The third age of Antheros is known as The Age of Dragons.
The world of Antheros had been reduced to little more than a
charred husk during the war between Evera and Deinous in the Second Age. Jormungandr the greatest of the Dragon
Lords had taken his place at the top of the world where he slumbered and
maintained the barrier between Antheros and its moons.
The Remaining Seven Dragon Lords had been left to nurture
the world back to its former glory.
At first the dragons did this on their own, and through their care and the
power of magic they began to slowly breath life back into the dead planet.
After several thousand years the plants and waters had
started to return. The wildlife
and creatures (such as Centaurs and other mythological type things) had started
to reappear as well, but there was still much left to do.
The Dragon Lords, however, had begun to grow arrogant in
their power. They felt they deserved a better fate than to have to spend all their time caring for the
planet. Eikpyrnir, the Dragon Lord
of the Forest, had decided he would use the divine abilities granted to him by the god Antheros to create servants that would tend to the Forest in his stead.
Eikpyrnir created the first of the seven Dragonspawned
races: The Elves. Eikpyrnir
favored magic, and granted all his elves the ability to command the arcane by
giving them the eyes of a dragon and teaching them the secret language of magic. He made them immortal and because
Eikpyrnir was vain he made them all beautiful to behold. He bound the Elves to himself and the
forest, and charged them with the care of the woodlands. Eikpyrnir then found himself a peaceful
and comfortable glade where he spent the next thousand years taking what he felt was a well deserved nap.
Following the example set by his twin, Nidhogg the Jungle
Lord created the second Dragonspawned race: The Mouryxt. Nidhogg modeled the Mouryxt after the
large Jungle Cats that lived amid the trees. The Mouryxt were swift, graceful, strong and fierce. He gave them a playful streak for he himself
had one as well. To some he gave
the gift of magic, but he did not feel it was necessary for all to have. He made them keen yet instinctual
creatures. He then bound them to
his service and to the Jungles.
Nidhogg then spent his days creating games to play in his jungle home,
and would occasionally venture out to play tricks on the other dragon lords.
Hafgufa the Sea Dragon had grown a strong liking to the
taste of the creatures that lived in the worlds oceans, and so that
she could have more time to devote to dining upon them, she created the third
Dragonspawned race: The Merfolk. She
gave the Merfolk the tails of fish, so that they could swiftly travel the
waters. Hafgufa was vain like
Eikpyrnir and made the Merfolk beautiful as well. She made them natural hunters with net and trident so that
they might better catch fish for her.
To the men she grated the gift of magic to aid in their hunt, and to the
females she granted them a beautiful voice and the talent for song. This way she could have music with
which to eat by. Hafgufa then
bound the Merfolk to herself the worlds Seas. In addition to taking care of the oceans the Merfolk were
made to bring great quantities of Sea Creatures to Hafgufa. She would then gorge
herself while her Mermaids sang for her.
Hafgufa soon grew fat but refused to see it.
The fourth Dragonspawned race was the Dwarves created by
Fafnir the Dragon of the Mountains.
Fafnir had grown obsessed with the beauty of all the precious gems and
stones that could be found in the rock.
He made the Dwarves stout and tough as the stone they would live
in. He gave them eyes made to see
in the black of caves, and muscles suited to working rock along with an innate
skill for working metal and stone so that they could craft Fafnir fine works of
art and Jewelry. He only gave a
few the knack for magic, and really only so that they could use it to enhance
their craft. He bound the Dwarves
to himself and the Mountains, and bade them to mine and bring him treasures. Soon Fafnir’s great cave was so full of
gems, gold and finely crafted items that he was forced to sleep atop piles of it.
The Orcs were the fifth Dragonspawned race; they were
created by The Desert Wyrm Raratoskyr.
Raratoskyr, after spending several thousand years in the unforgiving
desert, had grown tough, burned, and scarred. She had also been blinded by the sun, but had gained a
magical sight in its place that allowed her to view the past, present and the
future all at once. She scoffed at
her cousin’s obsessions with vanity, games, and trinkets. She valued strength and power, and so
she made her Orcs to be strong and thick-skinned like herself. Of all the dragonspawned races the
Orcs were the most ugly (possibly because their creator was
blind, or because she simply didn’t care). Raratoskyr decided to model the females of her race more
closely after herself and so she made them all blind, but gave them the gift of
her magical sight instead. The
males were made brutish and many in order to better survive their harsh
environment. Raratoskyr bound the
orcs to herself and the desert, and she then buried herself in the sand where
she spent her time looking on the future.
