The wisdom of Michenth and the dragon leaders were unmatched, with their input being one of the leading factors in the Dragon Alliance Republic’s strength and prosperity, as well as giving it its distinct continuity. The Articles of the Alliance did allow the three other branches of the Alliance government to override the Dragon Council, as they could veto a decision of any two of the other branches if they so chose. Otherwise, the three non dragon branches of government equally shared power in a check-and-balance type of system. The premier, who was the civilian executive leader, and the senate, whose members represented the citizens and civilians of their provinces, were all elected members of the Alliance government and had to be veterans. Many senators were former officers, whose numbers made up approximately half the senate, but being an officer was not a requirement.
The senate provided legislation for all issues, domestic and foreign; created laws; and controlled the Alliance’s budget and finances. The Dragon Council could review any of their laws upon request and either approve them or strike them down if necessary, which did not happen very often. The Dragon Council also oversaw all weir military matters, as far as deployments and campaigns, sharing power with the premier, who controlled the non-weir-affiliated military. They both worked in conjunction with the Wizards’ Council of Thirteen, who controlled all matters regarding wizards, wizard training, and magic use and also had a small advisory role. The premier could also approve or strike down laws passed by the senate and oversaw all other governmental functions other than the weir military.
The fourth smaller branch of government, the Grand Arbitrators Council, also could review laws that both the senate and premier passed. They were the primary reviewers of legal and judicial decisions; on occasion, the Dragon Council could intervene and overrule them, but only did so under extreme circumstances. The decisions made by the premier could be overridden by a two-thirds majority in the senate, or in the case of the Dragon Council, the senate could override with a super-majority of 90 percent. This same majority was also needed to modify or change the Articles of the Alliance. For the Dragon Council to make a decision, it needed to have at least two-thirds of its members present.
There was also a contingency for civilians to bring grievances to the senators. To ensure fairness among the people of the Alliance, all benefits of being an Alliance citizen were also bestowed on civilians, except, as mentioned, the right to franchise and to hold government office. Taxation, even though light, for all citizens and civilians was the same at ten drachlars per one hundred earned with another two for the provincial government. An elf and dwarf delegation also attended the monthly governmental meetings. They had a vote in certain issues but were treated with more reverence since they were separate kingdoms within Alliance territory.
As the majority of the senate started to gather, the senate president, Gindren, pounded the dwarf-made hammer like gavel to make a muffled thunder like crack to start the gathering and to gain order. The premier had a special seat to the right of the senate president. The Dragon perch across the hall from the senate president was reserved for Michenth but had been occupied by Valianth since the Great War.
“Mkel, remember our speech rehearsals and the attack strategies that the Enlightened senators will likely use to go after you and discredit you, for words can hit as hard as steel. Remember, Gallanth and I will be here with you, and you have an even more powerful ally at your side, the truth,” Jodem whispered in his ear as the senators all took their seats.
“And powerful allies all three are, my rider,” Gallanth added to the wizard’s comment telepathically.
“Thank you to you both; it is appreciated,” Mkel replied.
“May this senate gathering come to order,” Gindren’s voice echoed throughout the hall, enhanced by his seeing crystal. Senator Gindren was a well-seasoned politician, over halfway into his third and final three-year term as a senator. His wavy gray hair and broad face gave way to his piercing green eyes, which seemed to study all the details. His calculated demeanor was indicative of someone who left little to chance. “We will open this gathering with a prayer. Senior Cleric?”
“Thank you, President Gindren. Let us pray. Dear Creator, may you bless this gathering of the senate and guide the wisdom of our elected leaders and the decisions made here in the service to our great republic that is the Alliance. We thank you for our divine providence and for the benefit that our dragon friends and partners bestow upon us, as well for the sacrifice your spirit performed for us so long ago in the attempt to bring the world back into balance, back to the perfect geometry of your design. May our faith never wander,” he finished as all in the audience applauded with the Enlightened senators much less enthusiastic.
“Premier Reagresh, we want to first thank you for attending this important senate gathering. We also appreciate the attendance of the esteemed dragons Valianth and Gallanth, with their riders, General Becknor, Colonel Therosvet, and Captain Mkel of Draden Weir. Master Wizards Hestal and Jodem, King Denaris, Queen Eladra, and King Drekar, we also are graced by your attendance and wisdom. Thank you.”
“In deference to our dragon visitors, our first issue to address is the Enlightened senators’ push for the weirs and the dragons to give or donate the heating, cooling, lighting, and seeing crystals, or have them sold through the senate, under the premise of increasing the senate coffers for the general welfare of the citizens and civilians of the Alliance. General Becknor, Valianth, you may address this issue from the weirs’ perspective first,” Gindren opened.
“Senator Gindren, we will let the proponents of this issue speak first,” General Becknor replied.
“Your generosity is noted, general. Senator Terrjok, you have the floor,” Gindren directed.
