The Sundering of Tiamat

Summary

At the end of The Godless Age, when Adrantor was ruled by Tiamat the Queen of Dragons, 22 mortal heroes rose up and fought in a cataclysmic battle that ultimately saw the Dragon Queen slain and banished to The Nine Hells. These 22 heroes ascended to divinity for their heroic deeds, but their bloodlines remained among the mortals. Their descendants always reached great heights of heroism and many became rulers of the various lands of Adrantor throughout history. In the common day for one to be accepted amongst the nobility, from the greatest emperor to the lowest petty lord, all can trace their ancestor to this battle, legitimately or not. And yet if the hushed rumors and gossip spread in quiet tavern halls are to be believed there are even numerous lowly peasants and Ramblers wandering the land unknowingly with a trace of this prestigious heritage in their veins and unknown greatness in their future.

Variations & Mutation

The oldest version of this legend was spread by the Dwarven Empire. In the classic tale, Moradin and his 22 sons overthrow the shackles of their draconic tyrants. After defeating all the dragons while ascending MOUNTAIN they reached the summit. Moradin took it upon himself to slay Tiamat the Queen of Dragons, though Moradin was slain in the cataclysmic battle, he managed to pierce the scales of Tiamat and significantly wound her, giving his sons the ability to slay her. With the end of the Dragon Queen's reign, the sons of Moradin were raised to godhood and blessed the dwarven people with their prosperity, and the five heads of Tiamat were used to form the thrones of the five great DWARF HOLDS. 
With the fall of the Dwarven Empire and the rise of THE REPUBLIC, the legend of Tiamat's fall was recontextualized to significantly downplay the significance of the Dwarves. Mordin was completely removed from the legend, and the 22 heroes became a united group of equals spread amongst the Republics races. Only one of the heroes was said to be dwarven, and he ultimately betrays the other 21 heroes before they face Tiamat resulting in the deaths of 9 of them. Those that survived embodied the central domains of Republic society and where the divine inspirations for their culture.
The beginning of the Elven raids of Adrantor initiated a schism amongst the believers of this now accepted version of the legend. With the revelation of the multiverse existing a small sect arose that believed that Tiamat had not been slain by the 22 heroes but only temporarily banished and her return was now upon them. The Republic went to extreme measures to suppress these groups including public executions but as THE REPUBLIC gradually fell into decline they eventually became the dominant faith, particularly amongst the human citizens. 
As Humanity became the most dominant race in the post Republic era the rulers of the numerous kingdoms that arose once again recontextualized the legend. Many people believed that the reason these particular individuals came to form their kingdoms and performed such heroic deeds during the fall of The Republic was that their lineage could be directly traced back to the original heroes that banished Tiamat. Though it was now accepted that Tiamat had not been slain and would ultimately return, it was commonly believed that the true descendants of the 22 heroes would be their reincarnated mortal avatars and finally slay The Queen of Dragons.  Since then every noble household has gone out of their way to prove that their family has the heroic blood and thus the divine right to rule. For several hundred years this has been the largely accepted rendition of the Sundering of Tiamat.

Date of Setting

0 TS