Editing Age Of Dragons: Alliance of Light (section)

===Seeking Allies===

The ''Ascendancy'' had effortlessly claimed the loyalty of every Dragon in the ''Sable, Blood and Velvet'' breeds, and somehow also convinced a small number of ''Forest Dragons'' (namely the mountain dwelling ''Jade Dragons'' of the North) to join them. 

The ''Ashen Dragons'' had of course declared neutrality, the ''Ghost Dragons'' had fled to their enemies, and the remaining majority of the ''Forest Dragons'' remained deep within the ''Heartswood'' to the west, beyond the reach or interest of draconic society as a whole.

The ''Alliance'', in contrast, had equal strength in theory, with ''Pure, Argent'' and ''Solar'' united, with the ''Ghost'' refugees in tow. However in practice, the ''Alliance'' was far weaker, with less unified leadership, a multitude of independent mortal armies rather than one overwhelming one, and internal division still causing great difficulties. Ironically, many so-called ''Dragons of Order'' refused to do any more than pay lip service to the ''Alliance'', and few were willing to risk personal resources to pursue a war that was still distant to them.

The ''Alliance of Light'' knew it needed to draw in more strength to stand a chance of surviving, and so ''Solar'' emissaries were dispatched as ambassadors to the remaining breeds...

They first approached the ''Storm Dragons'' that ruled over the oceans to their South, and also the ''Chimerical Dragons'' of the Archipelago of Dreams in the coastal region. Both these dragonbreeds refused to be drawn in. The blue-scaled ''Storm Dragons'' declared that the affairs of land and sky were not their domain, and that they had a greater and older war to fight against their ancestral foes - the ''Krakens'' of the ''Drowned Abyss''. A few of their number - mostly young dragons who were already enamoured with the world above the horizon - chose to join the ''Alliance'', but for the most part the breed remained apart. 

The ''Chimerical Dragons'' refused to sign up to the ''Alliance'', citing that they had no talent for war and that their numbers were too low to take casualties. However they agreed to present ambassadors and emissaries to the ''Alliance's'' court, who would observe, engage in further diplomacy and offer sage advice. Unknown to the ''Alliance'' the ''Chimericals'' also took it on themselves to dispatch ambassadors to the ''Ascendancy'' as well, with every intention of playing the war to the advantage of the Dragons of Dream.

Finally the Alliance approached the ''Sky Tribes'' of the ''Hunter Dragons'' and found to their surprise that the ''Hunters'' were more than ready to fight the ''Ascendancy'', who they had already recognised as a greater evil than even the "civilised fops" of the ''Alliance''. 

However, their help would be conditional, and offered solely on the grounds that the ''Alliance'' would declare themselves enemies of the sorcerous ''Ashen Dragons''. The ''Alliance'' decided that for all their physical might, the ''Hunters'' were simply not worth this price - the ''Ashen Kingdom's'' neutrality was the fulcrum around which the war moved, and the ''Alliance'' could not afford to drive such potent Dragons to the ''Ascendancy''. Diplomacy continued, and eventually a single ''Sky Tribe'' agreed to join the ''Alliance'' without condition. This Tribe, named the ''Talons of Open Sky'', had already clashed with ''Ascendancy'' forces that strayed into their skies, and in the battles that followed lost two-thirds of their number and been driven south. Now a mere twelve dragons they had lost any standing amongst the ''Hunters'' as a whole, but were welcomed to the ''Alliance'' as equals, with the ''Solar Ambassadors'' of the ''Alliance'' hoping that they could be used as a diplomatic bridgehead to eventually bring the rest of the Breed into the war.
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