| Dragon Hunters | |
|---|---|
| EUO Organization Info | |
| Kanji | ドラゴン・ハンターズ |
| Romaji | Doragon hantāzu |
| Type | Brotherhood |
| Status | Disbanded |
| Focus | Hunting and Killing of dragons |
| Allegiance | Dracos |
| Current Leader | None |
| Founder | None |
The Dragon Hunters were a guild of Dracos dedicated to the hunting of Dragons in the lore of Endless Utopia Online.
Overview[]
The Dragon Hunters were a collective of hundreds of individual Dracos across the kingdom that were dedicated to the art of Dragon hunting. Although somewhat autonomous, they all operated under the same authority, that being the guild itself. They had established multiple guild locations all around the Draco Kingdom in order to conduct their business, where they would accept contracts for hunting individual dragons and join hunting parties with other members of the guild. Dragon hunting was considered an art due to the extreme danger of hunting dragons, and therefore individual Dragon hunters would for the most part band together in order to take on individual dragons to complete contracts and earn the rewards.
Dragon Hunters typically worked in groups, dividing the tasks into different individuals, with the number of members varying depending on the danger of the hunted Dragon, so as to counter the power of the beast with numbers.
Any Dragon Hunter who managed to kill a dragon singlehandedly earned the title Dragonslayer, which meant great prestige among Dracos. That being said, the title was earned regardless of the way the Dragon was killed. It was seen as more prestigious to fell a dragon in close one-to-one combat than it was to kill it with a long-range weapon such as a scorpion or a ballista.
Background[]
The Dragon Hunters were well established in the Draco Kingdom in a time when the hunting of Dragons, and to a lesser extent, Sea Dragons and other Dragonids, was seen as a dangerous and prestigious sport. Individual Dracos would team up with others through the guild itself in order to take on dragons and earn the rewards for doing so. The guild was seen as an elite and exclusive group, with only the most skilled and able warriors capable of contesting against a fierce Dragon, though in truth anyone was allowed to join so long as they displayed the skills necessary to hunt Dragons.
Despite this, the guild itself was somewhat disorganized, and the art of Dragon hunting itself was left up to individuals. This would change when Khasach arrived and became the leader of the Dragon Hunters. Under his command, he standardized the methods of Dragon hunting that was to be used by all Dragon Hunters, increasing their effectiveness and synergy in the field, and also developed a multitude of techniques, tools and weapons that future Dragon Hunters would use.
It was during Khasach's tenure that a Draco commoner named Bowein became the first Dragon Rider and rose to prominence among the Draco Noble Families. Eventually, with the support of a few Dracolords and a few Dragon Riders he had trained himself, he claimed the crown of the Draco Kingdom, eventually beginning Bowein's War.
Notably, Bowein saw dragons as proud animals to be respected. This displeased the Dragon Hunters greatly, as they saw Dragons as little more than beasts to be hunted. The Dragon Hunters formed a stronger collective led by Dragonslayer Khasach, and joined the war against Bowein, along with other Draco Noble Houses who refused to bend the knee to a commoner.
While the war was well fought on both sides, the Dragon Hunters utilizing their skillful techniques and unique tactics to fell many Dragons, the war was ultimately won by Bowein, who killed Khasach in one-on-one combat and then crowning himself as the first Dragon King.
One of the first decrees of Bowein was banning of dragon hunting as a sport. The killing of a Dragon would only be allowed in self-defense and when all other options are exhausted. He also ordered the disbanding of the Dragon Hunters guild and the branding of many of its most prominent hunters as outlaws. Ironically, the hunters were hunted down by Dragon Riders and forced into abandoning their ways, early retirement, exile, or death.
In the modern day, there is little to nothing left of the original organization of Dragon Hunters. However, there are still certain individuals who are descendant of the original Dragon Hunters and may carry with them the same techniques once used in ancient times, even if they do not utilize them.
Dragon Hunter Arts[]
The Dragon Hunters were known to be well trained in a special art of hunting created specifically to combat Dragons. These techniques were utilized by all Dragon Hunters, and included specialized weapons, tools and skills that were developed with the sole purpose of taking down powerful Dragons. The art of Dragon Hunting in general can be broken down into three basic parts, as outlined and standardized by Dragonslayer Khasach:
- 1. Bringing a Dragon out of the sky:
The first stage of Dragon hunting is to bring a Dragon out of the sky, where it is most dangerous. There were multiple techniques developed in order to disable a Dragon's wings or otherwise prevent it from lifting off once grounded, the most basic of which is to simply damage the wings enough to disable them, but can include tying them down among other things.
- 2. Disabling a Dragon's ability to fight back:
The second stage of Dragon Hunting that takes place once a Dragon has been permanently grounded. This involves removing the ability for the Dragon to properly fight back, for which special tools, weapons or techniques can be used. The primary goal in this stage is to ensure the dragon cannot utilize its innate weapons, such as its claws and fangs, or its elemental abilities effectively, rendering it defenseless.
- 3. Piercing a Dragon's scales:
The third and final stage of Dragon Hunting is to produce a powerful enough force to pierce a Dragon's hardened scales in order to kill it. As with the other stages, multiple methods can be used to achieve this, but the most potent method was with the use of extremely sharp and strong spears or lances with accompanying abilities that increased their ability to pierce through their targets. The best Dragon Hunters were able to successfully execute a Dragon with a single well-aimed strike.
With the destruction of the Dragon Hunters by the Dragon Riders, these techniques, as well as the tools and weapons once used to execute them, ceased to be propagated and died out within a generation. However, some families retained their knowledge of the old ways and passed them down to succeeding generations. In the present day there are very few remaining who still carry on the legacy of the Dragon Hunters, and none have used them in order to actually hunt Dragons, with a single exception.