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

==Today==
Since the Night of the Dragon, as Apep's assault on the Yuan-ti invaders has been called by bards and historians, Apep has retreated further from the city's affairs. Dholavira's community of magic users and clerics has become too wary of his manipulations and he fears that taking too direct a hand in the city would undermine the independence of her citizens. The dragon continues to use agents to run his trade empire though and counts several masters of the Eldrich College among his allies. Apep seldom visits the city himself, preferring to sequester himself in a secret lair hidden deeper in the Rann. When he does, the dragon typically stays within the lower town in an effort to avoid being exposed.

Apep's most pressing concerns at this time remain the sudden transformation of the city into a magocracy and the return of the gnoll clans. While the city's defenses are more than adequate to hold the gnolls at bay for the month that they lay siege to the city every year, Apep suspects a larger design to be at work. He likewise suspects that there are greater forces behind the decline of the Gibil dynasty. The freedom of Dholavira's populace to choose their own leaders appeals to Apep's sense of justice; but at the same time, he fears that the lack of true leadership could result in disaster. Mohenjo-daro or another ambitious empire could attempt another assault on the city. One that not even a dragon's might could repel.