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Drakaër

Aristocrats with a Barhan moral streak. Cavalry charges in an airship city. An honor cult in the City of Thieves. They are unsubtle and they know it.

Vibe: By day, Lahn's light teases the Cynwäll pillars' shadows and lights up the great frontages. Aristocrats' valets and servants hurry in compact crowds. University students bask on Free Square. Dwarven flying machines come and go overhead. At night the pillar-shadows turn disquieting and only Crimson Dress stays alive — the rest of the fief becomes cobblestone walked only by militia and free leaguers. Looking up, you see the Tower and dark silhouettes passing brightly-lit windows. Dominant Attitude: Discipline.

Canon Facts

  • Peer: Albanne Drakaër — young, charismatic. Publicly supports Duke Den Azhir and the city's free status.
  • Founder: Johann of Drakaër — Vanius's lieutenant, originally Johann of Alahan, given the original "Pillars" fief. Befriended by Cynwäll; granted the honor of riding a dragon in 843 (the canonical Timeline entry), he changed his surname to Drakaër in reference. Adherence to Barhan moral values bred resentment among other Cadwës that lingers today.
  • The fief was originally called the Pillars, after the feet of the Cynwäll Tower.
  • Cultural fault lines run through the family — Bahran partisans, Cynwäll partisans, Light partisans, Free-City partisans. They unite under threat, fracture in peace.

The Drakaër Family

  • Albanne Drakaër — Peer, young leader, charismatic; supports the Duke
  • Silnus Drakaër — Albanne's uncle; outshines her in political skill; advises against supporting the Duke. Long-running personal hatred with Adalban Ghiéron (Ghieronburg)
  • Eric Drakaër — Albanne's younger brother; torn between admiration of his uncle and protective devotion to his sister

Districts

  • The Pillars — Dyrsin's Tower (the unofficial Cynwäll ambassador's residence, with a dragon landing area on one of the pillars), Fort Drakaër (family seat), the sky station (Ferrymen's dwarf/Cynwäll-built airship platform), the garrison & prison, the Perfect Tower (Guild of Architects HQ), the Gilded Tower (Goldsmith-run luxury mall with hotel)
  • The Free District — the Free University of Cadwallon (founded 844), the Field of Honor (duels and free-leaguer training), the Light Cavalry Academy of Lanever, the Great Scriptorium (Guild of Scribes HQ), the Bird House (a glass-and-metal aviary of singing exotic birds)
  • Crimson Dress — Drakaër's wild edge — Mardi-Gras-by-night, drunkards-by-day. Brothels, gambling, the Dragon's Pool bathhouse, "Under The Dress" (discreet brothel). An insult to the rest of the fief's righteousness.

Power & Politics

  • Cavalry-focused armed force (absurd in a city of suspended bridges, but the Barhan heritage runs deep)
  • All Drakaër Peers honor the ancestral alliance with the Cynwäll, allowing them to settle freely in the fief. When the Flood of 900 threatened the Pillars, Lanever engineers helped the Architects rebuild.
  • Strong interest in the Free Leagues — shared "conception of heroism inherited from Johann"
  • The Drakaër repeatedly oppose the guilds publicly, often producing irrefutable documents the guilds didn't know they had. Guilds are paranoid about how they get them. Many free leaguers gather in Drakaër.
  • The Bards of Destiny are very active in the fief. Argos Brisandre, a bard, was seen leaving Fort Drakaër at an unusual hour, trying to avoid notice.

Relations

  • Strong bond: Khaurik Argam (Ogrokh)
  • Friendly: Orrkrk (The Rampart)
  • Supportive: the elven traditions of The Automaton
  • Cordial hatred: Var-Nokkt — Albanne despises their unconditional support of the guilds
  • Old vendetta: Ghiéron — Silnus vs Adalban personally; Orrkrk mediation has prevented incidents so far

The leaked documents

Where does the Drakaër family keep getting compromising material on the guilds? Argos Brisandre seems to know. So does Silnus, probably.

The Ambassador in the Tower

Dyrsin lives alone in his tower, served only (probably) by constructs. The dragon landing area on the pillar is the only public entrance. Whoever finds another way in finds answers to half the city's hidden questions.