Players Wanted: Dragon Riders, humans, elves, dwarves.
Once upon a time Dragons flew across the land. . .
Gods that “Once upon a time” is so clichéd and over used, yet I need to start somewhere. The story of the Dragon Riders certainly doesn’t start with me, my name, just so you know, is Caitriona Laoch. Most call me Cait for short, and I was the leader of the Riders. The “was” bit will be explained at another time, that is, if you continue reading, you’ll find out why. As far as I’m concerned, the story of the Dragon Riders ends with me, but I’m getting ahead of myself here, I need to take you back to the beginning, or close to it. Humans didn’t always live on Nix’t Astal, somewhere around four thousand years ago it was only Dragons. Dragons flew across the continent of what is now called Nix’t Astal, they ruled it, fought each other for it, and loved it.
Dragons are the biggest creature on the planet that is made purely of magic. It was because of this magic that most of the land was fertile, welcoming. Everything they touched was made into perfection, or very close to it. This is not to say that the entire land was bountiful because of the Dragons. Not at all. In fact, there was a part of the land that is near inhabitable for most Dragons, and other living creatures. Sentient and non-sentient alike. This brings us to the quick topic of there being more than one kind of Dragon.
In the land that is near inhabitable is the North, is the biggest and fiercest of the Dragons. Naur Khelek, which is Elven for Fire Ice. An apt name for the land, if I do say so myself. The reason the name is fitting is because it literally describes the north. In the more habitable regions, it is covered in snow and ice. The wind blows so hard that without shelter, you would freeze to death in a matter of seconds. Deadly winter is the one and only season there. Those particular regions fall toward the southernmost borders of the north. In the northernmost region lays active volcanoes. There are mountainous ranges that circle around these volcanoes, forming a valley and a barrier of sorts, an almost natural protection to the icy snow part of Naur Khelek.
I say almost because it has been there for so long that it has become a part of the land, but it was originally formed by Dragon magic. You see, the Dragons that live there are the Sonear di wer Vaslakni, Dragon for Eater of the Universe. The dragons are the largest of all, and the fiercest of all. I know I said this before, I just thought I’d remind you, as well as drill it into your head. The size of one of these dragons, on average, is beyond belief. The head, often the shape of a rectangle, but more defined into a lizard like shape, is usually the size of two large barns. I’m talking the width being around two hundred feet, the length being twice the width, with the muzzle coming to a rounded shape. The heads are often decorated with horns and spikes, and come in varying colors of snow white, to blacker than night. Their bodies are certainly proportionate to their heads; after all, it needs to support that huge head of theirs, right? Large and muscular, yet sleek enough to be some of the fastest fliers, though certainly not the quietest, those wings of theirs always sound like a thunder clap with each beat.
Anyways, in terms of how large their bodies are, well, why don’t we just say they could crush a town with the populace of ten thousand, with just one hand. Those hands, by the way, are always ended with claws half the length of their hands. Their necks are often somewhat elongated, not as much as some Dragons, but perhaps more so than others. You have an idea of how big these creatures of magic are? Good. Moving forward then. The Sonear live off the lava of the volcanoes. It keeps them warm, it sustains them, and it empowers them. They can hunt for their food like any other creature, but they end up having to eat mass quantities and they knew this. So they found a primary food source, the same that feed them their magic, their energy. The lava. Problem of food running out just because of the Sonear was solved.
Because of their size, and their ability to feed magic into themselves easily, as well as keep it in them for so long without having to return to the source, they ended up to be considered the leaders of all Dragon kind. Thankfully it didn’t go to their heads too much, just enough to make some of them annoying due to their superior attitude, but not so much as to be a hindrance. Let us also be thankful there have never been very many of them. For every one that dies, one is hatched. There is always only twenty of the Sonear around, and that brings us to the conclusion of Naur Khelek and the Sonear. At least for the moment.
