Prologue
Gondril's Treatise on Dragons(1)
Dragons, often called Wyrms, or rarely Serpents, are believed to have been spawned by Loki, the ancient God of Strife, Mischief, and Fire. It is said that in previous ages Loki was at one time counted as an ally to the All-Father Odin. His role in the Aesir was that of a trickster and problem-solver, and an agent for change and growth.
Restless and easily bored, Loki would often amuse himself by playing practical jokes on the other Gods. He also spent much time with the Giants, the enemies of the Aesir, learning and gaining new insights and perspectives. His union with the giantess Angrboda produced three offspring: Fenrir the Wolf, Jormungandr the World Serpent, and Hela, Goddess of the Underworld.
According to legends still told among Giants even now, Fenrir was born first from the monstrous Angrboda. His first howl was said to have reached Valhalla and shaken the Hall of Heroes. Next came the massive Wyrm Jormungandr, and the venom from his serpentine body was already so potent, Angrboda was killed just giving birth to him. After the two monstrous offspring went into the wilderness of Midgard to get their first prey, the Giantess lay dying from the poison. When she finally died after several agonizing days, her gargantuan body collapsed into many smaller forms, and these grew into the first generation of Wyrms. These scaled, fearsome creatures immediately went into the wilderness to find their own lairs. Forgotten in the remains of Angrboda was the third offspring, the daughter Hela. The time confined within the dying Giantess had not been kind to Hela, and she was twisted at birth. Her body was fair and lovely on one side, but hideous and deformed on the other side. Loki took her and proudly presented her to the Aesir as his daughter. The Gods met and decided to allow her into the pantheon, but she would be confined to Niflheim as the Goddess of Death. Her full tale is for another time.
The Wyrm Jormungandr grew unchecked, and even the Gods feared him. Thor had many titanic battles with the Midgard Serpent, but eventually the Gods decreed that these battles were too destructive to the world of the mortal races. Still acting for the Aesir, Loki met with Jormungandr and offered this compromise: he could grow infinitely and the Gods would not harm him until Ragnarok, but he could only devour what lay in front of him. The Wyrm was powerful, poisonous, and magical, but not very intelligent. It quickly agreed, thinking that the entire world of Midgard before him was his to devour. But Loki had tricked him, and moved the Wyrm's own tail in front of his face as he agreed to the compact. Jormungandr immediately bit into his own tail, and for an age he ate only his own tail. Still he grew though, and eventually he was so immense he encircled Midgard entirely, constantly chewing on his own tail in a futile effort to devour it. But for a long age, the Midgard Serpent harmed only those who were foolish enough to challenge him, and Midgard had relative peace. Until the Day of Reckoning, Ragnarok, that is.
Now the first generation of Wyrms were brethren to Jormungandr, but these creatures did not possess the full divinity and infinite power of the Midgard Serpent. Yet they still possessed great potential for power, and they also had the capacity to learn a great deal. And learn they did, from any source they could find. Similar to Dragons today, these Wyrms were plagued by greed, whether it was for knowledge, treasure, or magic. All Wyrms greedily hoarded as much as they could find.
Now many of the Wyrms only sought to gain gems and minerals from the earth, and through the centuries they burrowed deeper and deeper into the earth, almost becoming one with the world of Midgard. These Wyrms became the Gem Dragons, and they remained neutral in the conflict that was still to come. Many other Wyrms came under the tutelage of Odin and other Aesir, and they were able to curb their greed and learn to follow the path of good. These Wyrms were blessed with great knowledge and power by Odin, but their numbers were fewest of any of their kin. For the most part they remained outside of Midgard, residing in Alfheim with the Vanir Frey and Freya until after Ragnarok. The remaining Wyrms were the most numerous, and the most greedy. They hoarded all the treasure and knowledge in Midgard that they could, and then built great lairs for themselves where they could command the weaker mortal races to serve them. Eventually, Loki, Surtur, and Thrym began swaying this group of Wyrms over to the side of the Giants. These Wyrms listened to the evil words of Loki and the Giants and their hearts became evil. They sympathized with the plight of the Giants in their struggle with the Aesir. Loki began to shepherd the strongest of these Wyrms into the lands of the Giants, Jotunheim and Muspelheim.
When Loki finally led the Giants over the Rainbow Bridge to assault the Gods, many Wyrms followed in their wake, thriving on warfare and carnage. The Vanir twins released the Metallic Dragons to combat the Chromatic Dragons. The clash between Dragonkind was titanic, but nothing compared to the melee between the Midgard Serpent Jormungandr and Thor the God of Thunder. As was fated, the Serpent slew the Thunder God, and many other Gods were slain, as were many Giants and their Gods, Surtur and Thrym. In the end, Hela betrayed the Aesir and her brethren the Giants both, and she released her own spawn on the battlefield, her poisonous Hags of Niflheim, and they fed off the carnage and death on the battlefield. Hela’s power swelled, and she swallowed up several of the dead Gods and Giants and stole their dying power. Jormungandr himself was sorely wounded by Thor, and Hela destroyed her brother with an epic spell. Hela herself left the field of carnage triumphant, and returned to Niflheim a greater goddess.
