Threes' Zenith

Prologue: Before the Empire

There weren’t always dragons in the valley. Long before the first dragons took to the sky, the valley was said to be ruled by something called “Humans”. They were strange scaleless creatures that were close to the same size as the Wingless. This information was gathered by studying the crumbling ruins and strange pictograms that the Humans left behind. These Humans were social creatures with a strong sense of community. This sense of community led to feuding among each other with varying degrees of aggression. On a local level they tended to have friendly competitions. For example, sometimes two groups would meet up and had what is referred to as a “rap battle”. This would consist of a member of each group taking turns making up rhymes to a musical beat. These rhymes would consist of unpleasant statements or observations about the opposing group, also known as a “dis”. This form of communication was used in many other areas of the Humans’ world as well. While there were friendly competitions there were also battles and wars across the Human world, like every other form of civilization that have emerged across Zenith. They had wars for resources, territory, and sometime powerful individuals would wage wars for reason that are still a mystery.

Even with the multitude of conflicts and problems across the stretch of time that the Humans’ civilization reigned it is still a mystery how the civilization collapsed and when its decline began. There are many theories as to how this collapse happened but that is not the focus of this study proposal. See Fall of the Humans by Sarkriss Garrison for an in depth look at the different collapse theories. What this study will be focused on is how one human managed to survive the extinction of their entire civilization.

The year is 5269 AS and recently there has been a monumental discovery. A Human has been discovered in a dig site on the southern tip of the Bladecove peninsula. They were discovered in a strange capsule made of glass and metal that seems to be keeping them in a deep sleep. Based on the approximate age of fossils that have been discovered near this Human, they have been asleep around a thousand years before the earliest dragons. How this Human has survived this long is a mystery to even our most brilliant scientists. The technology that this capsule was utilizing is far superior to our own and also doesn’t seem to use magic. From the pictographs that were studied, Humans did have magic, but we have failed to find any fossils that showed the biology required for magic. It is possible that the Humans’ technology advanced beyond what magic was capable of, and therefore they stop using it. This is just a theory as we have not found significant evidence to support this idea.

Through the translation of a panel attached to the capsule, we have discovered that the Human is female, 6’9”, approximately 27 years of age and has a dense muscular structure. The panel has their designation as 078-333 and written on the side of their neck is 333. Due to this, most of the staff at the site have been referring to them as “Threes”. From here on we will be referring to the Human as “Threes” to keep documentation about this dig site consistent.

There are many things we can learn about Humans from studying Threes and there are many ways at which this study can be done. The best way in my opinion, as someone who has studied Human languages, would be to wake Threes up and ask them questions. Though we do not know how to open the capsule without resorting to brute force and that option may kill “Threes”. Currently, we are trying to decipher the panel attached to the capsule as well as many other devices that were found in the same compound in an effort to find a way to open the capsule another way.

The dig site on the Bladecove peninsula discovered an underground Human facility that was half collapsed. We are currently trying to clear some of the collapsed rooms as we haven’t been able to access any of the devices because they require something called a “Password”. The panel connected to the capsule also requires “Admin Access”. From what we have been able to translate of different records the “Admin” is some form of leader that is usually unique to a location. These Admins usually have an office that is located within the facility which we are currently trying to locate. I believe this is our best chance at opening the capsule without damaging Threes. This site also had a couple of physical documents that we are currently working on translating although it seems that there were a lot more documents that ended up ruined when some of the facility collapsed.

This is our first discover that has had working Human technology so we have also been experimenting with the effect that magic has on technology. We found a portable device known as a “Tablet” and sent it to the capital for study. They sent a report that they managed to power it with lightning magic. They attached a low frequency lightning crystal to the back of the Tablet but it also requires a password. We are hoping if we can get the information off this Tablet, we will be able to gain access to the systems at the facility. We are currently scouring the facility for any way to gain access to the Tablet. With all of these pathways forward in mind, we expect that we may have answers very soon.

This discovery, if utilized correctly, could push our technology ahead thousands of years. With this in mind, we are asking that additional protections are added at the dig site. I have heard reports that rebels have started attaching any locations that are connect directly to the empire and I fear that if this location is discovered it would be under siege. I am writing this letter to ask for more protections to be added to the dig site and the route to and from the capital. If my suspicions are correct then these protections need to be kept discreet or we risk the rebels finding the location.

On a similar note, I am personally asking that the Council consider waking the Human up and talking to them before we try the grislier alternatives. I know this request comes with risks but the amount of information we could gain talking to Threes instead of dissecting them cannot be overstated. With the extra protections at the dig site, I believe we can handle any problems that may occur with waking them up. From our studies on Humans, we believe that Threes will not attack unless provoked. I know this letter contains a lot of information but I ask that the Council carefully consider everything mentioned. I must also stress that time is of the essence and I hope the council can come to a fast decision.

With Respect,

High Curator Zarhaus Trastor

High Curator, while we understand your desire for knowledge, we cannot approve your request to wake the Human, Threes, up. The council has decided that the risks of waking a Human, which we still know very little about, is too high. With that being said the council has decided to postpone the dissection as we believe there is much to learn from studying the live specimen. Once you have found a way to open the capsule, Threes will be kept asleep through the use of magic while you study them. You will have six months to study them, after which they will be brought to the capital for dissection.

This may not be the news you were hoping for but we are approving your request for extra protections. We are placing outposts along the path from the dig site to the capital and we are assigning an extra regiment to guard the site. We have taken your concerns to heart and they will be disguised as laborers to help with the dig site. You will be the only person at the dig site that will be aware of this.

During the six months of study with Threes we will expect monthly reports of your finding and updates on the situation at the site. When this period of time is up you will be traveling back to the capital to help with the dissection. We look forward to reading your reports once you have gained access to the facility. In the future, do not include useless history in your proposals.

The Scalebrand Council