I am a member of the royal court for the Southern Crown. There are two
kingdoms in our world. One holds domain over the entire Northern hemisphere,
and we rule over the South. We are a fair and just regime, and while not
technically democratic, we do listen to our people and recognize their
needs. We do not condemn those who would criticize us, and we do our best to
make everyone happy. It was a long road that took us to this point, and no
one here would welcome the opportunity to endure it again. We used to be
broken into hundreds of independent nations, and though the majority of them
were indeed run by democracies, they were full of corruption and
selfishness. It was quite easy to get elected when you had the money, knew
what to say to your voters, and had the right people backing you. That
didn’t mean you would act in the best interests of your people, and it
didn’t mean that you were peaceful. Now that there are only two separate
states, things are much better for everyone. We don’t pay much attention to
the goingson of the North, but according to our intelligence, they feel the
same as we do. We have always met each other in peace, but not warmly. We
are not allies, and we are not friends. Each kingdom can provide for itself,
so we are not even trading partners. For the most part, we leave each other
alone. But things have now changed. The threat we face threatens us all
equally, which means there is no one to help us but our collective selves.
We all have to do our part, and we all have to agree about what that means.
A dragon has been on the attack for decades, even before the two kingdoms
were formed. Some believe in the dragon, and others do not. Some believe,
but are still not worried about it. To them, the dragon is always either far
away in time, or in space.
The dragon is invisible, you see. Like the wind, we detect its impact on the
world. We see the fires, and the smoke. We feel the heat as the water boils
around us. We suffer the great storms that ravage our lands. We know that
it’s there; we just can’t prove it, and without proof, stopping it from
destroying everything may be impossible. Some of us have taken measures to
slay this dragon, but it is too heavy a task for us, the brave few. Everyone
must first admit that it is real, and help with the effort, if only in their
own way. I am one of the more vocal proponents of fighting against the
dragon, but there are not many who feel the same. The others, they laugh at
me, or simply dismiss my concerns as not much of a priority. This region
needs to send food to this other region, because they are not getting enough
rain for their crops. This other region has had a bad fishing season. These
are the issues that must be prioritized, according to the rest of the
royals. I try to tell them that it is the dragon that is burning the crops,
and it is the dragon that is poisoning the fish. They will not hear of it.
It couldn’t be. No way could a dragon do so much worldwide. And if I make
any attempt to convince them that we were the ones who released the dragon
in the first place, they will surely have my head! No man could birth a
dragon, and if he did, it would be easy to maintain, so that cannot be the
problem. But no man birthed the dragon. We summoned it. Together. We
summoned it when we did not take care of this world. It has come in response
to our neglect, and the only way we’ll be able to kill it is if this becomes
the accepted truth. I fear this cannot happen until the right person places
that Southern Crown atop their head. And if it must be me, then it will be
me. I cannot let the dragon consume us all.
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