From the Dragon's Shadow

There weren't always dragons in the valley, there were, however, the Zeltrys; an advanced yet ancient civilization of intelligent reptilian-like humanoids who've existed for many millennia. No one knows where they originated from, nor if there were others before them, but they most certainly did outlive them, as well as many, many more humanoid species; Peirrins, Baghlogs, Eledegens, Veriuns, Pheuys, Rhgerls and so forth...

It was 110 years ago when the first Zeltyr encountered us, humans, a young one kept infiltrating our town in the dead of night, conventionally, this behaviour is considered to be extremely abnormal for Zeltyrs. Even so, it sought after one thing and one thing only, and once found, it fled, only to soon return again and again each night in search of another. Over time, sightings and rumours of it became an urban legend amongst the town folk, 'the reptile man', an omen of misdeeds, misfortune, and greed to whoever it visited. Eventually, the elders of the Zeltyrs discovered the young one's doing as well as many others in different territories, all exhibiting the same pattern of behaviour and objective. In an unprecedented turn of events, the Zeltyrs opened themselves to the outside world and offered peace and partnership between the Zeltyrs and all nations, humans, elves, dwarves, titans, centaurs, ghouls, and so many more.

It is now the Gyeurn era, our last contact with the Zeltyrs was 70 years ago, and though our progress has been slow, it is undeniable that the Zeltyrs' early contributions to our society exceeded their reputation. Anything and everything they did was conscientious and calculated; to the buildings, inventions, systems, and decisions, all were quite flawless. Soon they've advanced our kingdom and the neighbouring areas, customizing their developments to each specific region and species, in doing so, they lead the foundation of all civilization 50 years ahead of our respective time. This dawned a new age for us, the Zeltran era, and suddenly our world was centred around them, they were our future and hope as we entrusted them to make this earth into a 'new world.'

However with all beings, even the Zeltyrs have their weaknesses, but if it wasn't so devastating, would they still be here?

You see, although we do not possess an IQ as high as theirs, we do possess the riches and jewels they so abundantly crave and still seek out, specifically gold. According to some witnesses, these treasures are not used for any greater purpose than for the Zeltyrs to hoard it for themselves. It was almost like an epidemic for them, going to any lengths to obtain it, even if it meant altering their state of living and morals.

The first case of this started with the resource called 'Veulvin', it's the strongest and most innovative synthetic material we have that was carefully crafted by them. They were immediately cautious not to publicize the techniques even when tempted with valuables as it is forbidden to share confidential information with outsiders, but eventually one did reveal its production after an enormous bribe. Soon this method of trade was common practice; in exchange for their knowledge, a portion of any riches was given to them - and they were smart to name their price.

All that gathered information became stepping stones into their wisdom and truth, we became very much inspired and open to the ways of the Zeltyrs and if we learnt from them, maybe humanity could be of equal stature, perhaps even greater.

As time progressed, we possessed as much of their insight as they possessed our treasures, but there was a new problem arising, something was happening to the Zeltyrs, something changed within them, something dark. According to a scholar who specialised in studying Zeltyrs, Boe discovered in his observation papers, the Zeltyrs started to rapidly evolve within a short period of time, becoming more aggressive and even harbouring such traits, as slitted pupils, armoured skin, sharper horns, larger build, dense muscle mass, and a higher temperament. Offspring have become severely rare, but have started to walk on 4 legs and most interestingly, a Zeltyr skeleton has been found with emerging wings.

Boe concluded that their evolution has been correlated with their greed for gold and jewels, however, it is inconclusive as to why they react in such a way.

When the papers were published, Boe was unsure of their fate, but of course, with the declining contribution of the Zeltyrs, some other nation had to lead, and who else was a better fit than humanity.

As the Zeltyrs slowly held no purpose and status, we began to halt our riches and goods from them. Naturally, this enraged and provoked them and the peace between our nations was broken, this, in turn, caused the rest of the nations to despise us, though they also played a hand in the Zeltyrs demise.

Humiliated and unsatisfied, after threatening tyranny, they retreated back to their motherland, never to be seen again by the world.

That was until years later when Boe ventured back into their land to at least observe them once more, or at least that’s what he thought he was doing, yet he came to an unrecognizable civilization as it was purged to ruin. Most notably their mountainous range was split, and the ground was dug into to create steeper mountains and a harsh terrain. Afraid, Boe did not proceed further, but one thing he did tell me is that he has seen a terrifying and nightmarish creature that was very reminiscent of whom he once studied.

He did not speak any further as it was only to be described to be a legendary beast, one we have never seen to which he named, dragons.