The world Manzot has a single continent by the same name. Manuel Zottingvan, the explorer who discovered Manzot, declared that it was void of sentient life.  This view was very popular on some of the most over populated worlds.  Therefore, Manzot was quickly invaded by colonists escaping from oppressive governments, war zones, and car fumes.  As a result, Manzot has a wide cross-section of cultures and ethnic groups.

As the number of colonists continued to increase, unclaimed fertile land became non-existent.  New colonists began looking at the expanse of land called the Mazonti Badlands.  These badlands cover about 70% of the continent Manzot.  The Mazonti Badlands consist of rocky hills and dry plains.  It is populated by a wide variety of lizards and a few birds, but it is inhospitable for farms or ranches, so the colonists began irrigating the edges, adding nutrients to the soil, and in general changing the environment to fit their ideals.

This was when the colonists discovered the drakes.  There is much debate over how intelligent the drakes are, but it is clear that they claim the entire badlands as their territory.  Although there was barely a sighting before the colonists expanded into the Mazonti Badlands, the drakes have been constantly raiding their herds and destroying their fields ever since.

The colonists of course responded by sending out hunters.  Many of these hunters come back mauled, or worse.  They keep going, however, because of the potential bounty for bringing in drakes.  The highest bounty belongs to the Drake Inferno, a giant red lizard with wings tipped with claws.  He looks similar to the European dragons, but he cannot fly with his wings, only glide.

A few months ago, I went on a safari of the Mazonti Badlands led by one of the hunters.  We took a shuttle, and the goal was to spot some of the drakes in a fly over.  No landing, and certainly no close contact.  The drakes had other plans.

I cannot say what type of community these drakes have, but they were intelligent enough to have one of the Drake Infernos ambush our shuttle from above and destroy our radios so that we could not send out a distress call.  They then waited silently until we had no choice but to risk a dash for the colonies.

Only one member besides myself made it back to civilization, and he later died from the injuries that he received.  I myself lost a lot of blood and one of my mechanical arms.  I have heard however that there is a colony in the north where some mages were able to tame the drakes.  As soon as my arm is replaced, and my doctor forgets her latest tantrum about my lifestyle being unhealthy, I intend to go there and discover if there is any truth to this.