World
The basic setting for the series is Ancient Egypt when it was divided into two kingdoms. The Upper Kingdom is called Tia, and the Lower Kingdom called Alta. The series starts with the two kingdoms at war.
In addition to foot soldiers, each Kingdom's army also include a group known as the Dragon Jousters (hence the series' name), men who ride dragons into battle, who hold a large amount of power over deciding how a battle goes. The main threat the Jousters pose to foot soldiers and commanders is that the dragons can pick anyone up and drop them from high in the air to kill them. So, each set or riders is equipped with jousting equipment to try to knock opposing riders out of their saddles, sending them to their death and removing the threat of their dragon.
There are two types of dragons in the world, desert dragons and swamp dragons, the latter only used by Altan forces. Dragons used in jousting are usually caught from the wild, and thus very hard to control. Only when they eat meat covered with powder made from tala berries are they easy to control. Dragons raised from hatching, though, imprint on the human who raised them, and so are incredibly easy to control; they also appear to be bigger, stronger, and smarter, as tala seems to stunt dragons' growth in all areas.
Religion in Tia and Alta highly mirrors Egyptian mythology and worship. Specific gods are associated with all aspects of life, and there if a firm belief in spirits and the afterlife among the people. Tia and Alta officially have different sets of gods, though they are highly similar, and in fact only differ in name and maybe a few minor details.
Magic also plays a large role throughout the series, from controlling weather to growing crops to being a powerful weapon. Each person who is able to use magic usually has a certain "gift", or specific type of magic they can use. Particularly powerful magicians are known as Magi, and though most of the Magi encountered are evil, this is not always the case.
Read more about this topic: The Dragon Jousters Series
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—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946)