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OVERVIEW

 

The Realm-Building Enterprise is a set of laws and regulations surrounding a rider’s ability to build and develop the continent. Under the Enterprise, riders may strategically use their resources to build anything from garrisons, towns, cities, and even entire realms on Elondria.

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All legally inducted riders are members of the Dragonsteel Order (or “the Order”), as overseen by the highest-ranking rider known as the Lord Prince.

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Dragonsteel is politically independent and obligated to serve the Republic’s Ruling Council (“the Elenntarien”). The sanctioned purpose of Dragonsteel is solely to protect all realms in the Republic from foreign invasions, without partiality to any faction or seat.

 

PURPOSE OF THE ENTERPRISE

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Elondria just emerged out of a devastating war, known as the War of Treason. It decimated the Republic and the old Imperial Dragonguard, and was the worst continental war in all history.

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To make matters worse, rumors have it the Betrayer, the human mage who led the war, is mobilizing in the south for a new invasion.

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In order to discourage a second continental war, the Realm-Building Enterprise is necessary. It is the Republic’s solution to quickly rebuilding the continent.

 

HOW TO JOIN THE ENTERPRISE

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To become a Realm-Builder, one must be at minimum fifteen years old. More importantly, under the sponsorship of a rider of Ealdorman rank or higher, one must hatch a dragon egg legally owned by the Order.

 

THE ENTERPRISE’S THREE RULES

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Every Builder’s path is different. Every rider enrolls in the Enterprise for different reasons, whether it be for wealth, glory, contribution, or the sense of adventure. Your strategy is your own, and it will determine how far you go. Ultimately, rebuilding the continent is your highest moral duty.

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To begin the exciting endeavor of Realm-Building, you must follow three essential rules…

 

Rule One: Start a dragonpost.

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A Builder’s path begins with starting or joining a “dragonpost,” or simply, a military outpost with the potential of becoming a city. Your primary focus should be to grow these posts and recruit more riders. You might do the former by merging with other posts, paying for skilled workers to develop the settlement for you, or if resources are scarce, building one structure at a time with your own hands.

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Indeed, no one ever said building outposts, much less entire kingdoms, is easy. This is why the majority of riders never make it past Ealdorman rank, the lowest rank of all. Most give up, lose their initial fire, or employ poor strategy that would make it impossible to succeed. Building cities, and even a kingdom, would take the most skilled Builder many decades, even if he had the military acumen for it.

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The greatest Dragonlords exercise leadership and charisma to attract skilled workers, engineers, and artisans from different regions. This organically draws more people to their posts. Families are eager to move, construct their own homes and markets, and pay taxes in return for a new life in a flourishing urban center. Notwithstanding, they are reassured to have the protection of a mighty dragon rider. By this, the loop of growth continues, without the need for the Realm-Builder to build structures with his own hands. One day, he may wake to find his dragonpost turned into a city.

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This concept should incentivize you to build a large post. Bountiful taxes flowing into your treasuries means more resources to build more posts, and recruit and pay wages to skilled riders who will in turn Build for you.

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Legendary Builders like Eyrekvald the Unbroken, who started as a common, are model examples of this. He proves that building to great heights, and transforming one’s legacy, is possible for anyone.

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Dragonpost ranks:

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When it comes to building, the Order has established the following ruleset, each of which will bring its own rewards:

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Outpost—a post under five riders.

Garrison—a post under ten riders.

Town—a post of at least ten riders.

City—a post of at least twenty-five riders.

Capital—a post of fifty riders or more.

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Building a realm:

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But the most exciting prospect of the Enterprise is the ability for anyone to build a realm. In order for your posts to qualify as a new “realm” in the Republic, you must meet the Order’s four requirements:

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Be a rider of Dragonlord rank.

Have at minimum fifty riders under you.

Have at minimum three Dragonlords under you.

Build a post in unclaimed Republic territory.

