Saturday, June 30, 2007

EVE Online: Character blog

Shiplog 14052007

A hard day. I started off the day with a few light level 3 missions out of Mirilene--usual sort of thing. This agent, Amarulyn, is crap. I decided to try a different Federal Navy agent over in Pucheria who was rated higher. She was quite a looker. Her mission were very similar, only the pay was much better.... and so was the difficulty. I struggled through the mission in my passive tank Drake. The missions were longer than I liked and the returns, although greater, were slow. In the end... a break even day.

Shiplog 15052007

Helped a friend mine a bit. She mined, I hauled... in between I ran some local courier missions. I've already made more isk today in a few hours than all of yesterday.

While I really need to focus on my heavy drone skills, I think I'll switch to some leadership skills to help more in ops and squads. Plus I'll need Leadership V for Carriers someday anyway.

My courier agent surprised me with a combat mission on the Serpentis. My intelligence on the mission claims there are no warp scramblers in this mob--we'll see.

World Order is quite different from my last corp. Despite the higher stress of 0.0 security WO seems almost more laid back than the casual mining corp I came from. After all we are immortal. The worst fate is bankruptcy. The rest is just play time. Miners are forever worried about bankruptcy since this is their worst fate... but warriors who can not be killed have nothing to fear. Keep your clones updated...
Shiplog 16052007

Today will be a long slog through station paperwork and meeting with mindless port authorities. You'd think Duvolle would have drug itself out of the 2100's and upgraded a little... but no. The upshot is that I won't be piloting much today.

The good news is that yesterday was highly profitable. Four other pilots and myself ran level 4 missions most of the day in rapid order. The bounties, loot, rewards and resulting offers added up to a good 10-15 million per pilot even after World Order taxes. The reprocessed minerals alone will build a battleship. The large group insured we could annihilate warp scrams, protect our damage dealers and keep our tank repaired. The only cost was ammo... lots and lots of ammo. For me the highlight was tanking a whole room of BS's, frigates and cruisers in my Drake configured for passive shield tank. The guys kept shield rep drones on me so it wasn't solo... but still I felt pretty invincible.

I should wrap up repair systems 4 training today and then switch to 22 hours of mechanics 4 downloading. That should buy my way in to the T2 armor repair mods necessary to the better tanking configurations. I keep trying to stay on heavy drones training, but the T2 drones don't do much good if my ship can't tank.

Looking over what it will take to get in to other ships is depressing. The closest ship is Interceptor at 26 days. The real capital ships are a distant 100 days plus. Slow but steady wins the race I guess. Better tanking will certainly help and I need mechanics V anyway.

The requirements for Imperial Guard have posted and I'm still far short. At best I'll qualify for Imperial Grunt... The true assassins must fly Force Recon ships and that's a solid 70 days out as well.... damn my soft squishy brain and its limited data absorption rate. Still... someday... I'll fly with that elite squad to fame and glory... someday.
Shiplog 16052007 supplemental

I was summoned back to Omist late in evening. My paperwork and clearance forms had unexpectedly finished early. So I momentarily paused my training, downloaded my ghost to the machine and beamed across the galaxy to Omist.

PTDI needed miners for the belts and I was free. I loaded up the Retriever and hopped out. Four miners, 1 hauler and one pilot to play with the rats. It was a good team and we mined well. We decided to split the ore with the alliance. The tally has yet to be counted so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. But I suspect somewhere in the 20 million range even with the split. Mining always has been one of the most profitable ventures. The only challenge is 0.0 mining requires a solid team.

Omist feels oddly hollow... empty... remote. Odd in a universe of vast expanse that one system would seem more isolated over other isolated systems. The stations stand as silent icons of those that have come before and gone. It seems Omist has no memory. The miners, warriors and traders that have come before are forgotten hours after their departure. Aside from the alliance there are no friendly voices. The few allies we have are paid--all others are threats. While threats can be eliminated, they aren't exactly profitable. Isolation and conflict forge souls. Omist has been very profitable, but it will exact a cost from all of us as well.

Rumors flitter in the IO meeting halls of what will be. What systems will we invade next... what happless victims will be our next targets... which alliances will we face... Few can say for sure. Personally, I don't care. Whether we mine together, fight together, die together or randomly warp together, it is no concern. Life is in unity.

