Hunter's Lodge
The Lodge as it was also known was a hunter organization unofficially under the Meridian Military with an honor based system to kill dragons.
Structure
Sunhawk - Leader of The Lodge, the title is given to the Hawk that has killed the dragon the lodge determines as the most dangerous. The position is held for life or until another Hawk kills a dragon rated as more dangerous than the previous. In the event a Sunhawk dies the rank is given to the Hawk with the next best hunt.
Hawk - Heads of The Lodge, there can only ever be 7 Hawks at the same time. They are allowed to sponsor a Thrush but only one at a time and it is their Thrush who takes their place in the event their master dies.
Thrush - Apprentices of Hawks, since their masters are only allowed to have one apprentice there can also only exist 7 Thrushes at the same time. Thrushes are taken in by Hawks as soon as they are elevated and they are usually picked from Fledglings though no official rule exists and they could also be picked from regular hunters.
Fledgling - Unofficial members of the Lodge, regular hunters that have earned 3 or more Half Suns and are therefore allowed into the Lodge to use their training grounds and services.
History
The Hunter's Lodge was officially established on 50 ABF by Sirius Sloane and a group of the best Dragon Hunters in Meridian with the objective of creating a more official hunters society.
Originally established in Sloane's own home, a tournament was organized by the founders to determine which hunters were allowed in and hunters from all over the Empire were invited. With an honor based system they called the hunters to bring to the Lodge a rib bone of their best hunt to be inspected by the founders, if graded as a good hunt they were allowed to continue. After determining which hunters were good, they provided them with a list of known dangerous dragons in Solathar and tasked them with hunting them down and showing proof of their death, the higher rated the hunt, the higher the rank the hunter would get in the Lodge.
The founders also joined in on the competition since they were by many regarded as the best hunters in Meridian, especially Sloane which was already famous by citizens for slaughtering Ardik The Horned, the most dangerous dragon at the time. After the competition was over, the 3 best places were given a position as Hawks, the heads of the Lodge hirarchy; the following 7 places were given Thrush status, apprentices of Hawks and places from 11 to 20 allowed into the lodge as Fledglings, unofficial members but better than regular hunters, they could enter the Lodge and use the provided services.
After its foundation, it was well received by the Sun Emperor who sponsored Sloane's expansion and provided him with the resources needed to expand his operation. It served as the unofficial Dragon Hunter branch of the Imperial Military and it was considered as a great honor to be a part of them.
10 years after the establishment of the Lodge, a Hawk named Kyran Morza challenged the authority of Sunhawk Sloane claiming he had not been a part of the initial tournament so he challenged him to a face-off to take down a better hunt than him, eventually Sloane would get a better hunt, than Morza who angered put a hit on the Sunhawk's head, the attempts failed and Hawk Morza was banished from the Lodge.
On 84 ABF, aided by Lodge members, the first Ballistas were introduced in Meridian's fortifications so as to make the city more secure against dragons.
On 127 ABF the Sun Emperor Bashad tried to officially integrate the Lodge into the military but Sunhawk Milu Pir opposed the idea, turning the Lodge against him, instead Bashad made an agreement with the Lodge to be their first picks in drafts, offering Fledglings good ranks in the military and higher ranks direct pass to the Emperor's Red Guard.
On 136 ABF, the Lodge expanded by building more structures for members to use in different locations in the Empire, a small fort was built in Aurora so as to try and satisfy their demands for better protection against the dragons.
Disbandment
After the extinction of the Dragons the Lodge remained operational for some years until it was eventually disbanded due to them having acomplised their mission, all members were offered good positions in military branches with some of them taking said offer.
Venatio Est Primum
50 - 467
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments