Melusine
A religious theocracy of black dragonborn located in the Northern Territories. Worshiping the great dragon god Zekro as one of the lone surviving dragons in Ekal, Melusine's leaders demand universal conscription from its people to defend against invasion and resurrect a new era of dragon-worship on Ekal.
Structure
The High Chancellor serves as Melusine's religious and political leader, issuing decrees unchecked by any other branch of government. The region's priests serve dual roles as leaders of the faith and political bureaucrats, leading to more than a third of the kingdom working for the Temple of Zekro.
Assets
- For eons Melusine boasted one of the most organized military forces in Pescaliat, making up for its lack of manpower with precise attacks and maneuvers
- The Zekronian Mtns provide the region with a strong defensive position that has withstood countless invasions over the past four millennia.
- The Zekronian Mtns are also rich in precious metals, which Melusine's leadership allows the dwarves of Dolian to mine for under strict trade agreements
History
Ancient, Ancient History
If Melusine's leadership is to be believed, their kingdom is the oldest in Pescaliat by more than three thousand years. Records dating back 8,000 years to the 1st Cycle, a time when dragonborn ruled and draconic god-kings roamed the world, were difficult to come by after the Ostry Apocalypse of the 3rd Cycle destroyed most written records from Ekal's early history. Regardless of the veracity of Melusine's claims, scholars confirmed beyond a shadow of a doubt that dragonborn have inhabited the Zekronian Mtns for nearly 10,000 years in some shape or form. Artifacts uncovered in the capital city of Alduin have predated the founding of the Old Myltev empire by more than two thousand years, but the kind of life these dragonborn led and under whose leadership remains a mystery.The Facts
What scholars have confirmed for certain is that after the Ostry Apocalypse of the 3rd Cycle a religious sect worshiping the dragon god Zekro swept through the mountainside villages and beyond as various races recovered from the destruction of the monstrous deities. Zekro, said to be the daughter of the dragon god-queen Melusine, took on the role as central pillar of the dragonborn faith after his mother's death in a vicious battle with yuan-ti from Sheyuan. This Temple of Zekro was adopted in nearly every dragonborn kingdom in Pescaliat during the 2nd Cycle, but while some like the dragonborn of Bahamut Mtns abandoned the faith to embrace the Ageless One religion the kingdom of Melusine maintained its piety uninterrupted for centuries. Even the elven Kiri Clan at the height of its powers failed to invade Melusine's impregnable mountains, failing to stop the kingdom's leaders from establishing a radical sect of the Temple of Zekro unaffected by the politics of the outside world. Under this new government, the Temple of Zekro advocated reactionary tenets like the supremacy of the dragonborn race and the illegitimacy of the Ageless One as the world's savior. While most of the world's religions believed that the Ageless One was responsible for saving Ekal and defeating the monstrous deities of the Ostry Apocalypse, Melusine's leaders took a contrarian position stating that the dragon god Zekro awoke from his ancient slumber to repel the invaders. Just as he rose up in the 3rd Cycle to fight back the monstrous deities, Zekro would rise again to destroy all the faithless ravaging the world. This radical mindset led to Melusine waging several military campaigns in the 3rd Cycle, conquering nearby towns like Dolian and Suika for extended periods of time. But after the human-led Kawa Clan rose to prominence and reshaped the political balance of the Northern Territories, Melusine's armies were ill-equipped to fight against this unified force and were pushed back to the mountains of their homeland.4th Cycle Zealotry
After such embarrassing defeats Melusine's religious leaders began to mellow, allowing for more diversity in opinions and de-emphasizing the less savory elements of their beliefs. Despite these reforms the Temple of Zekro maintained an ironclad grip on government by employing thousands of priests in the civil service, to the point where the Temple of Zekro and Melusine's government became indistinguishable from each other. In the modern era of the 4th Cycle Melusine proved to be more accommodating to its neighbors, signing trade deals with the dwarves of Dolian to allow them access to their mountains of precious metals while opening up several trade routes in the region. Universal conscription was still enforced along along with other draconian measures to maintain order within the kingdom, but so long as Melusine's dragonborn stayed within their mountain borders few world leaders considered the kingdom a major threat. This changed after the Oda-Kiri War of 908, when the elven Kiri Clan was wiped off the map and the upstart Oda Clan kingdom became the undisputed leader of the Northern Territories. Feeling threatened by its neighbor's increasing military might, Melusine's theocracy under Azzakh the Pious XIX's reign started escalating diplomatic feuds with Oda Clan and clamped down on desertion within the kingdom's military, leading many to believe that another war would soon plague the Northern Territories. With Oda Clan struggling to govern its newly-conquered territories, the outcome of such a conflict proved hard to predict. Conflict was avoided, however, by the formation of Kyoko Hara's Northern Union as it sought to resolve regional conflicts peacefully and limit the power of larger kingdoms to bully smaller ones. Melusine's leadership was initially skeptical of Kyoko's proposals, but some like Azzakh's successor Pyxrin the Devout saw an opportunity to expand the kingdom's influence from within the Union. With open borders and no threats of warfare on the horizon, Melusine started sending out missionaries throughout the Northern Territories to share their beliefs about the Dragon God-Kings and Drakkenism. While the number of converts is still small, every year a new shrine or temple devoted to the old dragons gets built.Territories
Leaders of Melusine
- Azzakh the Pious XIX (861 - 922)
- Pyxrin the Devout (922 - Present)
Tenets of Faith
The people of Melusine believe in Drakkenism, claiming that the Dragon God-Kings will one day rise again and reclaim their rightful positions as rulers of Ekal. Humanoid governments will be replaced by the return of the God-Kings, providing much-needed stability to the world once more.
To expedite their return, Melusine has started sending its priests out into the larger world to evangelize and attract new followers to Drakkenism. The more people worshipping the God-Kings, the theory goes, the faster the God-Kings will recover their strength to reclaim Ekal. This approach is in stark contrast to much of Melusine's history when it preferred to wage holy crusades against the other kingdoms of the Northern Territories, but under High Chancellor Pyxrin the Devout the kingdom has taken a more conciliatory approach to take advantage of the open borders provided by Kyoko Hara's Northern Union.
While no dragons or God-Kings alike have been spotted in the modern era, worshippers of Drakkenism believe that their missonary work is paying off. They point to the collapse of elven kingdoms in the Sunken God's Reign of Terror and the Oda-Kiri War as the signs of a new world order, and sightings of Entombed soldiers from the 1st Cycle as proof that the world is preparing itself for the return of the God-Kings.
If Drakkenism and its worshipers are proven right, the God-Kings will have to grapple with a new deity that may not take kindly to their old ways: The Ageless One. While the Ageless One approved the worship of the God-Queen Melusine and her son Zekro, if more dragons arrive en masse and start taking over kingdoms it would defy one of the Ageless One's core tenets of neutrality in the affairs of world governments.
We Survive All
Founding Date
1845, 1st Cycle
Type
Geopolitical, Theocracy
Capital
Alternative Names
The Faithful of Drakkenism
Deities
Divines
Location
Official Languages
Controlled Territories
Neighboring Nations
Notable Members
Comments