Deneb

Well, it’s been a while whilst we’ve been busy working away on a few things for Deneb. First of those is ready to show today. One of the many specially created pieces of artwork for Deneb. This is another of a small selection of pieces aimed at revealing a little bit more about the world itself and some of the key locations.

More than 1,400 years ago, a group of naturalists, funded by the Harridan military, set out on an expedition into the northern barrier mountains. The peak in question was (and indeed still is) located north of The Draco Republic’s capital city. It is one of the first real mountains a traveller would encounter as they headed through the foothills into the northern barrier range. The mountain’s shape and form were significantly altered by the ancient true dragons when they modified their lairs for war hundreds of thousands of years ago. The naturalists’ goal? To observe, and perhaps in time, domesticate the dragon population rumoured to live there. This project was successful, though it was decades before they had formed a close working relationship with these wild creatures. In that time they began to ride dragons, and even start to understand their breeding habits, and how they raised there young. Eventually, a captive breeding program was established, and about half a century after they first encountered the dragons, they flew their first military mission.

Harridan had been using dragon’s in their military for about 20 years before they formally established the elite Ordo Draco. A special-forces military arm focussed on using dragons. This was a little less than 1,400 years ago. They were so successful in using them to extend their borders that when they declared themselves a nation, they took the name The Draco Republic. The Ordo Draco ride descendants of the ancient true dragons, who were much reduced by a curse placed on them over 5,000 years ago. Still, the dragons are terrifying and powerful mounts, loyal to the death to their riders.

The ancient dragons that created the cavern would move deeper into the mountain range, looking for more massive peaks to turn into lairs. Some-time after the curse and war had altered the species almost beyond recognition, this particular lair was abandoned entirely. Generations later, the more modern form of dragons founded a colony here that became a regular breeding spot. It was this colony that the Harridan naturalists had first made contact with, and would eventually become the headquarters of the Ordo Draco. The Lair itself is both a military base, training facility and dragon breeding colony. It now houses around a thousand soldiers, a hundred dragons, and all the stores, supplies, weapons and equipment needed to carry out their function as the most advanced military force in the known world.

The Ordo Draco are one of the playable factions in Deneb. Full rules for six of their models are included in the core book that will be in the starter set.

Key dates in the history of “The Lair”

This was making it difficult to browse the whole project, so moved to the comments on this post for anyone who is interested.