THEME: Nostalgia Cube by Only-Wonder
This world is a planet much like ours, with two major differences: the existence of a ubiquitous magic system known as manacraft and the existence of various sapient nonhuman species based on magical beings from real-world myths, legends, and fantasy fiction. Technologically, this world is analogous to the late 19th century: firearms, trains, printing presses, and factories are commonplace.
This setting is specifically focused on a peninsula known as the Hesperian Peninsula. This peninsula is split into multiple states that were all part of the larger Hesperian Empire, but became independent when said empire balkanized. Our main focus is on the small kingdom of Zantilan.
The Kingdom of Zantilan, formerly part of the Hesperian Empire, is a mountainous kingdom primarily known for mages known as Solomonari who ride lesser dragons known as balaurs. It is relatively new to the process of industrialization and is governed by an absolute monarchy, with a king serving as both head of state and head of government. The king is served in turn by various noble families, all of whom have an almost exclusive monopoly on political and economic life in the kingdom.
The Royal Military Academy of Solomanta – known in brief as the Solomanta – is the premier war manacrafting university not just in Zantilan, but all across the Hesperian Peninsula. It houses both solomonari-in-training and regular students, both of whom are expected to train in both physical combat, history, the arts, and combat-oriented manacraft.
Under normal circumstances, entry into the Solomanta is only available to the scions of noble families. However, on occasion, a commoner will hatch a balaur and enter the academy’s ranks. Typically, this is accompanied by the commoner shedding all links to their humble beginnings. The express goal, as stipulated by the academy’s founders, is to create a class of well-educated military officers and bureaucrats free from unnecessary links to the lower classes.
A solomonar (plural solomonari) is a human mage that has psychically bonded with a lesser dragon known as a balaur in a bond known as a dragonbond. The solomonar can use this dragonbond to issue commands to their bonded balaur. As per tradition, solomonari use the elemental magics of wind, heat, and lightning to attack foes from a distance. Only humans can be solomonar for some unknown reason.
Typically, balaur eggs take three months to incubate properly. During the final month of incubation, the egg reaches the period known as the dragonbonding period, in which it attempts to bond with any human that makes physical contact with it. If a compatible human is not found within this period, the resultant hatchling becomes a drake, a wingless creature that grows to about fourteen feet and that cannot fly, breathe fire, or reproduce.
If a compatible human is found, however, the egg hatches immediately and the resultant hatchling becomes a full-fledged balaur - capable of flight, breathing fire, and reproduction. Balaurs are known to grow to roughly thirty feet long, and – as mentioned above – are psychically bonded to the human that serves as their solomonar. There is no known way to predict how compatible any individual human is, and most humans go their entire lives without hatching an egg.
Once the dragonbond is established, the dragonbonded human can communicate with the balaur telepathically, which is typically used to issue the latter commands. If one or the other dies, neither party can form a new dragonbond. Balaurs do not seem to be sapient.