“That is Enlightened Senator, Senator Gindren,” Terrjok curtly replied, as he stood up with his well over six-foot height only bringing more notice to his drawn face. His well-manicured hair and extremities was a true sign of too much indulgence in wealth or at least too much love of the wealth his family enjoyed. It also seemed to exude from his speech. “The issue before us is the concern of the hoarded treasure of the weirs. As their and the dragons’ monopoly on the production of the comfort and seeing crystals is an established fact, the funds raised by the sale of these items should not be used to stuff the sleeping chambers of the dragons, but should rather be put to a greater good under control of the senate for the benefit of all peoples of the Alliance,” he stated with his usual arrogant sneer.
Mkel and the rest of the riders and the dragons knew this was just his attempt to gain access to the weirs’ wealth and limit their autonomy, but it had to be addressed to be stopped.
“We should also release the crystal reserve to ease the burgeoning demand for these sought-after items, as well as relax the ban on selling them to non-Alliance-aligned kingdoms as a gesture of the goodwill that the weirs have ruined,” he continued to pontificate. “The program initiated by our illustrious former premier Bilenton, with the food and medicines he exported, raised the status of the Alliance throughout the world after the Great War. With the present unprecedented prosperity of the republic, the weirs should gladly donate the heating, cooling, and lighting crystals for the welfare of our neighboring kingdoms of the Southern Ontaror Sea and the island kingdoms in the southern seas. As for our misguided article within the Articles of the Alliance, that states that the right of franchise is only reserved for citizens and not civilians, it is a disservice to all those law-abiding civilians who dutifully pay their taxes and go about their lives without say in the very government that they live under. Therefore, I call a vote on these two issues after debate,” he finished.
“Thank you, Senator Terrjok. I now open the floor for debate,” Gindren stated.
“President Gindren, I would like to address the so-called Enlightened senator’s proposals,” Senator Santoric stood to address the senate, his six-foot-plus height, mi
dnight-black hair, and thin features accented his fiery but focused nature.
“You may proceed, Senator,” Gindren replied.
“Thank you, sir. First, I would like to reply to the initiative that we request the weirs donate the comfort crystals to this governing body for our own distribution. This is the very essence of arrogance. The metallic dragons of this Alliance Republic bleed for not only the comfortable living that we all now enjoy, but for the very defense of our freedoms. To ask them to then donate this bounty for our profit is unjust and dishonorable. I will graciously give some of my time to one of our esteemed dragon friends to address this issue from their perspective, but I also want to add that the very revenue that they generate from these sales—and they do not charge nearly what they could for those crystals—is what makes the weirs self-sustaining. Before the dragons discovered the methods to create them with the help of the elves, the provinces had to tithe to those thirteen fortresses to cover their operations for the protection of all. Now, not one fenig of the total taxes collected by the republic or the provinces goes to their upkeep. They are totally self-sufficient.
“A simpler question is: what would we do without them? How would we live without the products of our dragon friends, derived from their own blood, and how would we keep the Alliance strong and safe without them? The Enlightened state that we must remove the influence of the dragons for it contradicts their own message and direction. I say this is nothing but petty jealousy and a want of their modest wealth, power, and prestige.
“As far as the donation of these crystals to non-Alliance-aligned kingdoms, the donations, gifts, or welfare that former Premier Bilenton gave to these so-called potential friendly despots, only for them to temporarily like, but not respect, the Alliance allowed them to take us as fools. With the advent of the heating and cooling crystals, as well as the seeing crystals, teleportation rings, and the elvish medicines, an unprecedented prosperity befell on the peoples of the Alliance. Premier Bilenton took this period’s never-before-known prosperity and used it to reduce the Alliance Army by more than three-quarters and the navy by half. As a formal support corps arbitrator and leader of the then-burgeoning Enlightened Party, he should have known that our enemies were only dormant to plot and plan, which we see is now evident in light of these recent attacks in the outlying areas of the republic and the sea lanes.
“After his terms in office, it has been Premier Reagresh’s arduous task of rebuilding the military. During these times, the weirs are only remotely prospering with this mostly due to the dragons making and selling the various crystals, which now the Enlightened senators’ claim should be donated rather than sold. Our economy and our prosperity now more than ever are run, or based, on the blood of dragons, and our gratitude must be given to them—not our greed and avarice. As far as amending the Articles of the Alliance to give the right of franchise to civilians, it can be easily summed up in that rights without a sense of responsibility are doomed to failure,” he concluded.
“Senator Gindren, I protest!” Terrjok yelled out.
“Senator Terrjok, you will be granted a response but not until we hear from the party you are attempting to draw more blood from. Now sit down,” Gindren forcefully responded. “Valianth, Gallanth, General Becknor, dragonriders, you may address the senate, please.”
“Thank you, Senator Gindren, I will ask Valianth to explain to those uninformed of weir practices. Valianth?” General Becknor stated.
