Bryn Shei (brin . shay)
Once a Pact Nation, the Sheician Kingdom rebelled against their dragon overlords nearly eight hundred years ago to win independence. Since then, they've fiercely advocated for an end to draconic rule and oppression across the world.
Bryn Shei is fine without dragon nobility, thank you very much. Over a millennium ago, the nation earned its independence through a violent rebellion. Its success was only possible thanks to the actions of the Betrayer, a derided mythical dragon (identity not known) who supposedly spent decades secretly and freely training human mages in the art of magic, as well as sabotaging control mechanisms for the dragon-created dragonborn armies. Since then, the Pact Nations have been attempting to reabsorb Bryn Shei into their own territories, or at least get them to repledge loyalty or some sort of formal allyship. Bryn Shei sternly maintain cold relations, however; while not openly hostile and willing to trade, they are rightly suspicious of their Pact neighbours.
Many invading wars against Bryn Shei have been launched before, especially by Liscea and Makain. In turn, Bryn Shei has also historically shown some aggression back, launching their own conflicts for either land or resources. Notably, the Kalashtar peoples of Bryn Shei feel much of Liscea is their ancestral homeland, and so there is often an internal sentiment from the public that Liscea is 'wrongly sitting on' Sheician land. The last full-scale war Bryn Shei fought in was the dreadful War of the Meadows 340 years ago - the last war in which we know dragon riders were employed. Bryn Shei themselves fielded several to the horror of the Pact Nations, who saw Sheician riders as immoral warmongers who brainwashed impressionable young dragonets to 'fight against and slaughter their own draconic kind'. This war also saw the founding of the nation's fiercest warriors; its liberated Dragonborn, known as the Ironscale Legion.
On religion, Bryn Shei still largely follows the widely-observed Draconic Pantheon, but with their own spins, faces and variant lesser gods. A popular religious observance there currently has some of the populace (contentiously, even within Bryn Shei) worshipping a mortal dwarven man, who claims to have become the Avatar of Bahamut. This is causing quite the stir, because this very same dwarf - a former Makaiid soldier named Csillag Dasco - is quite vocally outspoken, according to his interpretation of Bahamut's will, about the need to liberate other nations of their draconic overlords as well. Things aren't hostile at the moment and borders are open, but the situation grows tense.
Bryn Shei's rider heritage boasts the legends of skäenvundr (lit. 'skylarks in Brynn), who famously leapt from their mounts mid-air to bear down on enemy riders with pairs of hooked handaxes called skällons. It was a contingent of skylark riders, headed by a Kalashtar captain named Ida Fhasen, who infamously committed war atrocities against Liscean peoples during the War of the Meadows. These included acts such as 'piking' (impaling multiple live surrendered combatants on tail-spikes as a form of in-unit competition mid-battle), or mass civilian execution inside temple prayer rooms by exhaling continuous streams of dragonbreath on the exterior, leading to the inside of the rooms (which were often large brass domes in frigid northern Liscea at the time) reaching many hundreds of degrees and cooking innocent people alive. These horrific acts were not exclusive to Bryn Shei's forces and riders, but survivors and witnesses' tales after the war's conclusion led to enough outcry that military dragoneering was widely abolished and outlawed following the war's end.
Nowadays, Bryn Shei is vehemently outspoken against dragons being above kith. However, they maintain open borders, and on paper, dragons can freely pass through. However, because of this centuries-old sentiment and the country's culture/history being founded in violent uprising from being oppressed/the dragonborn themselves literally being liberated puppet-soldiers made to fight and die, the average Bryn Shei community is very cold and all but completely hostile to dragons. It's a very, very unwelcome reception for dragons in most Bryn Shei communities. Some places and peoples might accept them and dragons occasionally pass through for travel or to meet specific people, but it's not very common for those reasons.
A dragon could come in and destroy a whole town of kith if they wanted to, but the Pact Council are very eager to not have that happen, fearing that Bryn Shei are looking for any excuse to start another War of the Meadows. One of the reasons Bryn Shei even has open borders is because of a currently-observed deal where dragons can be excommunicated to the Council's Lower Courts for judgement in the event that they cause trouble in the country.
Only the Free May Flourish
Non-Aggression Pact
Undyrǣn and Bryn Shei fought each other briefly in the War of the Meadows. Relations are cold, and peace is underpinned by persistent animosity.
