Spring of Dragons

Spring of Dragons
	; Game starting map, credit to Daniel Smith and Native Hunter.
Game Master	Deng;
Former GM	Poben;
Total turns	6 + 1;
Start date	1490;
Creation date	27th of September, 2014;
Status	In development hell/Ended;
Link	Here

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Spring of Dragons is an RP by Facepunch user and former GM Poben. Currently, it is GMed by Deng. It lasted for 6 turns. The last, 7th turn is stuck in development hell.

One of the main difference between this RP and other RPs is that this time, dragons have been introduced into Earth's ecosystem. Based on the book series "Temeraire", Dragons are able to be tamed and used by the countries of the world for their dealings within the game.

If you want to see any of the turns without going to Facepunch, use this link.

Background

There is a slight change in the course of history. In the wake of the Permian mass extinction, a small group of reptiles eventually diversified to become among the dominant fauna on earth. Known as dinosaurs, the majority of them perished in a mass extinction that left only two families. Of them are the birds, and the other, are dragons. Dragons initially evolved in the Americas, only developing the ability to fly a few million years ago, and later spreading into Eurasia and Africa. The dragons pushed most large birds to extinction, leaving only the penguins. Human activities were rarely affected, due to the dragon’s solitary nature and low numbers. By the 15th century, while the East Asian civilizations had bred dragons for some centuries, the first attempts in Europe have been made to tame them as the world leaves behind the Medieval era. This RP covers what happened next.

Fiction

Burgundy: 1488

Slowly putting his palm forwards, Felix felt the hard shell of the egg sitting in front of him.
“How is it prepared again?” he asked.
“After hatching, you need to be careful. Grip the neck and squeeze before you do anything else.” replied the head cook, Gillette. “Clean it, hang it over the bowl, and I’ll take care of the rest”.
The egg was slowly cracking, drawing the attention of several of the staff around. A small hole grew in the side, out of which a talon poked.
“Be careful, these little bastards have sharp claws”. Now the whole kitchen watched with some interest, especially when they saw the top of the egg being pushed off by its occupant. A small orange head poked out, covered in slime.
“Should I do it now?” asked Felix.
“Lift it out now and wipe that filth off first” she replied. He carefully lifted out the small dragon and rubbed it with a rag, before turning it upside down and holding its neck still.
It squeaked “I’m the wrong way up”.
Felix jumped slightly at this and accidentally let go, allowing the creature to drop. It quickly got up on its legs and looked at the kitchen staff, most of whom stepped back.
“It can talk!” shouted a man halfway through gutting a lamprey.
“Do I grab it again?” asked Felix.
“No, I’ve never encountered one that could speak before” said Gillette. Everyone stared dumbstruck at the small reptile, which began walking unsteadily around tasting everything with its long serpentine tongue. “On second thought grab it again, someone find me a basket”.
Felix walked over and grabbed the dragon, which was clawing at him and squeaking loudly. Martin brought over a basket and Felix shoved the dragon inside the basket. It tried scratching its way out and biting at the sides.
“You there, call the lord, this is important” Gillette shouted at one of the kitchen staff. He quickly ran upstairs to alert him, and several minutes passed before they came into the room.
Comte David de Thérouanne was evidently angry “You said a dragon can talk? Don’t tell me you ruined a perfectly good-“
“I can talk!” it shouted out from inside the wicker prison.
The lord froze and turned pale.
“Who are you? What do you want?” he asked quietly.
“I have no name! I want food!”
“Gillette, give it some pork” he ordered.
She picked up a piece of salted pork and shoved it under the handle, which was torn apart almost as soon as it entered.
“Should we give it a name?” asked Felix.
“Let me think of one” said the lord. After standing frozen for a minute, he reanimated and said “Janus”.
“Janus?” asked Gillette.
“My name is Janus!” the dragon shouted.
This time everybody froze again. The lord came back to his senses the quickest.
“I would like the dragon brought up to my room” he ordered.
“Would you like anything else done?” asked Gillette.
“Yes. I’d like a philosopher here too, and a cage”.
He walked off, both worried and eager to find out the full implications of this discovery. His servants carried up the dragon behind him, which was squeaking from within its wicker prison.

Naples: 1514

Even before the battle our army had been devastated. The Spanish disease broke out here again as it did twenty years ago, with many of the same pustules causing the flesh to peel from the bones. Frequent shortages of powder and skirmishes reduced our guns ability to fire, managing only four shots a day. On the 2nd day of July, the Eve of St. Thomas, our scouts had reported upon the movements of a force of Neapolitan and Papal soldiers, possibly composed of twelve-thousand in total with a large complement of guns and knights. King Louis ordered us to mobilize in order to meet them in the field at Casoria. Despite protestations of illness and exhaustion from the lengthy siege, we moved out that afternoon and camped nearby Casoria.

On the feast day of St Thomas, we made many prayers for the upcoming engagement, including some to Saint Barbara. King Louis heard his masses before putting the Gendarmes in a corn field, and leaving thirty men armed with pike and shot to guard his baggage in addition to those who fell ill during the night. The rest of the forces were arranged in several blocks along the plain, while the few serpentines which could be recovered were deployed upon a hummock in addition to several musketeers. The Swiss and German mercenaries were deployed close to this hummock which lay at the northern end of the plain, with the goal of forcing the Italians away from the village.