The warriors of World Order will soon leave Omist. The silent belts will remain. I wonder what I will leave behind
Shiplog 17052007

I was notified that today was the day to pull out of Omist. IO has interests near HQ in Providence and Catch. The details of the operations are necessarily sketchy. All we know is we must come and we have been instructed to use combat loads.

Just before I began the long 50 hop journey back to Choonka we got word that IAC now considered us hostile. One of our pilots lost a ship in a surprise attack. Aside from this being a cowardly betrayal... it also makes the route home more hostile. I checked my systems stats on the nav comp--the default route looked clean even with the hostiles. I set out.

The vast majority of systems were barren. Almost no non-"allies" on the way. The 3 systems inhabited by IAC were full of their scum. I kept radio silence and made my hops. I picked up a HAC tail, but he seemed disinclined to engage my Dominix. Mostly I just wanted to be free of 0.0 with all my assets more readily usable in and around Choonka. The HAC got ahead of me which I felt was an advantage. I kept my guard up.

On the last 0.0 system he met up with another buddy. I think it was a recon. Feeling braver with two to one odds they locked and scrambled. I had fitted one warp core... but not 2. I launched drones and closed on the recon. I called for help--only 2 hops from Choonka where an op was gathering. The jamming effectively shut down my combat. But I did manage to spook off the recon. I switched to the HAC. Five brothers came to my aid. Many in ships not yet fitted for combat. My tanking held long enuf for them to arrive. Dragoon locked the HAC and sent more drones. The HAC fled and other pursued the recon. No kills, but IAC learned not to assume lone IO members are easy pickings.

I hope our forces gather soon. We can demonstrate our true powers. A war of words may show eloquence, but wars are not fought with words. The cracking thunder of a crushed hull will be our testimony. Our arguments fought with hybrid charges. Our summation a volley of cruise missiles. The siege of our Dreads uproarious applause. The silence of the dead the only rebuttal.

Long live the Alliance! Death to our enemies!
Shiplog 18052007

I have emperically proved that staying hangerbound to train doesn't speed up training... endless hours floating in simulations. My training plans all run in to multiple weeks if not months before any significant goals can be met. A few key skills overlap many other plans. Gallente Frigates V will apply to Assault ships, Interceptors, Covert Ops and even Interdictors. But each of these still requires a great deal of other skills. And while new ships are always exciting I'm lame in them without a few T2 skills to back them up. The only strong T2 skills I possess are in drones. I need to belt-in and just stay on my Heavy Drone V and G. Drone Specialization IV programs. At least then I'll have my little drone friends at maximum strength. I've read that the Gallente assault ships can be pretty powerful mini-droners. Perhaps I'll find out in 85 days... blah...

Back to my simulations... "The Ogre II Heavy Drone model number OGR2011v12 has 24 primary systems and 48 secondary systems. The primary systems are lateral thrust management, orbital thrust management, auxillary thrust man..."
Shiplog 20052007

I've been assigned a Gallente Federation military mission to eliminate a large group of Angels in Trossere. At first glance the mission looked to be fairly ordinary, but has proved to be quite challenging. It takes so long to eliminate the guards that in 2 cases they have called in full reinforcements before I can make it to the gate. Forcing me to start over. But with many conflicting duties, I have yet to get the time to really start and finish the mission in one long session. Perhaps I'll get lucky with some support from the Alliance. I'd like to get it done as the mission is offering a Siege Warfare Mindlink, which I can't use yet, but is worth a good 15 million on the market or perhaps I could squirrel it away for the future. Plus I have another high level combat mission waiting for my response. It seems I'm in demand lately!

More alliance members make the exodus from Omist every day. The situation there is rapidly deteriorating. BoB is moving in fast, our contract with Goonswarm is expiring, IAC's route home is hostile and of course it's 50 odd hops from Providence. I worry that some of our pilots will be cut off. Pirates have an instinct for stragglers.

I participated in my first Alliance combat operation today. It was only a light attack squad, but still a good learning experience. I was over anxious to get to the squad. I had to warp through about 10 systems to catch up. By that time they were nearly done with the small raid, but had received a distress call from Slyph space. While probably outmatched we decided to at least scout it. Plus our ships were cheap and light--we hoped our numbers would make up for the lack of hitting power.

The big lesson learned for me was managing my Overview settings. In the past spotting a few targets was so easy that I took my settings for granted. In a large combat it was not easy to spot ships as rapidly as required. I still managed to select targets well, but I was not as good a scout as I could have been.

