A dragon’s power is only rivaled by their ambition and arrogance. Dragons were birthed by the same process that created the world itself, and a spark of original magic burns in the heart of every member of the species. As its earliest mortal inhabitants, dragons have always felt a natural ownership over the world - and with few creatures able to rival them in power, longevity, and intelligence, it is a claim that is rarely challenged.
At the dawn of time, the ambition of the dragons was held in check by the gods themselves, who dwelled long among their creation, shaping it to their desires. When the gods at last departed, leaving mortals to their own stewardship, the dragons laid their claim upon a world they saw themselves as the natural heirs of, Or so it be told?
War of the Dragon Lords
Perhaps if dragons were all alike in temperament they could have forged a great and wondrous society. Unfortunately, it’s the nature of dragons to feud - each driven by their alignments and inner natures to contend for the same territory. Red versus gold, silver versus white, dragons began to divide up the world their desires, with no regard for any of the races they shared it with. Clashing titans of terrible size and strength, the wars of the dragons brought devastation wherever they broke out, until the entire world was a battlefield. The great cities left behind by the golden age of the gods were shaken to their foundations, and trade and industry ground to a stop. In the escalating battles. Dragons probed the depths of their arcane powers to unleash mighty acts of “High Dragon magic,” incredible rituals that call forth the world’s raw magic through the power of dragon song. By these acts the dragons built enormous lairs, created monsters of terrible power, and devastated whole stretches of countryside.
Short-lived truces would allow the other peoples of the world just enough time to rebuild, before a continuation of hostilities shattered the peace again, as the boundaries of the dragon territories shifted yet again over the centuries long wars
The end of the War of Dragons, and the dawn of the modern era, began with the founding of an abbey long ago.
The War of Dragons devastated the world for centuries - an endless conflict between bickering dragon lords who battled over territory without any regard for the “lesser” races living there. This war was brought to an end only through the efforts of four heroes and the sacrifice of one noble dragon. Working together, they were able to force a powerful new artifact - the Orb of Dragonsouls, which would allow its bearer to control the mind of any dragon.
The End Of Dragon War
The wars of the dragons only came to an end when four heroes from the Greenwold - a dwarf, elf, halfling and human, went on a quest to speak with one of the dragon lords - a mighty bronze dragon named Aphelion. The heroes convinced the dragon to help them bring peace to the world, and through the sacrifices of all five, the Orb of Dragon Souls was forged. By its power, the dragons were forced to negotiate for peace.
In the hands of the good heroes, it was the ultimate deterrent, and by its power the people of the Greenwold were able to sue for peace in court of the Dragon Lords. Lines of territory were drawn which the dragons agreed to abide by, and for the first time in a long age the Greenwold was able to re-build and flourish.
In a grand convocation, held in a cloud temple in the high reaches of the sky, the dragons negotiated a peace - dividing up the entire world into ten territories. Each territory would be ruled by a dragon of a given color, with the eldest dragon of that color being the lord of the region. No other dragon would be allowed to pass into or interfere with the territory of any other dragon lord. Each dragon lord assumed the mantle of their governorship in a way suited to their demeanor, some ruling as powerful tyrants, others embracing the new period of peace.
Fearing that the Orb would be a potent weapon for evil if it ever fell into the wrong hands, the four heroes dedicated the rest of their lives to protecting it. They founded an abbey in the ruins of old Grayhaven - a place where the survivors of the dragon war could seek peace and healing. In its depths, they built a secret vault and concealed the Orb there - warding it with mighty magics to prevent the artifact from falling into the hands of the unworthy. Centuries passed, Grayhaven flourished, and the threat of dragons receded into memory. As the peace drew on, the abbey gradually became neglected and fell into disuse. The city continued to grow around it, until the abbey became just one more part of the city’s tangled and forgotten sewer system, little more than a haunt for rats and thieves.
Somewhere within the abbey’s subterranean, crumbling halls the Orb of Dragonsouls still rests, the two-edged sword by which peace was forged and by which it can be broken, waiting patiently to emerge again into the world.