Trans-Draconic Federation

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Revision as of 23:16, 8 July 2019 by CourseDirector (talk | contribs) (Currency)
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The Trans-Draconic Federation (known colloquially as "The United Federation of Dragons"), is an economic and political entity that formed during the Long Night under the organization of High Mountain Flight and with backing from the still-powerful High Mountain Bank and Trust. The Federation gained most of its power in flat Dimensions, as these were typically home to large dragon flights already, though they also gained control of significant regions in major finite dimensions.

History

Original Federation

The federation began shortly after the death of hope, as a way for High Mountain Bank and Trust to guard its assets; and Samuel Fate recognized the authority of the dragon flight to own things. Numerous other flights, many with only tangential connections to High Mountain, began to claim allegiance, to avoid fighting over their own land-holdings.

With their position threatened, High Mountain quickly formed the Trans-Draconic Federation, based on ancient rules of temporary dragon alliances. This provided the dragons, as a nation, with collective bargaining rights and the power to keep their lands. Small pockets of human populations, such as the city-state of Kladeth under Warsong Flight, were allowed to remain autonomous, under the guise of being slaves to the dragons.

Many dragon flights were quick to take on human refugees, as the labor they provided allowed the flights to pay tribute to Fate without giving up treasure. This also provided the flights with great power, as they could influence their human populations and protect them.

Draco/Foundation Coalition

When the age of the New Day arrived, the federation was quick to take advantage of the power-vacuum, with dragon flights claiming vast swaths of previously human territory, organizing human armies to control these regions. The federation first became at odds with the Gudersnipe Foundation, but the two groups were quick to come to an agreement. Any former Gudersnipe territories would be returned to the Foundation in exchange for technological and military support. The two groups would also support each other militarily. While the Foundation was poised to build the strong economy, the dragons already had a robust and powerful banking system in place. The formation of an official exchange rate between the dragon-issued currency (Wingbeats) and Foundation currency (GATE credits) made the two groups effectively intertwined.

However, under the terms of agreement between the two groups, the dragons were formally no longer allowed to keep humans as slaves (certain dragon flights who had traditionally kept slaves were allowed to continue the practice), and the regions under dragon control that had not been traditional lands of the dragon flight, were either ceded under self-governance, or transferred to the direct control of the Gudersnipe Foundation.

The Trans-Draconic Federation continued to function as a an economic entity, as the dragons retained ownership of many businesses as well as title to land. By that time, the dragons largely controlled the banking industry, and even the Gudersnipe Foundation had become reliant on them for its electronic money system.

Alliance Era

The previously draconic-held nations were folded into the newly-reformed Alliance which solidified under Conri Jason Jusenkyou in N.D. 43. The nations were granted considerable autonomy, but large-scale control was still under the auspices of the dragon federation or the Gudersnipe Foundation.

Military

Early in the New Day, the federation was eager to build a powerful army, but lacked the industrialization to do so. To fuel progress, the dragons themselves became heavily involved. Dragons fired power plants and blast furnaces, and gave training in the advanced sciences required to quickly develop new technologies. The colloquialism "Keep the dragon happy" is still a common phrase throughout industries that deal in high temperatures.

Despite its best efforts, the federation simply lacked the technical skills required to build a modern, space-faring or mechanized force quickly enough to deal with the looming threat from the Confederation. As tensions were already mounting between them and the Gudersnipe Foundation, the two groups, who shared effectively the same goals, decided to unite. The federation provided natural and human resources, while the Foundation supplied the necessary technical know-how.

Forces

Most of the federation's military capability consists of land, sea, and air power. While they have a small space navy, the bulk of their land holdings are in flat dimensions where the former were necessary. The bulk of their equipment consists of license-manufactured copies of Foundation-designed armaments. These are locally manufactured and often lack some of the more exotic features of their Foundation-built analogues (this is in keeping with Foundation's policy of providing military assets, similar enough to support but inferior enough to be defeated).

Despite the shift to the Alliance, the military remained under the direct control of the dragons for nearly two hundred years, and continues to maintain a strong draconic tradition. Even well into the N.D. period, all military equipment and most bases, buildings, and other properties are formally owned by the dragons; while the commanders report to the Alliance leadership and to member worlds.

The military of the New Day era is much more powerful and standardized than it was in the late Old Alliance period; though reliance on technical and manufacturing expertise of the Foundation is higher. The space navy, while much smaller, has considerably more capable ships.

These, two, maintain a very strong Draconic influence. The officer corpse is pimrarily drawn from worlds under the direct control of the dragons. The class leaders for new ships, particularly capitol ships, are named for dragon flights, with different roles named after dragon types or size classifications: smaller support ships are called 'red fires', etc.

Currency

Beginning in the era of the New Day, the Trans-Draconic Federation has issued currency according to the "Land Standard". Each bill is a certificate for a percentage of a parcel of land, though they cannot be exchanged for land. Thus, the combined total of all land owned by the various member-flights provides the backing for the currency being given to humans.

The dragons issue bills in the form of Talons and Wingbeats. 20 talons is equivalent to 1 Wingbeat. While the value of the wingbeat is not pinned to the GATE Credit, the two powers generally effort to keep the buying power about the same. In most instances, one wingbeat equals one credit, though it can vary by as much as 2 talons or 0.25 credits in either direction before anyone has much concern.

High Mountain Bank and Trust also issues silver certificates for very large currency transactions, which are pinned to the fair market price of silver. These are intended for transactions between dragon flights but in practice see use for any sort of very large scale money transfers. The certificates typically have a denomination printed on them in Wingbeats, but it is commonly understood that a 100 wingbeat silver certificate is by no means worth as little as 100 wingbeats. The face value is pegged to bullion, with the wingbeat representing a bar of pure silver and a talon representing a 1 ounce coin. A 100 wingbeat silver certificate, then, is worth 100 bars of silver. That said, good luck convincing a dragon to exchange it for you.