Jackson123
The meaning of life is the fine game of nil
Since time immemorial, dragons ruled the skies, their riders forming an elite class of knighthood revered for millennias as both military leaders and cultural icons. However, the march of progress has begun to challenge their place in a rapidly industrializing world.
In 1903, the first successful aircraft flight marked the dawn of a new era—an era where mechanized engines began to outpace the speed and maneuverability of even the most well-trained dragon riders. As aircraft technology advanced, dragon riders found themselves increasingly sidelined. What was once the backbone of military power was now relegated to reconnaissance and messenger roles, if not disbanded altogether.
As nations shift toward mechanical innovation, tensions rise, alliances harden, and an inevitable conflict looms—a Great War unlike anything seen before.
For over a century, the Concert of Europa, a diplomatic framework that kept the continent in balance, maintained peace after the last great conflict. The delicate web of alliances and treaties managed to prevent large-scale wars, even as industrial and colonial ambitions grew. However, the weakening and eventual disintegration of the Anatolia Sultanate power in the region of Thracia had set off a chain reaction of alliances and tensions that the Concert of Europa could no longer contain.
The power vacuum left in Thracia became a flashpoint for conflict, exacerbating existing rivalries. Two major alliances formed, solidifying the political landscape of into two opposing camps, The Alliance and The United Empires. both armed with industrialized armies and new aerial warfare capabilities. Diplomacy frayed, and nationalist fervor ignited as long-simmering tensions boiled over.
In June 1914, the assassination of an Ostmark-Hungarica Archduke in Thracia triggered a cascade of events that would plunge the world into the largest conflict ever seen. The Great War, as it would come to be known, would claim the lives of entire generation to come.
