Ludger

o o Ludger the Librarian Yes, that's all he is.

o o
Dragons passing through the rocky expanse of Dragonhome would be forgiven for thinking that it is nothing more than a dusty place full of old dragons and old places, the dust only moving with the nomadic Snapper clans. Peer closer, however, and one will find many rich, bustling cities between the crags, even bands of adventurers and explorers in every nook and cranny. There are rumours - many say, more than rumours - of the riches hidden within the lands, but for those with no interest in material wealth, there is vaster riches within the ancient cities themselves: the wealth of knowledge.

Nestled close to the border between Dragonhome and the Viridian Labyrinth is one of the most impressive cities of all: a clan that calls itself a kingdom - the Fleuyer Kingdom. The kingdom prides itself on its unusually bountiful land for a clan of Dragonhome thanks to the proximity to the dragons of the lush Nature flight, but these dragons do not fail to cherish its traditional Earthen values of history and culture.

The current monarchs of the Fleuyer Clan are King Hilbert and Queen Solange, and two more different dragons one cannot find in all of the kingdom. As a matter of fact, though Queen Solange is a native of Dragonhome, the natural born heiress of the Fleuyer Clan, King Hilbert is a stranger to these mountains.

King Hilbert and the people he brought to Fleuyer are from the Southern Icefield, from a clan known as the Rasfura Clan. The Rasfura Clan is well-known and well-respected in the Southern Icefield, famed for having the strongest and fiercest warriors in all of Sornieth. But to many of its members, the Rasfura Clan is a difficult place to survive. For generations, it has been ruled by cruel dragons who hoard much of the clan's wealth for themselves, sparing food and luxury only for their closest family members, while the rest of its dragons hunt for scraps and morsels to feed themselves.

Hilbert was born, not to one of its leaders or to a wealthy family, but as an orphan, abandoned while in its egg. He was raised in the longhouse by the clan elders alongside other orphans of the clan. By the time he had grown into a fully matured dragon, however, Hilbert had a reputation for being one of the Rasfura Clan's best warriors, save only for the noble dragons who had better weapons and tutors than him. By that time, too, Hilbert had developed a sense of justice, an anger at the dragons who degraded his fellows, though they were such fine dragons, by depriving them of the basics of food, shelter, and even respect. When he was no longer able to bear what they had suffered, Hilbert gathered his closest friends, and they pillaged a neighbouring clan for food.

Initially, Hilbert had no thought but to finally feed himself and his people for the first time in their lives, but a strange thing happened after he had killed the leader of that clan. To his surprise, he was celebrated by the dragons there, for ridding them of a villainous leader, a dragon much like the leader of the Rasfura Clan. Hilbert was able to stay there for a while, but the clan was nowhere near big enough to support the addition of himself and the dragons he had brought from Rasfura, not to mention that after a taste of freedom and victory, many of Hilbert's followers were eager to see more of the world. So did Hilbert's journey across Sornieth begin.

Hilbert gained a reputation as 'the tyrant killer', coming to be known by names such as 'Hilbert the Conqueror' and 'Hilbert the Warlord'. Wherever he went, he was sure to find a clan who required his services to depose of their oppressive leaders. For years, Hilbert and his people were more than content to live like this, moving from place to place, working as glorified mercenaries. Eventually, however, he grew tired of always being on the move. His band of followers, who still called themselves Rasfurans, even though many dragons had joined them who were not from Rasfura or even been to the Southern Icefield, had grown so many that no village clan could hold them. Hilbert began to look for a place large and bountiful enough to hold him and all the dragons who looked to him as their leader.

That was how he arrived at the Fleuyer Kingdom. At the time, it was ruled by King Sullivan, whose wife Queen Celestine had recently passed. Of all the times he had been asked to dethrone a clan leader, Hilbert was the most surprised by the earnest pleas of the dragons of Fleuyer, who decried King Sullivan's greed and cruelty, lamenting that the glory of their kingdom under Queen Celestine's first husband, King Fiacre, was long gone. Their final beacon of hope was the kingdom's heiress, Princess Solange, King Fiacre's daughter. If Hilbert rid Fleuyer of King Sullivan, the throne and the princess would be his for the taking.

The rest, as they say, is history.
o o
Ludger looks down on you from his enormous desk, nevertheless dwarfed by his own enormous physique.

'Yes, that's really it,' he says brusquely. 'Hilbert is here now. He rules the kingdom with Solange. What else is there to be said?'

He takes out a feather that was surely plucked off a Roc, one of the larger ones if one can imagine such a thing, and sweeps imaginary dust off his desk.

'Oh, yes. Hilbert and Solange are the most harmonious couple in the land, or so they say. You can ask her about that if you really must know. As for the history of the kingdom, that's about it.'

