The Big Picture

A hundred years have passed since we brought our Most Noble Lord and established him in His rightful place as King of Gom Dalat and Emperor of the Furnace Coast. Throughout His glorious reign, He has time and time again demonstrated His commitment to peace and prosperity, freedom and stability, justice and mercy. While the rest of the region has been devastated by warfare, Our Most Noble Lord has kept us safe, entering conflict only when necessary to protect His charges from harm.

It is with great pleasure I have been asked to speak at this banquet of the merchant guilds commemorating His centenary Jubilee. We are all beneficiaries of His strength and wisdom, and trade is only possible due to His stabilising influence.

Going over His record as ruler, we only have to look to the early years for confirmation of our great fortune. As tales of the horrors of Seawell spread across the region, the jingoistic priests of Febril prepared for a brash assault against the Pit Fiend. Forging an alliance with the noble Dragonborn of the Island of Sunrest, their fleets sailed against Seawell. Our Most Noble Lord sent his emissaries to the Priests and to the Devils, urging against this war, stating time and time againg that this conflict would only bring ruin to all.

His warnings were not heeded, the Furnace coast ran red the blood of devil, dragonborn and human alike.

Still, our Lord was magnanimous, offering succour and shelter to the innocent refugees of this war. It was this that pulled him into war. A Pit Fiend does not understand the very concept of mercy or justice. A Pit Fiend cannot comprehend the nobility of Dragons, and so the Pit Fiend of Seawell betrayed us all, sending his armies against us.

Dragonborn and Human united under Our Lord's blue banner, and we pushed the invader back. Sacrifices were made by all, but His leadership saw us through.

It was then that Our Lord unleashed his most potent weapon. Drawing round him a circle of sorcerers from lost Febril, he oversaw the ritual that twisted the very fabric of reality and brought the forbidden lands out of the shadows. Out of these lands came a new army, fresh from an eternity in the primordial chaos, emerged. Once human, but now warped beyond recogniton, the Tieflings fell into the flanks of the retreating army, and the Pit Fiend was driven away from our world.

When I now look at this assembled crowd, when I look at the prosperity of our beloved city, I know who I should thank. If it was not for the noble Dragon-nature of our Lord, we would have shared the fate of Febril and Seawell, now just ruins in the Marshlands. I propose that we raise our glasses in a toast to our rightful ruler!