“Thank you, General Becknor, rider of Lord Michenth. First and simply, I will explain how dragons derive our magical powers for those not aware. When we ingest gemstones of any type, we take them into our synthensiums, or a second stomach we have. There, we can convert them into pure energy of a sort. This is the source of our ability to power our breath weapons, teleport, cast spells, and otherwise create magic. Our blood is, in a sense, alive unto itself. This is how we heal so quickly and are for all intents and purposes immortal unless physically killed. When we donate our blood to create your comfort crystals and dragonstones, the blood actually bonds with the particular gem or quartz crystal. It seeps into the infinitesimally small parts of the stone and bonds with it. That blood then uses very small pieces of that stone to create energy, which in heating crystals takes the form of warmth. In dragonstones, it can create various types of power or spells. This is why those must be of the purest diamonds, rubies, or sapphires, and the like. Therefore, for our role in the protection of the Alliance and for creating those stones for the comfort and well-being of its people, we do indeed consume those precious gems.
“As far as the revenue that the weirs generate from the sale of those comfort and seeing crystals, as well as the mineral wealth mined within our weirs by the dwarves, it goes to the maintenance of the weir itself to pay for our assigned garrisons and legions and the general protection of our provinces. We even give 10 percent of our organic mined wealth to the Alliance general coffers as a gesture of friendship. We donate another ten percent of our comfort and seeing crystals to the Alliance church and still an additional ten percent to those we deem worthy. This was different before the last Great War when we required a tithe to maintain those needs; this is no longer necessary. It should be a benefit to the senate and the Alliance itself, since you do not need to pay to maintain half of the total Alliance Army and part of the Alliance Navy. Regarding the storage of that revenue, the dragons, having our unique armored hides, find precious metals, such as gold and silver a comfortable bedding material. Additionally, our lairs are the most protected places in the Alliance. Not a single gold drachlar has ever been stolen from us, for they are protected not only by the dragons and our garrisons but by magic as well. These are also the repository of the weir’s monies, no different than a bank or the Alliance Treasury.
“The dragons take only what we need beyond our bedding for our weirs, and the dragonriders themselves are all paid the equivalent of an army colonel except those who seek and receive commission as officers, who are paid according to their rank. Captain Mkel, the gold dragon Gallanth’s rider, is paid less than one of our brass dragonriders, for example, for he chose to become an officer, a credit to his dedication, and he is also paid much less than a senator, arbitrator, or merchant, for example,” he stated as he looked directly at Senator Terrjok and then Senator Tekend and the other Enlightened senators. They had to divert their gazes temporarily, for no one could withstand the truth stare of a gold dragon.
“Our riders give us enhanced powers through the emotions we receive from them. This allows us to recharge our breath weapons faster, teleport greater distances and more often, and strengthen our defensive magic shields. This is our gift from the Creator to help us in our mission to look over those whom we serve. We feed and are empowered by the love from our riders, in a similar way that the chromatic dragons derive power from the fear of their victims. All the dragons and riders, as well as the weirs in general, answer to Lord Michenth and General Becknor. We work hand in hand with the leadership of the Alliance military and the premier, even former premier Bilenton, for the best interests and safety of the Alliance.”
Mkel thought of how many times he and Annan had talked over the issue of him taking a commission instead of just being a dragonrider like his friends Slidess, Bkert, and Dkert. But he thoroughly enjoyed having the command of his garrison rather than relying on some outsider to command it, for Gallanth and his men appreciated that. She and Michen were without basic want. Yes, there were things he would have liked to get for them, but they were superfluous and not necessary.
“The Articles of the Alliance, which your Founding Council wrote, give the weirs autonomy based on our unfaltering service to the republic. This was also instituted to give our balance to the central government and ensure a despotic premier would not overthrow the senate and declare himself a dictator, my good senators. I know, for I was there when it was signed,” Therosvet brashly stated, for he had not the patience in d
ealing with the insolent POEs and enjoyed injecting a small jibe referring to the tendency for dragonriders to live extremely long lives due to their bonding and the jealously that many of the Enlightened had in regard to that.
“I would tend to question the word of dragons as of lately, especially with the rising tensions in the east and on the oceans. I would also like to second the Enlightened Senator Terrjok’s initiative to propose a change to the Articles of the Alliance to allow civilians the right of the vote as well as the donation of the weirs’ comfort crystals, along with the healing stones to the senate for our distribution. We should engage in a renewed pursuit of peace with Shidan and the Morgathians, for we feel their intentions have been misunderstood since the Great War, as well as peace with the chromatics, orcs, and drow, by sharing our wealth. A call for a more aggressive cut to the military budget as in the tradition of Premier Bilenton is necessary as well. Then there is the very name of the avenger dragons. I state it is too harsh and brings on an aggressive connotation,” Senator Kushien stood up and interjected.
Mkel and most of the dragons and dragonriders knew that the Enlightened Senators had their eyes on the precious metal and gem wealth of the weirs, especially the mithril of Draden Weir.
“President Gindren, I must address this scurrilous accusation regarding the honor and truth in the words of the dragons,” General Becknor stood up and demanded.
Dragon Alliance Dark Storm : Dark Storm Page 21