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Should you meet all of these milestones, your dragonposts are eligible to become an official “realm.” When this happens, you will exit the Order’s governance to become an independent monarch with a seat in the Elenntarien, the Republic’s Ruling Council. This is the highest of all honors for an ambitious Builder.

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Warboards & zones:

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The Order, and every dragonpost, keeps a “warboard” made of waystones that display current Enterprise maps. It is by these maps that you may decide where you will build a post and develop the land.

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Two decades ago, the Order plotted out the Republic of Aranor Elondris with “zones,” or what appear to be individual tiles on the warboards. Each zone marks about one mile (“span”).

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Ensure that you adhere to the following rules…

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When starting a dragonpost: You legally own the zone you start your dragonpost in, along with the eight contiguous zones surrounding it. You are strictly forbidden from starting a post in claimed land, whether that is by the realm’s ruling Eldari or another dragonpost. When the Order officiates your zones, your lands are officially a “dragonpost.”

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The various zones on the maps include…

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Gray Zones—claimed lands that are not eligible for Realm-Building in.

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Green Zones—also known as “free zones,” these are zones eligible for claiming under the Enterprise rules. Claiming one green zone typically starts at 50 gold talents paid to the Order. Note that depending on the natural resources and quality of the land, this may vary drastically.

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Dark Zones—these black tiles represent undiscovered territory. They may exist within or outside the Republic. If you build in dark zones beyond Republic borders, you legally own the land (as opposed to building within Republic borders, which means you are technically leasing land from the realm’s ruling Eldari.) Dark zones beyond Republic territory are eligible to be turned into an independent kingdom or “realm.”

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Warzones—red tiles representing territories opened by the Republic as open zones of war. Any post leader can claim a warzone with a fee in order to begin a rider campaign (see next section on “advancing in rank”). He could expect to fight against sanctioned Republic enemies, such as Lhefi sorcerers, underground guilds, pirates, bloodwyrms, and so forth.

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Once the warzone is claimed, the post leader can declare an “open,” “closed,” or “private” warzone. The former means anyone in the Order can join your campaign; the second means it is closed to only your post; and the latter means it is open only to your post and any posts you have invited. Note that the Order’s Lord Prince and his Second Rider have full authority to open urgent warzones without requiring the Republic’s seal. Thus, you may find warzones with either the Republic’s or Order’s crest.

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You may also notice on the warboards that warzones come in different shades of crimson. This is because they are ranked 1 through 10 in elvish ciphers based on its critical danger to the Order. A Level 10 warzone indicates open war against the Republic, which has not occurred since the War of Treason.

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Take care to follow the rules in the zones, for building on claimed territory or entering private or closed warzones could warrant severe punishment from the Order.

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Lastly, if you are a post leader, you are responsible for ensuring your post’s warboards are updated daily by the seventeenth hour. Do not be remiss in this most important duty.

 

Rule Two: Advance in rank.

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The Order’s official term for a dragon’s soul is “dragonscript” or “soulscript.” This is because a dragon’s soul is like its story. Consider then that a dragon’s strength is measured in “chapters,” as in the chapters of its soul’s living story.

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Every living thing is born with the potential for a vibrant and limitless story. Like humans or any living beings, dragons never attain their full stories, for our stories—and by extension, our souls—have no limit. But a few dragons have come close to reaching their full potential. All species were created to unlock their highest selves, and it is no different with a dragon.

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Your duty, then, as a rider, is to assist your dragon with unlocking more chapters in its dragonscript. The more a dragon unlocks its soul’s story, the physically stronger and more mature it becomes. This concept is called “advancing your dragon.”

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A dragonscript can be measured as such:

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10 chapters = 1 book

5 books = 1 chronicle

40 chronicles = 2,000 chapters, or the mark of a dragon’s maturity

 

Note that advancements become more difficult with each new unlocked chapter. Unlocking the next rank will become exponentially harder than the last one.

