And so it was that with the coming of the Dragons and the Sealing of the Horsemen, life came to take the center stage in the cosmos. Intrigued by its mysteries, many Dragons were lured into mortality, while the Eldest safeguarded reality from the predations of the Primordials. Countless civilizations, afflicted by the imbalances of various remnants of the Hosts, were utterly destroyed by the caretakers of the world. Two great people would escape such a fate. The first would be the Exiles, a non-native, near-immortal and Creation-influenced people, who, despite their divided castes and endless machinations, would entice the Dragons with their Life-Binding magic and their science of Biomancy. The other would be the Dweghom, an unintended offshoot of the Makers, made by the Dragons themselves, and imbued by the might of War and his Prison.
With the whole world at their fingertips and the mysteries of life unveiling delicately before their eyes, it was not long before the Dragons tried to look closer, tried to understand more and experience more. Forging elemental frames to host some of their might, it took millennia and more shedding of power before properly living bodies could become a reality. Even then, true, draconic progeny that transcended the spawn of animalistic drakes, required a parental sacrifice, with dragonic essence being imbued into the unhatched egg. Thus, with each new generation, dragonic lineages were diminished and the imbalance of power between older dragons and younger ones was ever increasing. But even diminished as their youngest were, they roamed the world unhindered for eons. Enamored with the running waters on the face of the world, they named it Eӓ in their nascent language – and for all intents and purposes, the Dragons were its keepers.
Countless intelligent species and proto-cultures rose and fell under the watchful eye of the Dragons, as fugitive shards of the Hosts attempted to shape them in their image, corrupting their budding civilizations to their very core. To this day, cyclopean ruins, dark caverns and mysterious relics from these lost peoples endure, their corrupted auras lingering. But despite their lasting remains, none of them would challenge the reign of Dragons. That would happen by their own hand and the life that they themselves would come to create. But before that, the instrument of their fall would be delivered by the hands of another species: the Exiles.
It is often thought that the Exiles came from a world whose star of Creation influenced life’s path. If that is so, then perhaps the Dragons should have done what they always had when they encountered imbalanced life-forms: eliminate them. But the first Exiles to arrive were but scholars and explorers, their presence limited and scattered around the world, there only to lay the groundwork for future expansion. Then, suddenly, things changed. Within a single century, where dozens of scientists and explorers dwelled, hundreds of thousands of Exiles had arrived – soldiers, workers, spiritual leaders, and noble lineages included. Then, the Sovereign, their leader, collapsed the Ways behind him after he crossed, so that none would follow, dooming the rest of his kind to whatever Calamity had befallen their homeland. In this single act, the fates of millions left behind – as well as the future of Eӓ – would be decided. But until then, to ensure survival in a hostile environment, the Exiles would turn to their natural gift, Life-Binding, and a return to traditional tools and social structures, which saw the Sovereign and his Lineages reign supreme, while the labor castes ensured survival. Soon, where small settlements once lay, rose gigantic Spires capable of hosting cities.
When the Dragons inevitably confronted the Exiles, they did so with the arrogance of their might, allowing their youngest to address the issue. But the predestined weakness of these youths compared to their elders laid eyes upon the tools and Life-Binding of the Exiles and coveted them. Rather than intimidating the Exiles into submission, they instead demanded like children. Unimpressed, the Exiles dismissed them, thinking of them as little more than animals. Fueled by this insult and the certainty of their superiority against all but older dragons, the Envoys attacked. And while the enormous Spires proved too hard a target, caravans, seed sites and research centers were ripe for the taking. Soon, losses would be met by both sides. And before long, both sides would field more. The Dragon War was upon the world, as Exiles and the youngest Dragons clashed for dominion over Eӓ. But while the eldest dragons allowed their youths to settle the matter alone, the Sovereign had to intervene.
