Created by AvaBun its a lovely piece

Aunu the Sphinx; Stood at the cliff unsure of his footing as did many of the citizens or visitors of Vierere city of illusions. Or as Aunu felt, a shanty of confusions. The light seemed to glitter with enticement, as the shadows pulled with foreboding threat. Each dwelling at first sight seemed marvelous; but was found to be unkempt and falling into ruin on closer inspection. Though he was more interested in chasing more cardinal pleasures of the female dragon’s flesh he couldn’t help but contemplate on the twisted dynamics of Zephyr as the drakes came to parley with the moth-kin.

Contrasting the Moths City shrouded in illusion both physical and magical the dragon’s lived as nomadic tribes staking fierce claim on territory and resources. Separated into many tribes that all adhered to some degree of Herbert Spencer’s sentiment of Social Darwinism for survival of the fittest. Constantly adrift in skirmishes toward their own kind, moth-kin, and the elements. They hoarded, gained and lost their wealth by harsh practices of warfare, business practices, and plunder. Some stealing away on mountainous mines, or fast villas of plentiful food. Others still tore at the multitude of high tech vessels that dotted the air much like the levitating isles, seeming like long lost star ships from a bygone era. Often spread out thin the tribes became isolated and genetically bottle-necked aiding to the diversity of colors and power yet chipping away at the virility of blood lines leaving many, to the felines pleasure, desperate for more Progenitors.

Here as glimmers spread and shadows distorted where the parties stood there was no opening to any grand path way to some inner sanctum but a revealing of a lavish and royal procession that may have always been corporeal. As if materializing from the ether a banquet of fine fruit and jeweled clothed royals formed, as they sported their fine wares and servant drones the dragons ruefully seemed unimpressed. Whilst delegations went on each tribal representative was working to make their claim. The high lords fluttered their wings clearly spoke in unison with the full backing of all their subjects.

This was a collective consisting in the majority, of drones, pledged in servitude of the primes, nobles, and royals of their caste. Many of them lacked any skill or were hardwired for stratagem, often found in the average welp of the dragon tribes. Yet each enjoyed a more egalitarian lifestyle and could proudly say they were more fit or well fed than most of the starving and beaten broods normally cast to the preying machinations of their own kin.

Females and Males alike were each able to climb a to the highest of their caste but in only very extreme exceptions could they move past it. The mothkin were rather androgynous and ironically because of their higher degree of genetic diversity they were far more uniform. It was likely many had unique traits held within their genes but due to the stringent cultural edict and external factors only a few could unlock the expression of such genes.

The multitude of drones were black and a dull blue whilst the royals in nobles shone luminous with white or red patterns marking such a hierarchy. That however paled in comparison to what the prince-ling held bolstering against the dragon’s emanations of power. A blade that shone translucent in passing degrees of tangent and incorporeal sections; by no means an illusion but a clear ethereal blade.

To harvest such refined weapon would require more than technology or the full potential of materialistic energy but an art beyond the culmination of both. An advanced set of Illusion and energy trajections could impart a partial microcosm; simulating a matrix of fractals that give form to the chaotic machinations of a quantum void. This is what allows alterations of the quantum and harbors the higher order of the cosmos begetting magic by fluctuating quantum rules or thaumaturgy by maligning the laws of physics with expanded dimensions. But this was prime material the 0th state of matter to which microscopic quantum fluctuation acted on the macroscopic scale.

A Condensate would be utterly unstable as each atom’s location was strained by nonlocality. Without something adhering to confirming the substance’s identity it would evaporate. Its full consummation would require by the least a partial mind. It was evident by the fact of its existence that the blade had to contain, for lack of a better definition, a soul. As the prince-ling boasted the weapon about Aunu couldn’t help but feel confident that his blatant attempts to impress showed that their arsenal for such weapons was scarce. Perhaps even being the only such weapon to be constructed.

Still given that dragon’s natural biology afforded them inner microcosm by their minds or scales giving their otherwise unnatural bodies the unimaginable power needed, this blade was a grievous weapon. Able to cut not only their bodies but into their minds and emotions on an astral plane. Given that the matrices were somewhat fueled by the axioms contained in the fluctlight of their minds; even a scratched from such a weapon could drain them of their mana. The substance tied to their innate abilities which in turn fueled their lives and possibly even further, steal their souls.

Finally, after some roars and elemental blasts from the dragons ending the tumultuous pissing contest; the parties subsided to delegate. The moth-kin controlled the supply lines and most of the technology that subverted the climate and torrents of the planet as such they often dictated the degrees of trade and currency even though the tribes maintained the territories and resources. The tribes had come to the rarity of trying to pass, by consensus, a fair and default set of prices that all could adhere and not be oppressed by their ethnic status.

The Princeling culled such mannerisms stating that it would be an overreach of any coalition to do so. Should it be occurred it would stifle any enterprising brood the dragon’s kin and spoil any means for their traditional plunder. As the dragons who were all too keen to such ideals of every man for himself; it was easy for Aunu to see through the ruse. Such so called free market standards were economic way to circumvent wealth from one tribe; not only by increasing prices but by keeping resource availability to them artificially low. It’s the same argument that previous opportunists used to segregate customer base and control the rate of currency certain groups paid. 

The only other member was Mylin a yellow dragoness; a true pirate who would not be swayed by such veiled attempts to shirk her race. Sparks of energy displayed the enthusiasm of this lightening dragon. As she raged the feline smirked thinking how well these two dynamics fed off each other. Left alone the dragon’s lasez faire infighting would cause the society to eat itself long after the only thing left unconsumed was it own internal defecation. The moth-kin was a collective stagnating on their laurels of past glory whose pillars had long corroded. As every bit of technology they controlled or structure whose faults they hid was falling apart as an empire set to ruin.

One race the forefront of unlimited power checked into a finite perimeter. The other using glints of color and light to enact illusion equivalent to the real thing had synthetically pressed their fixed microcosm beyond the limits by pure efficiency and locked its sight and ways from any deviation. This is what Aunu had to break this perfect balance. He had to incite chaos to derive a greater order.