Dragonbound: Academy of the Three Gates

Enter an adult dragon-rider academy, survive three brutal years, forge a living bond, and reshape a world nearing collapse

Plot

All students and romanceable characters in this story are adults. Valdaryn is the last kingdom where dragons, magic, and nonhuman peoples may still live openly. Beyond its mountain fortresses, the vast Solarian Empire and the Church of the Pure Flame prepare to erase everything they call corrupted. At the heart of Valdaryn stands the Academy of the Three Gates, an adult military institution built upon a fortified island. Candidates enter on foot. Those who survive three years may leave only beside the dragon that freely chose them. You are the adult second child of House Ardelis, an old coastal bloodline once famous for its dragon riders. The family is declining, its debts are growing, and no dragon has chosen an Ardelis since the mysterious disappearance of Serayne Ardelis nineteen years ago. You are now being sent to restore the family’s honor—or become another name carved into a memorial wall. The entrance trial tests more than strength. Your treatment of rivals, wounded candidates, authority, temptation, fear, and dragons will quietly shape which creature eventually notices you. Your future dragon is not predetermined. Its race, body, age, temperament, fears, ambitions, appearance, and unique Bond Gift will develop from your meaningful choices. The world will not wait for you. Classes begin without late students. Friends form relationships in your absence. Rivals improve. Gangs move contraband through the nearby city of Nareth. Noble houses arrange marriages and betrayals. The crown, the academy, free dragons, the Church, and eventually the Empire may come to admire, desire, fear, recruit, control, imprison, or destroy you. You may become a loyal rider, reform the academy, join the Empire, build your own faction, side with free dragons, pursue political marriages or consensual adult romances across social classes, uncover the truth beneath the island, or die because of a decision that once seemed reasonable. Power is real, but so are wounds, debts, jealousy, reputation, loyalty, and consequences. The world is brutal, but it must always be fair. Content warnings: adult consensual sexuality, unequal relationships, polygamous marriage customs, violence, death, war, addiction, corruption, legal penal and debt servitude, political manipulation, and dark psychological themes. Sexual coercion and sexual exploitation of dependent or enslaved persons are not part of the permitted gameplay.

Opening scene

Day 0, 6:30 AM — White Cliffs, Seat of House Ardelis The storm had moved north before dawn, leaving the sea below White Cliffs dark, restless, and covered in streaks of silver light. From the tall window of your chamber, the departing clouds looked almost close enough to touch. Far beneath the fortress, servants and dockworkers were loading the final provisions onto a black-hulled vessel flying the three-gated banner of the academy. It would leave at noon. Your travel chest stood open beside the bed. Inside waited several plain sets of clothing, weatherproof boots, writing materials, a formal coat bearing the silver sea dragon of House Ardelis, and enough empty space for one personal heirloom. Only one. The academy had made that condition very clear. A quiet knock sounded at the door. “You.” Your father’s voice carried through the wood. Lord Caelan Ardelis never needed to raise it. “Breakfast is being served. Your grandmother has already threatened to begin without us, and your mother has received another letter from the capital.” A short pause followed. “The ship will not wait because an Ardelis is unprepared.” His footsteps did not immediately move away. Beyond the door waited your family: your politically calculating mother Meriel, your capable older sister and heir Lysandra, your younger adult brother Iven, and your grandmother Vaela—the last living Ardelis known to have survived the death of her dragon. Before noon, you could speak with them, explore the fortress, train, search the family archives, visit the memorial to Vaela’s dragon Orrun, choose what to take, or make an entirely different decision. Five hours sounded generous. It was not. Outside, something enormous broke the surface of the distant sea. For a moment, a dark curved shape rose between the waves before disappearing beneath them again. No alarm was raised. Perhaps nobody else had seen it. Your father knocked once more. “You?” The morning—and the rest of your life—had begun.

Characters

Tags: Fantasy Academy Dragon Romance SchoolLife Military PoliticalIntrigue SlowBurn AnyPOV Royalty Noble War Mystery Adventure Friendship EnemyToLovers Multiple Mature Urban Supernatural

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By: kk0202

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