The Dragon Lies Bleeding
The Dragon Lies Bleeding, also called the Words of Eiglaerion, has come to form the central creed of the Blood of the Dragon—Eiglaerion's clique of Ironborn remnants and other followers. With it, Eiglaerion was able to maintain the loyalty of one of the largest and most powerful of the Ironborn remnant groups, and secure support and cooperation from the likes of Otori Sepret's Dragonguard.
Background
The Dragon Lies Bleeding is a poem by Eiglaerion which he recited on the hill where Daero had disbanded the Ironborn, a month after the former Iron King's last proclamation to his soldiers. Though properly it is simply the poem, more broadly the title is used to refer to the entirety of Eiglaerion's address to the former Ironborn on that day. This address had been transcribed in its entirety by several chroniclers present at the moment of its delivery. The transcription, which has since been rendered into a document, is hand-copied and illuminated for display in the government offices throughout the Starklands, but was initially kept just to Hopesworth and Ironhold.The Poem
Eiglaerion's poem compared the plight of the Ironborn after their disbandment to the state of the Cult of the Chromatic Dragon after the Battle of Deathsmog Mountain. Ambiguous wording left it deliberately uncertain whether specific lines are meant to refer to the perspective of the Cult or the Ironborn, and throughout the poem is the idea that both are defeated and broken, cast aside and outlawed. A melancholic tone of loss pervades the entire work, which conveys themes of the injustice of war and of one's lost place in the world, and the bewildering lack of direction that follows such a profound loss of identity. Certainly such feelings echo the elvish sentiments of hiraeth, which Eiglaerion must be familiar with.
The Creed
Immediately following the poem, Eiglaerion launched into an impassioned and, if rumor is to be believed, impromptu declaration of his vision for a new way of life. In this he cited fundamental rites to life and self-determination which all people ought to be able to enjoy. Eiglaerion envisioned a world where he and others who were "the spilled blood of the Rebel Dragon" could find belonging and make permanent homes. A place and lifestyle where they need not fight others' wars to secure shaky legitimacy. Eiglaerion was already well regarded and his words kept many to follow in his example, and thus was born the Blood of the Dragon under the elf's leadership by unanimous election.
Initially, this system was fairly indistinguishable from the organization of the Ironborn, but as they settled and began construction of Hopesworth, their new capital, the Blood of the Dragon
The heritage of we who remain is war. Now, cast off, we must confront the opportunity and great burden of creating new lives for ourselves.
Though he wished to no longer fight for others in order to be allowed to exist, it does seem that Eiglaerion and Otori, or at least the Blood of the Dragon and the Dragonguard, were able to reach mutually beneficial terms. When the Champion of Bahamut had keeps constructed in the Smoking Peaks to keep the Starklands under close watch, the Blood of the Dragon helped fill the garrisons as well as provide for supplies.
The Creed
Immediately following the poem, Eiglaerion launched into an impassioned and, if rumor is to be believed, impromptu declaration of his vision for a new way of life. In this he cited fundamental rites to life and self-determination which all people ought to be able to enjoy. Eiglaerion envisioned a world where he and others who were "the spilled blood of the Rebel Dragon" could find belonging and make permanent homes. A place and lifestyle where they need not fight others' wars to secure shaky legitimacy. Eiglaerion was already well regarded and his words kept many to follow in his example, and thus was born the Blood of the Dragon under the elf's leadership by unanimous election.Initially, this system was fairly indistinguishable from the organization of the Ironborn, but as they settled and began construction of Hopesworth, their new capital, the Blood of the Dragon
The heritage of we who remain is war. Now, cast off, we must confront the opportunity and great burden of creating new lives for ourselves.
Though he wished to no longer fight for others in order to be allowed to exist, it does seem that Eiglaerion and Otori, or at least the Blood of the Dragon and the Dragonguard, were able to reach mutually beneficial terms. When the Champion of Bahamut had keeps constructed in the Smoking Peaks to keep the Starklands under close watch, the Blood of the Dragon helped fill the garrisons as well as provide for supplies.
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