The second big lesson was to only listen to the squad commanders and not all the noise in voice comms and/or text comms. One of the pilots calling for our help stated that "only he would be tackling" so I kept my warp scrambler off. But I locked on the enemy Interdictor much faster than he did and I was on him at less than 5km range. I could easily have scrambled him, but I didn't and the Interdictor warped off. I got picked off soon after. The Thorax I lost wasn't a concern nor the mods (remember I only have T1 skills). I was glad to take the fire so that my other brothers could undoubtedly be more effective longer. But I still kick myself for not scrambling that 'dictor... we could have killed him. Paddington (the "tackler" pilot) wasn't in my chain of command... I should have ignored him.

Regardless, it was a good first combat. I'd much rather risk small ships on my learning curve over larger ships. I also don't mind losing my ship so that the other more experienced pilots can attack unmolested. The first rule of War is "When weak appear strong... When strong appear weak." The Thorax cruiser can be intimidating and I charged boldly in drawing fire. I was proud to be a target.

My pod survived and I returned to Unity Station to pick up a shuttle. Soon I was back in Choonka. In order to facilitate rapid future travel I clone jumped to my personal base in Mirilene. I have better implants there for my training. Plus there is that annoying mission in Trossere to take care of...

I will sign off now with a favorite story from my military history holovids...
Quote:
One day in the pavilion at Karakorum he [Genghis Kahn] asked an officer of the Mongol guard what, in all the world, could bring the greatest happiness.

"The open steppe, a clear day, and a swift horse under you," responded the officer after a little thought, "and a falcon on your wrist to start up hares."

"Nay," responded the Kahn, "to crush your enemies, to see them fall at your feet -- to take their horses and goods and hear the lamentation of their women. That is best."
Yes, that is best.

Long Live the Alliance! Death to Slyph!
Shiplog 21052007

Discouraged with the few responses to my requests with assistance, I put out a call to some old contacts for help with my pesky Angels. Of course, as soon as I did I got offers for help from the Alliance. At one point we 5 ships in assistance on two level 4 missions. This made things much easier. Even with the split and taxes, these bounties add up.

I just couldn't stand another chapter on heavy drone thrust vectors. Upon review of my skills I discovered that I had missed an whole new branch of drone study, Electronic Warfare drones. I opted to switch. I should complete the whole chain in about a week. I figure these drones can be handier for the alliance in support since I don't have the full-on combat skills yet to be DPS.
Shiplog 23052007

The study on Electronic Warfare is facinating. In my previous roles ewar was of no use. A mining barge just doesn't need to dampen or jam a target and most missions have so many ships that a few dampened targets do not make or break your success. But after my close encounter with a recon, I realize the value in a one on one conflict. As a result I went out to acquire several ewar drone BPOs and all the Gallente frigate BPOs for good measure. I have never flown the Imicus or Maulus before. While I've moved on to battleships and cruisers, it is still fun to play with new ships.

I was surprised at the potential of the Maulus. In a small gang a Maulus would be crippling if coordinated with a tackler and a shooter. I made 5 for playtime. I also made a batch of all the others for resale.

I only bought the medium and light sensor dampening drone BPO's and the ECM medium and light drones. I made batches of all. My skills won't complete for 24 hours.

Otherwise I spent the day running missions for isk and loyalty. I estimate my misison totals are in the 15 million a day range.

Long live the Alliance!
Shiplog 25052007

Missions and training...

Shiplog 26052007

Tretchery? Dishonor? Ego? Misscommunication? Who can say? But an IO elite leader has left the alliance leaving behind many of the PTDI corp lost, confused, angry and unsettled. I do not know firsthand of the events leading to the schizm, I only see the results. The alliance is weakened even as its resolve is strengthened. From what I gather, Dark Renegade has fought many glorious battles aside the warriors of the Imperial Order for many years. But that history is soiled. Dark has left. Many of his corp will follow. Some will stay in IO. Regardless, in this time of schizm, we should remember the many valiant acts performed by all PTDI members both on and off the combat field and inside or outside the alliance. All pilots make their own way. I shall respect and honor our brothers until they shoot first. Then we will meet in valorous combat--to the victor goes the spoils. This is the way of EVE.

Long live the Alliance! Honor in battle!

