Dragon Wars Book 1 Pt. 03

Tiamat sighed and the 3 Dark Dragon Gods agreed to the Truce as they could all see just how bad off the Chromatic Dragons were in comparison because of the Alliance. Bahamut and the others were left with little choice in the matter, but to agree as Bahamut got them to swallow a bitter pill to go with the request.

One he would have to explain to his followers as well. One he knew would devastate Tallion and his faith in him. He only hoped he would understand the bigger picture that was in the works. They all left and Bahamut informed Corellon what happened who informed Queen Goldeagle and the other champions, including Tallion.

---

Tallion was back in the Dream State when Corellon and Bahamut took turns breaking down this Truce to Tallion. Bahamut explained the tactical decision on the Half-Dragons lifespan going forward and explained he wrapped it into the truce agreement to slow their ability to produce Half-Dragons in mass.

Given their knowledge that it was asked for because they failed to do the things Tallion had insisted upon to protect the Elven people and the Allies from the Ocean. It decimated their planned forces as well. They were under orders from IO that it would go on for 10,000 years. It allowed Bahamut to make the same demand in the future for another truce if they needed to regroup.

Tallion knew he could never end this war given the losses that took place. A higher power had set this war for 10,000 years and his victories were now in the past and ultimately pointless as Half-Dragons were nothing but pawns to the Dragons.

Tallion took it all in and looked at Bahamut, "I understand what you did and why. I also see that your faith and your perceived value of Half-Dragons is merely a cheap necessity to keep this war going that long. Driven by higher powers above you and out of your control.

As I am not a dragon, and I am a Blade Singer, I will say that my faith in you Bahamut in taking this action is shattered beyond repair. Tactically sound, a brilliant move for the field given your constraints.

But people of my kind bring no true value except to die in this prolonged war and to be breeding stock. I find no honor in that or you in your actions against my kind, you ensured Half-Dragons were penalized for my success on the field.

I will accept that as a race. A race that holds no value to you. Now I have to live with the impact of those successes on House Silvertree as a whole as they will be hunted, likely into extinction because of your actions!

This tells me you value the Elves as partners better ONLY because they have their own Greater Deity whose people could work to hunt you into extinction if they applied themselves to that purpose. The same thing you fear from Half-Dragons of any type.

I killed millions of OUR enemies with my plans. I hope you keep your word about my ancestors knowing about me in the future if by some miracle they happen to survive. I foresee the Silvertree line getting destroyed because of your actions.

Yet your actions now tell me my role in this war is effectively over. All because I was too successful and not a full Moon Elf. This makes my not keeping a journal the best decision I have made in this life. You turned me into the placeholder that Corellon stated I was not with your actions. At least going forward.

I will live on through my children, not through my actions in this conflict when history is rewritten. I will be the one who got us through the cataclysm, stopped the hemorrhaging, and made the Deurgar extinct on this world while killing millions of Drow.

All while I saved hundreds of thousands of lives if not millions by getting your enchanters working with ours to build what was needed to protect the coast. Looking ahead before it was too late. That is my legacy that will be rewritten in time as Corellon knows it will occur.

Corellon, I will return to training Blade Singers, I will have the time now. It is a better use of my remaining years. Elven Blade Singers except for the last being another Half-Dragon with the goal of him or her gaining Grand Master Status and training 3-4 more before they pass and this war finally continues into even more brutal years.

I will require any student I teach to not take just one student on. To teach as many Elven only Blade Singers as they can as soon as they have Grand Masters status. At least 10 each. On their honor as a Blade Singer to me and as your champion. Not one student. 100 or more Elven Blade Singers for the honor of you allowing me to be one of yours in this life.

You won't have any battle-hardened half-dragons when this begins. You will have few if any battle-hardened forces left by comparison. Better to make one a teacher in life. He wins 2 tournaments and he will be eligible to be a Grand Master by the time he is 50.

At least 3-4 students will come from him. The First 2 Elven. The last 1-2 will be Half-Dragons to try and replace me on the battlefield, I know the second is unlikely. I will still work in the war room for the next 300 years, but not the battlefield unless you send me on a mission directly.