The resulting wash of destructive chaos shook the world and resulted in a titanic shift in the planar boundaries. The Rainbow Bridge was destroyed and Midgard was shaken by catastrophic floods, earthquakes, storms, and fires. The surviving Giants were thrown back into their respective worlds, the few surviving Aesir were cast into Alfheim, and the surviving Dragons cast into Midgard. Only the strongest on both sides of Dragonkind were able to survive both Ragnarok and the cataclysm of Jormungandr’s death throes. The Midgard Serpent finally was still, and out of his remains were born two new gods, the deities Tiamat and Bahamut. Tiamat was evil, and became the patron deity of the Chromatic Dragons. Bahamut was good, and became the patron deity of the Metallic Dragons. Also out of the remains of the Midgard Serpent came a new generation of Dragons, as well as many other foul creatures. From the primordial chaos of Ragnarok, and the deaths of many divine beings, came several new deities, all born out of the elemental magic of the new world. Akadi became the Goddess of Air, the Sun, and the Wind. Kossuth became the God of Fire, Magic, and Knowledge, as well as the new patron of the Fire Giants. And Ramos became the God of Water, the Sea, and Storms, as well as the new patron of the Frost Giants. Hela became the Goddess of Earth, in addition to her portfolio of Death, Disease, and Evil.
While the mortal races struggled to survive in the new world, the surviving Wyrms from the previous age carved out niches for themselves in the wilderness and began an era of domination that lasted for centuries. The Ancients, as these powerful and crafty evil Wyrms came to be known, were worshipped like deities in their various regions for several centuries. It was 500 years after Ragnarok before the power of the Ancients was first challenged, first by the rise of the Elemental Deities, and then by the return of the avatars of the Aesir to Midgard.
When Hela once again conspired against her divine brethren by aiding the return of the Giants to Midgard, the Giants and Aesir once again clashed. The Gods Kossuth and Ramos led the Giants against the younger Aesir into a potentially titanic conflict. This time, the Gods battled as Avatars, and the deaths of these were not as devastating as Ragnarok. Akadi, good Goddess of the Sun and the Sky, remained neutral in the conflict, and counseled Bahamut and the good Dragons to remain neutral, unless Tiamat and the evil Dragons entered the conflict. They did not. The Ancients(2) continued to gather power and followers during this conflict, and they foresaw that their time would come.
The end of the Avatar War saw a new order arise in Midgard. The Elemental Gods and the Aesir compacted the Ban of Transcendence, which decreed that they would not wage divine war on the Material Plane. The destruction of Ragnarok and the lesser destruction of the Avatar War was fresh in the minds of the Gods, and following the retreat of the Giants to Jotunheim and Muspelheim, the Gods withdrew their Avatars from Midgard. Only with great tact could the Gods directly intervene now on the Prime. They began a practice of using more intermedaries to exert their will.
A direct result of the Ban was that Dragon followers had more freedom in which to act, and the power vacuum, caused by the departure of the Avatars, was filled by the rising Elemental Princes, as well as the Dragon cults. The cults of the various Great Wyrms spread out and dominated various regions of Midgard for several centuries. Mighty spellcasters in these cults often practiced the use of Summoning Fiends, who directly and indirectly battled the foes of the cults.
The Dragon cults were checked by a new organization, very secretive, that called itself the Kathendas Enclaves(3). Wielding power derived from the Gods themselves, and secreted away in their demiplane Citadel, the Enclaves soon had many champions to oppose both the power of the Dragon cults and their Fiendish aid. In addition to the Enclaves and their organization, there were other groups, notably the Knights of the Sacred Flame, the Justicars of Sif, the Tidal Brotherhood of Ramos, and the Stone Guard of Burok Torn, that battled the power of the Dragon cults.
The most powerful and established Wyrms were all descended from before Ragnarok, and were kin to the Midgard Serpent himself. As such these all had legendary power and resources. They became known as the Ancients, and they were: Ashardalon, Acessiwal, Glerion, Sushalaw, and Incalagon.
Ashardalon the Red was the mightiest Wyrm, and according to legend was tutored in the depths of evil and destruction by both Loki and Surtur. He had unmatched power, and his highest servant was a vampire wizard named Gulthias. At the height of his power, Ashardalon’s empire included the lands from the Jungle of Pryan , north into the Stoneheart Mountains, across the hot plains of the Iron Kingdom, and south to the city of Palanthus. He was a tyrant the world had never seen, and his following was fanatical, almost insanely so.
