Editing User:Bill/Magocracy of Dholavira/NPCs/Apep (section)

===Founding Dholavira===
The golden dragon Apep has been a resident of Dholavira for 150 years. When Apep arrived it was a small trading outpost on a hilltop with nothing more than a palisade and a couple dozen hardened fighters to protect the town from gnoll raiders, brigands, and the many monsters that prowl the salt marsh annually. The dragon saw potential in the tiny, isolated outpost and its commander; Siduri. Apep used his magical abilities to assist Siduri in repelling one of the annual gnoll assaults, making the commander appear to be a great hero in the process. Wearing the guise of a priest of Pelor, he approached the triumphant commander and claimed that the victory was ordained by the gods and that Siduri would be king in this place. Drunk with power and the adulation of his men, Siduri proclaimed himself lord and master of Dholavira.

This situation could have very quickly spun out of control and the new fledged city-state would very likely have been crushed by the trade guilds that had formerly controlled the outpost. Apep moved quickly though and negotiated a treaty with the traders in the guise of a man called Ziasudra. The dragon had been cultivating his identity as Ziasudra the merchant for some time and was respected by his peers. Under the terms of the bargain the maintenance of the outpost and garrison would be taken over by Siduri and the merchant houses would be able to continue business as usual. Independent tradespeople could be taxed as could any revenues generated by any inns or temples constructed in the new town.

Over the course of the next several decades Ziasudra and other aliases of Apep sponsored an enormous wave of construction and fortification of the newly founded Dholavira. Traders came and went, spreading word that the outpost was growing. Siduri, never a real hero, was content to continue his role as lord defender of the settlement. His sons however, acquired ideas of royalty.