The CharHollow Chronicles

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. The Empty Lands, as the outsiders called my home, was a place of joy and simplicity. My people had lived there for hundreds of rotations before The Calamity struck. My birth group was a mere five rotations at the time, so the great tale of the event is only known through the passed words from our lore wardens.

That fateful day was filled with water; from the sky, from the soil, and soon from the people. It was a day of harvest for us in the autumn time. The lushness of the fields and trees reflected our dedicated efforts, and my people were celebrating by preparing a feast of thanks. The lore wardens had the younglings in the upper stretches of the valley collecting wildflowers and colored grasses to bring their life givers for the feast. It was meant to be a joy filled day.

The lore wardens described the next moment as if the gods heard that the lands were empty and wanted to bring life to them. As if we were forgotten amongst the thousands of others in the world. I, however, only remember the vibrant heat. The cold wet day suddenly felt humid, and I could see the water rising from the ground like the rain had decided to leave. I remember holding my hands over the warm misty clouds and being delighted. The next moment was when the lore wardens rushed us into caves within the cliff sides. They tell us that the next minutes brought only terror. The heat climbed in ferocity as a darkness grew and swallowed the sky. The people, confused and frightened by the change, fled from the fields or, in the case of the less fortunate ones, remained frozen in their fear. A high-pitched sound filled the air, and the grasslands began to blaze from the immense heat. The last second brought devastation. Suddenly, after the stack of small warnings, flames wrought through the sky as a pale blue stone collided with our orchard that a few seconds before was filled lush cherry and apple trees. Molten rock flooded outward from where the land was struck while carrying smoke and debris even further into the valley. Any of the people who remained in either the fields or orchard were lost upon impact. Others further out found their final peace as the smoke and hot ash burnt homes to the ground with a single spark.

The flames continued to pour throughout the valley until coming upon the stony terrain of the surrounding mountains. This desolation continued for a couple night falls as the sky refused to present us with the reprieve of water. Most of my people returned to their final peace during this horrible event, while the survived attempted to live in the caves of the rocky cliff sides. As if taking pity upon our poor state, the gods brought the rain again upon our third night fall. As the valley cooled, the bravest of our people ventured out into our homesteads. They dared to hope that they would find more of our people hidden in some untouched part of the valley. Nothing came from their hope.

The Elder of our people still remained and decided to venture into the valley as well. The lost time without him brought agony to our survived. He was gone for many more night falls than anyone thought possible and we feared that he found his final peace with the rest of our clan. However, he finally crawled back into our makeshift stony homes one dreary day with a tale. One that would prove impossible and yet infallible. He left the other people that had gone with him to look through the homesteads. He ventured to the root of the event. Where once trees stood heavy with fruit, a massive light blue stone with etchings lay. Feeling no immediate danger or heat, he approached the stone. As he came within a few paces of the stone, he felt humming from within and grew curious. The rock was lightly warm to the touch and, every so often, he swore to himself there was a slight shadow within. The stone felt as if something were alive within it.

Upon that realization, he began to investigate the area around the stone. As he circled it, one side had a stretching deep blue crack radiating with heat. He had lost so many of his people to this ominous oddity. He had to know why the gods would wreak such senseless havoc upon them. He reached out hesitantly, traced along the cracks emitting heat, and was met with a heavy force nearly knocking him backwards. Terrified, he raced away to a safe distance from the now broken rocks and watched as the newly formed crevice continued to spread along the surface of the stone. Portions of rock spread all around as the giant light blue stone finally split into two pieces. After witnessing this spectacle, what remained was terrifying to a humble, simple man such as the Elder.

In the debris and heat were five lizard like creatures, covered in molten rock, slithering in the liquid over one another. Their eyes were depthless pools of black and their autumn leaf colored bodies glistened with flakes of gold in the sunlight as they trudged forward onto the ruins of our valley. They were beautiful to his eyes, but his body shook from the feeling of dread and danger. They sauntered forward raising their small golden angled heads to the air to sniff. Our Elder was originally a protector of our people. He had dealt with pack animals before and he knew what this meant. He darted for the cliffs as quickly and quietly as he could. After steadily climbing for a bit, he felt that he might be in the clear. I remember as he tried to explain the next part of the tale. He was visibly shaking with fear and struggling to continue. During mid-climb up the cliff side, he felt heat traveling up his spine as if something was breathing on him. Fearful and still, he glanced over his shoulder. There before him, hundreds of paces above the ground, one of the giant creatures was flying in the air with giant black tipped wings extended towards the sky. The creature’s head moved towards him and sniffed him curiously. After a moment of no response from the Elder, the beast growled from the back of its throat, and opened its immense jaw. Inside that terrifying maw was not only a set of vicious looking teeth, but also something else my Elder had not expected to see. As if embers lied in the back of beast’s throat, blue and red flames were dancing beautifully and beginning to extend outward.

