Conclave of Parsad
"The horselords used to dominate the open steppes of Borea. When the dragons came all that ended. Having no cities of their own they could find no stone roofs under which to shelter. Their horses would panic at even the smell of the apex predators. Their short-bows, so useful against the lumbering armies of the settled kingdoms, could not pierce dragon-scale. All those things which had been their strength was now weaknesses. Those brave nomads are but stories now. The descendants of these beast-masters are now slaves to beasts in turn. The revolutions of the world are strange indeed."The Conclave of Persad is an island spanning Empire which controls the entirety of Borea, the single largest island on Adar. It is ruled by a Conclave of ancient dragons. The Conclave is considered a Great Power on Adar, yet they do not often interfere in the politics of "lesser realms". Some think it is generous to call the Conclave a "country". They instead argue that the individual dragon lords should be considered akin to kings of separate kingdoms since they rule their territories without oversight from any central authority. Most of the Dragon Lords' attention is consumed by their internal rivalries which they often express through conflicts carried out by their humanoid subjects. While others might see the clash of armies of tens of thousands as wars the dragons themselves do not. After all the true rulers of the land are not fighting each other, and no dragons are hurt in these clashes.
Structure
The Conclave is divided into "territories" ruled by an "Overlord", normally an ancient dragon. This lord often parcels out pieces of his land to lesser dragons to oversee. Further down the ladder humanoid species toil in service to their masters. Each territory is administered according to the whims of their lord, and such the internal rule of territories varies massively.
The Conclave is united only insofar as the Dragon-lords manage to cooperate. There is a general taboo on direct conflict between the dragons themselves, but their subjects often fight on their behalf, often to determine the outcome of specific disputes.
At times a "Supreme Overlord" has been agreed among the members of the Conclave. This step is normally agreed when the Conclave has faced a serious crisis, such as when invaded by outside powers; or when one of the Conclave members succeed in gaining dominance over a majority of the others. Yet these Supreme Overlords seldom last long. They either resign the position, or are forced to concede - if not the other members of the conclave eventually band together to remove them by force.
Culture
There exist several cultures on the island of Borea. Many of these existed long before the dragons arrived, and have survived in modified form since. The territories ruled by the dragons often correspond to these cultural regions, but not always. Most of the longtime territories have adapted their cultures in response to the style of rule exercised by their masters.
There is also a distinction between the rulers and the ruled. All humanoids on Borea are technically slaves. Although what this means in practice varies. Even the youngest dragon is legally superior to the most elevated human. The dragons have their own traditions, hierarchies, religion and language. All quite different from those practiced by their servants.
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