Dragon King

There weren’t always dragons in this valley. There hadn’t been anyways since the Great War of the three kingdoms, the last of the dragon wars. There hadn’t been a dragon seen since the conflict ended and the lineage of dragon kings along with it. Sargon the black king of the scorched valley saw to that. The history books tell a tale of a king, black of heart that turned a once beautiful and prosperous kingdom to ruin in his lust for power and wealth. Once his resources in the kingdom ran out he turned his ire to other kingdoms, who unable to unite against a common foe, one by one began to fall until only two kingdoms remained; the kingdom of Narrowdath and the kingdom of the Dragon Kings and the Dragon Whisperers. The black king had spread his armies thin and resources even thinner, so in response he began starving his conquered subjects and plague and famine became old companies even amongst his own ranks. Rebellions arose and began to take their tolls on his forces that seemingly continued to dwindle. Narrowdath was too strong and too determined to be defeated by some plague ridden, half starved slave army and once the black king marched his armies over the great jagged stone mountains they were met with ferocity and metal and driven back up the lowland hills and rocky crags. But the people of Narrowdath, preferring peace to war allowed the black king to remain alive and well, dwelling in his newly conquered rocky waste land. Battered by volatile weather he and his men barely clung on and a bitter stalemate ensued. Raiding parties and constant patroles and armies stationed at the borders, ever ready. But the black king had a trick up his sleeve and he set to work on his most devious plan yet using the spies of Antiod now in his employ. They found the hidden gate to the kingdom of dragons and what’s more, they found the hidden location of the dragon stone. No man who wasn’t in the lineage of the Dragon Kings had ever laid eyes upon the hidden gate, much less passed it nor ever seen or held the Dragon Stone.

Centuries before the lineage of the Dragon Whisperers had been discovered by accident really. When dragons roamed the earth freely wrecking havoc and burning all in their path. One brave knight, Caer Dorath, faced down the worst dragon of all, Mergon. Though not the strongest of all the dragons, he was the most illtempered, black of scale and he had acquired a taste for man flesh. He had consumed a great many fighting men of all abilities and skill and from all the kingdoms. Caer Dorath had a secret weapon though that he wasn’t sure would work or not, which he’d found pursuing and ancient legend deep in a mine near the heart of the mountain Vestruvice, the tallest and most volitile on earth; the mountain of fire. Thought to be a gem stone of great power Caer Dorath removed the stone from the mine and immediately the mountain began breathing fire and smoke. The mineshaft collapsed and the mountains fire spewed forth. A great storm rolled in and lightening scorched the land endlessly. It was in this moment Caer Dorath discovered the power of the stone though. As he rode from the mountain, the stone in his hand, it was struck by lightening again and again until it flowed white hot and Caer Dorath remained unharmed. Caer Dorath took the stone, resolve in his heart to the lair of Mergon and called out the black dragon, whom to his surprise understood him and appeared. Caer Dorath cursed him and drew his sword made of different colored gem stones also found in the same mine as the Dragon Stone. Mergon began to laugh at the knight and breathed his fire that had consumed so many brave knights before. Caer Dorath held up the stone and to the surprise of all present the column of dragon fire was consumed by the stone and Caer Dorath was shielded behind it. Caer Dorath lept forward and pierced through the dragons scales and into his heart with his sword of gem stones.

