Welcome to Ereshmar

“There weren’t always dragons in the valley. In fact, there was a time when there were no dragons on Ereshmar at all.”

“What was it like before dragons were here, father?”

“The land was mostly inhabited by men, orcs, and elves. There were other races, but those three races maintained the largest armies throughout the region. For a time, there had been peace, but as the Sol goddess Luzhelia entered her slumber, the winters became ever more bitter. Growing food became difficult, which exacerbated already existing conflicts amongst the children of the gods.”

“Were the winters more bitter than they are today?”

He rubbed his daughter's little nose and chuckled. “Certainly so. The land has healed itself significantly over the past few hundred years, little one.”

“Why did the Sol goddess decide to rest for so long?”

He looked down at his daughter’s curious eyes and decided he would remain sitting with her by the stream and tell the tale.

“The history of Ereshmar is quite the story indeed, but we have time. Legend speaks of an orc sorcerer from Khathryndor entering a pact with one of the elves of Ren Thalis’, an ancient kingdom to the north. The two mages, sought …”

“No … you’re doing it wrong, father. You’re supposed to say once upon a time.”

“Fairytales begin with once upon a time, Gwenya. This is not a fairytale. This is history, and it is a dark history to say the least. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“Yes, father. I’m more brave than you think.”

“Of that I have no doubt. Okay where was I? The two mages, sought to resurrect the demon god, Necronemius, from his deep slumber within the belly of the Urithe mother herself.”

“But I thought the Urithe mother was an all-powerful planet. Wouldn’t she do everything possible to prevent a demon from awakening and dominating the valley?”

“Are you going to keep interrupting me? Okay, little one, you have a point, Urithe is quite formidable as far as gods go. However, her power was dependent on the devotion and prayers of her children. As fewer and fewer of them prayed to their mother goddess, she became weaker over time. Klerath, the orc sorcerer and Yurissal, the elven mage, represented 2 of the most powerful races in Ereshmar. But there was a problem.”

“They needed the three orbs of Draco to summon the dark one, right?"

“Ahhh … you know some ancient history after all it seems. The dragon god Draco pledged not to interfere with mortal affairs unless bloodshed across the land became so widespread, intervention would be the only way to restore order to the land. Not only that, but Klerath and Yurissal needed to convince a representative of the third race to contribute to the ritual.”

“I don’t understand why that would be so difficult, father. Surely, humans of the past also had powerful mages, didn’t they?”

“They most certainly did, but at the time, most human mages were devoted to Urithe. In fact, they had an entire order of mages, bishops, and warrior priests to fight in her name.”

“So how were the evil mages going to summon Necronemius?”

“Evil is a relative term, in this case. Keep in mind, these mages actually thought they were ultimately helping the three kingdoms. Understand, that not all human mages were devoted to Urithe. There was one in particular named Korin, that believed devotion to Urithe was the source of the conflict with the other races. He reasoned that if Urithe and Luzhelia were to slumber, the wars would cease.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, father. Why would putting Luzhelia and Urithe to sleep end conflict? Didn’t it make things worse?”

“It’s easy to see things and judge in hindsight, young one, but at the time, Korin’s reasoning did have some merit.”

“I don’t see how…” Gwenya walked over to the stream to take a drink from its water. She was genuinely confused.

“Well consider this – the mystical energies derived from prayers, incantations, and spells given to mankind by Urithe is what allowed the armies to achieve both strategic and tactical success. There were protection spells to enhance a warrior’s shields, spells of devastation that allowed a trained bishop to scorch an enemy with righteous fire!” He held his fist up high towards the sky in triumph.

“There was even a spell of execration that could make an enemy weaker in both physical strength and will. It could demoralized the armies of Khathryndor before they even set foot on the battlefield.“

“So awakening the demon god would force Urithe to slumber and make her power unavailable to the armies of men. I see now, father.”

“Almost got it, Gwenya. Remember, that Urithe would never just allow herself to be supplanted by what was then a lesser god, she had to be weakened first, and so Korin launched his machination one night before a major battle. His plan was so clever, it was designed to both weaken Urithe and summon Necronemius in a single swipe.”

“How can one man weaken a god? That’s impossible.”

“What if a man used weapons that were also enchanted with magic energy?”

“Like what?”

He chuckled at Gwenya’s ignorance. “Like dragons, of course! Not to mention the orbs. You see the three orbs of Draco did more than just power the major cities of the younger races. They were given to the younger races by the oldest and wisest dragon of them all.”

“Draco, himself?”

“Indeed. The mighty dragon god Draco new that the age of the dragon, which had lasted for tens of thousands of cycles, had to end if lesser races were to flourish, but he also knew there would be a time when the gods of the younger races would lose their harmony and the world would be thrusted into chaos. He entrusted the crimson orb to the orcs, the azure orb to the elves, and the emerald orb to mankind. Only Draco and a secret society of mages known as the Hand of Draconis knew that the orbs were in fact, eggs harboring the descendants of Draco himself.”

“Wait…if the orbs were used to power the city, wouldn’t they have been well protected?”

“You’re quite astute for a little one. Indeed, they were, which is why Klerath, Yurrisal, and Korin enlisted the aid of five, well trained thieves, assassins, and a novice sorcerer to steal the orbs all within three nights.”

“Who were they? What were their names? How did the mages manage to find the right people willing to bring an end to their world?”

“Answering these question is a long, and interesting story in its own right, Gwenya. Perhaps another day, I will tell it to you, but I haven’t even gotten to the best part yet.”

“The best part?”

He nodded. “The orbs harboring the first dragons to appear in Ereshmar in thousands of years were all brought together at the geographical center of all 3 kingdoms in Trithornvale Forest. Right where we reside at this very moment!”

