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Amphitheater

Exit to Lakelands

In the beginning, the northlands were uninhabited by mankind. When the peoples of the south were making their great civilizations, families of dragons made their lairs in the mountains of the far north and the Dragonspine range. It was that first family of dragons that actually carved Dragonspire itself. And so it went for centuries. The five clans ruled together, and in this age of cooperation and enlightenment many great magics were worked, and many great cities were built, which still stand today.

But then came the demons... Mephistos the Dark had heard of the great riches of the dragons of the north, and he wanted to make their land his own. The darklord sent hordes of his creatures to the dragon lands, and though the creatures fought valiantly, they ultimately perished as a society.

Fortunately, however, it was during this war that both sides discovered the race of mankind. Mephistos corrupted many to his twisted, craven cause, thus creating the demonic race know as the 'Fallen Ones'. The dragons were able to befriend a few of them, though, and teach them the rudimentaries of civilization. Sadly, even the aid of the humans couldn't aid the majestic creatures...

Near the end of the war, when it was painfully obvious that both sides were doomed to destroy each other, a powerful human sorceror, eventually known as "The Keeper of the Ancients" gathered together what few dragon eggs that weren't destroyed in the war, and retreated to a tower in the arctic, where he remained to care for them, apparently for centuries...

The dragons were destroyed, and the legions of Mephistos scattered to the four winds, leaving the land for the human survivors. A great ice age enveloped the land, for three hundred years. When the glaciers finally receded, humans began to tame the land. They eventually congregated into cities, some of them cities left by their draconic predecessors. It was during this age that the warrior Aurikar became the King of Dragonspire, and established the House of Aurica. Other great men established their domains as well, notably the House of Guy, The House of Scarlet, the House of Tanara, and the House of Val.
 
 

The War of Westmarch

The cities were content to govern themselves for a time, and kept themselves busy minding their own business... and so they were completely unprepared when the southern kingdom of Westmarch attacked them. The House of Tanara was centered in a city on the southern mountain range, and was completely destroyed at the first attack. That is why there is no member of the House of Tanara in the High Council today.

The warriors of Westmarch swept through the land, burning villages and slaying peasants, seemingly unstoppable. It was during this time that the King of Dragonspire, Auric, united the Houses for the first time since the Sin War, and hammered their separate forces into one massive army, under the command of his ruthless general, known as the Crimson Warrior.

The two great armies met on the slopes of Dragonspire, covering the slopes like ants. For three days they fought, and for three days they died, their blood mingling, staining the once-pristine slopes of Dragonspire. Heroes were made, and heroes died, but the greatest among them had to have been the King and the General themselves. They bravely charged forth into the thick of the fray, without regard to their own safety, driven by their need for freedom and victory.

During the darkest hour, when it seemed that the men of Westmarch would inevitably win, a great shadow suddenly covered the battlefield, blocking out the sunlight. When the awestruck warriors looked up, the beheld a magnificent dragon, its bone-white scales seemingly bright against the darkness of its own shadow. Smoke billowed out of its flared nostrils, and its claws and fangs glinted with deadly intent. It swooped down, and breathed a great gout of flame into the ranks of the southerners. The beast beat its wings, raising clouds of dust miles high, obscuring everything. Then the dragon dived into its own dustclouds, and the screams of the enemy as the unseen angel of death fell upon them are still told about in the bedtime stories mothers tell to children.

When the dust cleared, the army of Westmarch was no more, and the dragon had disappeared

The army of the north was in complete disarray, and King Auric found that all the House Lords had perished in the battle. Seeing this as a sign that he was to rule all the lands, and using his great army, all the lands bowed to him. He kept the child-Dukes of the various lands on their thrones, content to let them manage their lands as long as nobody raised arms against the newly dubbed Draconian Order.

