Of Ether and Earth

There weren't always dragons in the valley. More than seven generations ago, they had been pursued and hunted down, feared by the ignorant and persecuted by those who would steal power and force their dominion over the land and its people. Today, they are but a faint and distant memory, held only in shadows and dreams. But recently, strange and ominous rumors have been moving through the people of a great winged beast being spotted in the mountains of Carantheal. But the reported sighting was feeble and from an unrealiable source so most did not pay heed, for the only dragons known to the people today lived in stories and legends. Many are too afraid to consider truth in the tales... but for the believers.

The believers know that the stories are in fact, true. For seven generations they have continued to offer prayers in secret. Gathering in the deep caverns and underground chambers of the Morrantine Mountains, they would pay homage to the sacred Dragons of Light. None truly know when the dragons first came to the world. It seems they had always been. Great ancient beasts, risen from a primordial source and living within the very fabric of the land, they were the deepest story of the valley. Their mention may bring to one visions of mammoth flying serpents, winging on darkness and bent of fiery destruction. But these were not beasts of darkness and fire. They were sacred beings of light, Earth, and ether, who held the very elements in balance. For each part of the Earth, the Creator had assigned divine guardians to watch over the creation and sustain the water, air, land and all things living.

There was the Dragon of Waters; a great silvery beast, long as a whale and sleek as a shark, with iridescent scales that refracted light into dancing rainbows. She lived beneath the waters and moved like a creature of the sea. With her very energy, she held the life of all waters in balance, and moved the currents and tides with her breath. Her dominion held all life within lake, river, stream and sea.

On the land, a great creature with scales of deep mossy green and gold that shined in the sun and became almost transparent in shadow, lived within the rolling green hills of Barathyll. His dominion kept the trees, grasses, herbs, and plants of the world. He watched over them as they grew from seed to sprout, breathing his life force into them to encourage and nurture their growth. With his energy, the land flourished with life and all beings were fed with the fruits of his realm.

Once verdant forests, deep and vast, covered the hills and valleys of the world. This was the domain of the Dragon of Beasts. Smaller than the others, but no less powerful, this serpent of light moved with stealth through her green and shadowy realm. She watched over all animals, from the smallest insect to the greatest bear, the creatures of the world were her children.

For stone, soil and mountain, a watchful guardian of enormous size and strength, scales shining like polished onyx and eyes glowing red and gold, presided over his realm with a powerful grace. When this behemoth roared, the Earth shook loose fiery magma from its belly to create new land. The very mountains were raised and brought down by the will of this divine sentinel.

And finally, a supernal custodian to govern the ether. Watching over sky, air, and storm, this Dragon of Light managed the weather of the world. Living amongst the clouds, its prismatic scales glowed with a heavenly opalescence, and had eyes that harmonized with the color of the sky as the day waxed and waned; a pale blue at daybreak that would deepen to a brilliant sapphire by noon and later fade to a warm purple with flecks of orange and gold to echo the setting sun. Bearing the energy of both female and male expression, this Dragon of Light resided at the gateway of Earth and spirit, bringing in the cosmic energies of creation and calibrating the cycles of life and death upon the Earth. It was to this celestial being, that the care and governing of humans belonged.

While each dragon oversaw their respective domains, they were inextricably linked and ultimately shared in the guardianship of all creation on the Earth; their charges, individual points on an interconnected and unified web of life. One element could not be removed without impacting the entire web. The dragons held life in a sacred balance, cultivating a synchronized dance of living things within their environments; an elemental grace born from eons of cosmic evolution. The energetic price of maintaining this natural equilibrium was the sustained experience of all beings living in equal measure, with no kingdom reigning over another. Along with the fated cycles of life and death, predator and prey, each of the living kingdoms must exist with autonomy and freedom. So was the exhalted balance of the Dragons of Light.

In the deep and ancient days of the past, the people of Barathyll respected this natural law and revered the great dragons, living alongside and paying homage to their guardianship. They intuitively knew the weight and measure of this fragile balance and for thousands of years, thrived in the harmony of its presence. But this era of peace would not last forever.