The rest of the Dragons are between a quarter to half the size of the Sonear. I suppose we can start with any of them, and learning about the types of Dragons, you learn about Nix’t Astal. So we shall go to the western part of the continent. I’ Dor en Coia ar Gurth, The Land of Life and Death. Again, the name is Elven. I believe you can safely assume that Elves were the first of “man” on this land, you would be half right; we’ll get into that later though. I’ Dor en Coia ar Gurth is also an apt name for the western bit of Nix’t Astal. It is full of life, but it is deadly. It can be deadly because of some of the life, and because it is nothing but swamp and marsh. Always hot and humid and therefore sticky and unbearable, but teeming with creatures of all sizes both prey and predator. The Svanan Ingellarar, Dragon for Mud Dweller, live here.
The Svanan are fairly small. From tail tip to the tip of their nose they would be about the size of a Sonear’s head, but they're quick, and stealthy. They fly so quietly that you wouldn’t know they were there until you were up in the air with them. They draw their power from their swamps, and vary in coloring from muddy brown to emerald green. Gorgeous creatures they are. Aside from that, my knowledge of these Dragons is limited. Other than they are languid and sneaky, and have a wicked sense of humor that I love.
So I suppose that brings us to the south. Dor ar I’ Bein, Land of The Beautiful, and beautiful it was. Lush meadows, rolling hills, perfect weather with seasonal changes. Summers are breezy with an occasional shower, and enough heat to make a person sleepy, springs that are full of showers to water the crops of farmers, colorful falls, with leaves turning every shade of green, orange, red, yellow and brown imaginable, with the temperature starting to chill. Then winters that are cold, and full of snow. The Vorel Tilsin, Beautiful Lizard, live here in Dor ar I’ Bein. They vary in every color imaginable, and are about the same size as the Svanan, some are bigger, some are small, but none are as big as the Sonear. Not even close. They’re the quickest fliers, not as stealthy. The Vorel are also very playful, to the point of immaturity. It doesn’t seem to matter how old they become, they are forever as playful as kittens, but they can also be very protective, and fierce. So you would want to stay on their good side.
And we now conclude with the east. I’ Dor ar Lith, The Land of Sand. It is desert land there, hot and dry. Barely any seasonal changes. The Inik Tilsin, Sand Lizard, owns this. They’re about half the size of a Sonear, and can be quite vicious, and highly territorial. They take pride in the scarring, much as the Sonear do, but probably more so. I suppose one could say they’re of a barbaric nature.
Alright, you have a general idea of the lands now, as well as the types of Dragons. So we shall move on. The Dragons lived in this manner for hundreds of years, playing, hunting, perfecting anything and everything. Then the Elves and Dwarves came. They traveled from their homelands together to start a new life, to explore, to have an adventure, or so the tale goes. At first, everything was peaceful. The Dragons kept to themselves for the most part, a few would venture close to the new creatures that sailed to the shores of Nix’t Astal, curious of the new culture and strange things that were brought. Thankfully, the Elves and Dwarves knew nothing of the Dragon’s existence, seeing as how the Dragons never approached close enough to send alarm to their “visitors”. If they had been seen, and killed then and there without there being to seem any provocation from the Dragons, things would have turned out very different.
As it was, it was weeks before the Elves and Dwarves realized there Dragons on the land. Their first reaction was, of course, fear, I can’t say as I blame them. After all, what would you do if you encountered such a ferocious looking beast? In their fear, they did take up arms and would have started fighting, if the Vorel hadn’t flown out of there so quickly. From that point on, the Dragons were more cautious of these “visitors”. Unfortunately, it was soon found out that the Dragons were magic. Made of magic. They didn’t know the extent of the usage of magic by the Dragons. As far as the Elves and Dwarves were concerned, the Dragons were simply stupid animals. A species they wanted to now hunt, so they could harness the magic of the Dragons.
Over the next one thousand years, the Elves and Dwarves grew in numbers, and started claiming land as their own. Also, they were at war with the Dragons. The Elves wanted the Dragons because the magic could increase their own, and the Dwarves wanted it to also increase their own abilities and to better forge their weapons. But when the Dragons were killed off, their magic disappeared. Then a Dwarf had a brilliant idea of capturing a Dragon alive. This proved harder that he’d thought but to capture one alive, then found a way to drain it of its essence, its magic, and its life force.