Unwilling to share this, second, world, and believing his enemies to be naught but the powerful individually but defeatable young Dragons, he mustered his forces, driving the entire warmachine of his people against them. Entire populations of the lower castes were drilled, outfitted and sent to drive the Dragons off their Rooks… only to vanish, leaving behind the mangled bodies of the Sovereign’s enforcers and sycophants as proof of their mutiny. The lower castes had exacted their revenge against the Sovereign for collapsing the Ways and abandoning their peers.
The effects were felt immediately. For the first time, the Spires were vulnerable to the dragons’ attacks, as their defenders and caretakers were gone. Panicked and facing a second defeat, the Sovereign turned to the scientists and, ignoring the warnings of the religious caste and their leader, the Voice, he allowed them to follow their perverse methods of Life-Binding and embraced the twisted science of Biomancy. Soon, vats of life-spawning ooze would birth countless, obedient clones to man the stations and die for the Sovereign. This would be the final straw for the Voice.
The remaining population of the Spires would rebel against this new blasphemy, only for their revolt to be ruthlessly put down by the Sovereign’s clone army – until the Elder Dragons arrived. Enlisting the artisan caste, the Voice had reached an agreement with the Elders, promising the plunder and craftmanship of an entire world in return for lands to be settled by the people. Witnessing the awesome majesty of three elders, the Sovereign had no choice but agree to the Dragons’ terms. He allowed for any who wished to follow the religious and artisan castes to do so unhindered and submitted all the wealth and resources of the Spires to the eldest dragons. But the younger ones, against whom the Sovereign had stroke, had to be satisfied again. For peace to be brokered another price was offered: Biomancy.
Thus it was that the younger generations of Dragons would find in sorcery and Biomancy the tools to increase their power. But try as they might, they could never hope to match the power of their elders – until finesse was required more than might. Even as the Voice had outlined the blasphemy that was Biomancy, she had failed to understand how the Dragons, ever fascinated with the workings of Life, would find it. As the most gifted of young dragons joined forces with the most curious and power of elders, a new life-form was created, made to be the perfect servants to dragons. Dwarves before their masters’ might but deft in crafting, with perfect memories and instilled submission towards the elder dragons, the Makers would soon fill Dragon Rooks, forge them into places of awe-inspiring size and unparalleled beauty, side by side with the dragon automata and forges their masters provided.
But submission does not mean loyalty. Before long, toiling under the Dragons meant little more than slavery for the Makers. Rebellions were frequent but ever quenched by the mere appearance of an Elder. The staunchest of the rebels were sentenced to the deepest mines. And there their salvation lied. With each hit of the pickaxe fueled by their hatred and will to fight their masters, those rebels would eventually stumble into a place beyond this world, long-forgotten by all but its forgers:
War’s prison.
Sealed by the combined efforts of the Dragons at the end of the War of Hosts, War awaited ever trapped in a prison of Fire and Earth – and there the Makers saw their salvation, subsuming the Horseman and the powers of its prison alike. As their Working was undone, across the world of Eä, Elder Dragons collapsed, their physical bodies unable to withstand the magical feedback. And as the world crumbled and broke around the shattered might of the Elders, a new people, the Dweghom, immerged, fueled by centuries of rage and powerlessness and ready to launch a genocidal campaign against their former masters, targeting defenseless Elders, younger Dragon… and their kin, the loyal Makers, alike.
It is hard to calculate how long the Shattering lasted. But when it was over, the Dweghom stood upon the ashes of a world without dragons. Pondering upon their next steps, they turned to each other and disagreed. Their bloods quickened by the Memories of War, they turned against each other with the same ferocity as they had turned against their former masters and their servants. Echoes of the Memory Wars that started that day endure, with Dweghom societies riddled by division and warmongering. But at the time, as the dust settled, a power vacuum emerged, with the Elder Dragons gone and the Dweghom and Spires reeling from their losses. This stalemate created an opportunity for a new power to rise and challenge the primacy of the Elder races.
Hazlia and Humanity.