A Time of Peace

The years passed, and the child-dukes grew into men. Strangely, Emperor Auric began to enjoy the company of his fellow nobles, and they began a tradition known as the High Council; a meeting of the rulers of the various lands, to advise the emperor in his rule. Westmarch continued to plague Draconia's southern border, but was little more than a nuisance since its backbone had been shattered twenty years before. It was during this time the Keeper of the Ancients made himself known to the court at Dragonspire, and was given a Dukedom called the Northern Reaches to rule, from his Tower in the wastes.
 
 

The Siege of Caer Estwaithe, the Coming of Onaeus

One summer, however, the southerners attacked the fortress of Estwaithe, overwhelming the few defenders with the aid of a group of sorcerors known as the Circle of Loki. Emperor Auric wouldn't stand for this, of course, so he led a good portion of his standing army to the fortress. He laid siege there for a year, when one night the gates of the fortress suddenly opened, and out stepped a Baron Frost, and a scraggly old man that nobody had ever seen before. Baron Frost waved his hand, and Emperor Auric himself led a team of warriors into the citadel, followed by the rest of his mighty army. Castle Estwaithe fell in one night, after a year of seige.

The stranger was welcomed to the hall of Emperor Auric, now known as the Golden King. The old man called himself Onaeus, and he claimed to come from a faraway land across the sea. The lords scoffed at these foolish notions, but the old man proved to be wise, and learned in the ways of kingship... The emperor kept him at court to share his wisdom, and the old man gratefully obliged.

In the peace that followed the seige of Estwaithe, the lands of the Dukes were clearly marked out, and new territories were conquered. The uninhabited softwood forest to the northwest was taken, and the old man, Baron Onaeus demanded the worthless wood for his own, and was granted it for lack of a better use. Duke Valiant expanded his small domain to include much of the forest of Enchantica. Duke Guyver, a brave admiral in the First Westmarch War was given the western coast to rule, from the city of Drak Kalthorn. Baron Frost, the hero from the Estwaithe campaign, was given the city of Drak Lelwyn to rule, in the Emperor's name.

The Loss of Leadership

Ten years passed... The Emperor is now an old man, with no heirs. Auric was still as spry and sharp as he was in his youth, so no noble dared jocky for power... and there was still the silent, though deadly Crimson Warrior to contend with. In the north, Onaeus created a small temple to a goddess from his homeland, which attracted a sizable following for such a new faith. The people were content, happy in their stability.

Then it all shattered. One morning, the Emperor and the Crimson Warrior didn't arrive for a High Council session. The lords searched the entire palace, and all they found was a stableboy that said that the two great heroes had come to him wearing traveling gear and weapons, talking of a vision, a quest of some sort. They had left with a couple of horses, and weren't seen for a long, long time....

With the absence of both the Emperor, and his second in command, the nation was doomed to crumble... All the duchies wanted to go their own way, and make new kingdoms. It was due to the efforts of the then Praetor, Pyros, who had led a rather unremarkable career until then, that Draconia survived at all. Pyros put an end to the squabbling amongst the nobles, and tried to conduct business as normal in the Empire.

The Crowning of Pyros, the Draconian Revolution

Three years pass... All the nobles now respect Pyros, and obey his words. They tire of waiting for the old king, Auric, to return. The High Council offers Pyros the crown, and he accepts... an emperor sits on the Dragon Throne for the first time in a long time...

After the coronation, a scant few months pass before rumours of the return of Auric reach the ears of the High Council. The returning Emperor seeks vengeance on the person who 'dared' sit on his throne. The High Council argues, some siding with Auric, and the others siding with Pyros. Soon, the tension snaps the fine line holding them together, and the High Council disbands, with the members quickly going back to their provinces to raise armies.

Soon, all the cities of the central Empire were engulfed in war, with hundreds dying to win a single hill, and thousands dying to win a city. And cities changed hands seemingly by day. Among the atrocities of this horrible war, dubbed the Draconian Revolution, was the burning of the southern half of Enchantica Forest, the poisoning of the Golden River, and the razing of Drak Nolwen.

This war raged on for a long time, until Auric finally reached Dragonspire Keep.

