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History of the Great Dragon Wars, Volume 3 – The formation of The Cowled Wizards
By Horelipo Palusm the Historian

As the lands raged. The races fought among one another with no end in sight. A small group of mages gathered together with the sole purpose of finding a way to put an end to the greater dragons once and for all. Thus was formed the first council of The Cowled Wizards.

These mages looked far and wide for a way in which they might rid themselves of the greater dragons. High and low they searched; pouring over countless writings found it ancient texts, scrolls and tomes. Each attempt they made to rid themselves of the great winged beasts seemed to be in vain. Until on one day they stumbled across an old tome called “The Book of Kaza”. In it they read of a place once protected and controlled by druids. It was this place that they sought out in hopes of finding a solution to their problem.

Guarding the bawn was always such a bore. I mean anything that tries to invade the caern is to stupid and weak to matter, or so big i wind up getting sent away before any of the fun happens. Like was so much easier 2 years ago…..

I was just a college student living the dorm life, and enjoying my studies. Veterinary sciences…ironic right. I always had an affinity for the wilderness. I used to spend hours hiking in the forest behind our house, and playing hide and go seek. Man those were good times, anyway. Classes were going good, and i was making the most off that free ride my dads native american heritage got me. I had a smoking girlfriend, a crapton of money from financial aid, and a bomb car. I mean what else could anyone ask for. But then came the change.

It was a night not unlike any other of those days. We had a 30 pack, a lot of music, and a batch of condoms ready to go. Then Glenn showed up. See Glenn was my new girls ex, and he really didn’t like the ex part. He made it a habit to follow us around and tell her how horrible of a guy i was, and all this shit. It was kinda pathetic. But tonight i guess glenn grew some big ones. He threw the first punch, but mine was better. As he hit the floor he arose with a knife. I was freaking at this point cause well…OWWW. He lunged at me and i couldn’t get out of the way in time. The knife pierced my stomach and before i knew it the whole world was red. I awoke to pools of blood and body parts. My heart filled with rage, and my head with fog. So i ran. I ran, and i ran, and i ran till noone knew my face or name. To the old reservation my dad grew up at. It was there i found out what I am, and my purpose. You’re a werewolf boy. We kill the bad things. ….Kill the bad things he says. I am one of the bad things. It took me awhile to cope. see everyone does some crazy shit on their first change. Sits and spins the Wendigo ragabash killed his pop. Friggin brutal.

So i went about learning the ways of the wolf. They taught me to hunt, track, and kill. To honor Gaia and her gifts, and the beat the ever living shit out of the wyrm. This was my calling, and i loved it. The freedom, the power, the joy. But like everything good in life work had to ruin it. See as a cub you get to train and play and have fun, but once you gain rank its itme to work. So now i spend my nights in the stupid forest. writing in my journal, and all in all just being bored out of my mind. The way of the guardian. “most important job there is” yea friggin right.

What the….how could a moonbridge open here. Maybe i’ll have some fun after all.

To be continued…..

The FaeThe colorful hordeIt is impossible to say how many types of Fae live in our world. From little winged people to the monstrous abominable snowmans, the different possibility of races are virtually endless. Their life spans also differ from simp…

I find my mind wandering of late. I feel restless and lost. I had finally found my footing in Equinox and now here we are in this…place. Wherever it may be, however we arrived here. At least we arrived together. Had he not been here, I am unsure what I would have done.

Hardly any of it seems to matter though, not now. After all those months of wondering why I am so drawn to him, trying to understand the hold over me, and yearning to learn his secrets…It all came crashing down harder than I ever thought possible…

____________________________________________________________________________________________

The night in the Inn started like any other. The constant game of Cat and Mouse, the struggle for power. He always warned her of what danger he was, and she never listened, never cared. She begged him to tell her why he was so afraid to get close, to tell her why he kept her at a distance. Why should she fear him, after all, when he was her benefactor, her teacher, her friend.

He caressed her cheek, and she ran her fingers through his hair, cupping the back of his neck. So cold, he was always so cold. His usual blue eyes now nearly red, he gazed at her intently, hungrily.

Do you truly wish to know what I am?” he had asked her.

Breathlessly she answered, yes…

His lips moved to brush against her neck and she moaned softly, the familiar feel of his lips on her…It took a moment for her brain to register the pain. Like two needles, piercing the skin. Her arms tightened around his neck, she clung to him. Her body pressed to his, his arms supporting her as he took her into him.

