This book records the campaigns against the great dragons. Once, there were dozens of dragons in the world, but today there may be none, or only a few, remaining.
Rashyral
Rashyral's lair was located at a pass between three nearby empires, in the Zegra mountains. At the time, these mountains jutted high, and were even inhospitable to antennaed, and Rashyral's pass was the only easily passable route through them. As the three surrounding empires grew larger, and traded amongst each other, all travel had to go through this pass, and Rashyral demanded tolls, over centuries building up a store of jewels and precious metal.
We don't know when this arrangement started, but after hundreds of years, this was the state of trade amongst the three surrounding empires. But Rasyral's tolls were a drain, and travel through the pass was difficult. Traders and merchants long wished for another route between the mountains.
It was the engineer Chek'yen who first proposed a new route. Exploring the mountains on the borders between the empires, she proposed a large tunnel underneath some of the mountains. The building of this tunnel system is described in the engineering and construction archives. It took many years, but when completed, the caravan trade through Rashyral's pass ended.
Rashyral was incensed at the loss of her source of tolls. She had heard about the tunnel building, but did not expect it to be completed, as many large projects had failed in the past. When she learned what had happened, she flew across the mountains to find these tunnel entrances, and destroyed numerous caravans for fortresses in her anger. Few chitinous of any of the empires traveled above ground near the mountains for fear of attracting the dragon. Though the tunnels mostly traveled under the mountains, some pathways along the surface had been needed, and Rashyral soon found these, shutting down trade once again.
Rashyral's attacks had become so severe that merchants from all empires decided again to use the pass and pay the tolls. but in her anger, Rashyral demanded exorbitant payments, threatening ot bankrupt merchants, and stop all communication between the empires. When trade thinned, and she was not given the tolls she wanted, she raided the empires, destroying as she wished.
None of the three empires, understandably, would allow these attacks for long, and built defenses on the mountain. BGut though Rashyral could be driven off by the large ballistas used at the time for defense, they could not kill her, so 5 campaigns were launched to kill the dragon.
In the first campaign, a group of soldiers from the north followed a diplomatic caravan, and attacked Rashyral as she was returning with her tolls to her lair. Rashyral was not fooled, and attacked the soldiers in the open, scattering and killing most of them.
The second campaign used a similar method. Two groups of soldiers disguised as merchants moved towards the pass, and this time surprised Rashyral immediately after paying their tolls. At first it seemed that Rashyral would loose, that the soldiers would swarm her and defeat her, but dragons are powerful beings, and Rashyral took to the air, twisting and turning, and dropping the soldiers, who could barely hold As Rashyral flipped and swung through the air. Those that survived qere either killed by the dragon, or ran away.
Rashyral, in her arrogance, continued to allow travelers and caravans through her pass, believing that no army could defeat her. In the third attempt to kill the dragon, a diplomat told Rashyral of an army gathering near the eastern border of one of the nearby empires. After collecting the toll, Rashyral flew away from her lair, and sought to destroy the army before it had a chance to find her. On seeing the dragon, the soldiers, as planned, retreated to their defenses, hoping the Rashyral would be either enranged, or desiring a kill, and would allow herself to be killed by the empire's defenses. The dragon did indeed fight a battle with the defenders, but though many defenders were killed, and while several had scored hits on Rashyral, the dragon once again flew away, still uninjured enough to move.
In the fourth attempt, the three empires cooperated to carry about 8 ballistas to Rashyral's pass, in an attempt to assemble them and shoot the dragon where she could not escape. The soldiers of the three empires reached the pass as planned, but the ballistas could not be prepared before the dragon destroyed them and scattered the armies. Only a couple of shots were loosed in the fight
At this point, Rashyral did not attempt to exact revenge on the nearby empires, and some suggested that she would settle back to her old ways, collecting valuables and food as a toll, and that the defenses would not be needed as the dragon settled into the new trade system. Some suggested that trade and diplomatic caravans could slowly move to the more accessible tunnel routes, and Rashyral could simply be given some token payments to keep her happy. The empire's leaders decided to make another attempt to kill the dragon instead, as tribute and tolls would still be expensive, and they would still be risking the dragon's temper in the future.
This time, they took around three months to prepare. Assemblers practiced assembling, loading, and firing ballistas. Scouts mapped the pass, and chose the best firing locations, quietly preparing them as occasional trade groups went through. When the time came to attack, about 15 ballistas, and about a quarter of the swarmers available to each empire, marched as caravans to the dragon's pass.
As in the past attacks, real diplomatic missions and traders preceded the soldiers. Over several days, workers arrived and hollowed out small caves. Later, soldiers arrived. Every night, each trade caravan would leave some soldiers behind at the pass, carrying just enough food for a few days. In the evening before the attack, ballista builders snuck into firing positions with their materials. During the night, they assembled their ballista, assembled ammunition, and covered the machines in preparation for the next day.
On the day of the attack, a smaller group of soldiers entered the pass, announced themselves, drew weapons, and commanded Rashyral to fight. Laughing at the sight of the attackers, Rashyral slowly crawled out of her lair, raised herself up, and opened her mouth to flame the swarmers. As planned, the swarmers were facing towards a ballista, and when Rashyral inhaled, a bolt struck her in the throat. the swarmers dispersed as the dragon walked forward to attack this shooter. as she walked, another 3 ballistas let fly, and these bolts pierced the dragon's wings.
Realizing she was under attack by a whole army, the dragon raised herself into the air, to fly around the pass and spot her attackers. The general had anticipated this, and more bolts pierced her wings. In too much pain to fly, the dragon landed, roared, and charged towards the outer edge of the pass. All ballistas were shooting at this point, and bolts struck the dragon in the rear knees, wings, and all along her body.
At this point, a horn sounded, and the swarmers hidden near the pass attacked the dragon. unable to fly, and unable to flame due to the pain in her throat, the dragon began to roll on the ground, attempting to crush the swarmers as they pried her scales open, and stabbed and sliced their way into her body. Many swarmers were crushed by the rolling, others were shot by ballista bolts, still firing into open areas when possible, but the cutting and stabbing weakened the dragon, and after fighting so hard, the mighty creature's rolling slowed and stopped, and all the dragon could do was lay in the pass as the swarmers continued their work.
When the dragon died, soldiers and workers from the three empires explored her lair. The treasures she had accumulated after hundreds of years were divided as war spoils, and taken to the three empires, to be distributed amongst the population, and used as trade goods. The victory celebrations lasted for weeks, as the dragon's treasure was paraded, the battle reenacted, and her skin worn as an imitation in life.
This had been the first time a dragon was killed. Unfortunately for the future, members of the three empires spread the news freely to neighbors, where it spread even further, including to other dragons. Later fights with dragons were far more challenging, as the dragons respected us as opponents and made preparations, sought allies and subjects, made preparations, and did not arrogantly fall for ploys as Rashyral did. The ballista techniques, supply techniques, and swarming techniques were and are told over and over to generals, to better prepare them for future wars.
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