The Battle of Dragonspire

He immediately beseiged the city, and mercilessly battered the walls and parapets of the city he once reigned from. The defenders fought valiantly, but Auric had cut off the supply lines to the city. For a year the battle raged on, destroying much of once-beautiful Dragonspire. 

One year from the day the siege began, the sun was blazing high in the sky as the men of Auric rallied for one last, great attack. Inside the city, Onaeus had knelt in prayer before the alter of Kala for many days, praying for deliverance from the greatest threat to ever befall the Empire. On that day, the Goddess herself spoke to him. Exactly what she said is lost to history, but the effects were felt in the far-reaches of distant kingdoms. He gathered all his druids together in the temple, and they performed the most powerful spell cast since the creation of the soulstones.

Later in the afternoon, Emperor Pyros himself strode out the iron gates of Dragonspire, armed with but a fine sword and shield. Trumpets from the ramparts proclaimed their challenge to the enemy. Pyros, in a booming voice, demanded the right to single combat. Auric, clad in the golden rimmed armour that was his namesake, walked out to join his rival. Thus, though no armies clashed this day, the greatest battle was still fought.

The two kings clashed their blades well into the night. Nobody was close enough to see their faces, but it was rumoured that it was not men that fought that battle, but seraphim and daemon. No torches were lit in the field, but sparks marked their passage. 

Then, with the coming of the dawn, and the paling of the sky, the warriors ceased their fighting, and Auric happened to look into the eyes of Pyros. The possessed king screamed, dropped his sword, and dropped to his knees. Pyros, his blue eyes glowing a bright white, opened his arms to the heavens, and shouted a holy word to the rising sun. A white nimbus glowed around first himself, then enveloping the prone Auric. Voices could be heard from the heavens, beautiful voices, all in song. It was then said that the seraphim themselves descended from the heavens, armed with naught but mirrors for shields and scales for swords. The angels went to each warrior in the army of the Golden King, and when each warrior saw himself in the mirror, he saw his true self, the man he really was. And when he saw his true self, the scales decided how far he had strayed from the ways of the Empire, how much he had been swayed by Mephistos. 

That broke the sanity of many a man, and the army broke that day. Some fled to the south or the east, fleeing the wrath of their kinfolk. Some fled, and made names for themselves in the kingdoms of the south. And some, to whom the seraphim had judged worthy, stayed in the land that gave them birth, and helped rebuild her to her former glory.

As for Pyros, he came from that battle a trifle changed. He still talked to the people like he always used to, but now and then it seemed that he was seeing things that weren't there; At least things that normal men didn't see. Goddess-touched, the druids called him.

Auric, he vanished when the light had left Pyros. None know if he died or somehow escaped. No one could convince Pyros to tell the story, so it seems that history will never know.

The False Prince

One day, out of the ashes of yesteryear when the Empire was but slowly recovering from its ordeal, a knight in shining armour appeared from the south. He called himself Diakanov, and he claimed to be the son of Pyros. Diakanov was an honourable knight, so it was easy to believe when he spake thus. However, Lord Pyros vehemently denied these claims, especially when Diakanov demanded to be given the rank of prince... a rank never before used within the Empire, but which would place him above the people. He was rejected, and for his insolence, was banished from the Empire for all time.

Evil Portents

The Darkening of the Forest - Two years had gone by without incident since the False Prince was banished, then the forest of Enchantica began to darken... farms were found empty, and unearthly wails were heard in the night. Then the entire city of Drak Yardok was destroyed. None knew what happened, but whatever it was, it happened fast, and it happened painfully. It was at about this time that Onaeus had his prophecy.

The fall of the Alliance - Another portent of bad things to come was the collapse of the United Kingdoms of the North... it seems the some minor incident widened the small crack betwixt all the mighty kingdoms south fo the Empire, the very alliance that the Empire seeked to enter. Now, many kingdoms have withdrawn behind their own borders, and none know what happens behind them. That was a harsh portent to the druids... chaos was beginning to reign in the south, and the eastern forest was going mad. When would it spread to the north?

