The Fall of Istragos

"Nothing could be seen. Smoke filled every street and billowed into the sky so that the sun was a bloody red disc through the haze. The heat was a palpable presence, and the noise... The screams of the crowd, whether fleeing or burning, the rush of the flames and the rumble of falling buildings, and all of it punctuated by the dreadful, heart-rending roars of the dragon as it swept back and forth across the city, unseen amid the smoke."
~ Unknown survivor's account, preserved at Emberhold.
"Eternal Dawn we were promised, but we watched the sun set in flames over Istragos! The Emperors in their petty quest for power, for immortality broke the world. The dragons, our protectors and saviors became our destroyers! Fallen! Fallen is Istragos!
Ashes now the idol that kings built to themselves!
Dawn can never be eternal. You cannot hold the sun still in the sky forever.
So now let those who can store up while there is light in the sky.
For the night comes, and as our day was long, so our night shall be dark."
~ The Prophet Shelim - The First Declaration
"The Battle of Istragos is not a portent of Doom. It is a lesson. The dragons were our closest allies, and our most formidable weapon. Only a fool wields a weapon without thinking how to defeat it."
~ Strategos Dravan's Maxims, preserved in archives of Mordâd
The fall of Istragos looms large in lore, though few survivors escaped to tell the tale, and of them, none were in a position to comment in detail on the actions of the Imperial Guard in their last battle. But from song, fragment, observations of those who were not actually in the city, and other tradition, somewhat may be pieced together for the curious.

The Conflict

Prelude

Tales say that the Empire was at peace, though some accounts of the Dragon Madness speak of armies in the field. In an Empire so vast, it is perhaps unsurprising that armies must march even in peacetime. However it may be, the Capital City was not on a war footing. Songs say that it was the New Year festival, that the guard were in parade kit, and that the Great Dragon - Ayghar the Bright as we remember her - was in the Great Plaza of the Temple of Eternal Dawn. Tens of thousands must have surround the plaza and lined the streets. Uncounted folk must have streamed in from the countryside for the festival. The number cannot be known. Fragments of old census data preserved at Emberhold and Mordâd suggest Istragos was a city of more than a million people.

Deployment

We must imagine many guards on the cities many gates. The towers that still peek above the Bay of Ashes glittering with armored soldiers and the walls lined with crowds, every eye turned toward the central heights and the temple there, ready to see Ayghar soar. The Imperial Guard, the most elite of the old army would be there, surrounding the dragon in the plaza, and the Emperor himself standing on the steps of the Temple next to the Patriarch. In the center of it all, Ayghar - of whom so many songs are sung; Ayghar the Bright - scales like burnished copper and wings like the sea; Ayghar the Great - oldest and mightest, vast beyond measure; Ayghar- who all now call Daughter of Tiamat.
No one knows exactly when the Madness began, though many songs paint the picture. We hear that the captain of the Imperial Guard saw Ayghar's eyes change from molten gold to ashen black. We hear that she let out a terrible howl of pain, that she spoke words of terrible portent, or that she simply started killing. All tales say that the Emperor called to her, but they disagree what he said. Some that he called to her as a friend, others that he spoke imperiously as if he expected to command her obedience. But what is known is her reply. The Emperor, the Patriarch, and the Temple of Eternal Dawn burned.

The Engagement

Much has been made in tales of the last battle of the Imperial Guard. How enchanted armor withstood dragonfire and battle was joined with blade and claw. How the dragon's mighty tale crushed men and brought down great buildings as she thrashed. How her blood fell smoking on the tiles of the great mosaics of the plaza. Some claim Ayghar was wounded, and indeed observers from afar claim that she faltered and struggled when she finally took to the air. However it was, one by one the guard fell to claw and tooth and flame. And then the true terror began.
On wing or on foot, the dragon hunted through the streets, bringing down buildings in her wake and setting all around her ablaze. In the initial chaos it is said that the City Watch locked the gates, thinking there had been an attempt on the Emperor's life, and that thousands died before the gates were opened again. Many a bard has made their fortune singing of the small acts of desperate courage that colored those hours. How watchmen and citizens made stands in whatever shelter they could. How they rained arrows and spears and roof tiles down on the dragon from high towers. But whatever bravery was shown that day, all tales end in the same way. Nothing could withstand Ayghar. And by nightfall, all had fled or died, and the dragon began plundering the city.

Outcome

The nearest field army was led by Strategos Kurya, and he marched on the city, intent on defeating the dragon. Ayghar did not come out to meet him as he expected, and this led to the foolish hope that perhaps she had left, or died of her wounds. But it was nothing of the sort. Deprived of the pride and sense of honor that might have drawn her out, her animal cunning made her wait, lurking amid the smoking ruins until the army moved into the city, and striking in confined streets and tangled ruins.
No other attempts were made. In nearly every garrison and fort, there was a dragon, and the same horror must have played out a hundred times over. Eventually the Sea Wards failed, the waves rushed in, and all was lost in the flood.

Historical Significance

Legacy

Ayghar's betrayal was only one of many catastrophes that flowed across the Empire as the dragons went mad, but it has remained the chief one in all the legends that have come down to us. She, bards sing, cut the heart out of the Empire in only a few hours. She betrayed us, returning to the chaos of her mother Tiamat, destroying all that she had helped generations of humans build. But still scholars ask why. The Prophet Shelim believed the Emperor drove the dragons mad with forbidden sorcery gone awry. Others that it was a sign of Tiamat's rising from the depths, still others that the dragons are not mad, that they betrayed us and simply choose no longer to answer to us. Choose what singer you like. The reasons hardly matter any more. The Empire died that day, long ago. Would knowing why change that?

No tale tells what happened to Ayghar in the end. Given the longevity of dragons some think that perhaps she still haunts the flooded ruins, lurking beneath the surface like her ancestor Tiamat. Expeditions to the ruins of Istragos rarely return, and many who sail the Bay of Ashes say they see things in the mists.

Included under Conflict

The Dragon Madness

Battlefield Type

Urban

Conflict Result

The Imperial Capital destroyed and the last Emperor killed.

Location

Istragos