Our Elder was silent for a time after that. Our people waited anxiously. Knowing that he was clearly here with us, but frightened for the Elder in the story as well. He thought this was the end. He accepted that his peace was coming earlier than he had expected. He waited and prayed all the while, staying silent. Suddenly a heavy hum echoed from another part of the valley and the creature before him closed its giant mouth quickly, extinguishing the flames. It let out a loud hum in answer and turned its head away from the Elder. The massive wings swooped towards him, gusting air around him and almost shaking him from the cliff wall. The creature then spun around and flew towards the hum, no longer interested in its toy. Thanking the gods, he rushed to continue his climb back to our safe haven. Once certain that they had forgotten him, he chanced a glance. Looking down from his perch, he could now see what had interested the herd so much. In the plunder of our homesteads lay the bodies of our lost people. He watched in horror as the beast tossed the “food” into the air and tore the bodies asunder. Our day of feast had become theirs.

The Elder and lore wardens refer to this day as The Calamity. The end of our world and birth of this new one. One filled with these beasts, which the outsiders call dragons.

We left the valley that day. Too many broken hearts. Too much misery and fear. There was nothing left for us in The Empty Lands. We began our ascent of the mountains that had protected us for so long having no idea what awaited us on the other side. Climbing to the reaches around our lost valley, we were met with steep inclines down towards a relentless wasteland. For as far as we could see, there was nothing but vast empty space and hot sand. Our journey towards a new home proved treacherous and demanding. We lost many of the survived to the peace on the way. Water was scarce, but food was even more so. We had experienced the devastation of intense heat before. In these following days, our hatred of it would only grow. Our Elder had left the valley before in the past and knew a little about the outside world, but not enough to save us all. What pushed him forward was the promise of a city he knew existed. A place where he had found refuge and assistance when our people suffered from a drought a few rotations back. Wellspring; the one word he thought would be able to save the last of our dying people. It was supposed to be a city for the wasteland lost and deserted. We followed his long forgotten path through the endless barren lands praying that we weren’t lost. After many more days of travel, one of the protectors noticed stretches of clay structures in the distance. With a resurgence of hope, we rushed towards, what we hoped, was the city from our Elder’s tale.

As we picked up the pace, relief rushed through our tired bodies as we could make out buildings and people wandering around large clay walls. As we approached the barrier that was supposed to offer us sanctuary, we were greeted by a rugged group of people dressed in black with metal orbs attached to their waists. As we tried to come closer, then people at the front of the group reached towards their belts with a threatening gesture. Our Elder raised his hand signaling us to stop and wait. As our approach ceased, the group seemed to relax and wait. A high whistle breached the silence and a door opened within the wall behind the group. I remember seeing the figure walk through the door and being in awe. A tall muscular woman dressed in black banded armor stepped forward and gruffly said “State your intent here. The world is in chaos and we have little time to deal with whatever the wastes have sent us this time.” Our Elder approached cautiously begging the woman for a quick audience to explain the situation, and water and food for his people in the short time. The woman eyed the relatively small group consisting of mainly Elderly and children. It was a sight to behold, the lore wardens assured us. The woman turned towards the group guarding the barrier and nodded at them. She then sized up the Elder with a glance of her stern dark eyes and motioned for him to follow her back through the door.

While anxiously waiting the return of our Elder, small portions of food on wooden plates were brought to us by some of the guards. The graciously provided food was passed around among us along with hefty bowls of water carried by the guards themselves to each of us. We do not know how much time had passed before the Elder returned, but with bellies full and thirst quenched; we were able to find some small comfort and rest. Upon his return, the exhaustion of last few days was evident in his weary face. He seemed forlorn as he stared out at us while the agitated woman spoke. “You are granted permission into Wellspring, but let me be clear. After this night nothing else will be given to you for free. Wellspring is under martial law now. Diligence will rewarded while laziness shall be punished. The world you walked into is an unknown for everyone right now. Follow my rules and command and you will thrive here. Don’t and face exile into the wastes.”

Though this was supposed to represent a threat, our people did not interpret it that way. Our gratitude was unfathomable and with it our ability to be controlled. In exchange for hard work, we would be provided with safety. This was a code my people had already lived by for hundreds of rotations. Wellspring was not a utopia. It was exactly what we all needed at that moment in time. The gate was opened to us and my people ventured towards their new home. Inside the walls were towering buildings made of some clear material and coarse looking clay bricks. The streets were lit with torches and the whole city seemed incredibly clean. We were escorted through many of the walkways until we reached a tall structure near one of the outer walls. To any other traveler this building would have clearly represented the slums of the city. For us, it was shelter in a storm we did not know how to weather. There were multiple levels to each home that could accommodate the nearness to which we were accustomed to living. That evening after we had gathered and made our places, our Elder shared what he had learned in his exchange with the leader of Wellspring named Eda. Our small valley was not the first nor the last people affected by the lizard creatures from the sky. It was far worse than we ever thought possible. Hundreds of stones rained from the heavens all over the outsiders’ world called CharHollow, killing thousands of people in its devastating wake. All cities were placed under martial law while the government bodies of the lands attempted to deal with this new threat and keep its cities safe. The realization started to set in that night amongst the people old enough to understand the impact. The Calamity had affected more than us. These unknown beasts might now inhabit the Empty Lands, but our home was not alone in this fate.

The lore wardens telling of this event in our history has passed on from mere word of mouth into written works. Though my culture and people have changed throughout the years, we few hold tight to this tale. It reminds us of who we were and where we came from. Most importantly, it reminds us of what was taken from us. I am known as Maple of the Valley. I am one of the last of a forgotten people, but that is the not what defines me now. Who I am today is the first person of Wellspring to join the Dragon Sentinels.