Dragon Lords of the Bright Desert
The Dragon Lords of the Bright Desert were once the mighty protectors of the ancient Sulm Empire, each commanding a Brass Dragon in service to their god-king. Betrayed by their ruler and lost to history, their legacy is now being revived by Xyphra the Dawnwing, a Gold Dragon who seeks to restore their order and defend the Bright Desert once more.
History
Long before the Bright Desert became the arid wasteland it is today, a mighty river known as the Athis coursed through its heart, bringing life and prosperity to the kingdom of Sulm. The Sulm, a proud and powerful people, flourished under the rule of their god-kings, and none were more revered than the Dragon Lords—four champions who each commanded a mighty Brass Dragon, sworn to defend both their sovereign and the people of Sulm. For generations, these Dragon Lords stood as unyielding guardians, their greatest trial coming in the war against the effritii legions of Ral-Zakahn, the Scorched Tyrant, a dread fire demon who sought to claim the Athis for his own infernal dominion.
But the Dragon Lords were betrayed. The final ruler of Sulm, King Shattados, in his thirst for ultimate power, sought the cursed Scorpion Crown, an artifact hidden within the hellish domain of Malbolge, the Sixth Plane of Hell. He deceived the Dragon Lords, sending them on a doomed mission to retrieve it, ensuring that they would never return to stop his ascension. The kingdom of Sulm did not survive Shattados’s folly. When he donned the Scorpion Crown, he and his people were cursed, their once-great civilization crumbling into ruin, the Athis drying up, and the land becoming the merciless Bright Desert. The Dragon Lords became nothing more than whispers on the wind, their legacy lost to time.
Quest of the Dawnwing
Now, nearly 1,500 years later, a new hope has risen. A powerful gold dragon named Xyphra the Dawnwing has come to the Bright Desert, drawn by ancient visions and the whispers of fate. She has sworn to restore the Dragon Lords, believing that only a new order of dragon-bound champions can stand against the growing darkness that festers beneath the sands. To guide her quest, she seeks the wisdom of Amun Sa, the Ghost of Sulm, the lingering spirit of one of the original Dragon Lords, whose restless soul has long haunted the ruins of his fallen kingdom.
Xyphra has gathered a clutch of gold dragon eggs, each destined for a worthy hero who will prove themselves capable of wielding the ancient power of the Dragon Lords. These chosen few will bond with their dragons, raising and training them from hatchlings to formidable warriors, restoring the lost order and preparing for the battles to come. For the Bright Desert is not as dead as it seems—the remnants of Ral-Zakahn’s infernal host still linger in the deep places of the world, and the echoes of the Scorched Tyrant’s ambition may yet rise anew.
The time of the Dragon Lords has come again. Those who are chosen must embrace the burden of the past, forge their own legends, and ensure that the Bright Desert will know the protection of dragons once more.
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