Draconian Measures is a fantasy novel by Don Perrin. It is the second volume of the Kang's Regiment series and follows characters which originally appeared in The Dragons of Krynn, The Dragons at War, and Heroes and Fools anthologies.
Blurb[]
The regiment of draconian engineers featured in THE DOOM BRIGADE seek a safe haven for their precious cargo of young draconians. All they have to do is stay alive. Surely that shouldn't be too hard.
But Commander Kang puzzles over a sinister mystery. Why are some of his men vanishing? Kang will have to use DRACONIAN MEASURES to defeat his foes and save his race. They'd better be enough - the fate of his entire race hangs in the balance.
The book covers how the draconian, Kang, and his regiment travel east and then north toward Teyr after the events in the novel The Doom Brigade. They are nearly wiped out by repeated goblin attacks until they are taken in by the aurak Maranta's draconian army. As a massive army of goblins and hobgoblins amasses to attack the fort, Kang's regiment discovers who is organizing them and Maranta's secret.
The novel includes an appendix covering the history of draconians, the Heart of Dracart, the First Dragonarmy Engineering Company, and a set of rules for draconians in 3rd edition Dungeons and Dragons.
Chronology & Geography[]
The story takes place slightly over a year after the Chaos War and the novel The Doom Brigade.
The action begins 50 miles south of Kari-Khan (a.k.a., Khuri-Khan) in the foothills of the Khur Mountains (the eastern reaches of the Khalkist mountains). Maranta’s Fort is nearby. There is a dark knight fortress 35 miles north of the Fort. The entire story takes place in those foothills and mountains.
Characters[]
Major Characters[]
- Kang, Bozak draconian commander of the First Dragonarmy Engineering Company
- Slith, Sivak draconian, second in command
- Granak, sivak draconian, standard bearer
- Fonrar, female bozak draconian, self appointed commander of the females
- Cresel, baaz draconian soldier, primary bodyguard and baby sitter of the female draconians
- Thesik, female aurak draconian, Fonrar's best friend
- Shanra & Hanrah, twin female sivak draconians
- Riel, female baaz draconian, leader of the female baaz
- Prokel, kapak draconian, subcommander of the Ninth Infantry
- Vertax, commander of the Ninth Infantry
- Yakanoh, commander of the Third Infantry
- Maranta, aurak draconian general, the only draconian ever to hold the rank of general in the dragonarmies
- Huzzad, Knight of the Lily, Red Talon Leader, Fifth Army of Conquest (spelled Huzzud in some sources)
Minor Draconian Characters[]
- Gloth, Bozak draconian, leader of First Squadron
- Yethik, leader of Second Squadron
- Harvah'k, bozak draconian, one of Kang's bodyguards
- Fulkth, leader of Support Squadron
- Celdak, junior officer of first squadron
- Kasi, female kapak
- Ogla, female bozak
- Corak, sivak draconian, one of the Queen's Own
- Drugo, male baaz
- Trok, second in command of the Third Infantry
- Mitrat, commander of the Queen's Own
- draconian soldiers Guelp a bozak, Leshhak, Dremon, Pol'lard the smith, Brattbak a baaz subcommander, Urul a baaz, Vlemess a baaz
Other Minor Characters[]
- Vosird, human Wing Commander of the First Wing of Wolf's Talon Division
- Zeck, Group Commander of Wolf's Talon Division
- Dagot, Zeck's orderly
Plot Summary[]
South of the Khur Mountains, Kang's Regiment is ambushed again by goblins, this time with the aid of hobgoblins. Over the last year, the regiment's numbers were reduced to under 250. In the ambush, another eighteen are lost and more than that injured. The regiment retreats. The female draconians figure out what is going on. Fonrar and Thesik leave to do some scouting. It's discovered that they are gone when Kang orders a last stand so the female draconians can escape. Fonrar and Thesik find draconian scouts from Maranta's fort who bow and ask to do Thesik's bidding because she is an aurak. Kang leads the last of his draconians in a charge and engages the leader of the hobgoblins. The hobgoblin captain escapes as Fonrar, Thesik, Shanra, and Hanra arrive with reinforcements. After the battle, the new draconians escort Kang's Regiment to Maranta's Fort. Kang's regiment has 167 survivors.
The fort contains the Second Infantry, Third Infantry, Ninth Infantry, and Fourteenth Infantry, as well as the Third Artillery, Belkrad's Reconnaissance Squadron, and the elite Queen's Own Squadron; Approximately 5000 soldiers. They are led by General Maranta. The fort is in disrepair. Slith commandeers a shed for the female draconians to stay in while they build a troop quarters. Kang meets Maranta in "The Bastion," which is Maranta's fortress within the fort. Kang tells Maranta, Vertax, and Yakanoh the story of the female draconians. Maranta tells Kang that an army of goblins is now amassing to attack the fort. Kang offers to leave but Maranta orders him to stay.
The next morning the shed is surrounded by throngs of draconians hoping to see the new females. Fonrar decides to begin secret training drills with the girls. Kang complains to Maranta about the crowds and the Queen's Own disperse them. The crowds do not return. The four sivak girls set up a prank for Gloth but accidentally drench General Maranta when he comes to meet them. The officers are informed that the goblin army is now thousands strong and still growing. Kang brings up the origin of draconians to Fonrar and is surprised that they have known about it for a long time.
Two draconians go missing. Kang refuses to believe that they have deserted. He takes his whole regiment out of the fort to search for them. With the regiment gone, Shanra and Hanra go into the fort to find weapons and collect gossip. Slith finds out that there is a Dark Knight keep thirty five miles to the north. Shanra and Hanra find the mess hall. They quickly leave instead of staring a fight with a draconian who finds female draconians uninteresting compared to human females. The twins find out that they need a requisition form to get swords from the quartermaster and hear about the two missing draconians. On the way back, they encounter Corak, one of the Queen's Own, with a requisition form. They knock him out, take the form, and collect 20 swords from the quartermaster.