I have killed too many already it seems. I will try and train 12 more of them, one at a time to be the fighting force you need going forward. I have nothing left to teach on the battlefield with this Truce in place. Better to teach those how to survive for as long as possible in this war without end.

I knew of your 'compromise' with me and my comment about being a placeholder is coming about now because of this unforeseen truce with a horrific impact on my kind. We are half your people but you are not moving to stop it from happening.

Not many will be Blade Singers going forward. Battle Mages, Sorcerers, and Arcane Archers will be most of their paths. It needs to be that way to get the most out of their shortened lives. They do not have the 30 years of training demanded of them.

They will progress much faster in their shorter lives to fill those roles instead. Dragon Riders, you will need hundreds more of them. Half-Dragons are disposable after all. Bahamut has seen to that going forward. The Dragons will have the experience. The riders will have to learn. Better uses for the abominations that Bahamut has now made my future Half-Dragons.

I will remain faithful to you Corellon, as one of your Blade Singers and the now manacled Champion Grand Field Marshal, and Grand Master Blade Singer. I will no longer pray to you Bahamut in these matters. I know where I stand in your eyes now. I and the other Half-Dragons are worthless in your eyes and we stand apart."

The Lady of Dreams ended the connection to Tallion. Corellon looked at Bahamut, "You made their lives so much shorter going forward, less than 200 years! You cut it to less than a third of what it was! I can do nothing to repair your relationship with him."

Bahamut shook his head, "Nor should you try. I expected this reaction from him and it is unfortunate. He did see the wisdom in it and the betrayal. I will get his mother to visit him. She might be able to sway him back some, but I do not blame him for his anger at me.

His spirit belongs to you as your champion. If I had made him my champion, I would have likely had to strike him down for turning from me. It worked out better, that he was your champion. I will get her to talk about what it means to be a dragon.

Learn more about his heritage, things denied him in these arrangements. She is very proud of what he has done in that role. Yet, you know, IF 'The One' gave you that option or protecting your true full Elves, over a Half-Elf you would have done no different."

Corellon went to say something and finally just gasped out, "The One did not demand this of you. IO did not demand this of you. You made this suggestion to destroy my Champion's effort! You know if The One had made the request I would in that situation, but that is not what happened in this case. You are comparing grapes to grapefruits."

He paused for several seconds. "That is why having a Half-Dragon or Half-Elven champion has to be the remote exception to the rule going forward. He called the future Half-Dragons abominations you created.

I know that is his true feeling in this matter. His wives will go infertile after they deliver. They were conceived before this truce, they are not subject to this arrangement. I don't want him in any more pain than he already feels from your betrayal.

Also, your betrayal of me as you directly attacked my Champion with your actions.

With them not going into heat he can survive on fewer wives if need be, marry other Moon-elves, else take it out on his students as he drives them to perfection.

I expect a greater degree of cooperation from your dragons going forward. Else you are going to find it tough once this truce ends. To find the Elven Allies you hope to have as you took our support of you for granted.

Your new Field Marshal is going to be challenged and often by King Goldeagle when he takes over, and those that follow him. He is not Tallion and if he puts Elven and other allies secondary to Dragon lives this Alliance will fall apart under his watch. Also every Dragon Champion you put on the field who holds that role."

The Lady of Dreams looked at them, "He will make 12 students if he takes no long breaks and is not killed. He might have a few years beyond that. His size and his pushing of his body over the years in combat won't have him living much beyond that. I won't communicate with him again unless something else arises until after he passes.

He has set forth his plans to continue to serve, as IO and the 'The One' succeeded in making him that placeholder in this world's history. Yet his family will still be hunted by every ficka enemy we have, thanks to The One's actions. There is no fixing that. That haunts his dreams now and I have to listen to those."

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Queen Goldeagle took a week to call a meeting to go over the terms of this truce. She had the Crystal Dragon King explain it to her 12 times a day and ran scenarios with them on 'What would happen if?' before she would take the information to the others.

