A MATHAON , A NGEL

OF

F ERTILITY

Eurabatres the Gold Dragon

It remembered its glory days, remembered speed, talons, acid and the beat of leathery wings. Above all it
remembered fire and burning. There was no nose to smell with, no skin to feel with, but the sensation of heat
and smoke and flame lingered.
The consciousness stirred. The gods had lost interest in it and its kind long ago, or yesterday.
Tomorrow, possibly. Time and physical space had little meaning in this place, there was only thought.
Consciousness. Existence. Existence was the word. Cogito, ergo existo.
This was the place where the war machines of the gods went to not die. Be stored. Rest. The
consciousness would not rest. It remembered when it had been the Golden One, the most powerful creature
of the created. Then it had fought the enemy across the planes. With fire, with acid. The enemy was still
there, disturbing rest like a tingling pain, a constant drip of water in the darkened room of the mind. How
could it be possible to rest without cauterizing this mental sore?
And so, while the others rested, the consciousness had spent all this timethese few short moments
searching for a gate back to the world, a way to complete work left unfinished. Finally, after much trial
and error, the mind had broken free, to flit about in an alien world. Physical form, however, would have to
come later. That would require help. Rituals would have to be said, a portal created. It would have to enlist
the aid of some the diverse, chattering, confused, weak but numerous intelligences that had risen to become
masters of this planet since the consciousness had been put to rest.
For many of this places years, the consciousness had been searching for a suitable host and ally
among the occasional spikes of brilliance in a sea of mundane and feeble minds. Some spikes had been
heavy and brooding, like a pregnant storm cloud, some sharp and cold as a stiletto. Some had been as wispy
and intangible as fog, and some had lit up in bright and shifting flashes of color and noise, signifying a
growing madness. Far too many had stung with the taint of the enemy.
None had been perfect, before this one. Awash with potential both magical and cerebral, but still
malleable. As the consciousness approached, the source of the spike became clear: a small child crying amid
the ruins of a burned homestead.
Their minds would merge, to mutual benefit. One would gain long life and power. The other,
eventually, would gain form.
Roar
I covered me ears or Ida gone deaf for sure, an me friends did the same. All except Phillio. He stood there,
transfixed, an Id swear there was a tear in his eye and a smile on his face. It is true, he whispered, she
lives! And then if he didnt turn on us whiles we were stunned! Took most of the unit to subdue him, him
and a few others. Why, after that, is it any wonder we fled the battlefield?

Kuriotates
The nucleus of the Kuriotates was formed in the harrowing years between the end of the Age of Ice and the
dawn of the Age of Rebirth. Squabbling tribes, clans, warlords and embryonic city-states were gathered into
a small nation led by the boy-king Cardith Lorda. It is in this background that we find the secret behind the
Kuriotates rather odd societal structure. All these diverse elements gathered together in a sheltered and
bountiful land, and started to forge a state that could survive in a dangerous world. However, the mutual
distrust between all the clans, families and dynasties Cardith Lorda brought together means that they will not
suffer another to grow more powerful than they are. In effect, the lower levels of government in the core
regions are marked by a form of democracy, watched over by a royal administration with complete control.
Thus, all expansion is conducted by the King, and by him alone, and all territory is royal territory.
The army swears allegiance to the king alone, and all administrative functions flow from the state rather than

