The greed of the peoples had become too great. They had forgotten their reverence and respect for the creatures that had made their world from ashes. The bodies of our brethren were becoming more and more common to find while these small mortals stood above them in terrible victory.
Fine. Have your laughter. Our time is now. The All Scale has been called upon. They have assured us that our time is coming. There will be balance again...
- Unknown
When dragons die in Ashirma, it is something that has a massive impact on everything around them for a great distance. The older the dragon, the bigger that impact. Dragons are creatures of ancient power and energy, so when they die that has to go somewhere. It can lead to environmental cataclysm and decimation, or perhaps it enhances the ecosystem in wild and unpredictable ways. It can change a person's entire physiology, creating half-dragons or dragonborn out of other races, or binding them to a draconic spirit like with Drakewardens. Whatever it is, it is not to be taken lightly. Dragons are few and far between to come in contact with at all and to fight one even more so.
The Story
Nearly 8000 years ago, a group of mighty adventurers slayed a dragon of power and renown and began calling themselves a
Horde. This group began to monopolize the market by being called upon or accepted for the most prominent bounties and adventures given with the best reward. Because of this, other groups began to conspire and seek out dragons to slay, putting aside their reverence for the beginnings of the world itself in favor of fame and fortune. Soon the title
Horde was given to any group of adventurers who had collectively slain a dragon, and more and more the respect of these creatures or their lives dwindled as a spirit of greed overtook the land.
Eventually though, as was inevitable, one ambitious adventure decided to seek to slay a dragon alone. She traveled out, equipped with all that she could think and with many years of hardened experience behind her, and finally encountered an ancient dragon. The battle was long and terrible, their fight devastating the land for miles, but in the end, she prevailed and gave herself the title of
Dragon. Thus began the race to gain the title of
Dragon. It was by no means as common as those who went as a group, for the dragons were fierce as ever, but there was only a matter of time before this adventurer was not the only one to have this title.
At first, the dragons had hope and confidence, they thought they could push the mortals back into their place and regain their populace. But after a few hundred years of being hunted to the edges and crevices of the plane, at last one was desperate enough to plead for help to the only one that they knew could lend them aid. This dragon pleaded with The All Scale, an ancient force and entity known only to the dragons with rumors and stories passed to the mortals who before had the honor to know the heritage, to give them a defense against this slaughter.
And The All Scale answered...
It started with one, the entire adventuring party wiped out in an instant and the town nearby disappearing off the map. There was no one to tell of what happened. All gone. Then came another, and this time there were observers and survivors.
The Ruins of Narder Castle was this one that was seen, strange untamed magical energy spilling out from the dead body of the dragon and warping all those that were near it into unrecognizable creatures in vengeance with its final power. And then more. Soon came
Catun: Nyx Arcana and the consumption of all magic. And the last straw as the continent devolved into chaos and ruin as they continued to die and fall, was the
Dragon's Wrath Wasteland & The Aerial Isles.
Finally, without even any call from the continent's leaders, it stopped. The people of the land cries had reached the ears of the adventurers great and small alike. And all knew in their hearts it had to stop or all would be lost. Their attentions shifted to rebuilding the world they had broken, and the Dragons all began to move away into hiding, their trust and hope broken in the sons of the earth who had forgotten their beginnings.
It has now been some several hundred years since the last death of a dragon on our lands, the world has mended as much as it could from that time, but the scars remain.
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