#Xavvi_WoF_AU

[xavviluin05]

✦ The Sand Kingdom ✦

The Sand Kingdom is renowned for its exquisite jewelry, hops production, and its rivalry with Pantala in crafting magnificent tapestries.

The kingdom spans vast territories, but unfortunately, not all of them are under the queen’s control. Its wealth and desolate landscape attract a multitude of bandits, marauders, cutthroats, and other riffraff, who are deterred only by the palace walls—an imposing fortress that is virtually unassailable.

The region is carved up by various gangs, and peaceful inhabitants pay them tribute in exchange for protection from rival groups. Efforts to restore order through the military have seen mixed results. The large army is too cumbersome to deal with such scattered threats, so the Sand aristocracy often turns to private detectives and mercenaries to eliminate the most troublesome cutthroats.

However, since it isn’t profitable for detectives and mercenaries to completely eradicate banditry, many strike deals with the gangs, either turning a blind eye or exchanging leniency for rival bandits or undesirables.

The Onyx Eye is an ancient artifact and the symbol of SandWing royal authority, legitimizing the queen’s rule.

The kingdom is ruled by Queen Khamsin, a sharp-tongued, cunning, but impatient ruler. She frequently attends executions as if they were festive occasions. She views herself as a noble and magnanimous queen, disliking anyone who suggests otherwise. To maintain her image as a benevolent ruler, she occasionally makes grand gestures, leading her subjects to interact with her cautiously. Despite this, they generally accept her reign without much complaint.

Her authority is further reinforced by the Onyx Eye, which she wears at all times. However, the artifact she flaunts is, in reality, a skillful forgery

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✦Animus magic - is a gift that allows one to transform energy and animate inanimate objects✦

No one knows exactly how the first animus magic users appeared, but they originated from the IceWings and later spread throughout Pyrrhia.

The nature of animus magic is little studied, but it is known for certain that when enchanting an object, the animus breathes life into it, losing some of their power in the process. The enchanted item is strengthened and begins to possess some properties of a living organism; it emits heat or cold, depending on the dragon who enchanted it, and can understand speech. If an item is enchanted to respond to a specific command, with enough patience, it can be retrained to respond to another. However, enchanted items are extremely stubborn and often not very clever, taking many words literally.

✦Animus magic users must be incredibly cautious with the use of their magic, as overly powerful spells can simply kill them✦

Although animus magic users can create something new using magic, they prefer to enchant already finished items since growing things is an extremely time and energy-consuming process.

IceWing animus magic users preferred to create gifts entirely with their claws, infusing them with magic during the creation process and literally putting their soul into them. As a result, artifacts made by IceWings and their followers possess extraordinary strength and greater intelligence.

An animus who has expended their power can replenish it both naturally (by eating well and resting) and artificially. Artificial replenishment is achieved by killing and extracting energy from other living beings. Some believe that it is also necessary to eat the victim’s heart, but this is not essential.

Artificial replenishment is beneficial because through it you gain more magical power than is possible to acquire naturally due to the limitations of the animus’s body. The legend that an animus loses their soul when using magic is mostly based on cases where they descended into mass killings to obtain energy for more powerful spells.

The most striking example of such an animus is Darkstalker, a dragon who, for almost all 17 years of his life, killed random IceWings in pursuit of immortality. When his friends learned about the nature of his power, they were horrified and killed him.

Not all animus magic users are serial killers; most prefer a more civilized method - sacrificing animals. Interestingly, scavengers have quite high energy value due to their sentience, but dragons have yet to discover this. They lean toward the belief that the amount of energy is proportional to the size of the creature.

Animus magic users rarely engage in enchanting living beings because it is an incredibly difficult and often messy process, the first step of which is to completely break the creature being enchanted. Both dragons and animals have their own will, which in normal situations will always resist the animus’s will. Enchanting these creatures turns into a constant struggle with continuous depletion of both moral and magical strength.

An average animus can barely handle an animal, let alone another dragon (or scavenger). Although powerful animus magic users can temporarily subdue a victim, they prefer to avoid it out of a very reasonable fear of losing all their power in the process.

If a dragon does want to subdue another sentient being, they will need patience and a lack of squeamishness. The creature being enchanted is driven mad, broken, and stripped of its own will, turning into an empty vessel that can later be filled with magic.

Some animus magic users follow the IceWing method. They take a dragonet or any other creature they want to enchant (the younger, the better) and raise it in complete obedience, infusing it with magic during the training process, making the dragonets stronger and faster-growing than their peers. This method is the most successful if an animus wants to subdue the will of a living creature.

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✦ The Sea Kingdom ✦

The Sea Kingdom trades in artworks, pearls, and fish.

The majority of the Sea Kingdom’s population works in or for the palace, with almost all resources flowing into the royal claws, which are meant to manage them wisely. Other dragons respect their queens, but in the Sea Kingdom, the royal family has become a true cult. Young dragons are raised with dreams of how they will serve their queen.

This is why the Sea Kingdom rushed to fight in Donya's name without a second thought, even after their swift defeat.

Only rare recluses live on islands or in the deepest parts of the ocean, mostly leading semi-wild lifestyles.

The Sea Kingdom has the greatest economic disparity in society. While the royal couple and their inner circle bask in luxury and build palaces of culture, most of the rest of the population lives in poverty.

The Coral Crown is the symbol of the Sea Kingdom’s authority.

The kingdom is ruled by Queen Seabed, a massive battle-hardened dragoness who values fine art and has no tolerance for princes, considering them a useless and lazy part of society. She doesn’t particularly care for other tribes, focusing solely on her own and constantly thinking about how to expand her territories. She firmly believes that all water belongs to the Sea Kingdom, meaning that the lands around every river and lake should be theirs as well.

