(Meeting in the palace at Eskala. From left to right: Graha, King of the Narise; Ikros, King of the Ḍeska; Dekhsi, King of the Ehrne; Tsaiti, King of the Knase; and Kharas, King of the Adankh.)

Following the death of Okhse Aśla, the five tribes of the Arani were bound together not by a single king, but by a confederation between the kings. Aśla spent much of the latter years of their reign ensuring that the laws of such a confederation would hold, and that their wards would continue to cooperate even after their mentor’s death.

The Confederation stood for over a decade, but it was not any sense of loyalty to Aśla’s vision or to each other that kept the kings’ teeth from each other’s throats. It was, more than anything, the recognition of a common threat in the Tiaka Kingdom. The Tiaka had risen to fill the vacuum left after the fall of the Lohae Kingdom before them: they had once been subjects of the Lohae, like the Arani, but had since found success in subjugating the tribes of the steppe and in becoming masters in their own right. The Tiaka had the advantage of the sheer quantity of a human population, and their skill in using tools and weapons of war; combined with the chimeric strength of gryphons, and even of the Arani Aykene tribe, which had been subjugated since their exile in the south-east. To avoid conquest and enslavement, the remaining Arani kings recognized that they would need to combine their forces and cooperate, as painful and humiliating as it seemed at times…

Far from the dreams of true unity, the Confederation became little more than a military alliance. And with the clashing personalities and ambitions of those at its head, many doubted if it could succeed in even that.

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Okay, now for some out-of-universe rambling.
From left to right, Graha’s cloak is based on Sogdian clothing; Ikros’ clothes are based on Tocharian designs; and Dekhsi’s, Tsaiti’s, and Kharas’ are all based on Scythian clothing. The cloaks would wrap under the wings and over the back, and connect on the other side. Clothing is mostly optional for the Arani (they don’t consider nudity to be taboo, at least for dragons) but the kings here are definitely trying to show off to everyone else how rich and powerful they are with their clothing and jewellery. Clothes are also more practical in the mountainous climate compared to the steppe/desert terrain elsewhere in the Arani lands.
The background is based on the Caucasus Mountains.
The Greek columns are there because the setting of this scene, the palace at Eskala, was originally built by the Theskaian Anaxia (which is a blatant Greek/Byzantine analogue…)
The kylix cups are likewise there because of trade/cultural exchange with the Theskaians, and because I thought they might be easier to use with a dragon’s talons compared with other types of cups (which is a vibes-based assessment).
The design of the dragons is definitely going to change more as I figure out how to draw them.
I am the king of procrastination. Seven months since my last post…