After a time, many of the people of Barathyll became restless and began to desire more than they had. A grim and sinister greed slowly grew in their hearts, and they came to covet the very power of the dragons, challenging the laws of balance and demanding that which was not theirs. They gathered in numbers and rasied their voices, seeking dominion over the land and its people. Those who remeained faithful to the natural laws resisted and openly oppossed the aggressors.

It began with skirmishes in the villages along the great river Auldafon. Neighbor began to fight neighbor and groups of men would fence off large tracts of land, blocking access to river crossings and demanding payment for entry to territories not rightfully theirs. Consolidating their power, they guarded their spoils jealously. Conflicts grew into battles, battles became wars, and those enforcing their false dominion began to spread their avarice well beyond the borders of their own villages. And so, the long peace was broken.

As their insatiable hunger for power grew, the newly self-appointed kings outlawed the open veneration of the Dragons of Light, punishing believers with death and imprisonment. The faithful were driven into hiding. Emboldened by their early triumphs, the dark kings began to turn their malice towards grander foes, for they knew that their campaign of terror and power would not be allowed to continue with the great dragons watching over the world. Indeed, the growing trembling of the ground and grave storms in sea and sky told of the coming of dragons to the towns of men. And so began the hunting of the Dragons of Light and the beginning of the end of the balance of life.

Swiftly launching their bloody campaign, the dark kings amassed large armies to march on the forest sanctuaries and mountain-top lairs of the dragons. They hunted them relentlessly, forcing them into the open where armies could release lethal volleys of arrows and deadly spears. The peaceful forest dragons were chased by raiding hoards and harrassed into battle. Blood was drawn and, even with their great power, the dragons could not overcome the sheer numbers of invaders assailling them. As their prime directive was to protect and nurture life on the Earth, their powers could not be ill-used for the destruction of the humans, no matter how dangerous and aggressive they had become. Indeed, they could do nothing but leave the humans to their own folly and depart the lands of Barathyll completely. All five dragons retreated to a place unknown, and with them took their power and grace, withdrawing the sacred balance of life from the world. For without them, the great web of life would begin to fail.

So the victory seemed complete. In the absence of the divinely appointed keepers, the aging kings continued to grow bold in their smugness and ruthless conquest. But as their realms expanded and their dominion over the peoples and creatures of Barathyll grew, their spoils began to diminish. Without the sacred balance of the dragons protecting the web of life, the world slowly began to fade. The skies grew dim and grey from the fires of burning villages and the great forests being cleared for more land to exploit. Famine eventually took hold in the plundered soils. The waters became murky, and the animals began to decline, unable to flourish in a dying land.

Now seven generations have passed, and the world continues to fade. In dark and secret places of the valley the believers still gather to pray. For generations they have held the faith and passed down the stories and legends of the Dragons of Light. Clandestinely they fan the flames of hope through ceremony and prayerful meditations, calling, always calling, to the great dragons to return and bring life back to the world. For seven generations they have called in secret, and for seven generations, they have awaited the arrival of the one who would walk out into the light. For though the dragons took with them the flame of life, they left a seed of hope... in prophesy. On the ill-fated day of their retreat, the mighty Dragon of the Ether sent to the faitful through trance, these hallowed words to hold and to pass to their progeny:

"Once awake, now by blood and fire you sleep. Imprisoned in your nightmares, you walk in darkness and fall. The flame of life is snuffed out, but the embers still burn. The seventh generation will awaken, and in her hands, the flame of life shall flicker again. The people shall rise from dark dreams and through veritable power, walk again in the light."

For 525 years, the prophesy has been reverently kept and faithfully passed through generations of the people of the Dragons of Light. For generations, they have persisted in the faint glow of a dragon's promise. In a world on fire, many begin to lose hope, yet they continue to look for the girl-child who would show signs of this promise. They know not what the signs will be, so they pray and they continue to hope. Will she come in time? Will the one who marks the return of the great dragons arrive and waken the world from its nightmare? For it is dying and time is running out.