History of Strixhaven
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On the world of Arcavios, out of just such a surge, came the Dragons.
There were five of them, each one a genius of the ways of magic, each one as prideful as a supernova, and as willful as a black hole.
Their names were Velomachus, Beledros, Shadrix, Galazeth, and Tanazir. Their sibling squabbles reshaped mountain ranges, broadened oceans, scorched the skies and wracked the newborn world with great and terrible displays of unsurmountable magical power.
The reign of terror that was the youth and adolescence of the Dragons mellowed slowly as they grew to be adults. Over aeons, the five siblings watched their children, grandchildren, and great great grandchildren live out their days as mighty tyrants, wild destructive beasts, grand emperors and subjects of worship by cults and religions around the world.
And always there remained the five, above all things alive on Arcavios, with power even to compete with that of the Gods who had come to exist there. But with all that power came a burning curiosity. An unquenchable thirst for understanding of how it worked, where it came from, and how far its limits could be pushed.
In the name of this curiosity, the Dragons met and debated the ultimate possible test of the limits of the magic that was theirs to command. It was a meeting that took many of the lifetimes of lesser beings, but in the end, they finally agreed.
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So the Five Dragons said their goodbyes to Arcavios, much to the secret relief of the rising civilizations of Elves and Humans and their like, and departed into the void, to build their own place, a new world. Their Strixhaven.
It was the fastidious Tanazir who measured the globe, set the temperature and speed of its tiny sun, and set it spinning on its axis.
It was the bombastic Galazeth who painted the sky with colour, and sculpted the land and seas.
It was the nurturing Beledros who breathed the first life into the world, and set the cycle of birth and decay into motion on the young world.
It was the subtle Shadrix who hid his little mysteries around the world, giving rise to the winds and weather that would bellow and howl their poetry through the high atmospheres and deep canyons.
And finally, Velomachus, watchful and mature beyond his millenia, took it upon himself to record all that happened upon the newborn world. He gave the year shape with his calendar, gave the simple creatures memory, and set record deep in the bones of the ground of the creation his siblings had crafted. By his work, all things would be remembered. And so it was that the Dragons, their work done and reconciled, and remembered, were satisfied in their work. --
In despair, the aging Dragons bent their efforts to forstalling their doom, and they worked long into the millenia that followed without rest looking for a way to stop their long lives from drawing to a close.
For a time, as they toiled in their private domains, there was silence on the world of Strixhaven.
In the absence of the Dragons' direct intervention, life moved at its own pace. Creatures evolved, thrived, declined, went extinct, and were replaced. Lord Velomachus, legend says, left his work for a time in frustration and despair, and his attention was caught by a strange little species. They had been left to their own means for such a long time that they had become intelligent, and formed an adorable little empire. In need of distraction to soothe his torment, he decided to watch them. The years passed, and sovereigns were born, and died, and were replaced. In time, the little empire grew old and malfunctional, and crumbled to rubble.
As the Dragon watched, the creatures built anew from the debris of their old civilization, and carried on as they always had before. And again. And again.
By the time Velomachus realized that thousands of years had passed, he had an idea. He rose with a start, causing no shortage of havoc and panic in the small, unaware empire that had been rebuilt around him, and flew to tell his kin the news.
He discovered them already convening to meet in the wilderness, excitedly chattering amongst themselves. In their talk, they revealed that they had all had the same idea.
Tanazir had been watching the aging of particles, watching as they deteriorated, were reduced to their basest possible components, and reformed, new and energized.
Beledros looked upon the natural world for inspiration, and observed as the things that lived all passed away, were consumed and returned to the world, and the world used the old to create the new things that would take their place.
Shadrix and Galazeth had similar stories to tell, and the Five ruminated on their inspirations together and devised their plan, for another great work of magic.
The plan was a bold one, and of course there was the risk it wouldn't work -
Origin
-The Five Dragons
"Before time, or space, or anything, there were the Dragons. That's how the legends go. Flattering, honestly." -Lord Velomachus With the first emergence of life on a new world comes a great burst of energy, a typhoon of magic from which are born a planet's fledgeling gods, primordial spirits, and other beings of unimaginable power.On the world of Arcavios, out of just such a surge, came the Dragons.
There were five of them, each one a genius of the ways of magic, each one as prideful as a supernova, and as willful as a black hole.
