but the Dragon Kings remembered, and when they were invaded, they refused to call the monster and dragon clans to battle, fearing that a continent wide war would begin.
Now, there is no Dragon King, and the treaties are expired.
That is where our current problems start.
Without that treaty, and the protection of the Dragon King’s magic, what will stop a new invasion? Nobody else seems to remember that there was a good reason the monster clans were nothing more than a scattered threat.
What would happen if Dagos attacked again, and you had an army of half ogres at your disposal? Or ten thousand beast blooded mages to back up a battalion of Trolls?
Would they stop when Dagos fell? Or would they keep going until they were certain that the humans wouldn’t try to wipe them out again?"
A brief vision of glory flashed through Dominic’s mind. A giant golden dragon, leading an army of Sorcerers and Trolls through Dagos, crushing everything underfoot.
And they would. It wouldn’t even be a fair fight.
With the magic of the demihumans, and the regeneration of the Trolls, an entire army led by a new Dragon King, especially with magitech weapons, would decimate anything that he aimed them at.
Once the initial thought faded, Dominic sighed and shook his head. "The Dragon King might have been a fool to keep to his noble notions of pacifism when Dagos happily killed every member of his lineage they could find, but you are right.
If anyone had unified the demihumans and called them to war, they would have rampaged.
If you’re not aware, there isn’t anywhere on the continent that the Sorcerers and other monster blooded species are treated well. Unified, such an army would be a nightmare for their enemies.
Can you imagine trying to take down a battalion of half ogres in a sword fight?"
Prince Fahad nodded. "Oh, I can imagine it. We even ran battle simulations once we saw the composition of the nomadic tribes coming your way.
What we determined was that Axbridge alone would be unlikely to win, and most of them are currently in our territory, so the rest of the continent would see it as a civil war.
The King is of the opinion that we should encourage them to come to Stansia Province, then to disperse."
"Which implies that you are of a different opinion." Dominic noted.
Prince Fahad nodded. "I believe that it is actually safer to have them all in one spot. As happened in Kinewen during the Dagos invasion, the concentration of population makes it easier to contain a problem.
But more than that, I agree with many of the nomadic tribal leaders that rebuilding Wistover as a magical city is for the best.
It will give them a sense of home, and slowly remove those feelings of ’otherness’, that have kept them as nomads and outcasts."
"So, you’re caught in a dilemma. Bringing so many powerful people to one spot is a threat, and Axbridge doesn’t fully trust me not to wage war on behalf of the nonhumans.
But you also hold on to the hope that having a territory full of Sorcerers and demihumans again might cut down on the banditry and violent nomadic tribal issues your nation suffers from." Dominic guessed.
"Not far from the truth. Now, can we come to some agreement that you will take in these nomads and help them settle? Truly settle, not just hide and work as bandits based in Wistover."
Dominic sipped his drink and smiled. "I think we can come to an agreement. Some of the bandits should be fine to give up their old ways and settle here, the rest we will deal with. But the nomadic mage tribes are what we have been looking for in town.
You see, I have magitech factories going up, and a need for skilled workers."
Prince Fahad smiled. "I will have my soldiers guide them your way with the promise of a town to call home under an heir of the Dragon King, and the nation of Cygnia."