Valley of Teeth and Flames

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley.

It used to be a peaceful region. People who lived in the Valley were ordinary folk who were farmers, blacksmiths, stablefolk, and were neatly secluded in this valley with no one intruding. Few know when the village was originally erected, and even the villagers’ records were scarce on its origins. It was located by a river that helped secure its prosperity and was also rich with rare resources most kings would envy over. The Village of the Valley as it was called was a strife-free locale with idyllic fields, woods, and secluded further by a mountainous region that provided a picturesque landscape that painters could come up and paint. The villagers even gave thanks to the mountains during the Season of Harvest for standing over them and protecting them from the dark forces outside.

That was until Lord Carthage stumbled upon the Valley and declared it for himself.

Carthage and his men held the people in the Valley by swordpoint and threatened to raze their villages unless they agree to his servitude. Most of the people who lived in the Valley their whole lives-never knowing true conflict and having few to no weapons of their own-reluctantly agreed to his terms and conditions. He ejected the Valleyborn, or executed the ones who would not agree his rule.

Once the last of the Valleyborn were disposed of, he moved his own soldiers, knights, and other staff inside and built a stone foundation made from one of the sacred statues of the Valley.

That Statue was that of a dragon.

But Lord Carthage paid no mind, not even to the architects who speculated that there used to be dragons in the Valley, and that ejecting all of the Valleyfolk was a major mistake because there were some who had key information on areas that were unexplored by House Carthage.

All this just made Carthage laughed.

“Oh this area will know real dragons, he declared. “I am importing them from Blockheim. They will make a thrilling hunt! These mountains and valleys are perfect for them to roam around, and all the more perfect to track and hunt them down!”

Soon, metal boxes were wheeled from Blockheim. They were to be released into the Valley and the scouts would mark the areas where the dragons would be inhabiting.

But these scouts and the other personnel who brought in the dragons never came back.

Before the dragons were brought over, Lord Carthage expanded his new territory with various strongholds that were built over the ruins of the empty villages. These strongholds were equipped with the best fortifications, the best trained warriors, and even fitted with new gunpowder cannons and riflemen. All of this was set up not only to build on Lord Carthage’s new territory but also to create a rough game preserve for other nobles to come in and hunt dragons, and possibly ally and swear allegiance to Carthage’s rules.

Each had a group of messengers that would report from one fortification to another. But one by one, all the messengers could not be found.

Carthage turned to his best scouts and soldiers. “Listen, I want you to find out what happened to the other fortifications. If you don’t come back with anything valuable, I will exile you. Is that understood?”

Thr scouts and soldiers reluctantly agreed. Carthage was known for treating everyone around him like tools.

After his small army was sent, only one scout came back. He was covered in soot and had several burn marks on his body. Carthage grabbed him by the collar and bellowed “What happened to the rest of the army!”

“D-d-dragons!” the scout stuttered. “Dragons everywhere!”

Carthage slapped him hard across the face. “Of course there are dragons, you idiot! You had the best dragon fighting gear available!”

“Th-there was a man,” the scout muttered as he neared unconsciousness. “he…wore a hood, and had dragons flying all around him. The hood looked like how the other Valleyfolk wore them…before…before we…”

The scout fell unconscious. Carthage scoffed.

“Throw him in one of the holding cells and have him ready to be exiled tomorrow,” he growled. “no weak man will serve under me.”

The next day, fireballs rained down with pinpoint precision on key fortification points. Buildings broke apart before the cannons and even spear launchers could even be operated. Carthage and his bodyguards fled to one of their underground fortifications, and they saw swarms of dragons burning all the staff, soldiers, and knights trying to flee for their lives.”

A figure in a hood came out of the smoke and fire. He waved his hands in unusual patterns, and the dragons crashed themselves into the new villagers and occupants without mercy. They burned and ate them, right in front of Lord Carthage’s eyes.

The figure in the hood stood in front of Carthage a few feet away and pointed a rigid finger at him. The Lord noticed the ground around him grew darker and looked up to see a huge black dragon barrel down on him with jaws wide open.

There used to not be dragons in the Valley. There used to be a Lord who wanted dragons in the valley. Now there were dragons all over the valley, and anyone who dared try to enter into this Valley would be greeted with teeth, fire, and an enigmatic hooded figure who guided the dragons and their wrath.