Their names were Velomachus, Beledros, Shadrix, Galazeth, and Tanazir. Their sibling squabbles reshaped mountain ranges, broadened oceans, scorched the skies and wracked the newborn world with great and terrible displays of unsurmountable magical power.
The reign of terror that was the youth and adolescence of the Dragons mellowed slowly as they grew to be adults. Over aeons, the five siblings watched their children, grandchildren, and great great grandchildren live out their days as mighty tyrants, wild destructive beasts, grand emperors and subjects of worship by cults and religions around the world.
And always there remained the five, above all things alive on Arcavios, with power even to compete with that of the Gods who had come to exist there. But with all that power came a burning curiosity. An unquenchable thirst for understanding of how it worked, where it came from, and how far its limits could be pushed.
In the name of this curiosity, the Dragons met and debated the ultimate possible test of the limits of the magic that was theirs to command. It was a meeting that took many of the lifetimes of lesser beings, but in the end, they finally agreed.
-
Forging of the World
It was the hurricane of raw magic power that birthed the infant Arcavios that also gave them life. So they decided they would see if their own magic was potent enough to in turn give form and life to a world of their creation. It would be a world of their own design, inhabited by creatures of their imagining, and all given shape by their will.So the Five Dragons said their goodbyes to Arcavios, much to the secret relief of the rising civilizations of Elves and Humans and their like, and departed into the void, to build their own place, a new world. Their Strixhaven.
It was the fastidious Tanazir who measured the globe, set the temperature and speed of its tiny sun, and set it spinning on its axis.
It was the bombastic Galazeth who painted the sky with colour, and sculpted the land and seas.
It was the nurturing Beledros who breathed the first life into the world, and set the cycle of birth and decay into motion on the young world.
It was the subtle Shadrix who hid his little mysteries around the world, giving rise to the winds and weather that would bellow and howl their poetry through the high atmospheres and deep canyons.
And finally, Velomachus, watchful and mature beyond his millenia, took it upon himself to record all that happened upon the newborn world. He gave the year shape with his calendar, gave the simple creatures memory, and set record deep in the bones of the ground of the creation his siblings had crafted. By his work, all things would be remembered. And so it was that the Dragons, their work done and reconciled, and remembered, were satisfied in their work. --
The Cycle
-- It is said that when the Dragons finally turned from their workings to look upon eachother in pride and boastfulness, they were horrified to discover the marks upon them that the passing ages had left. Epoch after Epoch, era after era had passed in their play on Arcavios, but finally, it seemed, age and the effort of their work had finally withered and tired them. The Dragons grew old on their new world, and as is the way of things, their minds as one turned to their end on the horizon.In despair, the aging Dragons bent their efforts to forstalling their doom, and they worked long into the millenia that followed without rest looking for a way to stop their long lives from drawing to a close.
For a time, as they toiled in their private domains, there was silence on the world of Strixhaven.
In the absence of the Dragons' direct intervention, life moved at its own pace. Creatures evolved, thrived, declined, went extinct, and were replaced. Lord Velomachus, legend says, left his work for a time in frustration and despair, and his attention was caught by a strange little species. They had been left to their own means for such a long time that they had become intelligent, and formed an adorable little empire. In need of distraction to soothe his torment, he decided to watch them. The years passed, and sovereigns were born, and died, and were replaced. In time, the little empire grew old and malfunctional, and crumbled to rubble.
As the Dragon watched, the creatures built anew from the debris of their old civilization, and carried on as they always had before. And again. And again.
By the time Velomachus realized that thousands of years had passed, he had an idea. He rose with a start, causing no shortage of havoc and panic in the small, unaware empire that had been rebuilt around him, and flew to tell his kin the news.
He discovered them already convening to meet in the wilderness, excitedly chattering amongst themselves. In their talk, they revealed that they had all had the same idea.
Tanazir had been watching the aging of particles, watching as they deteriorated, were reduced to their basest possible components, and reformed, new and energized.
Beledros looked upon the natural world for inspiration, and observed as the things that lived all passed away, were consumed and returned to the world, and the world used the old to create the new things that would take their place.
Shadrix and Galazeth had similar stories to tell, and the Five ruminated on their inspirations together and devised their plan, for another great work of magic.
The plan was a bold one, and of course there was the risk it wouldn't work -
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