The Sonear di wer Vaslakni were enraged, and tried to keep all but two of their kind out of the fight. Now though, since the Elves and Dwarves were now not only killing Dragons, but also capturing and torturing their species, all twenty showed and ended up decimating the Dwarves settlement. Finally contact had been made, though the Sonear were still enraged, they were rational enough to show the remainder of the Dwarves and the Elves that Dragons were indeed sentient. They had families, a culture, a structured society, homes, friends, thoughts and ambitions. Everything the Elves and Dwarves had, the Dragons had too.
It was difficult to make this first attempt of communication, but the Sonear were as stubborn as they were large. It was Alphaios the Unchanging that took the first and biggest step. In an attempt to make communication, for the Dragons couldn’t, in anyway be able to shape with their reptilian lips the same vowels and consonants as the Elves and Dwarves. Something needed to be done to make communicating possible though, correct? Yes it did. So Alphaios connected with an Elf by the name of Huor Ancalímon with magic, through Alphaios’ mind to Huor’s mind.
The connection was so deep, so intense, that not only did they understand one another immediately; they felt the physical pain, strain, emotional anguish the other felt. Alphaios did something that day, he chose the First Rider. From that point on, the Dragons, Elves and Dwarves lived in wary peace. Eventually that peace grew less and less tense, but it was another century before Huor and Alphaios convinced their respective species that if Dragons took on more Riders, casting a spell that would choose only the best and most noble of creatures from birth, would be a good thing.
Alphaios and Huor were joined, their souls were as one. They went everywhere with one another, yet remained enough of individuals that the friends and families who knew them before the connection had been made, could see enough of the former Elf and Dragon to see they were still there, attempts had been made to break Alphaios’ spell, but had to be stopped completely when they nearly killed the pair.
It was after one hundred years of this when the Dragons and Elves finally relented. The Dwarves wanted no part of this, but offered to make armor and weaponry. Fairly typical if you ask me, they’re cavern dwellers; they prefer to be encased in a mountain or underground. Though I have taken a Dwarf up on my Zeus' back before, I must say, his reaction was comical, Zeus thought so too. Back on topic, a few of the most powerful of each type of Dragon, and the most powerful of the Elves communed together, making the same connection as Alphaios made on Huor, on each other.
Thus the legacy of the Dragon Riders was born. It was agreed they would keep the peace between Dragons and Elves and Dwarves. That they wouldn’t take ruling positions, but instead, offer neutral assistance, they would never take a side, unless one proved to be blatantly wrong. If a Dragon and Rider were to fight, then it would be to end a war on both sides, doing everything they can to be sure it was a peaceful ending.
Future Riders were to be born with a Mark. This can take the form of anything resembling a Dragon. A scale where skin would be, Dragon eyes instead of Elven, or a birthmark that would resemble a Dragon, or part of a Dragon. My own is actually a large birthmark on my back, it covers it completely, and looks more like a tattoo of my Zeus. The Dragons themselves were often hatched within a day or two, if not the same day, as their destined Rider was born. Supposedly, those who were born with The Mark, have vast potential for greatness, if you keep reading this, then you’ll know we have recently found out otherwise.
This continued on for close to a thousand years, and then something unexpected happened. A Rider was Chosen by a Dragon. She had never been born with The Mark; nothing Marked her at all as a Rider. She looked plain, as plain as an Elf could look that is, but her Dragon Chose her. It had never happened before, and she showed that being Chosen was just as good, if not better, than it was to be a Marked Rider.
Eventually Humans settled onto Nix’t Astal, though it had been made clear by the Elves that their species would never be born as Marked Riders that they would have to be Chosen. The Elves, were arrogant to say the least, they didn’t expect that the spell that had been cast over a thousand years ago would evolve to Mark anyone who had some kind of potential, no matter the species. Though I admit, the spell, once it acquired a life of its own, has never Marked a Dwarf, thank the Gods for that too. We would hear nothing but complaints and deal with highly anxious Dwarves.
Now though. Centuries later after the start of the Dragon Riders. We are being attacked. We have helped to keep peace on this land, and how someone from this land seeks to destroy us. Now I ask you.. are you friend, or foe?
Currently looking for Riders (or Dragons), characters that are not Riders, and certainly let me know if you are willing to take on an atagonist role :) those are always welcome! As the title of the thread suggests, you can pick any species that I have listed in the game. I look forward to writing with you!