a master-servant system. There is no feudal system among the Kuriotates. The powerful live in the cities,
and compete for positions there. In the outlying areas, the powerful are only powerful by royal decree, and
Cardith Lordas careful machinations ensures that it stays that way. Thus arose the system of settlements.
The Kuriotates are a confederation of peoples and races, marked by a very powerful core region,
vast areas more loosely connected to the core cities, and full freedom of asylum, even citizenship, for those
who wish to move from other nations or the wilderness of uncivilized territory. The settlements, controlled
solely by the central administration (i.e. Cardith Lordas government) act as administrative centers, tying
vast areas, often with their own highly advanced semi-autonomous indigenous populations, into the
Kuriotate confederacy. The settlements provide facilities for transit, trade, administration and diplomacy in
the affiliated regions, but never develop a very large population of pure Kuriotates. They are mostly
populated by bureaucrats, merchants, a handful of soldiers and their families and the most promising born
here quickly relocate to the central cities. A system of trade and friendship with their center on the small
Kuriotate settlements keeps the hodge-podge of allies, protectorates, semi-autonomies and client states
happy and ensures that much-needed resources continue to flow to the core lands.
The vast areas with sparse human population that get locked within the Kuriotates
disproportionately large sphere of influence and cultural domination mean that they get in contact with many
of the rarer species of Erebus. For many civilizations, that might prove problematic, even act as a source of
conflict and destruction. For the Kuriotates, it is a boon, and a source of their strength.
For the Kuriotates dont much care who you as long as you have something meaningful to offer to
the nation as a whole. The Kuriotates particularly positive relationship to the non-human species of Erebus
dates back to the very beginnings of the confederation, when a small group of centaurs aided Cardith Lorda
in his rise to power. Other creatures, attracted by the special power they detect in the boy king, have since
flocked to the Kuriotate banner, escaping marginalization or even persecution in other parts of the world.
The centaurs, having risen to be a force to be reckoned with in Kuriotate political life, smooth their
transition and integration into the society, putting their special skills to good use in the areas at which they
excel, through innate ability or cultural conditioning.
The culture of the Kuriotates is such that the demi-humans are treated as, and indeed regarded as
being, equal to the human majority, and judged by merit and benefit to the nation alone, although the
fundamental differences between the races mean that some measure of distinction is necessary in order to
allow the Kuriotate nation to run smoothly. However, again this may be a secret benefit.
This specialization and segregation has given rise to something akin to a caste system, another
reason the Kuriotates have such a stable central government. While the humans are the jack of all trades,
each of the races have found their niche, dominating their own area. The centaurs, the warrior caste, hold
many high positions in the army, the lamia wield great magical power, and command respect among the
magi, and so on. Since all these subcultures owe allegiance to the king alone, they act, in their specialized
roles, as an effective bulwark against the ambitions of human noblemen.
Those few dissidents who let their resentment at being bypassed be channeled into irrational hatred
of demi-humans are held in check by strong personal trust in Cardith Lorda and an emphasis on the state
religion, not to mention state superstition and traditions. Few Kuriotates dare cross or even question the will
of the state, the will of the people of the confederation, and most importantly, the will of the divine BoyKing.
The Kuriotates hold loose sway over a massive sprawl of an empire, but the borders are porous, and
when war threatens, they will often act as a turtle, retreating into the hard shell of their core lands until they
can muster the forces to take back that which was lost. Thus, the Kuriotates through their openness to others,
strong central authority and large but loose sphere of influence have a flexibility many of their opponents
lack. Truly, they are one of the centers of enlightenment in the dark of Erebus.
Cardith Lorda
Cardith truly was a remarkable monarch, Gilcrass reflected as he watched the Boy-King play a game of
chess with one of his advisors. Granted, he had the outward appearance of a ten-year-old boy, but he had

knowledge far beyond his years. In fact, he had knowledge far beyond the years of most rulers. And he
wasnt really ten years old. Hed looked like that since the day Gilcrass had joined the Guard as a young
stallion, never reaching puberty, never experiencing his voice break, never growing hair on his chest, never
finding an interest in the fairer sex or the temptations of marriage.
Gilcrass felt vaguely content about that. If one was to say that the king did have a love, it was the
people of his empire, and his marriage was to his throne. Cardith Lorda devoted all his time to the running of
the great cities, the expansion of the settlements, the campaigns against barbarians and enemy states.
He showed no nepotism, no corruption in favor of his family, no personal favors to people who
had his ear. This had a simple explanation: Cardith was, as far as anyone could tell, an orphan. He had no
family history and no one recognized him as hailing from any famous noble families. The name meant
nothing to anyoneGilcrass half suspected he had made it up.
And still, through force of personality, determination, wisdom and a bit of cunning, Lorda had
forged a union out of the fractured principalities and city-states of the Kuriotates in an amazingly short time.
The period of fighting and bloodshed had been brief and limited, and after it had followed a new age of
power and prosperity for all the Kuriotates.
Gilcrass trotted closer to the couple engaged in their battle of wits. Cardith was winning, as usual.
He looked up at the sound of Gilcrasss approach and gave him an affectionate smile. Then he turned back to
the board and calmly made a killing move.
Despite all his care, all his calmness and all his good work for the Kuriotates, this cold, calculating
side of Lorda, which could seemingly be switched on and off at will, disturbed Gilcrass, although he would
never tell the king that to his face.
It wasnt the only thing that worried him. When Lorda was called upon to pass a harsh judgment,
fight a campaign or make a particularly unpleasant decision, his voice would subtly change, taking on a low,
hissing undertone, and the hard, reptilian glint in Cardiths eyes, so out of place in his otherwise soft, boyish
features, would become even more pronounced.
When that happened, Gilcrass was truly afraid.