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Even so, dragon advancement brings rich rewards for the rider. Because every rider is Soul-Binded with his dragon, so long as that dragon lives, his body is “dragon-enhanced.” As your dragon grows stronger, you become physically stronger in small increments. For every 2,000 chapters in your dragon’s soulscript, you gain twice the physical abilities of an average man.

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We should make note: in the olden days, when dragons were wild creatures, they certainly did not measure themselves by “chapters” or “ranks.” Instead, they naturally grew their scripts with every hunt and territorial fight. After the Order was formed, it created artificial ranks around a dragonscript’s natural milestones. When a wild dragon reached these milestones, it usually unlocked a new power. Riders who are Binded with Dragonsteel flights can draw upon these powers. The Order presently calls each of these powers a “Dragonspell.”

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This is all to say that your rank is everything. It is what defines you. As you rise in rank and grow stronger, you earn rich rewards from the Order. It is entirely permissible to forgo Realm-Building and focus entirely on advancing your dragon’s chapters, albeit you will earn far fewer rewards.

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How to advance your rank:

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To advance your dragon, plan campaigns against enemies in the sanctioned warzones. You can ally with other posts or campaign privately. Like the wild dragons of yore, you will need to hunt, battle, or kill foes.

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How to determine one’s rank:

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If you wish to know a rider’s rank, simply speak the Lhaer’thri spell over him and his dragon. The subsequent elvish magic will reveal their chapters.

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Rider ranks:

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To quantify a rider or dragon’s strength, certain numbers of chapters are assigned “ranks” by Order standards. The following is an overview of ranks as defined by the Order:

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Rider—any Builder with a dragon under 100 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: None.

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Ealdorman—a Builder with at least 100 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: Arendùr ilenion, the Dragoncall.

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Baron—a Builder with at least 250 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: Luinor linnari, the Dragonsight.

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Primarch—a Builder with at least 500 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: Ciryamor, the Dragonshield.

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Duke—a Builder with at least 1,000 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: Ruthra’ruín, the Dragonstrength.

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Dragonlord—the highest, most coveted rank. This is any Builder with at least 2,000 chapters.

Dragonspell unlocked: M’ethil, the Dragonfire.

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Dragonspells:

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Dragonspells are spells any rider may invoke through the magical Soul-Binding he has with his dragon. Note that the strength of your Dragonspell directly corresponds to the strength of your dragon. A rider with a dragon of 2,000 chapters will have a much more durable Dragonshield than a rider of 500 chapters.

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These spells are formidable in the warzones, but note that every time you draw on them, you drain your dragon’s available chapters. Take care not to draw past your dragon’s last ten percent of chapters or you will blackout yourself and your flight. A dragonscript will typically restore itself back to its full reserves within one full day.

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Lastly, note that a Dragonspell increasingly loses its efficacy over distance, depending on the strength of the dragon. A rider with a dragon under 100 chapters has no unlocked Dragonspell he can draw upon, so distance maximums are a moot point. However, for dragons with at least 100 chapters, their maximum distance radius begins at 5 span (5 miles). After that, every subsequent chapter increases the max distance by 0.01 span.

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The below calculates the average maximum distance a dragon can be from his rider before a Dragonspell loses complete efficacy:

 

Ealdorman (100 chapters)—5 span

Baron (250 chapters)—7.5 span

Primarch (500 chapters)—10 span

Duke—(1,000 chapters)—15 span

Dragonlord—(2,000 chapters)—25 span

 

This also appears to correlate with a rider’s ability to emote and hear through his dragon’s Binding. Going beyond these distances means losing all communication with your dragon (unless you invoke the Dragoncall, of course).

 

Rule Three: Never go rogue.

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The Realm-Building Enterprise is the only opportunity on the continent that allows any race, of any gender or social class, to shape their future and family legacy.

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Cherish it, Builder!

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Always remember, never test the Order. For if you break the rules and become kvael-akar, a rogue rider… there will be dire consequences.