Word of the event began to spread throughout the kingdoms and the dragons began to retreat back to the mountains, fearing their species would be hunted to extinction. But Caer Dorath was a kind and respecting man, a chivalrous knight, who wouldn’t blame the actions of one illtempered dragon on them all. He believed all creatures had a right to live in peace, so he ascended the mountains where an ancient conversation was had in dragon tongue. It was agreed the dragons would leave the world of men alone but were free to roam and hunt the largely uninhabited wild lands to the west in exchange for Caer Dorath’s protection and that of his kin forevermore. Not all men of the kingdoms were happy with this resolution though and warbands began to march up the mountains relentlessly, bent on destroying every last dragon. In time few dragons remained and Caer Dorath grew tired of fighting an ever losing fight. A single dragon egg took a hundred years to hatch under constant watch and incubation of the parents and young dragons grew very slowly in their early years. The dragon species was in grave danger. Caer Dorath commissioned, under forceful means, builders from Boerand to build him a palace and a gate and then warlocks from far away Marville to conceal it with magic. The mountain Vestruvice still brought forth it’s wrath on the kingdoms of men to, who held Caer Dorath and his dragons responsible for this torment and so Caer Dorath had a secret mine dug deep into the heart of the mountain where he place upon an altar the Dragon Stone. One last billow of smoked from the mountain’s peak and the fires stopped. The mine shaft was also concealed with magic and as a clever ruse an identical looking stone to the Dragon Stone was house in the heart of Caer Dorath’s palace.

From that point on the kingdom of dragons remained hidden from the world of men. For a time warbands and raiding parties still went searching but eventually even the path up the mountain to it was lost. It fell into legend, becoming only a whisper of legend and myth from the lips of story tellers and entertainers. That was until the black king came along with spies and warlocks, holed up in the mountains, on the precipice of conquering the known world and yet so far away. Short on men and supplies he decided to find a weapon that would turn the tides of the war in his favor. Dragons. For centuries the kingdom of dragons had remained hidden away and neautral in the realm of men and their wars. Caer Dorath on, thought to have become part dragon part man. The black king though employed all his tricks and those under his conquest in exchange for promises of riches, lands and power. First the historians from all the kingdoms poured through ancient texts and found the mine shaft of the dragon stone, then the warlocks removed its magic and the stone was retrieved. Then the hidden gate was found and it’s concealment also removed. He used assassins from the kingdom of Aesirend and their gem stone daggers to kill Caer Dorath and his family. Then using the Dragon Stone and Caer Dorath’s gem stone sword to take control of the beasts and kill any who refused him. With the gem stone in their possession any man, even one not of the lineage of Caer Dorath could speak a language understood by the dragons. The black king commanded them first to crush any rebellions as a warning to all and to rally the full mite of his forces behind him, then to attack the kingdom of Narrowdath as he wrought the full wrath of his army and his hatred upon them as well. It Was a blood bath, more of a slaughter than a fight. But a dragon isn’t simply a beast like a horse, whose reins you tug and they go where you want. They are unpredictable creatures with a mind of their own, according to some a mind superior to that of mankind. Many of the dragons, under the protection of Caer Dorath had become docile by nature and resigned to a life of peace. It was out of fear that they followed the commands of the black king and just when Narrowdath neared it’s end and only one stronghold remained and it seemed all was lost, the dragons turned on the black king, preferring their own death to destroying the kingdoms of men and living as slaves. It seemed that Caer Dorath and his magnanimity had lived on beyond his untimely death. The dragons mostly destroyed the black king’s armies and scattered the rest and in doing so it was thought they themselves were destroyed.

“Bravo Eustes. Are you filling the children’s heads with stories again?”

“My lord, you loved that story when you were a child like they are.”

“Yes, I suppose I did. It’s entertaining at least.”

“It’s true is what it, my lord.”

“Ha, you might be the only teacher left in all the kingdoms that believes it Eustes. To most people it’s nothing but talk tales from very old books.”

“It’s history my lord, it’s a written history of man, transcribed from an oral history of man and I retell it lest we forget!”

“It’s nothing but a story my old friend.”

“All stories contain some truth my lord.”

“Yes, maybe,” Caldrog said with a thoughtful look.

“Eustes! Eustes!” One of the children exclaimed, “there was a dragon seen at Amourdown not days ago!”

“Nonsense,” Caldrog cut in, “didn’t you pay attention to the story? Dragons are extinct!”

“I clearly stated they were only thought to have been and it wouldn’t be the first time someone thought they saw a dragon, besides there are strange goings on over that way, so I’ve been told.” Eustes said with caution in his voice.