Post by Ivaii on Sept 27, 2013 2:16:55 GMT -8
The Legend
Legend has it that the dragons of Shai were tamed centuries ago, almost as long as Shai has been a civilized country.
Before then, before humans were anything more than wild tribes roaming throughout the land, the dragons were Shai. Intelligent and powerful, they were the highest creatures in the land and held dominance over all other species...until humans realized that they could join together and innovate and become more powerful than anything that nature had ever dreamed.
The dragons were forced to go into hiding, or risk the destruction of their entire species and everything that they had known.
And they were forgotten.
The people spread across the lands from a city that began to grow in the central North, near the border, and started to think that they were the rulers of the land. And if they ruled it, they could abuse it.
There were few, people called Mages, who knew what was happening to the land, but they couldn't dare speak up because their powers were as feared as those of the Priests and Priestesses who tried to speak for their Goddess. What was unknown was forbidden, and they too were forced to hide.
Yet, when foreign armies tried to cross the northern border, the Mages and Priests and Priestesses, with their own Holy powers to match the Magic users, they came out of their long exile to defend the land.
From that point on, the monarch refused to let them return to their quiet positions as country Herb witches and wizards in the villages. The thriving country, now called Shai, needed protectors. While a King's Guard had early been created of the most elite warriors in the kingdom, there seemed to be no alternative to these powerful magicians and holy people.
Though at first feared by the pampered Upper class that had sprung from those who took claim to land that had previously belonged to noone but itself, they were gradually accepted, and there came a time when almost everyone in Shai was acknowledged to have a sort of Power of some sort.
During this time, the Dragons of Shai were wild creatures that few but the most trained warriors dared approach. They preyed on villages and people who dared near their nests, having grown bold in the years after their initial hiding. Though they had lost their sophistication, the stories of how they had been driven out of their homes by the human invaders had been passed down, and were well remembered. It was this that led to them seeming merely as beasts to the countryfolk, who were terrified by the wil creatures who had grown to mythic proportions. Eventually they became such a problem that the King began to train Warriors to kill them. However, these warriors who had initially been trained to kill the pests, who raided flocks and terrorized peasants (though never killed any but the warriors) realized that there was more to the Dragons than there seemed at first.
For these creatures were intelligent. The first Dragonrider was merely a Mage, and a warrior, who tamed his one time opponent. It became a fad among Nobility to have a Mage and dragon as pets, and the noble Dragons became essentially fancy horses. For a time, they resigned themselves to lives as pampered creatures, vowing to someday take back the land in return for the humiliation that the Mage's compulsions put on them. Despite their disgust for their new situation, they began to develop back into the noble creatures that they had once been. They appreciated not having to struggle to feed themselves from herds and flocks, that could lead to their deaths. However, as time went on, the commoners of Shai began resenting the Nobles for their dangerous mounts, which the Mages were still required to subdue if they were not properly 'tamed.'
The legend of the Dragonwarriors says that one Nobleman decided that he would do better than the others--he would steal an egg from a nest, and have his mage tame it right from birth. The Mage was an idealistic young woman pressed into servitude, and on the day that the egg hatched, she completely inadvertently met the Hatchling's gaze, and heard a voice in her mind. The bond was made.
In fear for her life if her master found out, she fled into the wilds with her companion.
She was the first Dragonwarrior, bonded to the Dragon in thought and spirit.
It was here that the Dragonwarriors were born. In time, others, in defience of the Nobility, also stole eggs from clutches, and cared for them until the day they hatched. The dragonwarriors were born from this motley group of Rebels. They remained in hiding as the dragons had, and the Mages had for so many years, until once more an army from the country now called Tairna threatened the north. For all of the armies and men who had been trained to fight, and fight well, it was not enough. The warriors of Tarna held in their command terrifying creatures unlike anything ever seen in Shai, at the sight of which trained soldiers would turn and flee--and their fate seemed dismal. King Maxetian was not the same type of man his predecessors had been--he genuinely cared for the people, and it agonized him that they might be victims of such horrors in his life.
They might have been, too, had the mage woman and a small army of rebels not presented themselves to him, vowing to protect the people of Shai if it were the last thing that they did. The battle was won, and Maxetian gave her his eternal gratitude. Rumors spread like wildfire through the countryside, whispers of these new warriors who shared their minds with dragons and swore to protect the people.
The Mage woman knew what she wanted. She knew that she was growing old and could not pass her ideals of equality and fairness along forever, so she asked the King to establish an order of Dragonwarriors, an elite Guard for the people of Shai who would answer only to the Kingand themselves. He responded by creating North Hall, a training school dedicated to this new order, where new Dragonwarriors would be taught their purpose in defending the people of Shai, even if it meant from their own kind.
The fad of Dragon Mounts disappeared under their influence. Through the next 100 years, the Dragonhalls were established, and it was forgotten that the dragons had ever been treated as mere animals. The wild dragons, too, disappeared and faded ito tales of yore. Shai climbed as the capital of trade, arts and leaning in the world. It thrived at the peak of civilization. However, it was still vulnerable--to the Tairnans long the northern border, to the Clanians and bandits in the south, to the raiders along the wild west coast, and pirates in th east.
Turmoil from within the country was still existent, too--the protection of the Dragonwarriors has become something that Shai cannot do without...and indeed, takes for granted.
