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History
Eilis is the remnant of what was once the greatest super-power in
a world where all civilizations are guided and protected by a family
of dragons. These mighty beasts are asexual shape-shifters who pass
on their memories genetically. Of any one family, only a single
dragon is ever alive at any given time. There are exceptions, of
course, but they are rare enough that a dragon's family is typically
referred to as its “line.” The dragon's life-force and
powers are directly tied to the civilization it nurtures: if they
flourish the dragon becomes strong, and if they struggle the dragon's
health may fail. Thus, when a civilization falters, its guardian
dragon may sacrifice itself to bring forth the next generation of
dragon in hopes that the civilization may be revitalized under new
leadership. It is in this way that one mortal era ended and a new
begins.
At this point in time, the nation of Eilis is in the age of
Eilante, named for its current guardian dragon. The name roughly
translates as “The line of Eil, forever nesting.” It was
by “nesting” the civilization deep within the ground that
Eilante saved it from annihilation, but that is getting ahead of the
tale.
The great nation of Eilis once took up the majority of its
continent and was a ruthless expansionist force. The Eil line where
the most powerful of all dragon lines, and under the power of
Eilante's predecessor, Eilosa (“The line of Eil, star
seeking”), it rose to a position of bargaining power among the
dragons' fellow celestial beings. Eilosa received a blessing from
the Kirin, which amplified her own powers to unprecedented heights.
During that time, Eilosa began to hone the flesh of her mortals. The
Eilisians, as they are called, were winged humanoids, and she slowly
etched into their physiology and psychology a need for the most
intimate level of control from their guardian. She connected their
minds in a vast web of consciousness with her own at the nexus. This
was perceived as a threat by another of the celestial beings, the
great Lion, who has previously swayed the free spirit of mortals. He
persuaded the Phoenix, the ancient foe of the dragons, to come to his
aid, and the devastation was terrible.
The time of Eilosa had ended in this cataclysmic event, and the
torch, as they say, was passed on to Eilante. She took the Eilisians
underground and managed to prevent their total destruction. The
wasteland of Phoenix ash which thereafter became known as the Blasted
Lands was magical in nature and would weaken a dragon far more than
Eilante was willing to risk. Thus did Eilante earn her title of
“forever nesting,” for she never tried to return her
civilization to the surface. Although it seemed an impossibly
drastic change for the winged Eilisians, they have once more come to
flourish. Via a network of teleportation monuments, the armies of
Eilis are still frequently put to use crushing other civilizations
which would seek to rise up or
infringe on the continent and also in resource gathering.
It is important to point out that
Eilante not only managed to guide the Eilisians through the
transition from air to underground, but also managed to maintain the
Eil dragon line's iron grip on its mortals. The Winged Lion has
generally accepted defeat in the case of the Eilisians, but
occasionally still tries to free the Eilisian people. The most
recent case is seen in Miyetaran's Accipiter class older brother,
Varius, who simply became internally conflicted and prone to minor
outbursts, but still fiercely loyal to Eilante. Eilante is also
known to flaunt her survival of the Phoenix attack by assuming the
form of a phoenix, complete with flaming plumage.
Eilis is the single city that remains of what was once the most
powerful nation on the planet. It is an underground metropolis
located beneath what is now known as the Blasted Lands, and access to
the surface is possible through a network of teleportation devices.
The city itself exists in several layers encircling a central shaft
which connects them. The buildings are made of living vines -some
varieties of which have bioluminescent flowers- reinforced with the
city's renowned crystal and actually hang from the cavern ceilings.
Flight is the primary mode of transportation. The closer to the
central shaft, the more spacious things become and the more
flight-traffic that can be handled.
City Layout
The city of Eilis consists of four caverns layered one over-top of
the next. Each cavern encircles a central, vertical shaft which
connects them all. Piercing through the center of this shaft is a
massive pillar atop which Eilante herself nests. The buildings of
the city are made out of living vines -some varieties of which have
bioluminescent flowers- reinforced with the city's renowned crystal
and actually hang from the cavern ceilings. Flight is the primary
mode of transportation.
The buildings are distributed through each cavern level such that
the further away from the center one goes the more congested things
become. Immediately surrounding the central shaft on each level is a
temple. Imitating the circular design of the overall city,
individual communities also had a circular layout. At the center of
each of these was a community water source. The strict hierarchy of
Eilisian society was highly visible in how families were placed
within the city. The most important individuals in a community
lived closest to the central water supply, and the most important
communities were located closest to the center of their cavern layer.
In this way, every individual knew exactly where they stood with
respect to everyone else.
Similarly, the higher the level of the city, the more important
its inhabitants were. Also, the higher the layer of the city, the
smaller the layer became and the fewer inhabitants it could hold. As
such, the lowest level of the city was vastly larger than any other,
and it housed all of the females of the species. Eilante kept the
men apart from the women in order to prevent strong family ties;
loyalty was to be committed to Eilante only, not to a blood relative.
In addition, very rarely did the same two people have more than one
child together. This kept all blood lines very interconnected.
