Sixty thousand years ago, dragons and giants were friends. More than friends; the teachers of the giants, their fathers and their gods. They have given them everything, too much, as it turned out. Dal Quor, the plane of dreams was source of the first invasion. The first wave of war, that spread across the face of Eberron.
The dragons could not let their children drown in that invasion and they feared that this invasion would spread across Eberron, to reach their precious Argonessen. So they joined the giants in their struggle and researched a ritual that would tear apart the connection of Dal Quor and Eberron. It would end the invasion of the Dream Plane creatures, but it ended a lot more.
A ripple in the magical fabric spread across Xen'drik in those days, it did not only tear apart the connection between the planes, it destroyed half of Xen'drik and left the giants and their civilization in ruin. Plagues spread across the land and the giants slaves, the drow and the elves, used that opportunity to free themselves from their chains and wage yet another war against their masters. Crippled through the first magical cataclysm, the giants struggled and their doom was certain.
And then they remembered. Something that should have never again be brought up on the face of Eberron. They wanted to use the same ritual, to save their doomed civilization and stop the civil war against their slaves, that brought hell on Eberron so many years ago. But this time, the dragons would not repeat their failure, they would not let Eberron and everything that existed, be torn apart by a bunch of power hungry children.
High above Xen'drik in the clouds, forty thousand years ago. There he was. A dragon, flying to his own longest day. It was the longest day in the history of Xen'drik, a day that would never end, for some. Just like them, he was thinking, thinking about the past, the why, the how.
The history of a race, the destiny of the giants. Was it meant to be a failure? Was the error they made, by teaching them, more of a failure, than what the giants wanted to do now? Should the giants be punished for wanting to save themselves? Or was it the dragons that deserved punishment?
All thought was blown away by the strong winds that pulled on his face, as he turned towards the earth. With a nauseating flush of clouds in his eyes, he broke through the heavens gate and saw the destruction and the war that was waging beneath him. The roaring of giants and powerful magic filled the air. The very fabric of being was twisted in this fight.
A ruined land, a destroyed city, sunken into the rock and crumbled to dust. The dust of the greatest giant city on Xen'drik lay beneath him. On the far horizon he could see something coming, could feel the power building, but they needed more time. They had to buy some time, to stop the giants from destroying not only Xen'drik but all of Eberron in their foolish attempt to save their doomed civilization.
Chaos was upon him. He had left the safety of the clouds and instantly a bolt of lightning struck past him. He tumbled to the side nearly breaking his wing bone, but quickly gained control over his flight. He raced towards the giant that tried to kill him. As he flew by with dazzling speed, a quick lash of his tail was all that was needed to bring the giant down. The gigantic humanoid hit the ground and the dragon flew a wide circle to gather speed for his next attack. The giant surprisingly got up again, he was tougher than the dragon had thought and now he was ready to battle the attacking dragon with his big two handed sword. The dragon came in full speed and with a mighty forward flap of his massive wings he nearly instantly stopped right in front of the giant. He was flapping right above ground, standing still. The giant was blinded by the dust, charged forward forward through the cloud of debris and crushed into the dragon and left him tumbling back. As he came to a halt, he tried to get up on his feet, the giant already came charging. Now was the time, the dragon thought, it was time to leave this plane of existence, as he saw the sword of the giant coming down, a flash of purple light, that was brighter than the sun, blinded his eyes and then there was silence...
* * * *
... forty thousand years later, there he still was. Awaiting the killing blow of the giant with his jaws wide opened to scream. Awaiting the destruction of the world. Lost and forgotten by the sands of time. His fight meaningless and his flesh transformed to purple stone. All his thought and being frozen back in time, to be a silent watchmen, over what was upon the world yet again. Before him, his ancient adversary standing just as still, frozen, delivering his victory blow. Both forever bound in the endless thought of struggle, both souls forever trapped.
Around them, the drums of war echoed across the purple plains again. The giants, or what was left of them after that fateful day, were moving again. The children of the past, have not grown up over the years, they still make the same mistakes and bring others with them. Other children, other races, that do not learn from the mistakes of the past. Amongst the children of men though, a beacon of hope glows as bright as the light of destruction in the past. The fire of Stormreach, it's magical lighthouse attracting others to right future wrongs. A story untold. A story unwritten. Your story.
No comments:
Post a Comment