The Crimson Drakes

The Crimson Drakes are ruled by a council, who come together as often as they can at their main headquarters to handle the logistics of running the rebellion.    Many of the other roles are self-assigned. Those with skills at smithing volunteer their services to craft weapons and armor, warriors train newcomers in combat, healers tend to the wounded, etc. Everybody has a place, and all are willing to do what is necessary to help their fellow Drakes.

The Crimson Drakes strive to bring equality and freedom to all they meet, and while they do everything they can to hide their allegiance to protect the rebellion, they still make outreaches to the communities they serve. Stealing taxes to give back to the disenfranchised and poor, finding ways to give the poor access to more power or lands, and occasionally scaring nobles into easing up on their iron grips. They look unfavorably on those who benefit from the exploitation or labor of nonhuman races and keep their true selves in the shadows while putting forth shiny personas that are more acceptable in society.

The ultimate goal of the rebellion is to free Dredaria from the trappings of the Empire and allow its people the freedom to have their smaller kingdoms and lands. It also wants racial and class equality across the land rather than a strict class system that only benefits a handful of races. They hope to one day convince the people to rise up and allow people of more monstrous appearance and origin to gain power, titles, and land as easily as the more overtly humanoid races.

The Crimson Drakes have hideouts and safe houses stationed all across Dredaria. Every major city has at least one, and many villages house at least a dead drop point, if not one friendly face willing to share food and shelter. Though numbers are tenuous and hard to pin down, there are at least a few thousand active members, all trained in subterfuge, combat, and other skills determined by a Drakes specialty's.

Originally, the Crimson Drakes were a small rebel cause on the fringes of society, a far minority that was more akin to a group of disgruntled villagers than any real organization. They were like-minded individuals upset at the world and angry at the nobles who ruled it, often committing petty crimes or starting rumors as a way to get even. Over the years, however, leaders arose and began to gather their far-flung supporters, organizing them into the beginnings of what they would become. Though leadership would change, often going from a single leader to a council of a few and back, their cause stayed the same, and through their machinations, they have been able to grow their numbers. Rather than a few dissenting souls across the empire, their numbers range into the thousands as people are constantly drawn into the fold. Membership is hard to obtain, and the Crimson Drakes carefully approach potential candidates, as each new addition is carefully vetted and put on long probationary periods before being given access to more important jobs within the rebellion and access to hideouts.    Eventually, the aristocracy began to catch on that there was intelligence and motive behind some of the crimes that would occur in their lands and that they seemed to be a part of something much larger. The rebellion became something of a well-known secret, where nobody could truly prove that it existed, but there wasn't a better explanation. As time went on, eventually, the aristocracy began to refer to the rebellion as drakes, a demeaning title to say they were dumb beasts in need of extermination, much like the drakes of yore were. Those in power insisted that they were nothing more than monsters to be hunted, stuffed, and hung on their mantles as trophies. The rebellion took this name in stride and reclaimed it, knowing that even the smallest drake was still deadly to mankind, capable of razing lands and stealing away the wealth that nobles so carefully acquired. No one is quite sure where the Crimson part came from; some speculate that it is because of the bloodshed from their cause, some say it came from the rumors that the rebel headquarters is based in the Crimson Mountains, where many of the old drakes were hunted to extinction, and others say it is a direct insult to the Dowager Magdalena Jovanovik who once proudly claimed the nickname "The Red Empress."  However it came to be, it is now accepted as the name of the rebellion. Spoken in disgust and annoyance by nobles and whispered in awe and reverence by commoners, the Crimson Drakes are as much myth and legend as they are flesh and blood to the people of the empire today.