[@bloonewb]

Hekaga was somewhat dissimilar from other dracon cities in a number of ways, having been the only one of the eight major cities to have been founded by a dragon. The beast had ruled over the city much like a rancher controlled his cattle, to be slaughtered when the cows were nice and fat. In short, Hekaga was designed to generate an income for its rulers, not for the benefit of its citizens. When the dragon finally died, his sons fought each other for rule of the city in much the same way heirs to an estate might squabble over the land. When the dust settled, only one of the sons was still alive and still living in the dracon lands, and he possessed all of his father's cruelty, but little of his father's skill and power. 

The result was that he was swiftly overthrown and replaced by a dynasty of dracons, who in turn were displaced a few centuries down the line by another family, and so on and so forth. Just about the only thing these dynasties had in common were a brutal rule punctuated by a sudden end, a fact appreciated by all of the ruling houses following the first one. As a consequence, Hekaga's rulers were more than deeply paranoid about being killed off by a revolution from within, far more so than they feared being removed from power by an attack from the outside. This fact was evident in the city's walls, which extended inside of the city to carve Hekaga into walled-off neighborhoods, each separated by gray stone barriers. Permits were needed to enter many of the city's districts, and there was quite a market for counterfeit passes, access to tunnels running under each neighborhood, and a 'market' for bribery among the guards. Luckily for Mazdak and his 'guest', he had clearance to enter any or all of these districts, as indicated by his blue-stamped pass.

"We're not gonna be late, Rebat. In fact, I'd say we're just in time." Mazdak neglected to mention that he hadn't been given any specific time frame to meet with the Grand Prince, and that delaying the meeting might in fact prove beneficial, since Ternoc was still formulating the minutia of his position on the kobold issue. "We should get you cleaned up, first. Perhaps we can stop by the palace baths. How'd you like the be the one waited on by dracons, for a change?"