Quelxiros

Quelxiros, also known as the Land of Dragons, is one of the longest standing empires on a single continent in the history of the realm. A continent ruled by a council of ancient dragons, Quelxiros is home to all forms of dragon-kin and their offshoots. Quelxiros is notorious for remaining out of all of the world's many conflicts, even though they could topple kingdoms and squash armies with ease, or bring countries to peaceful resolutions with silver-tongue diplomacy. In the most recent campaigns or events in history, however, they have sided with the Dark Pact, a collection of countries that oppose the Alliance. Quelxiros is as ancient as the Primordial Era, as the country was created by ancient primordial dragons that eventually turned into living gods. These living gods escaped the onslaught and bloodshed of the Divine War, and passed their power down to other worthy ancient dragons, who now rule Quelxiros as an empire.

Government

The government of Quelxiros is run by a group known as the Council of Wings. This council is lead by 9 true dragons; 7 adult dragons and 2 ancient dragons. Throughout Quelxiros' history, the council has been overtaken by chromatic dragons, but even when it was overtaken by evil true dragons, the empire remained, just ruled over by tyrannical dragons. However, many civil wars and close to near annihilation of the empire, the council was eventually won back by the good true dragons, who have maintained rulership since the end of the Divine War period.

In the capital city of Stormclaw, the Council of Wings lives above the rest of the city on a floating island. The City Below, an appropriate name, is overseen by Dragonborn and Dragon-kin leaders who answer directly to the Council of Wings. Most of the politics occur at the City Below, or Lower Stormclaw, where most of the citizens reside. The government of the Dynasty of Dragons is a council-based system, and each city has a council that oversees affairs within that city, but all answer to the Council of Wings. Each city is allowed to operate in their own way, as long as they remain within accordance of the laws of the empire and report all affairs to the Council of Wings. Cities are allowed to be independent and govern themselves, and report to the main council, or can be directly overseen by the main council. It is preferred that each city oversees itself, and reports to the main Council of Wings for support or affairs of any kind. The empire is a collection of independently ruled cities governed by other dragon councils that answer to the Emperor Dragons, another name for the Council of Wings.

Capital

The capital of Quelxiros is Stormclaw, a massive coastal and inland city. The city has two levels; one based on the ground, and a floating magical island above. The floating island is typically where the Council of Dragons reside and other true dragons have their small lairs and nests. The upper city is seen mainly as political districts and rich neighborhoods, as only the most important members of Stormclaw reside above. In the City Below, or Lower Stormclaw, is where majority of the 800,500 citizens reside. Stormclaw, by city standards, is massive, and often very cramped in certain districts. In the early days after the before the Stank Bitches were adventuring, many refugees from Tortoran, non-dragonborn kin were shoved into these slums districts, or crammed into large outskirt houses on farmlands. They were forced to work the farms in order to remain in their homes, and were often not paid anything. This was a darker time for Stormclaw and Quelxiros, as the leaders saw lesser of non-dragon kin, and were in a period of supremacy. That quickly changed when a law was passed, allowing Dragonborn to sit on the Council of Wings, instead of typically only true dragons. This sparked anger in many true dragons, who took to returning to older cities who enjoyed being ruled over by true dragons.

This law passed nearly started the Black Claw Rebellion, a resistance movement where Dragonborn and other dragon-kin revolted against the true dragons ruling over them, as they wanted to be included in the ruling party. Instead, the law was passed successfully and in more recent events of history, the Council of Wings in overseen by both true dragons and Dragonborn and dragon-kin.

The capital city is known for both its inland and naval military might, as well as magical prowess. Stormclaw has a large market for "lair goods," magic items and other trinkets that are sold by dragons that can make huge sales off of them. Innately with many dragons, collecting items and objects is part of their nature, so this nature has been turned into a business and source of income for many. The city also has large swaths of farmland, orchards, and fisheries. Stormclaw is primarily a trading city, making, selling, importing and exporting goods to other cities. Stormclaw also has contact with the outside world more than other cities, as they have several guild halls of the League of Hunters and a Planar Marines headquarters.

Military

The military of Quelxiros is massive; it has the largest navy and standing military within the Dark Pact. Most of the army is made up of Dragonborn, but there are whole units that are comprised of only true dragons, making them a force on the battlefield. While the military has never truly seen action, they fought off religious crusaders during the Divine War period. These crusaders were attempting to violently and aggressively convert Quelxiros, and by proxy, bring them into the Divine War conflict. However, before these crusader ships, which numbered in the hundreds, were able to reach anywhere near the shore, they were sunk and turned around by air superiority, something that no other country until the Age of Steam was able to possess. What makes the military of Quelxiros so strong is the fact that they have dragons, intelligent dragons that can fight on land, air, and sea. These dragon units are considered special forces by some, and a single unit of true dragons (mostly young-adult dragons) can sink dozens of ships or annihilate 100 troops.

Even more impressive are the Dragonborn soldiers, who wield both blade and magic in battles. One impressive unit, known as the Dragon Guard, is only spoken as a legend. No citizen has truly seen this unit, and not even the true dragons in power have seen this unit. It is said that the Dragon Guard are the personal army of the Emperor Dragons, sent out on special assignments all over the world. What makes them so special is not that they are true dragons and are powerful, but its the idea that a small unit of Dragonborn can do just about anything that true dragons could do. Armies that are terrified of going up against true dragons, having all these special weapons made for true dragons see a small unit of Dragonborn approaching them, but are caught off guard by their speed, agility and magical prowess. Often times, the Dragon Guard work side by side with true dragon army units; the Dragon Guard will go behind enemy lines and sabotage ranks of ballistae and other anti-air weaponry, and the true dragons will clean up.