The Obelisk fastidiously puts away the feather duster in a drawer, then goes back to turning the pages of his book as if he has no interest in you as a visitor.

'A map? Oh ... fine.'
o o
You are here. This is where the leader of the clan resides with his family. Even I have to admit that it's an impressive building. Not the best one I've seen ever, but it's home. Got big walls all around where hardier dragons than myself patrol every hour of the day and night. King Hilbert lives here with his wife and son. So does his sister, Lady Ragnhild, and myself, and my brother Adalhard. My brother is King Hilbert's flagbearer and his dearest friend - or so they say. They might be enemies on truce, I'm not sure. The soldiers' training takes place on the castle grounds every day. It is always open to new recruits, so if you'd like to join, just follow the flags leading from the castle entrance. Lady Ida will take anyone as a soldier, and I mean anyone.

You were there just now. Strictly speaking, only the capital, the area most immediate to the castle, is known as 'Fleuyer Town'. The outlying areas and villages all have their own little nicknames, but they are all under Hilbert's rule. Hilbert goes out to all those villages almost every day, can you believe it? Just to make sure that everything is running smoothly, settling people's quarrels, and all the like. The castle is situated at one end of the kingdom and on the other end is a big hill where announcements are made and festivals take place. There are stones on that hill that echo your voice so even a little Veilspun could be heard for miles if it spoke there.
o
Oh, that lot ... They're a religious group. Not in the way that dragons here worship the Earthshaker, mind. They're a bit intense. My advice? Stay away from them. Daichi doesn't like them, but Hilbert doesn't like turning people out of the clan if they're not hurting anyone. Daichi is our Crystalcourt ambassador, by the way. Never heard of the Crystalcourt? They're an elite circle of dragons said to be extremely close to the Earthshaker. Anyway, the Aubadeans are heretics according to Daichi, but all they do is sing songs and tell scary stories, as far as I know. They don't deny the existence of the Eleven, but they claim the existence of ancient deities that not even the Eleven can go against. Yeah, just don't get too close to them.

Ugh, this lot too ... They're all part of Aubade's little group. Yes, I know their temple is a thing of beauty. You're probably safe to go there as long as they aren't in the middle of a ceremony or anything like that. Their ceremonies are every morning at 10 am, rain or shine. Some people like to watch them, but - look, it's up to you. Who are they? Alright, remember those ancient deities the Aubadeans worship? So apparently, the dragons who live in this temple are acolytes who live representing one of the attributes of their main deity, which is the god of the dead. Sort of like a monk or a nun. Very strange lot. They'd be better off dedicating that temple to the Earthshaker, if you ask me. It looks the part, with all those jewels and all.
o
Daichi lives here, which might give you an idea of who this area is reserved for. This is where some of the most revered members of the clan reside, many of whom are Fleuyan natives. They don't have as much power as they used to, considering that Hilbert is king now and he doesn't believe in having influence just because your parents did once upon a time, but he still shows them a lot of respect. Daichi and Amaretto are historians, which means a lot in Dragonhome. Pay some respect when you pass through here.

This is where the children are cared for during the day while their parents are working. Aderyn takes care of them. Very nice lady. She might seem a bit distant when you first meet her, but she's just very protective of the children. Don't worry, most of them have grown out of the ankle-biting stage by now.
o o
'Is that everything? Anything else you need? The clothes off my back, maybe?'

Ludger gives you a severe look. Having spent some time with him, however, you get the feeling that you are not exactly an unwelcome presence. This is simply the way he speaks to everyone.

'Me? I'm just a normal dragon.' Unexpectedly, the question seems to have caught him off-guard. 'Yeah, yeah, I'm from Rasfura. Most of them - us, I should say - who arrived in Fleuyer with Hilbert still think of ourselves as separate from the Fleuyans. I wish I could say "in a good way", but it hasn't always been so, and will probably never entirely be. When our clans first merged, there was a lot of fighting and arguing. The Fleuyans call the Rasfurans barbarians and the Rasfurans called Fleuyans cowards. Pretty stuff, eh?'

He is staring into the distance, but calls himself back with a shrug.

'Everyone's forgotten about that for the most part though. You might have noticed that most Rasfurans are ancient dragons while Fleuyans are modern dragons. Might make you wonder why I'm a modern dragon if I'm a Rasfuran? Well, I changed myself to an Obelisk when we arrived. Being part of the Earth flight means something to me.'

A small smile, another nonchalant shrug. Now you really understand who Ludger is. He's a dragon who values peace and steadfastness. He has left behind his warrior days with Hilbert and all he wants is to be a castle librarian. You decide to let him go back to doing just that. You thank him and continue on your journey around the Fleuyer Kingdom.

GW/FP physical fighter