The Italians had taken a difficult route to the north and had circled around Afragola before coming along the Via Padula road from the Southeast. As midday came close, King Louis went among the different units to give speeches and encourage them to do well. The Italians slowly deployed themselves between two thickets and rather terrifyingly, had seemingly brought forth two dragons with them, which were following two gentlemen. In addition were a complement of handgunners and pikemen along with even some old Condottieri. A duke on our side raised a stick and cried “Nestrocq”, the signal for attack, before ordering the gunners to open fire and the pikes to advance.

The guns on both sides disabled many before the pikes closed in, with some groups pushing into one another before collapsing and forcing a retreat to group up again at a further distance. After this continued for ten minutes, the Gendarmes were ordered to charge the flanks of an Italian unit that had been fixed in one field. However, this successful move was opposed by the entry of the two dragons to the battle, both concerned for the wellbeing of their masters. The Gendarmes were pulled off their horses and lay on the ground like turtles before having their limbs hacked off by the Italians, which was a great pity. The others tried to pierce the dragons with their lances, to which the response was a burst of fire which drove the horses wild and caused our vanguard to fall into disorder. The flesh of many had been burnt off, and those in plated mail had been roasted inside their armour. The dragons and Italians pushed them further and caused the retreat to become a rout. The Italians, seeing us shaken, advanced where they saw breaks and struck down and killed our men without mercy, continuing until the vanguard was overwhelmed. The dragons in addition to the collapse of the vanguard caused the order of battle to be broken. The rearguard saw this and took up as many guns, armour and other supplies that they could before fleeing the field. Shortly after, the Germans and Swiss retired in order to preserve their own lives, which were followed by a complete rout. The Italians pursued us until six in the evening. The next morning several of us privately returned to find any who may be still alive. We found only naked bodies, for the peasantry and soldiers had stripped them during the night.

Mexico: 1527

The printer was at home, still busy eating. The sun still hung low in the sky, while his apprentice Denis was shouting at him.
“Come on, hurry! The execution isn’t far off!” shouted Denis.
“There’s no rush, why should this be any different?”
“Because they have a dragon!” he shouted back at him.

After several more minutes, the printer soon appeared and walked out, yawning. They followed a path behind a building site for the new university before cutting across several fields towards the town square. The sounds of the crowd was growing, their attention fixated on a large wooden stage at the centre.

“Tortillas! Get your tortillas!” shouted a rotund man at a stall.
“Fresh dog meat!” shouted another, displaying his wares on a cotton mat.
Close to the crowd was a pile of broken crockery, dust, and other refuse. Around this were several groups of men dressed in ill-fitting French armour and brandishing guns.
The duo stood atop this pile to get a better view, on top of which some children were playing. They could see the stage much more clearly now, showing a dragon with lime green hide, a pole, and a man in a black cloak. Around him were small children battering drums and holding furled banners.

“Attention” shouted a man in plated armour, before the sound of trumpets rang out.
“People of Tenochitlan!” he shouted in a heavy French accent.
“Have you ever burned your hand in the fire? Imagine then, your entire body, burning.”
He held his hand over a torch, before removing it and showing a bloodied palm.
“Not for one moment, nor one day, but for all eternity!”
He then asked for the condemned to be brought up on stage. He was in a thin cloak, his hair waist long and clearly unwashed, it also stained with blood.

“Are we to be spared from the fires of damnation on judgement day?” he shouted at the crowd, showing his bloodied hand and pointing to the banners, which unfurled to show people on fire.
“Today, we shall save one man from such fires, for he has confessed his sins. Among his crimes he stands guilty of cannibalism and witchcraft.”
The man was tied to a stake by a few soldiers, at which point a dragon emerged from behind a large wooden screen.

“This dragon here, helped us root out yet another of these heathens, for which the church gives thanks”
The dragon stood there proudly, with a large gold crucifix worn around the neck.
“Move aside!” the Jesuit shouted out again. He motioned for the others on the stage to leave, while he himself stood beside the dragon.

The dragon then turned to face the stake, and with one powerful blast the pagan burst into flames and began screaming. The crowd watched silently. After several minutes had passed, the pagan expired.
“For those assembled here, there’s still hope for your souls. You must be baptized and confess your sins, before it is too late!”
He pointed to the half-finished cathedral on the far side of the plaza. Around it were a number of workmen, busy whitewashing the blood off the walls that were being recycled into the foundations.

Prague: 12th of November, 1692

A little before nine o’clock today, Mr Weikhard brought us into the drawing room. He prepared for the Royal Society a new and most curious machine, brought forth by his philosophical experiments and investigations. When he was assured that all gentlemen were present, he ordered his manservant to extinguish all the lights in the room save for a small lantern by the machine. At this moment, he explained to us that this experiment produced something most extraordinary. It had to be viewed in person for the true significance to be realized. His machine was a glass sphere on a spindle, which could be spun with one hand through the crank.

Having finished explaining the matter to us, he placed one hand on the sphere and turned the crank. Slowly, a dim purple light glowed from his hand as the sphere spun. With much effort, he displayed to us a light bright enough to see his face by. A most extraordinary device indeed! When pressed for an explanation afterwards, he informed us that he had not the faintest idea of why it worked.