Hornswoggle

Virescent delighted in watching the old world fall. Her only regret was that she did not cause its demise herself. She looked forward to terrorizing the little people who remained for as long as it took for new societies to emerge, such was their way. No part of her expected to see her fellow dragons take those people in, but she quickly understood. Having followers could enrich her, entertain her, and provide her with endless playthings to corrupt.
The City of Hornswoggle began as a trap. Inviting whispers brought people through the pine forests to Virescent's labyrinth of thickets promising paradise at the other side. Her honey-tongued voice convinced them to bind themselves to her service to gain entry, and from that point forward they joined every other poor unfortunate soul who had already agreed to do the same. She enjoyed the process of making them work to the bone to build in and out her forest of giant redwoods into a true city of the new world. Think of Hornswoggle like Soviet Russia or North Korea, with one ultimate dictator at the top always watching. Not just her, but your neighbors, rodents, and birds all serve Virescent. She can even use Tiny Beasts as her mouthpiece. The effect is horrendous, as the creature’s throat and mouth temporarily warp into a twisted version of the dragon’s own in order to allow the dragon’s voice to issue forth. To a citizen of Hornswoggle, merely rising above the canopy is a dream let alone escaping.

Beneath Her Canopy

The skyscrapers of Hornswoggle have long evolved beyond mere trees. Virescent, for one, has greatly enjoyed the horticultural project of actually growing these plants to house her citizens. She relishes payments of gems and jewelry with forest palettes, favoring viridescent colors and bursts of floral brilliance. She's developed vast collections of emeralds and beryls as a result, punctuated by amber, red rubies, tiger’s eyes, bismuth, and the like. She used these to create The Canopy, the top layer of Hornswoggle of bejwewled artificial leaves above which few are allowed to grow.
The Visitor's zone is its own sectioned-off tree, a tightly manicured environment to give the impression of a wonderful and well-kept city, with only idealized art, images, and views of the city making it around the world.

Culture

Below the Canopy the citizens of Hornswoggle don't have cute demonyms, they don't have the luxury of such things. Trust is a foreign concept, betrayal is the norm, and culturally they believe they are too ugly and ignorant to merit even a scrap of compassion. Yet they fear and revere Virescent, the face of The Regime, in equal measure. Citizens hate how much other people think they matter in a world that was old before their kind even learned the idea of names. Even at their most tolerant, believing the impermanence of intelligent life is bittersweet and should be honored as such, Citizens will still follow that up by forcing that intelligent life to gouge their eyes out. Metaphorically. Sometimes.

Government

Virescent rules Hornswoggle with an iron fist. She controls the government, schools, news, sports, entertainment, everything. All lesser beings should bare their throats to their betters. She uses an isolationist policy, requiring a rigorous approval process to even be allowed to leave, and always with armed agents making sure you come back in the end.

Defences

Virescent's old lair was a maze, but his new lair city is something even more. It's a rogue-like. The skyscraper trees move, reposiiton themselves, and shift on the inside as well. Each day below the canopy is a mystery where in the city you will live. It is difficult to make plans in a place like this.

Points of interest

Canopy. The green dragon has teased the banyan’s sprawling canopy into a bowl-like shape within which the dragon can comfortably lounge. Threaded through the branches are bones from the dragon’s meals—some messily clustered among the leaves, and others deliberately arranged to create macabre dioramas for the dragon’s amusement.

Tourism

Virescent displays her favorite treasures for all to see:

• The polished skull of a unicorn, latticed with luminescent bloom
• An elaborate necklace of yuan-ti origin, set with gleaming gems and dripping with strands of pearls
• A harp, its pillar carved to resemble a beautiful elf who weeps loudly and inconsolably
• A marble statue that once showed a knight vanquishing a dragon, but due to strategic damage, now looks like a knight tumbling into massive jaws
• The baby teeth of a Humanoid, preserved in amber furred with a golden fungus that smells like gingerbread
• A giant-sized hunting horn scrimshawed with elaborate patterns, the pewter only slightly tarnished
• A stained glass window still set within a fragment of wall depicting the many deaths of an elf monarch
• A triptych of silver mirrors, set in an ornate brambled iron frame sculpted to depict figures in a grotesque bacchanal
• Quartz terrariums carried on the backs of tourmaline jaguars, overgrown with misshapen cacti
• A string of skulls riddled with too many eye sockets, their jaws replaced by carved gemstones

Founders

• Virescent

Type

Large city

Owner/Ruler

Virescent

Owning Organization

The Council of Dragons

Characters in Location

• Virescent