Acessiwal the White ruled the frozen Northlands. Acessiwal left much of the rule of his Kingdom to his chief servant, the wizard Helios, and spent much time travelling while polymorphed, entering the growing villages and towns of the North learning about the mortal races. The only rapport he could understand in the end though, was that of master and slave. In the end, after years of study, Acessiwal finally launched his army of followers into conquering most of the lands of the north. Acessiwal conquered the local Frost Giant tribes, the Frost Salamanders, the Glacier Dwarves, and the scattered Northmen. Those who would not join his empire willingly were destroyed or enslaved. The entire clan of the Glacier Dwarves was wiped out by his evil, and the few that survived his war were enslaved in his mines, never to return.
Glerion the Green was a mistress of powerful illusions, and a shapechanger. Her cult was centered in the eastern Stoneheart Mountains, and was the smallest of all the cults. Her power was less perceptible, but still deadly and evil. Her cult followers infiltrated other organizations, giving her allegiances all over Midgard. Her cultists were even able to infiltrate the Citadel of the Path, and pervert one of the Kathendas Enclaves. Glerion ruled the Hill Giants of Trondheim, warred against the dwarves of Burok Torn, and had agents causing discord in the Drow city of Dier Drendal. The mistrust and war that exists to this day between Burok Torn and Dier Drendal (who at one time had been allies), may have been the work of Glerion herself.
The Blue Wyrm Sushalaw was known as the Thunder God among his cultists. His cult was spread across the southern plains between the Great Wood and the Kingdom of the Crescent Moon. In his folly, the Wyrm tried and failed to exert his influence in the Kingdom of the Crescent Moon, but the Wulgash Knights made him recoil and retreat. He did successfully conquer the Dust Hills and the Gnomish people that resided there, and put many of their inventions to use in his army. Most of the superstitious Horsemen of the plains were scattered by his forces.
Incalagon the Black was known as the Serpent God, and he ruled a Kingdom that stretched around the Coral Bay and included the Death Marsh, the lush Sheldomar Valley, and the western reaches of the Stoneheart Mountains. He was worshipped like a God by the Yuan-Ti, and also feared and followed by Troglodytes, Trolls, Sahaugin, and many other vile species. It was his cult that further disturbed the balance and provoked the Kathendas Enclaves into action when Incalagon’s High Priest Viperion discovered the Nexus between worlds, a Gateway world with gateways to all other worlds. Viperion’s discovery and exploration eventually led to the imprisonment of Incalagon and the waging of the Unseen War between Dragons. The Enclaves, with the Metallic Dragons on their side, were able to seal the Nexus and imprison Incalagon within. Most of the Serpent God’s cult was also trapped.
But one escaped, a Drow sorceror, Lord Sandrax, and he continued to operate on his master’s orders for several years. Finally the Enclaves caught him and sent him to a prison without bars; guarding the entrance to the Nexus, cursed to forever live, and forever use the magic he possessed to hold the Nexus closed, and safe from evil. In his youth Sandrax was a master smith, and with the Durin created a magical orb that would have helped control the Wyrms. Both the Durin and the Drow races combined their skills and souls to create this 2-part orb that would provide a weapon against the Ancients. But Sandrax proved to be a traitor, and after the completion of the Orb, he stole half of it and fled to the armies of the Great Ashardalon. The Dwarves kept the other half, and they tried to spirit it away to Burok Torn for safekeeping. Alas, they were ambushed by Gulthias, and in the battle, the other half was lost.
Soon after, Ashardalon was thrown down by the power of the Druid Dydd, Gulthias went insane, and Ashardalon’s cult collapsed. Sandrax was captured by the Enclaves, but he had already given his stolen half of the Orb to Gulthias. Gulthias was later staked in the Citadel of the Sacred Flame by followers of the Fire God Kossuth, and his legend was buried beneath a shallow grave and an ocean of time.
But the return of Gulthias was just a matter of time, and required only the hand of a follower of the Fire God to complete. And that hand belonged to the one-time hero, the Dragoneer(4) Bruin Haldar…..
A man with a shadow on his soul, and a tale of his own to tell……
(1)-Gondril is also known as the Black Druid, and 20 years prior to the start of the campaign, he led a war against the Kathendas Enclaves and the city-states of the Kingdom of Kalendia.
(2)-The Ancients are the most powerful, most evil Great Wyrms and are not limited to the 5 listed. Those 5 are just the most famous and powerful. But the latter day Wyrms chose to remain more or less in the shadows after their predecessors fell from their thrones. In the present day campaign, the Ancients are referred to as a general cult of secretive Dragon cultists.
(3)-The Kathendas Enclaves are also known to some as the Citadel of the Path, and they have many different classes and races under their influence.
(4)-The Dragoneers were the most reknowned band of adventurers in Kalendia 20 years ago. More on them later....