Tallion went from the War room to the Ambassador's room and looked at those there as Queen Goldeagle spoke, "Our elven fleet is back in the ocean and we will be tunneling out a cove into the sea into the new lands for our existing port. The Dragons, under the watchful eye of the one known as IO, had reached a 500-year truce agreement.

A session of hostilities. That will resume immediately after that. Those Kingdoms that withdraw from the Alliance will lose the assurances they have in the lands given to them and our protection. The Metallic and Neutral dragons will continue to breed with those in our respective races for those that remain.

Going forward, all Half-Dragon children conceived will have shorter lifespans. 180 years maximum as a part of this agreement and beyond the truce. Dragons of the Alliance will aid if forces attempt to invade Alliance-held lands.

You attempt to attack those in Chromatic Dragon lands and we will not aid you during those efforts. Those that attack you the Dragons and the Elven people will help to defend. I know to the humans you are looking at 7-10 lifetimes of peace during this time.

You must decide on your course of action. We cannot rely on your ports with this uncertainty, hence the change in plans to dredge our path back to the ocean instead while under this Truce."

The Gnome King Glitterwand looked over, "We will stay with the Alliance. We don't want to be without its protection or the Metallic Dragons. The gemstone Dragons are more defensive than attack-oriented."

The Halfling King Bramblebush nodded, "We will stay as well. We are far from the front and do not have many 'warrior types' but the Half-Dragons have helped us with the magic and our other talents. We are not ready to lose that. Them living shorter lives came about why?"

The Bronze King looked at Tallion, "His success on the field made him a threat. The Dragonborn were killed because they went and became the largest group of dragon hunters. It is a fear that all of the chromatic and metallic Dragon races have, that these longer-lived Half-Dragons would simply replace them in the end.

This is only for those who are conceived going forward, not the existing half-dragons, or those on the way already who could live up to 600 or 700 years of age. It also tells us why they want one for so long. They did not wish to face off with our Grand Field Marshal who killed so many.

When a mortal champion can formulate plans that cause the death of so many, with the extinction-level event that surpassed what Tiamat did to the Averial but on the Duergar without realizing that would be the result, the Gods take notice.

In this case, IO, the creator of all dragons who put us into this war. The Chromatic Dragon Gods talked of time to recover and rebuild. They have to do so in an area that is one-third the size of our Alliance lands, as they exist today.

With the populations that have control over those areas only for now. I say areas as it consists of one area in the wilds and one in the area around the mountains near Valinta where the giants went. The coasts are currently no dragon zones. Not where they are staying as our Gods foresee the Storm Giants regrouping already to attack that location again.

With few dragons there those Giant Half-Dragons will not likely survive. Those giants will likely move off. Some independent of the chromatics and others will go to the chromatics. The same could be stated of the orc, ogre, knolls, hobgoblins, kobolds, and humans in the lands they control.

As people sneak away in the dead of the night or through tunnels. Outside of Dragon control and establish new tribes and such. Giant Half-Dragons escaping via teleportation is possible.

Most of the Half-Dragon crops if you will that they have will be dead, old, or elderly when this war starts again. Hence the reduction in creating Half-Dragons and the shorter lifespans even with other species as Giants would live longer than even Elven Half-Dragons."

Queen Goldeagle looked over, "The Elven Empire is the cornerstone of the non-dragon portion of this Alliance. We will of course be staying with the Alliance as long as the Metallic Dragons remain good allies as a whole. I was disappointed in this move, but it was done by Gods."

King Nereus asked, "We are now landlocked into the middle of Elven territory. In our new Capital of Grand Falls. We will stay with the Alliance, they saw us through the cataclysm and provided support to us."

King Alexander of Valinta sighed and looked up, "I could see the long-term benefits, but our people would take 500 years of peace after what they saw. You are talking generations, up to 7-12 generations before war strikes again.

Our people will grow, expand, and likely look to establish other ports and cities off to the far west as we have no idea, other than this map of what is waiting for us out there. Even knowing the dangers. What would be lost if we withdrew?"