Shiplog 28052007

Vampire Lord gave the word to move clones to two new regions of 0.0 space. In response, I clone jumped to Omist again. My clones are in Choonka, Mirilene and Omist with no skill for a 4th yet. So Omist was the best choice. I had very little left in the BoB station of QSF, but did manage buy a Catalyst for only a million. However, with no station previliges, all I could do was undock the hull and start on the 50 hop journey to B-7 in the Drone region.

The travel was uneventful save for three incidents. First was happening upon a friendly Goonfleet station where I could re-fit the Cat--Thanks Goon! Second was encounting a PTDI member, Valorian, moving through several stations near Goon. Third was being fired upon by Bautschi (a friendly marked pilot) one hop from B-7.

Goonfleet was quite cordial, I was greeted in Local several times.

Valorian was mostly quiet. But entirely unhostile. He and I leapfrogged for perhaps 6-7 systems.

The Drone region was harsh. The station at B-7 has grossly inflated prices and few goods. The nearest 2nd station was 13 hops away. While the minerials dropped from the massive drones would have been immensely valuable, there was no market for them. A shrewd business man would pack up a large collection of T1 BPO's and make for the B-7 station. Mins are plentiful and cheap, goods in high demand.

I picked up a Brutix for 20 million at the station and sold the Catalyst. It was expensive to fit out the Brut and even at inflated prices, not all the modules I would have liked were available. While out test ratting, Lady Explosion arrived in system to scout as well. As it turned out, IO found better negotiations on the other 0.0 target system. We were told to abandon B-7 and make for EO2 in the Wild Lands... 40 hops away. *sigh*

Lady Explosion and I made most of the route together. Once we arrived I finished fitting my new Brutix, insured it and began Angel ratting. Life is good.

Long live the Alliance! Death to CCK!

PS: Oh... CCK declared war on us... eff 'em.

Busy, busy, busy

Things are really hopping as of late.

Work has exploded somewhat as 4 of our 5 team members have left or are leaving soon. I'm left behind to try to keep tabs on everything, but there is little hope that I'll actually be able to keep up on everything. If only folks read my management blogs...

My summer vacation starts tomorrow. I have the next week with all my kids, my parents and my siblings (and their kids) up at Table Rock Lake in the Ozarks. So while vacation is awesome, it is also stressful from all the planning. Even so, I'm sure I'll be having a good time in about 24 hours and for the next 7 days.

Major bummer is that my mother-in-law had a stroke about 2 weeks ago and my wife has decided to skip vacation to help take care of her first week back home from the hospital. My mother-in-law, Cindy, is only about 54. No one saw this coming. Remarkably, she is doing pretty good. In my family, strokes have been fatal within a couple of days. But I have since heard many stories from folks that have experience minor strokes (like Cindy's) and gone on to live many, many more years relatively trouble free. We're hoping for this variation.

Gabe had a fever last week, but no other signs of illness. Amy and I have been totally healthy. Bizarrely, our cat had a unrinary infection which spawned a few hundred dollars in vet bills and 2 weeks of oral torture for Lucy (yucky antibiotics). She seems fine now. We had to change her cat food--she's not happy about that. I predict weight loss at this rate.

I won't be updating from vacation. I'll see what I can do when I get back. Have fun at work!

PS: I've started using blog tags to categorize stuff...

Monday, June 25, 2007

Dr. Vivien Thomas

One of my favorite stories of all time is of Dr. Vivien Thomas as told through the movie Something the Lord Made. Dr. Thomas was a black man of no medical study who through quiet, unyielding desire to do good work assisted and lead the initiatives that created cardiac medicine as we know it today. His work with his mentor and friend Dr. Alfred Blalock have save millions of lives.

There may be many examples of a human spirit that has touched so many, but none that I know where such a good man was tested for so long. Dr. Thomas lived most of his life unknown behind his friend Dr. Blalock who in those decades was often singularly recognized since he was white and Vivien was only his colored assistant.

History has revealed that without Dr. Thomas even the extremely gifted Dr. Blalock may never have developed these life saving surgical techniques. But enough of the science...

Dr. Vivien Thomas has to be one of my greatest heroes of all time. He demonstrates to me that the good that you do throughout your life may never be recognized, but it remains good. It gives me hope to persevere when my faith is low. Vivien lived his life with faith and struggled through racism and ignornance to deliver more good to all than any other white man I can think of has done in return for black. I can only offer my meager gratitude for his life's work.

