Eight Thrones Built on the Bones of Thousands

by Glacies Tue Dec 06, 2011 2:46 pm

This is my first thread idea on this site, so I'm going to try to keep it simple and drum up a little interest before fleshing out the idea in its entirety. We'll start with the basics.

A land known as the Starlight Vale is currently enmeshed in a seemingly eternal conflict that has gone on for more than five generations. Though you might expect the people of the Vale to be a very warlike people, that assumption couldn't be farther from the truth. The fact of the matter is the people of the Vale haven't seen so much as a single battle in several lifetimes. Where, then, is the conflict stemmed from? What is it, in fact? Good questions, and important ones if you really wish to understand the history of Starlight Vale.

Starlight Vale is a small autonomous region in the center of a pair of crossed valleys, and is fairly race-neutral, with each race being nearly equally represented, with one glaring exception. Dragonians, as they have come to be called by those outside of their spheres of influence, are the single greatest majority in the Vale, due to being the initial settlers of the lands that were once thought dead in the wake of a long forgotten war, and have since been peacefully existing there, after investing much time and energy into cultivating the soil and making the Vale a highly sought after trading partner for fruits, vegetables, and other natural produce.

With such a good life for their people, how could there be a generations old conflict, you may ask. Well, here we are. The Dragonians, or Children of the Elder Race as they call themselves, are ruled by what is known as a theocratic republic. There are eight temples based around one of the eight elder dragon races, and each temple elects a leader. That leader sits on a council with the seven other temple heads and together they handle all major acts of law. If this seems like a bad idea or an easily corrupted ideal, it is, and therein lies the conflict. Temple leaders, known as the Pure Hearted, must master the game of politics, be it through underhandedness, blackmail, good principles and results, or even by killing their opposition off in secret. A great majority of this has gone unknown to the public, until recently.

In the last five years, three particularly nasty Pure Hearts have risen to the council and have begun openly warring with the leaders of Temples who do not agree with their aggressive tactics. This has led to a drop in public opinion of the Temple's system of ruling the Vale, and in their disquiet, there's bound to be those who take advantage of it for various purposes. It is up to us to decide the fate of the Starlight Vale. Do we let it fall deeper into corruption, try to fix the system itself, or overthrow the religious rulers of the state and institute what we see to be a fairer (or less fair) system?

The choice, dear compatriots, is up to you.

PS. Keep in mind a few of the terms I use inside (particularly the reference to the temple leaders as "Pure Hearts") are working names and I will accept suggestions for changing these names as things progress. I realize also that the temples themselves have not been fleshed out, and should this actually build some interest based on what's already here, I will be glad to continue fleshing out this story so that it can be great.