She was the only dragon who knew of what fate awaited them all.
Hilidisyinir Dragon Lord of the Marsh created the Goblins as
the sixth Dragonspawned Race. The
cleverest and smallest of all the Dragon Lords Hilidisyinir created his Goblins
to be as witty and as intelligent as he was. He made them small like he was and ugly like their home was
(although they didn’t turn out quite as ugly as the orcs). He gave most of them a talent for magic
because when used properly, magic was good for playing tricks on people. He then bound them to himself and to
the swamps. Hilidisyinir then
devoted his time to matching wits and playing games with his cousin Nidhogg.
The final Dragonspawned race to be made was the Humans, whom
were created by Landvættir the Great Dragon of the Plains. The only reason Landvættir made his
race last was because he took it took him a long time to decide what exactly he
wanted in his race. Landvættir had
trouble deciding what skills and attributes he valued most, and then one day
realized that not one skill should be placed above another and that truly a
perfect race should have the capacity for any and all skills. And so,
Landvættir designed his Humans to be first and foremost adaptable. Humans, while not particularly well
suited for any single skill, had been made so that they could apply themselves to
any skill they needed (with practice).
He granted a fair number of them with the skill for Magic as well. Landvættir
then bound the Humans to himself and the plains. He then spent most of his days traveling the world of
Antheros, for Landvættir had a great wanderlust.
A thousand years passed and the Dragonspawned races toiled
away working their bound lands and for the pleasure of their Dragon Lords. The world continued to grow and
heal until finally it had returned to its former glory.
The god Antheros stirred in the worlds core, awakening after
having recovered much of the energy he had spent creating the Dragon
Lords. He grew pleased when he saw
how his world had prospered.
Then after looking more closely he saw that his Dragons had
created races of their own. Races
which had been bound to them as little more than servants and slaves. Slaves that had been doing the work his
Dragons were meant to do. Dragons
who now busied themselves with games, food, and slumber. Only Jorgmungandr, who maintained the barrier protecting the world from his brothers, had stayed true
to his duties.
Antheros made his presence known to the seven wayward Dragon
Lords and summoned them to him.
When they assembled he told them he was disappointed with their
choices. All the Dragons were
crestfallen at their creator’s displeasure, except for Raratoskyr who had foreseen
this day and had prepared.
Antheros went on to explain that he had granted the Dragons
free will like he had all his creatures. So, he was not upset at them for
neglecting their duties, for that is the nature of freedom. It was after all their choice to do so
and he would never take that away.
However, he could not abide them creating life that would never know any choice at all save the ones given them by their masters. It was for this act that they would now be punished.
Antheros’ first punishment was to strip the seven Dragon Lords of
much of their power, including their immortality. The seven lords could now be slain, and they were told that
the only way to prevent themselves from withering away and dying like all other
living creatures was if they were to join their cousin Jormungandr in slumber
at the roof of the world.
He was not completely cruel, however, for he allowed them to
ability to sire lesser dragons, through whom they could continue to experience
the waking world by sharing their senses.
They would only be able to watch, hear, feel, and smell however, as the
Dragon Lords themselves would have no control over what their children did.
Unable to face the prospect of mortality, all Seven Dragon Lords then traveled to the roof the world
where they each took a place within the circle made by the much larger
Jormungandr. They each followed
his example and bit upon their own tails and six of the seven immediately entered into a deep
slumber along side him.
As her cousins slept Raratoskyr remained awake so that she
could lay the eggs that would become the lesser dragons. She would lay 500 eggs, just as she had
foreseen, before she joined her cousins in sleep.
Antheros then turned his attention to the Dragonspawned
races. He unbound them from their service to their land and their dragon lords
by granting them each free will.
The seven Dragonspawned races all awoke as if from a dream free to do as
they pleased for the first time in their existence. Even though they didn’t fully understand what had happened, all the Dragonspawned
celebrated that day; all but the Elves that is.
The elves found themselves mourning that day. This is because, in the same instant
they had been granted their freedom, they had also lost their immortality.
Antheros then returned to the core of his world where he watched these new races with interest. He had not created them, and so he did not know what they might do with his beloved world. He thought about looking into the future to find out, but in the end he decided it would be more fun to just wait and see what may come...
Then started the fourth age of Antheros: The Age of Man.
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