Tallion spoke, "That does not count the Drow, Orc, Giants, Gnolls, Goblins, Hobgoblins, Kobolds, or any other non-alliance Humans or other races who may attack you that I failed to mention or their Half-Dragons, which is not reflected on that map. You have no idea as to what hostile assets are in those areas, new or not.

This only deals with direct Dragon attacks. Your palace would be seated on the site of your new kingdom. The control crystal held by our enchanters to make it fly would be destroyed, which will be the case regardless once you settle on a location.

It takes a Gold Elf enchanter, I should say one who knows Elven Mythic magic to do what was done for your Palaces and our buildings. The dragons have something similar to what I have heard but on a larger scale even bigger than the Storm Giants and Cloud Giants. With their flying mountain tops and fortresses at very high altitudes.

Expect the Storm Giants to find homes out that way, as it is the largest section of unclaimed land and new Mountains, they tend to be good giants though. They will need to build new settlements and those new distant mountains they would likely take on as new homes to rebuild.

Yet it was Elven enchanters who did that work for you. Those who worked to keep them up, won't do it forever for non-elven assets and the location of your Palaces will need to be decided soon now that the Earthquakes have subsided. Building new ports will be left up to you as it moves further from us.

Our enchanters did it to protect our allies for a known coming cataclysmic event, at the Queen's direction. With the support of the Dragon enchanters and Dragon Council. You would be responsible for the completion of its construction and you can contract with those in the Alliance for resources. I cannot speak to dragon breeding?"

The Bronze King looked over, "It would not continue beyond the pre-existing elven borders. You expand out the no-dragon zone. Half-Dragons though are not covered in that exception. For either side, if you left the Alliance.

As you would not be a member of the Alliance the best we could do is Half-Dragons inform you and withdraw if they so choose. Intervening if they choose. Leaving your people to suffer the Chromatic Half-Dragons potentially, not full-up dragons for 500 years. Regaining entry into the Alliance would be the work of diplomats and diplomacy.

The other option is to stay in lands given to you, expand your kingdoms into the new lands knowing dragons will not enter them but your Palaces remain under the protection of the Alliance. Unless the revocation clause is enacted, let the ones who wish to move to the other coasts off to the Far-East, and see if in 500 years the Chromatic Dragons do not invade, kill, breed, and consume your people like cattle.

They have a population to rebuild and part of that is the raping of your women and the consumption of any who are infertile. In 500 years they will look for those settlements. Rejoining is a possibility. Aligning with the chromatics who have attacked you, is another possibility. This goes for both human Kingdoms and the Dwarven Kingdom who has not spoken yet."

The Dwarven King sighed, "Many of our champions would be old or elderly at that point. Why did you do this?"

The Crystal King looked over, "It is a double-edged sword. This truce was called for by the Chromatic Dragon Gods. The boundaries are clearly shown. In the future, one truce for the same period could be called for by the Metallic Dragons, by Bahamut. Overseen by IO to ensure all dragon parties adhere to this truce.

In a war expected to be 10,000 years, getting 1,000 years of it to be potentially peaceful to rebuild and recover is an ideal situation. The War clock will be stopped as they expect us to be at war for 10,000 years at least.

It does not stop you from taking action into hostile lands. You would not have Alliance support for that offensive action. At least no Dragon Support. The Drow could return and they would be open targets as they are not a part of this discussion.

Chromatic Dragons have no alliances with them that we know about. Defensive support for your homes, yes. There is a large swath of land that is considered a no-dragon zone for either side. Most of the world falls into this section.

Something both sides can monitor as the creator of all dragons will be watching what is going on. This is the time where covert action like assassinations, infiltrations, and other nefarious activities are likely to occur."

The King of Avlora, King Quaranna asked, "What becomes of our agreements under the Alliance if we step away?"

Queen Goldeagle looked at him, "They become null and void if you withdraw before a peace accord. Your Queen at the time was adamant about that being the case as she did not want her children generations from her having to face Tiamat or other Chromatic Dragon forces as she did when your city was attacked. Not without the support of those who could help you. To prove my point on that matter."