Most cities like this on Atu have created a cooperation between themselves and dragons, a mutual reliance which keeps both species relatively safe, fed, and able to eke out a somewhat comfortable living from the nearly barren world. It is a partnership in which all benefit, for humans and humanoids on the planet's surface need help to survive, and dragons need the benefit of another mind in connection with theirs to stay sane and healthy. In Hetue, so far from other civilization that physical travel is difficult, and lacking in the complex technologies that would keep them in touch with them, the partnership has turned very, very wrong.

Somewhat small compared to other communities on Atu, Hetue never had a very large compliment of dragons to begin with, and very few of those were gifted with self-teleportation. As years rolled by, those with this gift died out or moved on, leaving behind dragons who could only produce children with a certain other set of dragons. No one realized the problems that such a situation might bring, the human population being mostly farmers trying to take advantage of the rare fertile soil, simple craftsmen producing good needed often and immediately, and a common soldiering force. After centuries of interbreeding, and during the negligent rule of Star City's noble family in which cities not offering lucrative trade were virtually ignored, Hetue's dragons were hopelessly inbred, either sickly or somehow unstable, and growing worse so with every generation-- and the vast majority of Hetue's humanoid inhabitants didn't even realize that there was anything wrong.

Then, the line produced Odeyse, a massive dragoness who was a powerful psionic with even more powerful delusions of grandeur. She knew she was the strongest, smartest, must cunning, and most powerful dragon in the city, and she wanted recognition for it. Her choice in a bond at hatching was a weak-willed young man, or at least weak-willed when faced with his dragon's unstoppable one, but very charismatic. He wasn't difficult to convince that his beautiful, powerful dragoness was something more than normal, something special, and he managed to win many others to the same view when she began proving her point in battles against wild creatures of Atu and feral dragons. By the time her bonded human was old, Odeyse was highly revered and highly loved-- and she didn't want to die with him, because she wasn't ready to give up the adoration. So she picked another bond the instant he died, another adolescent with a mind she could manipulate and a gift for leadership.

By the time Odeyse had chosen her third bond, not only was she considered the leader of the city, she and her kind-- what few of them were left, by this time-- were revered as gods. That was when her son Pasalime, nearly equal to her in power and cunning, staged a coup that took her by surprise and, in her old age, ended in her death. Since then, Pasalime has ruled Hetue with an iron claw, setting himself up as the Godhead and organizing a complex religion surrounding himself and the remaining other dragons left to the city.

It has been over a hundred years since then, and the five-tiered priesthood is firmly in place. First Order priests are those who are bonded directly to the dragons; currently, there are only four of these. Second Order priests are bonding hopefuls, whose only tasks until that "happy" day they are presented at one of the very rare clutches at Hetue include leading the occasional ritual, helping to care for the deities themselves, and religious study. Third Order priests replaced the general soldiers of Hetue, becoming a religious army under the command of Pasalime himself; any warrior who would not accept doctrine was killed. These are responsible for policing Hetue and protecting the city from outside harm. The Fourth Order are the lay-priests, those who actually hold services and preach doctrine. Fifth Order priests are servants and acolytes, given the honor of serving but not granted the privilege of actual rank. 

Life has continued much as it had before, despite the changes and additions of regular rituals and tithes: crops are still planted, homes are still built and rebuilt, children are still born and raised. Hetue is still settled in a dangerous place, however, and as the dragons become more and more enamored with their status, they become less and less interested in doing what they were originally meant to do: protect their small charges. The Third Order does what it can, but every year more lives, land, and supplies are lost to bandits, animals, and the elements. Most of Hetue's citizens make due, being pragmatic and tough people, but grumblings are increasing as time goes by: not everyone is satisfied with their "gods".  

Pasalime's second bond, an old man, passed away just after Star City was reopened to outside travel. Like his mother, the great dragon was unwilling to give up his status as Godhead and ruler of Hetue, and so chose himself a new bond, a beautiful elf woman named Sunseri Luluter, and quickly and easily bent her mind to his own will. This choice, though very pleasing to Pasalime himself, might just be his downfall, for Sunseri's brother Moniri knows what no one in Hetue is supposed to know: the dragons are not what they style themselves to be, but are simply mortal creatures taking advantage of a situation. The loss of his sister has driven him to do desperate measures, and no one yet knows exactly what he has in mind, not even the four individuals he sent away in search of the city in the stars and a new kind of "god".