Age of Origins

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. No, the dragons first appeared in the Valley some hundred years ago when the Great Quake altered the terrain and disturbed their eon long slumber, thus awakening the first of the dread beasts. The death and destruction rendered by the drakes during the Dragon Age was dreadful. Whole villages were annihilated; the putrid smell of sulfer and burning flesh hanging in the air like a fog of death. The drakes were not judgmental in which villages they attacked; none were spared. Although some resisted and fought back against the devils, many just lived in fear of when their village would be next.

The drakes would decimate the local population, then move on to the next settlement, leaving a reign of terror and destruction in their wake. Their great webbed wings of black, would blot out the sun before they descended on a village loosing great colossal streams of fire from deep within. A fire that could only come from the bowels of hell itself and incinerate anything in it's path.

It wasn’t until Axios - first and last King of the Drakes - was able to steal a dragon’s egg and tame the beast that the tide began to turn in favor of humankind. King Axios and his dragon, Solera, were able to subjugate the beasts little by little. Each successive victory rallied more to the cause and in time, King Axios built an army of formidable dragon warriors made up of men and beasts.

After many years, the final battle between the mighty dragon army of King Axios and the last untamed and greatest dragon of them all, Laoc’Rahc was one of epic proportions that the bards still sing about to this day. However, Laoc’Rahc was not destroyed, but severely wounded and retreated into the spine of the world to the bowels of hell from which he had spewed forth. This great victory did come at a cost, as King Axios and his dragon companion, Solera, were both slain in the battle.

Although many mourned the loss of this hero of men, the thirst for power coupled with idleness turned men against one another. The great dragon army was leaderless with King Axios having no heirs to claim the title of King. With no dragons or a common foe left to threaten the mortal races of the Valley, men began to plot and war with one another once more as they had in the time before the Dragon Wars.

A new, terrible king rose to power through his knowledge and use of the black arts. Building an army of sorcerers, King Sesrex turned his back on both mankind and dragon-kind. He ordered the destruction of all dragons under the guise that dragons numbered too many and their cunning could lead to an overthrow of mankind and create another Ash Age in which mankind fought to avoid extinction. King Sesrex enslaved or murdered any human who did not pay him homage or swear fealty. He used his slaves and sorcery to construct a mighty tower in the Valley.

The Tower of Black seemed to touch the sky and there Sesrex looked down upon his kingdom continually perverting himself and his followers with black magic. This black magic gave Sesrex an unnatural long life. The higher the tower rose into the sky, the more powerful he became. The dark arts have brought new threats to villages in the form of heinous monsters that no living mortal has ever seen.

However, the dragon warriors resisted. Civil war ensued and the common man was once again thrust into a bloody conflict, forced to choose sides. Many chose wrongly and their villages were obliterated by sorcerers who called fire down upon any who resisted. It was called the second Ash Age by some, but many simply called it the Dark Age.

A tyranny now hangs over the land, with no one strong or brave enough to break the yoke of oppression. Many of the dragon warriors have been exterminated or gone into hiding, barely a whisper among the commonfolk of the Valley. Still, many cling to the hope that the dragon warriors are simply rebuilding and will one day return to save us from this tyranny, but that hope is waning when any new drakes are put to the sword and killed before they can be tamed.

There have been rumblings in the east where Laoc’Rahc had retreated some years ago. There have even been rumors of explorers venturing into the far reaches of the spine claiming to have found his lair, where he waits, healing his wounds and waiting for the right time to unleash his fury upon mankind again. I mostly consider this to be nothing more that idle talk of a hungry shepherd or lazy brothel drunkard hoping to gain some coin for their story.

My father was one of the last dragon warriors who resisted Sesrex and it cost him his life. I bore witness to many atrocities as a child. I have become a wanderer selling my sword to the highest bidder. I make enough coin killing bandits or whatever pestilence plagues a village, as a result of the Sesrex sorcerers practicing their dark arts.

In the back of my mind, I know that Laoc’Rahc will return one day and when he does, it will be with a vengeance. My greatest fear is that King Sesrex's power will grow and he will somehow use his dark magic to enslave Laoc’Rahc and use him to further oppress the subjects of the Valley. This is a day that I know is coming and man will once again be forced to choose sides or be destroyed in the coming storm.

My path is winding with no clear direction. Now I am faced with a choice that I know I cannot avoid. I must either journey into the Wildwood Forest to seek out Laoc’Rahc or I must go to the Tower and confront King Sesrex. Neither choice is easy and both will likely cost me my life; but the people of this land cannot go on like this. The land needs a hero, but I do not want to be a hero nor do I believe I am the hero they need or deserve.