The Final Dragonsong
By fang and claw, tooth and scale, Through the sky he doth sail, A great loss to the world at his command, The destruction of our kin, our final stand. Death will not claim his hide, Though the sons of the earth shall try. A scar upon the world he will leave, A reminder in ash and death of his greed. Stone shall rise and scale shall fall, Our bones dance under his thrall. Til few remain, our lives in chain. A slow extinction we will face, The final end of our race.Legend passed from Dragon kind and Dwarves tells tale of how the Reign of Scale came to an end, featuring a prophecy uttered by the last born Oracle of Tiamat.
Summary
The Final Dragonsong was uttered by the blind oracle Minadra Silverwing, her final prophecy before succumbing to a poisoned meal. It is said her gaze was fixed upon the young dragon Fir'Tan, son of Val'Dru; Leader of Dragon kind. Val'Dru did not wish to believe the prophecy and dismissed it as the dying delusions of the oracle. The warnings went ignored by most of the council present, though word of it did spread.
Over time Fir'Tan began to amass his own followers and dabble in forbidden magics. He experimented on humans, finding them worthless creatures. He perfected his necromancy and contrived a way to grant himself immortality through it, though he would need an immense amount of energy. Fir'Tan set his eyes upon the The Heart of Terra as that source.
Fir'Tan first rose to power through a hostile takeover, first slaying his sire as he slept and then using his necromantic magic to animate the corpse. Val'Dru attacked the council, wounding several among the Drake and Wyrms before Fir'Tan slew him again. He used the good will graced to him through saving the council to take his father's place and rally more followers.
Forty-seven years from the prediction of Minadra Silverwing, Fir'Tan struck the death knell of Dragon kind. Enslaved humans, fallen dragons, and loyal followers stood by his side as he hacked through the roots of the Heart of Terra. While his forces drove back those that would stop him, he conducted his unholy ritual. The tree and all those connected to it's network were sacrificed, draining the life from them and the areas around them to grant himself immortality.
Fir'Tan became a Lich and emerged from the tree to do battle with his enemies. He took many wounds that should have killed him, but he kept going until the opposing force was driven back. By the time he was brought down, his rotting and torn body reflected his rotten soul. He was slain by a coalition of dragons; Ji-tung the Lung dragon, Stormbringer the Quetzcotl, Leshval of the Seaserpents, Hatul the Fairy dragon, and Ishyll the Cockatrice. Through their combined efforts, Fir'Tan was immobilized and bound in the sea long enough for Ishyll to petrify him with his magic. The six dragons remain entombed beneath the waves, their location lost to time and memory. The sacrifices of the five to defeat Fir'Tan are immortalized by the dragons, but were not enough to prevent the wrath of Atlor. True to prophecy, Atlor fashioned stone into an army and slaughtered dragon kind, leaving handfuls of survivors scattered to the corners of Eldris, hidden away to slowly atrophy and die off.
Historical Basis
The events of the legend are historically accurate, recorded to history by both dwarf and dragon. Evidence of the battles can still be found on Eldris today, Fir'Tan's Scar having never recovered from the ritual. Other areas on Eldris remain barren wastelands and magical dead zones where trees connected to the massive root system of Terra's Heart were sacrificed or poisoned. Somewhere out there, the six petrified dragons remain hidden beneath the waves. Dwarven weapons of Dracossium are stored in vaults or lost in battlefields, as well as the bones of slaughtered dragons. The events happened so long ago that they are now legend.
Spread
The legends of the Dragon Wars are not so well spread today as they once were. They exist in the annals of Dwarven history and scant books written by the first sculpted dwarves. Dragons pass the legend down through song, mural, and their own vellum scrolls in the rare places where they are able to live as a society.
Variations & Mutation
Among the dragons, there are variations of the legend, as happens when passed through oral traditions. Some dragons speak of where the heroes tomb is, others speak of multiple liches created during the ritual, and yet others speak of Fir'Tan's ritual turning all living beings present on the battlefield into his zombie army.
Cultural Reception
The dwarves keep this legend alive to impart the importance of their duty and impart the gravity of their sins to their young.
Dragons use this legend to impart the dangers of greed and the importance of believing the omens.
Date of First Recording
Reign of Scale, 5247
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