Kang approaches Maranta and asks to meet with the Dark Knights to request aid. Maranta refuses. Corak is carried into the command tent and everyone learns about the stolen swords. Maranta orders a search of the entire fort but they find nothing. Vertax brings a message saying that Maranta changed his mind and Kang is to travel to the Dark Knight keep. The females retrieve the hidden swords.
Kang leaves with Granak and two baaz bodyguards. They meet knights on the road and are allowed to pass. They find out that there is an entire Division of dark knights at the keep. Kang meets with Groupcommander Zeck who offers two Wings to assist the fort. They stay the night. In the middle of the night, Huzzad sneaks in and tells them that Zeck is betraying them. Selquist (a dwarf from the previous novel) sold the knights information about the female draconians and the knights have been paying, supplying, and training the goblins to kill the females. They leave in the morning and keep off the main road. At Endrikseen's Pass Bridge, they hear Huzzad being arrested as she tries to desert. They drive off the knights and rescue her, but she is severely wounded. They return to the fort.
Kang leaves Huzzad with the girls. They are upset until Kang explains that he is not romantically interested in Huzzad. Kang reports to Maranta. Slith tells Kang that a new regiment of 500 draconians has arrived but are acting very strangely. The goblin army is up to twenty-five thousand. Huzzad heals quickly and explains to Kang that saliva of the female kapaks has fast healing properties. She mentions that Maranta has never led troops in battle. She also explains that Malystrx killed her dragon Flarion and her mate. Slith recalls making a wicker dragon to fool the new baaz of the thirty third infantry and Kang thinks they can do something similar in the upcoming battle. Huzzad tells Kang about the girls' sword drills. He tries to argue but she dresses him down for not letting the girls be adults. Kang agrees to have the girls train and serve as a regular unit.
The goblins begin marching to the fort. Maranta reveals his battle plans, and says that more reinforcements have arrived. Kang proposes a fake dragon to harass the goblins. Maranta calls him out for asking, saying that Kang will build it anyway. Kang's regiment begins building the fake dragon. Slith takes one of the new reinforcements, the baaz Drugo, on errands and tries to interrogate him. Drugo knows his way around but claims he doesn't and barely remembers his name. Shanra and Hanra shadow them. Drugo is terrified of Maranta's Bastion. Slith asks the Queens Own questions and they order him away. Slith goes missing. Maranta mocks Kang again for his "deserters" and Kang attacks him. Kang decides that he is retiring after this battle.
Drugo is found dead but he did not turn to stone. Hanra and Shanra explain what they saw. The goblin attack begins. The women’s' troop and Huzzad leave for the Bastion. Kang joins them with Granak, leaving Fulkth in command. They breach the bastion and navigate the maze. In the audience chamber, they find hundreds of the reinforcements and recognize that they all look like Urul and Vlemess, the first two draconians from their regiment to go missing. They find Maranta's secret chamber and witness him using the Heart of Dracart on a kapak to turn him into a hundred diminished kapaks. Maranta begins the procedure on Slith and Kang attacks. The women fight the Queen's Own while Kang and Granak rescue Slith. Kang chases Maranta but is captured. Maranta tries to use the Heart on Kang and Thesik kills him with a fire spell. Kang takes the Heart. They leave the Bastion and Huzzad is killed by the Queen's Own at the portcullis. They rejoin with their regiment.
The primary force of goblins reaches the gate with siege engines. Kang and Granak go to the wall to signal for the dragon. Granak is knocked off the wall by a ballista bolt. A baaz retrieves the standard and raises it, signaling the dragon. The fake dragon, loaded with explosives flies out over the field. Thesik casts an illusion to make it look like a gold dragon. The fuse on the explosives goes out. Kang breaks the Heart to send a fireball at the dragon. The dragon crashes into the hobgoblin command and explodes. Kang descends the wall and leads the charge of the Ninth Infantry through the gate. The goblin lines break and retreat.
Kang's hand is permanently injured. Granak is found alive. Kang promotes Slith to commander. They raise their new standard with the twenty-fourth battle honor added: "Maranta's Fort." Huzzad is cremated and the women carry her urn with them. Commanders Vertax, Prokel, Slith, Trok (replacing Yakanoh), and Mitrat meet with Kang. They request Kang take over as general. He refuses but takes the role of governor. Kang invites Fonrar to dinner. The next day, the Engineering Regiment leaves for Teyr. The entire surviving army joins them.
Importance to Dragonlance[]
Draconian Measures continues the story of how the first draconian nation was formed.
Trivia[]
- Kang's Regiment has no aurak or kapak draconian males.
- The first clutch of female draconians consisted of 20 draconians: 1 aurak, 4 sivak, at least 3 bozak, at least 2 kapak, with the remaining being baaz. Seven are named in the novel.
- Kang's Regiment was involved in building the wicker dragon in Dragons of Autumn Twilight p. 223
- The Pioneers are a troop in each dragonarmy infantry that have some engineering experience. They primarily clear paths, set up obstacles, and blow things up.
- Kang's Regiment was working on reinforcing a flying fortress when Neraka fell at the end of the War of the Lance. p. 86
Covers[]
Release details[]
- (2000) Draconian Measures (Kang's Regiment Volume 2) (Paperback), Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1678-8.
- (????) Draconian Measures (Sequel to the Doom Brigade) (Paperback), Wizards of the Coast. ISBN ?-????-????-?.
Also Known As[]
- Dedidas Draconianas (Spanish)
- Ejderan Kurallari (Turkish)