The Prophecy is given - Onaeus is given a vision by Kala herself; Demons have returned to Draconia, and the only thing that can stop them is something called the "Window of Souls". The problem is, nobody knows what it is... Is it an object, a place, or a person?

The Search begins - The druids scatter across the world, seeking information about the Window of Souls. Patriarch Onaeus and Duke Darkar have taken a caravel, and have travelled to the land of Aylic Dashar. Onaeus once visited there during the Revolution, and found it to be an incredible enchanted island. Perhaps a magical artifact such as the Window could be found there?

Good news from the South - It seems that the good Knightly Orders and Kingdoms of the South had not perished, as was feared at first. The Alliance still lived, and though it was smaller, it was stronger than ever before. This came as a welcome sigh of relief during these troubled times.

The Empire of Draconia becomes a member of the glorious Alliance of the southern states, and while the people rejoice in the cities below, the nobles in the lofty citadels were grim. They knew it was good that they could get help from their allies in the south, but would it be enough? The Forest had already swallowed the legions of Enchantica, would a handful of paladins and seekers be enough to staunch the tide?

Duke Stein of the Lakelands gathers together a band of brave warriors, many of them powerful nobles, and together they try to find the root of the evil by plunging into the heart of Enchantica. They were never seen again.

Onaeus and Darkar return from their journeys, bringing newly initiated druids from the eastern lands of the Forgotten Order. Onaeus marries the Lady Malinalda, but a few days later, the Emperor makes a call to arms.

The Purging of Enchantica

All the duchies of the Empire raise their legions, and march to Dragonspire Keep. All save the Lakelands, for the men of Westmarch to the south were beginning to stir, once again looking toward the lands of the Dragon with envy. The border castles were garrisoned once again, while the uncountable legions of draconii knights camped around the capital, the greatest army ever formed upon the soil of the empire, following in the footsteps of their forefathers.

The combined legions march into the forest, but encounter little resistance for a short time, until they reach the River of Visions. There, the first pitched battle with the legions of Mephistos begins. The confident human commanders weren't prepared for the suicidal ferocity demonstrated by the daemons, and so were hard pressed to fend them back. However, Haldir used the river to his advantage, and stuffed the fires out of many of the hellspawn.

The legions push far into Enchantica, their sheer numbers pushing back the daemons, heading straight for Drak Yardok, the place where their brothers were cut down like grass two years before. Nothing could stop them.

Draconia comes upon Drak Yardok, where some of the most hideous and powerful of the beasts resided. In the heat of battle, Onaeus and a handful of his companions, including the Emperor, penetrated the walls, heading into the inner citadel.

The druids come to the forefront, clearing the way for Draconia to enter. Warriors breach the walls at every side, pouring into the city... To find it empty. There were daemons clustered about the walls, but they were dispatched with relative ease by this point. Lord Valiant, back in his home, took command of the army and the army took command of the gutted city. For three nights, Valiant held the city against the hordes that came... The Darkness couldn't stand the spot of Light within its midst, and strove with all its might to take back its bastion.

On the third day, the sun rose for the first time in two years. The flowers and trees of the forest bloomed, seeking the sunlight that had long been denied them. The daemons looked about in confusion, not comprehending what had happened. The humans weren't at all sure either, until the Emperor stumbled out of the central citadel. Torn and blooded, Pyros told his people that all was better, that the Darkness Himself had been beaten, had been contained once again. Pyros had the look of a haunted man, and wouldn't say what fate had befallen Onaeus and his companions. Every time he was asked, a single tear came to his eyes, and he didn't answer.

The daemons were much easier to contain now that the Darkness was defeated. A large garrison was left in Drak Yardok, and people slowly began to trickle back to their homes. The trees began to return to their beautiful, natural forms, and people saw animals again, real animals. The men of Draconia went back to their homes, ever vigilant. 

This is the history of the land known as Draconia. However, time is but a river, and is ever flowing. Time doesn't stop with the end of this document, and history is being made as you sit here reading this. Go forth, my friend, and make history. Though we are but pebbles thrown into the river, know that even the smallest pebble can make ripples that are felt throughout the course.