History of Thylea

One fateful day, a flight of powerful bronze dragons arrived on Thylea’s shores, each bearing a great champion from the Old World. These were the legendary warriors known as the Dragonlords, and they heralded an upheaval that would forever change the history of the Forgotten Land.   Within just a few years of their arrival, many small cities were founded, and a half-dozen small kingdoms sprang up along the roads of the western reaches. The Dragonlords founded powerful dynasties, and the humble mortals who had once lived in terror of the Titans now abandoned their temples and stood tall.   The Dragonlords were symbols of hope for a beleaguered people. Whenever any mortal settlement was razed to the ground by roving centaurs and cyclopes, the Dragonlords would repay the attackers in kind. Through harsh winters, blistering summers, and relentless assaults by the native races, the Dragonlords fought tirelessly, and the people of Thylea persevered.   Everywhere the dragons were greeted with shouts of adulation. When spotted flying overhead, they would be hailed as saviors, and great songs and feasts would be held in their honor. They were radiant to behold, bronze scales gleaming like fire. To be visited by one of the dragons was to be blessed; and nowhere was more blessed than the City of Mytros.   But the great powers that ruled Thylea grew jealous. Sydon and Lutheria, the Twin Titans, immortal children of the mother goddess, amassed great armies to eradicate the city. The Dragonlords responded by gathering all the mortals in Thylea into a united assault on the native races, and so began the First War.

The histories of the First War are vague, having been passed down through the centuries in the form of decaying scrolls and tapestries. What is known for certain is that the native races were driven into exile. The centaurs retreated into the steppes, while the satyrs fled into the forests. The Gygans, an ancient civilization of cyclopes, were annihilated, leaving behind the crumbling ruins of their fallen cities.   The cost of victory was great: by the time the war ended, the last of the dragons had been killed defending the city they loved most. Although the Dragonlords are remembered as the great heroes of this age, their noble dragons came to be equally venerated as guardian spirits. The blood of their sacrifice is woven into the stones of Mytros, and to this day the city is said to glow radiant bronze at sunset.

Having lost their mounts, the Dragonlords commissioned a fleet of warships and took to the seas. The greatest of these ships was called the Ultros, captained by one Estor Arkelander. He is said to have sailed into the very depths of the underworld where Lutheria sleeps upon her diamond throne. The other Dragonlords are said to have ascended Phraxys, the Tower of Sydon, where the Lord of Storms watches all.   Many songs are sung of the trials and troubles of the Dragonlords, but few can say what actually transpired during their final journey into the perils of the Forgotten Sea. The priests of Mytros watched for signs of the impending apocalypse. On the night of the winter solstice, when Thylea’s doom seemed near, the boiling seas suddenly calmed and the nightmares ended.   Some days later, a black ship sailed into the harbor of Mytros, carrying the bodies of many of the Dragonlords. The ship was captained by Damon, a powerful wizard who had served the Dragonlords during the First War. He was mortally wounded, but he uttered not a single word. He delivered three precious items to the Temple of the Five, and then vanished in his ship, along with the bodies and arms of his fallen masters.   One of the items that Damon carried was a scroll of parchment, upon which was written the Oath of Peace. This Oath was cause for great celebration. Sydon and Lutheria had sworn not to take vengeance upon the mortals of Thylea for a period of 500 years, provided that daily sacrifices to the Titans should resume, and that their temples should be maintained and honored.