Creatures

Concerning Dragons and other Magical Creatures
Were you to ask the neighbor down the street from you in the Free City, living above his small pottery shop, eking out a living by selling his affordable wares to those unable to afford the porcelain common in the merchants manors, if he had ever seen a Dragon, he would laugh heartily in your face. Ask him if he thought giants or rakshasas exist, and they would look at you with wonder and ask if you needed an escort back to the House of Sanity. Show him a map that some scholars use to show the relative proximity of the realms of the Heavens and Hells and sketches of the angels and demons therein, and he would tell you they were fantastic drawings of a fantastic world that could hardly be real. Little does that neighbor know that not only do all of these things exist, but they have varying degrees of pertinence to the outcome of his world, and that there are forces on both sides still fighting a war long thought to be won.

Dragons

Arguably the most powerful mortal creatures ever to be produced upon Myron, the monsters known as Dragons, have existed since the angels who created the world and began placing the raw magical energies that would become the mortal races. Dragons, when they were created, showed no penchant for good or evil, as was the plan for all mortal creatures. They freely chose which side of the Eternal Conflict to support, often influenced by forces of angels or demons, and they became the chosen soldiers of those factions, regardless of color, chromatic or metallic. So powerful were they that all the lesser races feared the shadow of their wings so as to even worship those that demanded such tribute. It was a dark time for man, elf, and dwarf.

Enter Morgoran, and his considerable power. His campaign against the forces of Hell brought him face to face with the chosen winged rulers, and he defeated many of them with cunning use of subtle power, and the loyalty of all the mortal races. So impressed were the elder Dragons with the man’s following and success, not only against the forces of evil, but their own forces as well, that it came to them to follow such a worthy representative of this world themselves. In a grand ceremony, a powerful dragon of each of the 10 races gave their lives, some willingly, other not so willingly, to give their blood to the creation of Dragonwrath, a tool and weapon the likes of which had, nor has, ever been seen in the world. The sword became a symbol for Morgoran, even as he took up the title of Lord of Dragons.

So it was that Morgoran came to command flights of Dragons, enlisting them to full effect against the forces of the Three that threatened mortal kind. The Elder Council, the same that sanctioned the creation of Dragonwrath, supported him in all things, offering their counsel when needed, their power and majesty when commanded. On the fateful day, when Morgoran was simultaneously defeated by the Three while barring their return and Dragonwrath was destroyed, the Dragon’s, sensing their Lord’s victory, resolved themselves to retreating from the mortal world as well, until that time when their considerable aid would be called upon again.

Therefore, there hasn’t been a sighting, or even a whisper of a sighting, of a Dragon in near a thousand years. The common people have heard tales of Dragons and their terrible breath, their powerful magic, their nobility and majesty. But they are just tales, to be told to children at bed time, along with yarns of valiant knights that fought evil monsters, and powerful wizards who shook the earth, easily dismissed, except by those who know more. For there is a lasting record, left by the Elder Council, given to the only agency that might understand its meaning, a book of prohesies given to Kwagin-Li when the Dragons left the world with Morgoran.

The book is unique in that it cannot be read but by those that are chosen to do so. Kwagin-Li was one such person, as have been a select few in the last thousand years, and he was the most prolific in its deciphering. Of the prophesies that he translated from the book, some have come to pass while others still await their fulfillment. The most famous was not his translation, but that of another, marked as a Reader by the stylized markings that appeared around his eyes, which said that Morgoran would return, but only at the time of greatest need of his people. Many wait for that day, while most believe it will never come.

Giants, Tieflings, Aasimars, and other Descendents

When the world was new, the Immortal races walked among the mortal. Angels and men, devils and elves, demons and dwarves, all stood side by side or across the battlefield from one another. So common was the sight of these magnificent creatures that little was thought of their presence. They aided some, destroyed others, all in the name of their respective causes. Indeed, so intertwined were the cultures of mortals and immortals that sometimes they blended, and entire new races were born. Imbued with the magic inherent in their immortal lineage, they were at one time considered the favored races of Myron.

Of the more prevalent, and still active in the world are giants, tieflings (also called devilkin), and aasimar (also called devas). Each of these races, while still around, are not generally known among the mortal races, nor are they generally believed to still exist. Many live in hiding, in enclaves far from the prying of mortal eyes, scheming to their own devices, or sheltering themselves for their own protection. Either way, they are almost never seen, except by those that go about putting themselves in harm’s way, be it bravely or foolishly, or those that desperately seek them out for unknown reasons.

Giants are descendants of elementals that once made their home on Myron. Evil or good in nature, the immortal creatures passed on a distinct affinity for their chosen element to their children, an affinity that the giant races have used to their advantage for ages. Be it earth, water, fire or cold, the giants leveraged their gifts to carve out great fortresses, both on Myron, and the Immortal realms. While many can still be found in the Heavens and Hells, those that remain on Myron are cleverly hidden in places that the mortals either do not want to go or are simply unable to reach.

The tiefling race remains to serve their dire masters, for their beginnings were not those for the faint of heart. The prime reason for their existence is to further the agendas of the Hells upon Myron. Working in small secret cults, with those of a like mind, they are the foot soldiers of Hell on earth. Seldom do they rise in power over the other mortals in their hidden cults for in the eyes of their masters, they are worth less than the mortal soul that the powers of Hell are ultimately after, making them expendable in all but the direst circumstances. Surely a large showing of these mortals would lead to dark portents for all of Myron.

When the Great Purge sent all immortals, including the massive host of angels that resided on Myron, back to their respective realms, the aasimar lost their most trusted confidants and staunchest supporters. Lost among the mortals, they found they had no place in their fledgling societies, knowing the wishes of the Warlords of Light, so they retreated to enclaves of their own. Bent on contemplation and self reflection, they slowly began to seclude themselves from the world even as they faced persecution for their beliefs by those they had spent their lives guiding. For this, they washed their hands of the mortals, leaving them to their own devices, sure that they would be called upon as saviors, and asked to return to their former posts as advisors. That day has not come, and though a very small handful have returned to the select dire mortals as spiritual advisors, the greater population has forgotten their existence and the great service they once gave.

Infinite variety of angel and demon roamed the land in that age, and so other smaller groups of progeny were begotten as well. Generally grouped as fey, these small groups of magical creatures remain mostly hidden from mortal eyes, not solely from their own devices, but also by the shear disbelief that most common people now have in their existence. Dyrad, sprites, faeries, treants, and other more aberrant creatures exist in the deeper reaches of the world, be remain unfound simply because those that might see them refuse to do so. So varied is their ancestry that so too are their dispositions. Some continue to take a hand in the workings of the world, furthering agendas both honorable and foul, while others simply enjoy the great opportunity for trickery. Because of this, should these creatures be encountered, beware their motives, for they may not be what you think they are.