Vaeriar Uprising
"Dragons are the ultimate life form here. They made us. They gave us language, intellect, curiosity... fear. And as important as their brains were their bodies. How do you strike something fast enough to cleave you before you blink? How do you defend against a beast that spews acid strong enough to chew through bone in seconds? How do you outsmart the beasts that created you?
The answer seemed to be, you can't. Tiefbromn- that's the devil, those were who we were hunted by- are slick, sleek, fast, deadly. And they're resistant to their own slime, ya see? Evolutionary tactics, I suppose- not a great weapon if it kills you. Poor saps in the first few groups of rebels found that out, one of them laughed in their face when they tried dumping it back on the beasty. But it was that hubris, you see? Any monster that sits and laughs at would-be assassins thinks it's the top of the chain, and even though it was right, it ain't invincible. That's where the dancers came in. [Vaeriar ]- they gave us that name, by the way, coining how we would scream and writhe under the drop by drop acid- drove the dragons insane. The same process that brought us to the world of sentience made us perfect for escaping, dodging, staying nimble. Only the quickest could slide in and out of the trees, and the mucus kept 'em from dissolving at the touch. Heard, seen some of the other groups around here. You got those hulking Rockpeople over along the mountains, stone to keep the heat off; the weird eyeball buggers who dealt with the Yemere south, in the deserts and grasslands; but line of sight is worth spit in the jungle, and acid eats right through the toughest material, no matter what. So it's about staying mobile, especially vertically where gravity can take care of the worst of it's breath, and then getting on the dragon itself. It may be fast and sleek, but if you can get onto it then you can go to work. Evolution shouldered the brunt of it *motions to the four arms, hand pads, mucus membrane*- and these took care of the rest *pulls out Khevari, their signature wicked hooked blades, talcum powder, and gel balls*.
It bathes in the acid, forms these great big pools, so its skin is slick with it. Fast as all hell on all fours, but they don't- can't, really, in the denser areas- use their wings. So we'd line the trees, have a group dance out in front of it and lead it on a chase. Especially early in the fight, they would never suspect a thing. So much time spent at the top that it would go wherever we did, saunter after us, thinking it could get us whenever it damn well pleased. Walk it right under 10, 20 of us. Drop on, latch with the Khevari, dump the powder on it. When it dries out the skin gets all brittle like, it's like.... frozen stone, you understand? Then you go to work, shearing off big hunks of it with whatever you could get your hands on, and once you got a section open, set it alight. Dried up scales make great kindling, and all that mucus is great for neutralizing acid, but burns something fierce when you set it alight.
As the group on top is going in on it, forward group is going for eyes, stabbing into earholes, doing whatever they can to keep its attention off rolling or trying to climb out of the canopy and getting airborne. If it gets in the air, we're all dead. If it crushes the group on its back, we're all dead. And when that happens.... well, it goes back to its little camp and slaughters every man, woman, and hatchling there. Failure wasn't an option. So keep it occupied until the fires get burning, then get outta dodge- we go up like kindling just like the Tiefbromn. Aerial group gets off, hooks into whatever fleshy bits they can, then it's a sprint to get it tied off to the nearest tree. Fire usually takes care of the rest. If it doesn't, the char removes enough scale to do damage, and then it's a free-for-all.
This was early on, you understand? The ballistae, the fire-gel, the tactics and real battles, all that came later. Decades later. In the beginning, it was just a bloodbath. Heard stories about a lot of what the others faced off with. I think Tiefbromn were some of the nastier ones, in the head. Just... not right. Wasn't so much about the hunt for them, though they certainly enjoyed it. They just liked the power, liked to watch us squirm and die."Kumkur, Vaeriar general and one of the original [Lucalcant]
The answer seemed to be, you can't. Tiefbromn- that's the devil, those were who we were hunted by- are slick, sleek, fast, deadly. And they're resistant to their own slime, ya see? Evolutionary tactics, I suppose- not a great weapon if it kills you. Poor saps in the first few groups of rebels found that out, one of them laughed in their face when they tried dumping it back on the beasty. But it was that hubris, you see? Any monster that sits and laughs at would-be assassins thinks it's the top of the chain, and even though it was right, it ain't invincible. That's where the dancers came in. [Vaeriar ]- they gave us that name, by the way, coining how we would scream and writhe under the drop by drop acid- drove the dragons insane. The same process that brought us to the world of sentience made us perfect for escaping, dodging, staying nimble. Only the quickest could slide in and out of the trees, and the mucus kept 'em from dissolving at the touch. Heard, seen some of the other groups around here. You got those hulking Rockpeople over along the mountains, stone to keep the heat off; the weird eyeball buggers who dealt with the Yemere south, in the deserts and grasslands; but line of sight is worth spit in the jungle, and acid eats right through the toughest material, no matter what. So it's about staying mobile, especially vertically where gravity can take care of the worst of it's breath, and then getting on the dragon itself. It may be fast and sleek, but if you can get onto it then you can go to work. Evolution shouldered the brunt of it *motions to the four arms, hand pads, mucus membrane*- and these took care of the rest *pulls out Khevari, their signature wicked hooked blades, talcum powder, and gel balls*.
It bathes in the acid, forms these great big pools, so its skin is slick with it. Fast as all hell on all fours, but they don't- can't, really, in the denser areas- use their wings. So we'd line the trees, have a group dance out in front of it and lead it on a chase. Especially early in the fight, they would never suspect a thing. So much time spent at the top that it would go wherever we did, saunter after us, thinking it could get us whenever it damn well pleased. Walk it right under 10, 20 of us. Drop on, latch with the Khevari, dump the powder on it. When it dries out the skin gets all brittle like, it's like.... frozen stone, you understand? Then you go to work, shearing off big hunks of it with whatever you could get your hands on, and once you got a section open, set it alight. Dried up scales make great kindling, and all that mucus is great for neutralizing acid, but burns something fierce when you set it alight.
As the group on top is going in on it, forward group is going for eyes, stabbing into earholes, doing whatever they can to keep its attention off rolling or trying to climb out of the canopy and getting airborne. If it gets in the air, we're all dead. If it crushes the group on its back, we're all dead. And when that happens.... well, it goes back to its little camp and slaughters every man, woman, and hatchling there. Failure wasn't an option. So keep it occupied until the fires get burning, then get outta dodge- we go up like kindling just like the Tiefbromn. Aerial group gets off, hooks into whatever fleshy bits they can, then it's a sprint to get it tied off to the nearest tree. Fire usually takes care of the rest. If it doesn't, the char removes enough scale to do damage, and then it's a free-for-all.
This was early on, you understand? The ballistae, the fire-gel, the tactics and real battles, all that came later. Decades later. In the beginning, it was just a bloodbath. Heard stories about a lot of what the others faced off with. I think Tiefbromn were some of the nastier ones, in the head. Just... not right. Wasn't so much about the hunt for them, though they certainly enjoyed it. They just liked the power, liked to watch us squirm and die."
Conflict Type
Military Campaign
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