The only problem is, legend is just that: legend, and real people are rarely as idealistic as those of myth.
Legend has it that the dragons of Shai were tamed centuries ago, almost as long as Shai has been a civilized country.
Before then, before humans were anything more than wild tribes roaming throughout the land, the dragons were Shai. Intelligent and powerful, they were the highest creatures in the land and held dominance over all other species...until humans realized that they could join together and innovate and become more powerful than anything that nature had ever dreamed.
The dragons were forced to go into hiding, or risk the destruction of their entire species and everything that they had known.
And they were forgotten.
The people spread across the lands from a city that began to grow in the central North, near the border, and started to think that they were the rulers of the land. And if they ruled it, they could abuse it.
There were few, people called Mages, who knew what was happening to the land, but they couldn't dare speak up because their powers were as feared as those of the Priests and Priestesses who tried to speak for their Goddess. What was unknown was forbidden, and they too were forced to hide.
Yet, when foreign armies tried to cross the northern border, the Mages and Priests and Priestesses, with their own Holy powers to match the Magic users, they came out of their long exile to defend the land.
From that point on, the monarch refused to let them return to their quiet positions as country Herb witches and wizards in the villages. The thriving country, now called Shai, needed protectors. While a King's Guard had early been created of the most elite warriors in the kingdom, there seemed to be no alternative to these powerful magicians and holy people.
Though at first feared by the pampered Upper class that had sprung from those who took claim to land that had previously belonged to noone but itself, they were gradually accepted, and there came a time when almost everyone in Shai was acknowledged to have a sort of Power of some sort.
During this time, the Dragons of Shai were wild creatures that few but the most trained warriors dared approach. They preyed on villages and people who dared near their nests, having grown bold in the years after their initial hiding. Though they had lost their sophistication, the stories of how they had been driven out of their homes by the human invaders had been passed down, and were well remembered. It was this that led to them seeming merely as beasts to the countryfolk, who were terrified by the wil creatures who had grown to mythic proportions. Eventually they became such a problem that the King began to train Warriors to kill them. However, these warriors who had initially been trained to kill the pests, who raided flocks and terrorized peasants (though never killed any but the warriors) realized that there was more to the Dragons than there seemed at first.
For these creatures were intelligent. The first Dragonrider was merely a Mage, and a warrior, who tamed his one time opponent. It became a fad among Nobility to have a Mage and dragon as pets, and the noble Dragons became essentially fancy horses. For a time, they resigned themselves to lives as pampered creatures, vowing to someday take back the land in return for the humiliation that the Mage's compulsions put on them. Despite their disgust for their new situation, they began to develop back into the noble creatures that they had once been. They appreciated not having to struggle to feed themselves from herds and flocks, that could lead to their deaths. However, as time went on, the commoners of Shai began resenting the Nobles for their dangerous mounts, which the Mages were still required to subdue if they were not properly 'tamed.'
The legend of the Dragonwarriors says that one Nobleman decided that he would do better than the others--he would steal an egg from a nest, and have his mage tame it right from birth. The Mage was an idealistic young woman pressed into servitude, and on the day that the egg hatched, she completely inadvertently met the Hatchling's gaze, and heard a voice in her mind. The bond was made.
In fear for her life if her master found out, she fled into the wilds with her companion.
She was the first Dragonwarrior, bonded to the Dragon in thought and spirit.
It was here that the Dragonwarriors were born. In time, others, in defience of the Nobility, also stole eggs from clutches, and cared for them until the day they hatched. The dragonwarriors were born from this motley group of Rebels. They remained in hiding as the dragons had, and the Mages had for so many years, until once more an army from the country now called Tairna threatened the north. For all of the armies and men who had been trained to fight, and fight well, it was not enough. The warriors of Tarna held in their command terrifying creatures unlike anything ever seen in Shai, at the sight of which trained soldiers would turn and flee--and their fate seemed dismal. King Maxetian was not the same type of man his predecessors had been--he genuinely cared for the people, and it agonized him that they might be victims of such horrors in his life.
They might have been, too, had the mage woman and a small army of rebels not presented themselves to him, vowing to protect the people of Shai if it were the last thing that they did. The battle was won, and Maxetian gave her his eternal gratitude. Rumors spread like wildfire through the countryside, whispers of these new warriors who shared their minds with dragons and swore to protect the people.
The Mage woman knew what she wanted. She knew that she was growing old and could not pass her ideals of equality and fairness along forever, so she asked the King to establish an order of Dragonwarriors, an elite Guard for the people of Shai who would answer only to the Kingand themselves. He responded by creating North Hall, a training school dedicated to this new order, where new Dragonwarriors would be taught their purpose in defending the people of Shai, even if it meant from their own kind.
The fad of Dragon Mounts disappeared under their influence. Through the next 100 years, the Dragonhalls were established, and it was forgotten that the dragons had ever been treated as mere animals. The wild dragons, too, disappeared and faded ito tales of yore. Shai climbed as the capital of trade, arts and leaning in the world. It thrived at the peak of civilization. However, it was still vulnerable--to the Tairnans long the northern border, to the Clanians and bandits in the south, to the raiders along the wild west coast, and pirates in th east.
Turmoil from within the country was still existent, too--the protection of the Dragonwarriors has become something that Shai cannot do without...and indeed, takes for granted.
The only problem is, legend is just that: legend, and real people are rarely as idealistic as those of myth.