She almost sparked a large-scale war, but the closure of trade routes and fierce resistance from other tribes forced her to retreat to her lands. After this humiliating defeat, her temper soured, and she became a rather unpleasant individual, preferring to spend her time in proud solitude, reading poetry and drinking cocktails.

Since princes annoy her with their "useless faces," she tries to extract the maximum benefit from them. During wartime, they often led battles in hot spots, while in peacetime, Donya prefers to burden them with the most boring royal duties.

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✦ The Sky Kingdom ✦

The Sky Kingdom is known for its smithing, producing everything from exquisite jewelry to strong armor.

The Sky Kingdom is known for its smithing, producing everything from exquisite jewelry to strong armor. The SkyWing dragons prefer to live in large clusters, either in big cities, at the palace, or in family estates. They value family bonds and are particularly attentive to orphaned and downtrodden relatives.

The most desirable position for a common dragon is working at the palace, but such positions are only available through recommendations after working for an aristocratic family. Therefore, most SkyWings engage in simpler professions—smithing, mining, and hunting.

Hunters are always in demand due to the strong need for meat, as farming is considered a lazy profession among most dragons. Additionally, it’s widely believed that livestock is weaker and frailer than game hunted through honest means.

The SkyWing tribe is the second wealthiest, and their queens are known for adorning themselves with heavy gold necklaces, bracelets, and other jewelry.

The kingdom is ruled by Queen Cuprite, a proud and strict dragoness who respects the craft of smithing and has a personal passion for it. She has five daughters, and each of them knows their place. She is not known for cruelty; her subjects and children respect her, and she has done everything to ensure she will retire peacefully rather than die in battle.

Her reign is quiet, confident, and steady, but like many SkyWings, the queen has a quarrelsome nature and is somewhat old-fashioned.

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✦ The Ice Kingdom ✦

The Ice Kingdom is known for selling furs and ice

The Ice Kingdom is known for selling furs and ice. The gift of order still exists there. The Ice Kingdom is quite influential and even more arrogant due to its control over intercontinental trade. The only trade route passes through their lands.

All their military might is focused on protecting this trade, and while they haven’t changed many of their habits, patience and hospitality have become firmly embedded in their mentality.

The Crystal Crown is a gift from an animus of the past. Despite its elegance, it is incredibly durable and has been passed down from queen to queen for many centuries. The crown also adjusts to fit the size of its wearer.

The kingdom is ruled by Queen Snowy, a pedantic perfectionist who can be somewhat irritable. However, thanks to these qualities, she manages trade affairs with precision and speed. This dragoness rarely stays still, as she doesn’t trust others with important matters, preferring to handle them herself.

She fiercely protects her trade routes and isn’t shy about threatening to close them off to certain kingdoms as a form of intimidation. She believes that through trade, she controls all of Pyrrhia, and she rather enjoys this thought. However, she also feels a deep sense of responsibility for all the kingdoms, sometimes involving herself where she isn’t necessarily needed.

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✦ About Princesses, Princes, and Royal Consorts ✦

In ancient times, dragons and dragonesses didn’t form lifelong pairs. Instead, they came together briefly once a year before parting ways. Dragonesses had to protect and provide for both themselves and their offspring, which made them large and fiercely independent.

As dragons began to fight over territories and build civilizations, dragonesses emerged as the most suitable leaders. Thus, the first queens were born.

Over time, as dragons began living in closer communities, they started forming permanent pairs (with the exception of MudWings, but more on them later). This meant dragonesses no longer had to shoulder the entire burden of family life, leading them to become smaller and more tempered.

However, this change occurred mainly among common dragons. Queens, on the other hand, retained their formidable size and temperament. While they also began forming lasting pairs, an unusual reversal took place: royal and noble males started to shrink in size over generations. This was due to the inherently fiery and solitary nature of dragons. During domestic disputes, males (who were naturally smaller and weaker even without these changes) often perished at the claws of their wives. Only those with a gentle and submissive nature survived—though even today, this isn’t always enough to guarantee safety.

Royal consorts are not considered kings, but the children of queens are called princes and princesses.

MudWings, meanwhile, followed a different path from the very beginning. Their lands were always fertile and abundant, providing plenty of resources. As a result, they didn’t need to fight among themselves or form permanent pairs to protect their offspring. Instead, they built their kingdom as a defense against other dragons who might covet their wealth.

[xavviluin05]

Starting today, I’m kicking off a series of posts about my alternate version of Wings of Fire. Some events from the canon have been rewritten, but the main story takes place 1,000 years after the fifth book. I am NOT claiming to fix plot holes, improve the canon, or anything like that. I’m just having fun and reshaping this world to suit my tastes so I can have a place for my dragon characters to live

Pantala was discovered slightly later, about a century after the War for the Sand Throne. Thanks to the efforts of the animus dragons and silkwings, the Great Silk Road was established, supported by  treestuff columns standing on islands and also they serve dragons as small rest stops.

The Great Silk Road leads to the Ice Kingdom, from where small groups can make their way to other parts of Pyrrhia.

Othermind is an ordinary plant, and the leafwings were wiped out after the forest was set on fire. The attack on the royal greenhouses failed; these greenhouses are the only place where etc the last remaining sprouts of Othermind are preserved. Silkwings are still enslaved and have even become quite popular as servants in Pyrrhia. The scavengers are still not recognized as a sentient species but are increasingly being kept as pets