Dr. Vivien Thomas makes me proud of being human. He restores my belief that there are good things on the Earth. Perhaps no one at all is keeping score from on high, but we know what we do and why. Dr. Thomas reminds me to keep my faith and do my best.

I'm sure the accounting is dramatized, but this matters little for the message is true and anything that helps you believe is good.

Saturday, June 9, 2007

Clarity

I had a strange moment of lucidity tonight. A moment where I saw everything around me and how it had been altered by my passing. I was holding a cherished drawing that a small child had made for me. The house was dark as I was just going to bed. I knew where everything was even in the shadows. I realized how significant my home is. I looked out of my windows to my community and saw the other homes of other families. I knew they struggled too in various ways. My wife, my children, my friends... all drawn to me in lines of connection. For a few minutes I felt like I knew how it all worked together and I totally sensed my own role in it.

It was an odd moment. I hope I have more.

Friday, March 30, 2007

And so it begins...

Lillianna tried to calm the agitated reaver down. She didn’t need the powerful drake bucking her off in the middle of the desert while a rogue dragon was near. The animal shifted on the high dune sending cascades of sand down the steep sides. His neck bristled with spines and he chattered a series of clicking growls as he skittered side to side. Pieces of some unrecognizable carcass were strewn over the sands. But from the decay she determined it was more than a day old.

With a quick visual sweep of the horizon of the pale blue skies she swung off the squawking reaver. Well trained despite its nervous nature, the drake reacted to the movement by slinging downward and leaning to the side for the young woman to dismount. Her tall leather boots sank ankle deep in the silty sand. The hot air still felt cool on her sweat dampened leggings. She slogged through sand over to one of the larger boney chunks of former dragon food and kicked it over. The bones were deeply furrowed from large teeth spaced widely apart. It was definitely a mature dragon and probably male. One that knew better… one that knew he wasn’t in home territory… and one that didn’t care. She needed to get back to Bonner’s Fast and report the intrusion.

She quickly climbed the slippery dune back to Dart, her reaver drake and favorite mount. While Dart was quite large, roughly 50 wingspan, he wouldn’t last long against a mature dragon. Physically, the reavers looked like young dragons, but there couldn’t be a larger difference in cunning, intelligence and ferocity. Wild reavers were quite dangerous, but you could count on them to react like other animals—attack when hungry or threatened, but not for sport. This dragon was probing. He wanted to see who was home and if there was chink in the defenses on this fringe outpost. If he sensed weakness he would not hesitated to wipe out the Fast and set up a roost for himself. He probably wasn’t far away. Dart chattered and leaned one wing down again so she could mount. Then she heard it and her heart skipped.

The unmistakable challenging roar of a dragon rolled like thunder over the dunes. He was a lot closer than her estimate. Too close.

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Yet More Dragons...

For most of humanity, life is not much changed by the dragon rule. Interaction between the common populace and the dragonkind are rare. The dragon lords work through networks of vassals, retainers and servants. The human overseers possess great power inside their territories. Most are fair and just, but each is entirely loyal to their dragon masters. In general, the needs of their villages and lands are taken in to consideration and delivered to the best of their ability. The dragons are not typically cruel out of nature—at worst they can be thought of as “unaware” that humans sometimes suffer. Benevolence isn’t unknown, just exceptionally rare. All dragons guard against rebellion and disloyalty. Few have any qualms about causing humans harm when necessary.

Dragons appear to live forever. Humans do not live long enough to detect their signs of aging. Some dragons have seemed to disappear, but the causes are always murky. Most times it is believed that a dragon is killed by another dragon for land, power or wealth. It is not unusual for a dragon lord to disappear for a decade at a time. Many a careless overseer has lost his life after poorly managing his dragon lord’s lands and assuming his lord’s death. Humans have learned to strictly adhere to their lord’s instructions with autonomy. What the dragons do in these long stretches is the topic of many a tall tale. Some claim they sleep, some believe they walk in dreams, some think they return to the home lands, some say they change to human form and spy among their followers. Indeed, many dragons are known to magically assume human form. Lady Astralan takes great pleasure in perpetually staying in the form of a beautiful woman. She rules as a Queen over her lands and is known to take many human lovers. While vain, she is an intelligent ruler and generally considered one of the most empathic dragon rulers.