Ascending or descending the pillar unless specifically ordered to
do so was a crime punishable by death, though no one willingly
descended the pillar and young individuals sometimes resisted orders
to descend. Because which level you lived on carried so much
importance, it was often a punishment to be relocated to a lower
level of the city. Ironically, in order to mate men would have to
endure the dishonor of descending the pillar; this was partly done so
that Eilante could more easily maintain tight control over the
breeding of her mortals.
Not surprisingly, the greatest prize for any warrior would be to
mate with a priestess, as this would mean he was not required to
descend the pillar and his child would never even touch the lowest
level of the city. However, though a great prize, it was also a
source of great ire for those not chosen and often times the chosen
would be ostracized despite his great honor.
Social Classes
Buteo
These low class warriors made up the bulk of the Eilisian populace
and lived on the second and third levels of the city with a few
highly decorated individuals earning the right to move up to the
first level of the city. They averaged 30 to 40 mph flight speeds,
with a dive able to reach 100 mph. They were capable of extended
flight and were generally larger, rougher warriors. They were very
useful for major invasions of cities, or even countries, in the
outside world as they made a highly mobile and thus unpredictable
army.
Accipiter
Middle class warriors lived on the first level of the city. They
were not well equipped for extended flight, but were capable of high
bursts of speed and were far more maneuverable in the air. They could
sustain flight speeds of 20 to 30 mph, but were capable of bursts up
to 60 mph and dives of 120 mph. Due to their increased
maneuverability, their fighting style had more finesse, and thus they
were much more successful killers on an individual basis. Usually,
they were the back-up of the Buteo class. When an army had a
particularly tough time taking an area or was having higher than
normal casualties, some Accipiter class warriors would be added to
the ranks to push the sway of the battle more favorably.
Falconidae
One of the two specialty class warriors, the Falconidae also lived
on the first level of the city. They were smaller warriors known for
reaching much higher speeds than any other warrior class. They
averaged 28 – 60 mph comfortably, with bursts up to 145 mph and
dives of 195 mph. Generally, each individual had specialized training
and as such, the jobs done by the Falconidae class as a whole were
numerous and would be nearly impossible to list. Their most common
job, however,was scouting.
Tytonidae
This class had major
differences in wing structure from the rest of their people, and they
had only one purpose. Their wings were downy and especially adapted
to silent flight. Their hair had similar traits, and special clothing
was made for them to keep them absolutely soundless. Despite being
soundless, the Tytonidae averaged speeds of 40 to 50 mph, and were
capable of 130 mph dives. Their purpose was to eliminate specific
targets with utmost accuracy and secrecy; they were assassins. They
were extensively trained in no less than 4 weapons and were each
given a signature spell that would summon a chosen weapon at need.
Paradisaeidae
These were the only class within
Eilisian society that were not warriors. Their traits were
genetically recessive, and often hidden among the warrior classes.
These traits included brilliantly colored feathers and a body frame
that was far too delicate to endure battle. Instead, the
Paradisaeidae served as the priests who would man the temples around
which Eilisian life literally revolved. Also, the Priestess would be
chosen from one of the Paradisaeidae females. These individuals
never leave Eilis and aren't well suited to long distance flights.
The Priestess
This individual had a class all to herself and dwelled at the
highest place of honor in all of Eilisian society: the temples of the
first level of the city. She was the only individual among the
entire people who was allowed to interact with Eilante directly, and
if any others tried they would be put to death. Thus, the Priestess
was raised to the level of god-hood in the minds of the Eilisians.
However, cleverly, it was a priestess and not a priest. With the
females very highly subjugated, a priestess would be entirely pliant
to Eilante and a very useful tool for accurate communication. To
reinforce this, the female chosen to be the next priestess would be
stripped of her name and stricken from all records as though she had
never existed. She was 'reborn' from her lowly female status into
the status of a goddess and very happily shed her former namesake for
this honor. In this way, the Priestess had nothing else to fall back
upon and betrayal was utterly unheard of. A new priestess was always
chosen based on two factors. First, she had to be a crimson plumed
member of the Paradisaeidae class. Second, she had to have strong
and diverse genetics, since she would be mating with the best of
Eilan society and the genetics of such great warriors simply could
not go to waste. The color of the Priestess was vital in that she
would be a vision of the Phoenix which had destroyed their great
nation and a constant reminder to the people of just how deep was
their debt to and their need for the Eil dragon line.
The Females
Although the females had no class distinction in name, among
themselves it was blatantly obvious who belonged to which class from
above and they were organized upon their level of the city as such.
Thus, towards the center of the fourth level of the city one could
find Accipiter, Falconidae, and Tytonidae females, while at the edges
one would find Buteo females. This had the added impact that lower
level warriors had to spend more time on the fourth level in order to
mate, while high class warriors could be in and out much more
quickly.
The bottom of their layer, the lowest in the city, was used for
growing food. This was an important duty of the females who nurtured
a variety of strange and exotic plants. Many were pale lichens that
had adapted, with Eilante's help, to the deep darkness. There were
also bioluminescent flowers and fruits which spanned the spectrum of
visible light and made the lowest level of the city beautiful to
behold. Finally, there were mineral rich nuts which clung close to
the rocky surfaces.