Once, a long time ago, this lair had been home to a great many dragons. The light shone upon the progenitors, quiet and strange as they were, for they held to the great faith fervently and unerringly. Hundreds of dragons were raised here, trained, and sent to the ranks of the Lightweaver. Dragons sent to serve all knew that they would die on the field of battle, likely somewhere far from the light. No tears were shed from parents watching their sons and daughters leave, young loves their betrothed, or elderly drakes their children. Low horns echoed from the lair each time a new group of soldiers departed to march towards the inevitable, backs against the rising sun. It was a great honor and the ultimate reverence for the god that created them.
When the tide turned against the Light during a great battle with the strangling vines of the Gladekeeper and the call came for reinforcements, the clan did not hesitate. All in the lair - war trainers, nesters, advisors, high priests, drakes barely past the age of hatchlings, and even the two progenitors of the lair gathered what they needed to make the journey and set out by the next hour. They arrived at the scene of the battle several days later. Those who could fly tore through the air, screeching and locking claws with their opponents in the writhe of death, spinning and rending until they had defeated their opposite number or they were felled in battle. Those who could not fly forded the great river that bordered the two regions, emerging from the water and rushing towards their foes, clashing terribly on a battlefield of trampled jungle, millions of crumpled claws and wings, and blood and grit that flowed into the water, turning the tide into a frothing slew of crimson. The war spanned several more days, and by the end, all of the dragons who had set out from the clan had perished in a hostile foreign land, lifeless eyes never again to gaze upon the domain of the Lightweaver. With the battle won for Nature, the great vines and wilds of the forest encroached on the land of the Light, and all that happened in the clan was lost with no one to keep it, forgotten to time and dust. Hundreds of years passed, and still, no drake or beastclan dared to make their home in the old lair of the clan, for the air of darkness and ruin was oppressive and choked out any who thought to scrounge for food or treasure there. And so the land lay there, a testament and a warning to all. After a period of calm years where Earth ruled, the stagnant air around the Sunbeam Ruins began to buzz as static filled the air. Drakes in another lair situated in the Mirrorlight Promenade ran to the Sundial Terrace to divine the change of weather. With fear in their hearts, they returned to tell their clan the news - this was no ordinary thunderstorm. Something big was happening. Dragons that had homes in caves and ruins around the area sought shelter, and food and drying materials were gathered and moved indoors. The single pair of nesting dragons, however, could not be moved, for the mother was in the throes of childbirth, so the clan did what they could for the pair by some boughs of a nearby tree and left them outside to weather the storm alone. As the black clouds rolled through and the first wave of rain hit the hot, dry earth, the two pearlcatchers braced themselves. The female, Venus, cried out in pain as the first egg touched the ground, and then cried out in fear as a great bolt of thunder split the great tree the pair were near and fell to the ground as many splintered, burning pieces that burned with the power of Lightning. With the birth complete and the storm raging around them, the pair quickly gathered their precious eggs and ran into the safety of their cave. The pearlcatcher pair did not know it then, but a dreadful power was coursing through the fragile, glowing Light egg closest to the tree. In five days, the shell would crack and a tiny pearlcatcher hatchling would emerge from it, sealing the fate of their clan.
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Before the time of scrolls, there was a quiet lair of dragons. Founded by a stout Guardian and his vicious-looking mate, a Mirror, the two silent beings forged a small home in the shade-touched shadows of the Sundial Ruins. With a slow but sure nod of approval from the celestial Lightweaver, the two were permitted to stay. They built and expanded upon their work over time, slowly moving rocks in the terrace, but didn't find it to their liking, and the pair flew off to the Mirrorlight Promenade, where they settled between the crumbling pillars. Unlike many of the dragons residing there, the progenitors did not live on the surface, choosing instead to burrow fairly deep below ground. There, the cheerful sounds of the adolescent dragons practicing taking flight and the bubbling laughter of the hatchlings could scarcely be heard, and the padding of the two walking along the hardened ground echoed softly into the vast network of tunnels around them.
In time, two fierce dragons approached their lair to rally and train the progenitors to become fit for the coming war. Despite hailing from Shadow and Plague, Sunrise and Sunset (Battle Names Lugal and Eres Utusus) answered to the call of the Lightweaver, preparing countless dragons for eternal service with the radiant goddess. Now, four there were, laid within the damp caves far below the sun. Over time, dragons in their care were trained for battle, and sent off to fight against the brambled threat of a coming Nature invasion. After the war, none returned. Wise and old dragons, who had come to the lair too old to fight but valuable as mentors to the warriors, saw the coming dark and left. One after another, dragons were sent off to various wars, and at the end, the two progenators themselves departed the lair to try to turn the tides. They died, never seeing their home again. The lair, once fertile grounds for raising new soldiers to serve the Light, was deserted. The history of the place, all the dragons that inhabited it, and their struggles, dreams, futures, and hopes, were lost to time. |
LithiarchJoined Flight Rising on 4/8/2015 in Light Flight. Primarily involved with world-building, dominance, and profit pushing. Character ListCurrent Main Cast Members:
Tempest (#32301186) Deceased/Emigrated: Sunrise (#656975) Sunset (#856288) Storm (#12128545) Venus (#12128546) |