He smiled at her and sat down amongst the grass to get more comfortable.

“At the same time, Korin purposedly fed information about a large gathering of orcish warriors preparing to attack Ruthvenhold, a major stronghold and holy land for the followers of Urithe. Similar information was provided by Klerath and Yurissal to the armies of Khathryndor and Ren Thalis. All three legions of warriors marched for hours towards the forest ignorant of the ritual that had already been prepared by the 3 sorcerers. Ignorant of the role that they would play in the incantation.”

“The role of the armies? What role?”

“Yes, little one. The armies encountered each other shortly after highest sun. They drew axes, spears, swords, maces and all manner of death instrument to destroy their opposition. Arms were severed, torsos were run through, heads were lopped off without remorse as men sliced through orcs, orcs chopped through elves, and elves riddled the bodies of men and orcs with their sharpest arrows. With each death, the sacred soil of Trithornvale became ever more saturated with the blood of Urithe’s and Luzhelia’s children. With each death, their power waned and the power of Necronemius grew.

“So the dragons weren’t even needed. The armies were killing themselves and the goddesses lost their devoted followers? What happened to the eggs? Did they hatch open as planned?”

“Obviously, they did, but I’m getting to that. Understand that the intent was for Necronemius to rise and for the other gods to fall into a slumber for a thousand years. But something … unexpected occurred. Something that the trio of mages had not anticipated.”

“Draco arrived to finish them all off! Didn’t he?”

“No, young one. The glyphs had been drawn properly on the ground in human blood, orc blood, and the blood of elves. The incantation from each sorcerer had been properly recited at the exact center of energy between the three kingdoms just as the ritual required.”

“Well, then what went wrong, father?”

“To say that the eggs hatched would be an understatement, Gwenya. The three sorcerers assumed that the orbs were the only eggs that Draco left behind, but they were wrong. Once the incantation had been completed, the eggs hatched all right … all over Ereshmar.”

“What?!”

“Hundreds of thousands of eggs were deep underground for millenia laying dormant. The spell released the mighty creatures from their enchanted dormant state. The remaining soldiers watched as the sky darkened with red, green, and blue dragons taking to the sky. Draco never intended for the ritual to simply summon a demon god that would use 3 dragon progeny to destroy the children of Urithe and Luzhelia. The intention was for all of his progeny to awaken and restore order to the land. He had only given three orbs to the races because giving them more would have expedited their corruption even further."

"Did Necronemius awaken at all?"

"When the demon god finally rose from beneath the belly of this world, he was almost just as weak as Urithe and Luzhelia had become. You see, young one, barely anyone worshipped Necronemius! Few prayed to him and even fewer sought his power.”

“But the ritual did work in some ways, right. I mean the bitter winters followed?”

“Unfortunately, Luzhelia and Urithe did enter a long slumber as the dragons and Necronemius had done before. The sun’s life-giving warmth began to fade, the soil produced withered food, and the remaining armies of the three kingdoms fought until nothing remained but stone ruins and scattered tribes of men, orcs, and elves.”

“You feel sorry for them don’t you father? The lesser creatures?”

“It is our duty to help them as our Lord Draco intended. It was not us dragons that destroyed the world of men and orcs. They brought it upon themselves. However, if not for their actions, there would be no dragons within Ereshmar valley. In a way … we owe them our current reign over this land.”

“What happens when they build new kingdoms? What happens when the three races become powerful once again? Won’t they hunt us down?”

“With proper guidance, such a path can be avoided. We must protect them from the relaties of nature. Most importantly, we must protect them from themselves. Perhaps then, dragons can once again slumber for thousands of more years.”

“Until the cycle repeats itself.”

“Hopefully this time, the cycle will end, young one.”

"Can humans, orcs, or elves change form like we can, father?"

"No, little one. They cannot."

"I would like to live among them. I want to learn more about how they survive without wings. Without our fire. Without our strength."

"They may be small ... little one. However, the children of the gods can be extremely dangerous in large numbers. It is best that you stay away from them. They fear us. They fear our power no matter how hard we try to aid them. Few possess the wisdom to recognize our gifts. You are forbidden from living amongst them."

"I would only live with them for a few weeks. I can shapeshift just like you taught me, father. A young girl, lost in the woods. Someone will pick me up and take me in for sure. If I ever encounter danger, why I'll just shapeshift back into a dragon and ..."

"And what? Rip them to shreds? Roast them alive with your breath? Fly away so that they all see a beautiful female turn into a beast? You would only succeed in terrifying them further."

"I won't get caught. I'll be careful."

"It's too dangerous. Enough!"

She stood in silence while remaining in human form. Her father's wings curled around her as if to shelter her from some unseen threat that she didn't understand.

"Gwenya. I know you are curious, which is normal for such a young drake, but it's very dangerous to both you and any tribe that you encounter. I want you to promise me that you will not interact with any of the tribes. Not orcs, not elves, and certainly not humans. Promise it..."

Gwenya looks up at her father and pauses for a moment. The young girl turns away from the scolding but loving beast and begins to run as quickly as her little legs will carry her.

"Gwenya! Come back here. I'm sorry for yelling at you. Come back and we will talk. Gwenya!"

The young girl's legs seem to glide off the grass as her wings appeared to carry her upward. Her scaly tail appeared to balance her heavy forearms and long serpent-like neck as she took to the sky. Her father watched as she flew off towards the ruins of Ren Thalis' without saying another word. He knew that it would be pointless to follow her - understanding must come from within and his words had no more sway with her.

"I hope that you have at least half the bravery that you boast to have, little one. You're going to need it out there ..."