The Guardians

orig jms, Unsplash
peaks, river Flowscape

Tall, grey, snow-crowned, the Guardians sit on either side of the Kordi rini, and stand as sentries to the wondrous depths of the Abyss.

~Farara, last companion to Lajaka

In this document:

All artwork by Shanda Nelson unless otherwise stated

The Abyss refers to both the deep canyon that the Kordi rini runs through and Lajaka's underground lair. The canyon, Hekara's Abyss, is named after a famous shadowarts practitioner who thought to find the dragon, but only fell to insanity.
The Ice Dragon's Lair, which runs beneath the canyon and the two stately mountains on either side of the headwaters, has always been known as the Abyss.

Origin

While the two mountains on either side of the Kordi rini have always stood as sentries to the Abyss, they did not get their current names until the Jonna Empire conquered Ay a di galay (now modern Rakan).
In the early days of the empire, King Giaral had the backing of Eserial, master to Kykini Cede, Flame Dragon of Kassak. Through threat of Flame Dragon annihilation, King Tokindi of Aya di galay bowed to the invading Condi. Other countries took nervous note, and when Eserial's son, Jaioron, entered the Abyss and returned as master to Lajaka, many capitulated, not wishing to battle two dragons and destroy their peoples while inevitably losing.

Giarel rode the reputation of two dragons to victory after victory. And therein lay the catch; countries bowed only when confronted with dragons. Eserial passed and Kykini Cede returned to the Glass Volcano. Then her son passed, Lajaka returned to the Abyss, and Giarel's son, Fidaran looked at holding an empire without his most effective weapons.
He, too, passed, leaving the problem to his son. Adraoshen, eager to push for more land and the wealth that brought, realized he needed the dragons to again strike fear in the hearts of non-Condi.

He needed his own Eserial and Jaioron. Eager for court standing and fame, siojhetioxh and other light artists flocked to the volcano and the Abyss, seeking the dragonstones in hopes of becoming dragonmasters.
Two siojhetioxh, Lady Kiune from the Kand Theove Lightarts School, and Lady Majari, from the Aya di galay campus of the Ruojheviorioh Lightarts School, decided to seek the Vendari.

Kiune and Majari

Both Kiune and Majari, with the blessing of their respective lightarts schools, gathered friends and assistants, and headed for the Abyss. They met in Kath ri'dan, a small city north of the Abyss, and realizing the intent of the other, hastened to Lajaka's lair.
Neither company knew the location of the cave Jaioron used to enter the dragon's lair. Majari and her companions chose the eastern mountain, Kiune and her companions chose the western one, and each sought a way into the Abyss.

As Strong Heat turned to Spiced Air, both siojhetioxh became desperate. Low on supplies and hounded by a fierce need to outcompete a member of a competing lightarts school, one or both made a terrible choice; take the other out.
Most of the ensuing battle is shrouded in myth, and the respective lightarts schools hid the eyewitness accounts from scholarly view. Legends say the skies darkened and lightning crashed to the ground as the two seeded the air with their magick. The mountaintops exploded, they and most of their companions died, and the Kordi rini stopped flowing.

The Guardians

After the survivors limped back to Kath ri'dan, fantastic tales began to circulate about the battle. So many, in fact, that the mountaintops the respective siojhetioxh stood upon became synonymous with them.
A religious tale began to circulate a generation after the battle, in which a local priest battled the spirits of the two, who remained on the blighted mountaintops and continued to clash on stormy nights. He supposedly stuffed their rebellious ghosts into two altars, one on each peak, and continued to pray at them until he died. This kept them confined so they could harm no others. He became known as the Guardian.
His guardianship morphed into a tale about the siojhetioxh guarding Lajaka's lair from those who would do harm. The two peaks collectively became known as the Guardians; Kiune to the west, Majari to the east. They can be seen for dragon lengths in all directions, a beacon and a warning to those who would dare find the entrance into the Abyss and attempt to master the dragon.

mausoleum Martin Moutayrek, Adobe Stock Images
woman Teodore Lazarev, Adobe Stock Image