Active dragons require a great deal of food. They prefer meats, but can subsist on virtually anything. Even so, a small village can sustain a single dragon under normal conditions. Dragons are neurotic hoarders by nature. They obsessively secure more and more resources “just in case.” They only stop when they bump in to the boundaries of another dragon. But since resources in the nine kingdoms are relatively plentiful and the First Accord still stands, dragons rarely fight over boundaries.

The Northern Wastes see a bit of combat as there are rogue dragons to contend with and resources are scarcer. Dragon lands tend to be larger in this zone which makes infringement easier to accomplish and harder to detect. Humans find it difficult to settle in these lands thus reducing the manpower a dragon lord can muster for patrolling and farming. These waste lands are the home to the Sharptalon Alliance. The second largest dragon territory, the Northern Wastes was originally three small kingdoms—including the Cadeir’s capital fortress in the Razorpeak Mountains. Without the sustaining magics of the fallen wizards these lands have steadily declined. Now it is dominated by large deserts, rocky wastelands and salt flats. It is in these lands that the legends say the Cadeir will appear first to reclaim their fortress and herald the coming of the new kings and queens. The Sharptalon’s make the most extensive use of reavers to help control the region.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Here Be More Dragons...

Arcane even before the Ascension, the Cadeir remain a secret organization. Originally composed primarily of witches, wizards and enchanters, the group wielded great indirect power over the nine kingdoms. Many viewed its influence as a necessary evil. Overtly the body claimed to act only in the best interests of humanity, but many of its number practiced black arts. Witches whispered in to the ears of strong men who would lose all resolve. Cherished sons and daughters lost in battle could be restored to life, but then carried a terrible debt to the Cadeir. Common folk would often call debts impossible to pay “a Cadeir’s Price.” Bargains with the wizards were seldom what one expected.

After the Ascension the Cadeir organized the first real resistance to the dragons. Indeed, they were the only organized force to bring down more than one. But the dragons learned quickly the limits of their magic and attacked in force. The Cadeir’s mountain fortress was razed to ash. Its members hunted and declared outlaws. The practice of all magic by humankind was forbidden—punishable by death or worse.

After the fall of the kingdoms the Cadeir continued to oppose the dragons. The once austere body now lives only underground. Still, they remain powerful with vast spy networks. The dragons try to root them out at every opportunity, but new cells always pop up. The Cadeir has for centuries tracked the heraldry of the old Kings (and two Great Queens) through the ages. Most of these heirs are ignorant of their heritage. The Cadeir go to extravagant ends to protect these individuals until they themselves have children. These families appear to be unusually lucky in life, unaware they may be surrounded by Cadeir handlers. One day the Cadeir hope to restore the noble lines. The dragon lords can never be completely destroyed, but hope remains that humans can establish some free lands. Few truly know what is left of the noble lines or even of the Cadeir sorcerers. Even those that guard the heirs do not know what line they guard. Legend and myth shroud the original purposes. The mission is passed down from guardian to guardian only by word of mouth. Always the tale is the same, “a time will come… a champion will appear… a herald will be revealed… the time of men will return… guard the noble lines.” The more educated populace views the Cadeir as a cheery fairy tale. When “followers” are discovered there is never a connection between groups leading the dragon lords and their vassals to believe the organization is broken and leaderless. Organized resistance against any of the alliances hasn’t been seen in a 1000 years. The Cadeir are lost and their mission a failure… so it would seem, yet hope remains that someday the leaders will reveal themselves and bring about the new age of peace and freedom.

Dragons exhibit a range of temperaments and charisma similar to humans. Some rule through fear and cruelty while others appear to genuinely like humans. Indeed the most successful alliance, The Unity, has maintained the noble monarchy of the land it claims. The royal family has no official power, but is well treated and, at least, appears to be highly influential to the Dragon King, Zamir, High Command of The Unity. Officially, King Daven is chief advisor of human affairs and high general of the human army in service to The Unity. Regardless of the titles and wealth retained by the royal family, the concerns of dragons rule the day. Human considerations are always secondary. Many villages have starved so that dragons may feed. Dragons may kill or hunt anything, including humans, unless they are the property of another dragon. Even then the issue is between the dragons to settle for damage to property. The chains of slavery are in many cases very light, but they are chains none the less.