Undyrǣn Attitude: Frustrated by Short-Sightedness
Undyrǣn sees Bryn Shei as a needlessly aggressive, ill-disciplined and impulsive nation of peoples whose short lives blind them to long-term threats and problems. Most Undyrǣni see Bryn Shei's dragon-fearing attitudes as an irritating distraction; if they want to fear something, they should fear the Blight. Undyrǣn considers Bryn Shei to be admirable and respectable warriors, and appreciates their ingenuity in surviving rougher climes, but holds no illusions that armed conflict with them would be catastrophic for both nations. Undyrǣn is forever occupied with its war against the Blight, and cannot afford to send forces to fight a front against Bryn Shei long-term. Sheician Attitude: Feeling Threatened
Sheicians generally look upon Undyrǣn with contempt - there's a nation of tyrannical dragonlords sitting right under their feet! Worse still, they make for deadly warriors. Bryn Shei constantly fears that Undyrǣn is preparing to invade and subjugate them at any moment, and perhaps their fears are well founded; should such an invasion happen, Undyrǣn would be likely to win.
Undyrǣn sees Bryn Shei as a needlessly aggressive, ill-disciplined and impulsive nation of peoples whose short lives blind them to long-term threats and problems. Most Undyrǣni see Bryn Shei's dragon-fearing attitudes as an irritating distraction; if they want to fear something, they should fear the Blight. Undyrǣn considers Bryn Shei to be admirable and respectable warriors, and appreciates their ingenuity in surviving rougher climes, but holds no illusions that armed conflict with them would be catastrophic for both nations. Undyrǣn is forever occupied with its war against the Blight, and cannot afford to send forces to fight a front against Bryn Shei long-term. Sheician Attitude: Feeling Threatened
Sheicians generally look upon Undyrǣn with contempt - there's a nation of tyrannical dragonlords sitting right under their feet! Worse still, they make for deadly warriors. Bryn Shei constantly fears that Undyrǣn is preparing to invade and subjugate them at any moment, and perhaps their fears are well founded; should such an invasion happen, Undyrǣn would be likely to win.
Non-Aggression Pact
Liscea and Bryn Shei teeter on the edge of returning to cold war relations. Both sides have invaded and brutalized the other before. Occasional diplomatic and security incidents on the borders of these neighbouring nations are frequent, and constantly threaten to erupt into violent skirmishes. While peace has, against all odds, been maintained for over 300 years, many believe it is only a matter of time before one barking dog bites the other.
Bryn Shei's Attitude: Feeling Infantilized
Sheicians bemoan that it took a war as horrific and bloody as the War of the Meadows to be taken seriously by Liscea. While they are less outright hated than Makain and Naedor, where dragons are even more snooty and superior in lording over kith, Bryn Shei finds Liscea's 'shepherding' attitude of kith an abhorrent and convenient lie to retain dragon power, whilst also being extremely insulting. Though unable to win an open war against Liscea due to the Pact Nations being allied against Bryn Shei, many Sheicians idealistically dream of 'freeing' their unfortunate, oppressed Liscean neighbours from their scaled overlords. Liscea Attitude: Feeling Disrespected
Liscean lords do not like Bryn Shei at all. Sheician war crimes against Liscea in the War of the Meadows shocked and horrified many Lisceans. Due to many Liscean kith being long-lived, for much of the nation, the memories and wounds still feel very fresh. Liscean dragonlords often advocate that Bryn Shei needs to be brought to heel through force first, then gently tended to after to show them how misguided they've been in their mistrust and hate of dragonkind... and to show them just how much chaos they've caused in their stubbornness to be 'free' of such kindness and care.
Sheicians bemoan that it took a war as horrific and bloody as the War of the Meadows to be taken seriously by Liscea. While they are less outright hated than Makain and Naedor, where dragons are even more snooty and superior in lording over kith, Bryn Shei finds Liscea's 'shepherding' attitude of kith an abhorrent and convenient lie to retain dragon power, whilst also being extremely insulting. Though unable to win an open war against Liscea due to the Pact Nations being allied against Bryn Shei, many Sheicians idealistically dream of 'freeing' their unfortunate, oppressed Liscean neighbours from their scaled overlords. Liscea Attitude: Feeling Disrespected
Liscean lords do not like Bryn Shei at all. Sheician war crimes against Liscea in the War of the Meadows shocked and horrified many Lisceans. Due to many Liscean kith being long-lived, for much of the nation, the memories and wounds still feel very fresh. Liscean dragonlords often advocate that Bryn Shei needs to be brought to heel through force first, then gently tended to after to show them how misguided they've been in their mistrust and hate of dragonkind... and to show them just how much chaos they've caused in their stubbornness to be 'free' of such kindness and care.
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