The pain was not as deep as she would have thought. Her mind screamed at her to push him away, fight him off and kill him. He was exactly the same as the monster she had hunted her entire life. She should want him dead. But her body betrayed her, not bearing to pull itself away until finally he broke from her, staring at the wounds in her neck.

She felt light headed, weak and dizzy as if she had too much to drink. The look on his face was a mixture of concern and pleasure. He carried her to the bed, and though she fought to keep her eyes on him, she quickly faded into sleep.

When she awoke at first she thought it a dream. He approached her warily as if expecting her to attack. A confusion of thoughts pounded in her head. How could she bare to look at him, knowing what he was? But then, how could she take her eyes from him?

“I wanted so badly for you to be stronger than I was, Adicia…” he said angrily. “To not become the thing you hunted as I did. Tell me, if I could turn you as I am, would you wish it?”

She swore herself to him once, Mind, body and soul, whatever it took. As revolted as she was at the thought of what he was, she started to wonder. Could this be the thing she needs to finally find and kill the one who killed her sister?

But he was angry, frightened perhaps, at her and at himself.

“Does one not require becoming the thing they hate, in order to destroy it?”she asked in turn.

“Beautiful forever, beyond ageless, beyond weakness…”

“What does it matter if he is so far beyond my reach now?”she asked angrily, knowing they had no idea how to leave this place. “And still, you do not want me…”

“It is not that I do not want you, Adicia. I do not wish to kill you,” he said with a frown.

She looked up at him, her eyes searching his.

“Kiss me…” she said softly.

He frowned at her. “What does that prove?”

“I know what you are now. I need to know what I felt was not merely a side effect. Perhaps you may learn something as well…”

He caressed her cheek, pressing his lips softly to hers. She kissed tentatively at first, as if exploring him for the first time. It felt familiar, it felt right. Whatever he was, whatever he had done did not matter in this moment. He pulled her closer to him, his skin warmer to the touch now that his hunger was abated. Reluctantly, they parted.

“I still want to be with you…God help me I do,”she whispered.

“Even now though, there is more to it than that. I still thirst for you. I do not know where the rest ends and that begins,” he said softly, his eyes violet once again.

“Then take what you need and you will know. When you no longer require it, what is left…is us.”

She had the same dream as long as she could remember. It rarely changed, though the details had become much clearer the more time she spent around Him. She learned new things about herself, and about events long ago though never forgotten.

Her hunt for the vampire who killed her sister consumed her mind, her body, her soul. She had made her way to Equinox, following his trail. Her life had never been the same. She met Him, his family. He took her under his wing, training her, teaching her the ways of the Strigoi, as he called them. Monsters, as she would always know them to be. Savages. Enemies.

She was unsure why He fascinated her so much. Something so familiar to her, something that drew her to him like a moth to a flame. They were alike. So focused, so intent, single minded when they had an idea. But something else had drawn her since the day they met. He was dangerous; she liked danger. She had lived on the edge of danger since the day she left home, since the day she became Adicia.

This night the dream came again, and again she knew what she would see. The face of the one who ruined her life, who led her on this path. Who brought her, ultimately, to Him. Though the dream did not change, her perspective of it did. For once she did not relieve the tragedy of witnessing her sister’s death. Tonight, she observed without emotion. Her dream self reacted as it always had. But her conscious self was sitting, cross legged, knees touching His. Shadows swirled around them as she focused her mind on the scene before her.

She took in every detail of him, every inch, every line, every movement, cataloguing it in the recess of her mind. As the scene faded, she turned then to the one before her. His violet eyes boring into her, with such intensity it took her breath away. He reminded her in so many ways of the Other, the killer. She knew he was a killer, as much as she herself was. But still, something so eerily familiar yet every time she came close to figuring it out, her mind pushed it further away.

Her stomach wretched, the floor started moving beneath them. The shadows still engulfed them both, though he did not seem to notice. He looked at her with a cold, hard stare. The ground swayed around her and her head spun. She felt sick. As quick as the dream had come it was pulled away from her, his voice resounding in her head as it called distantly to her.

“Adicia…Don’t want…to waste…you…”

She tried to call out to him, to ask what he meant but he was gone. Slowly she sat up, surveying her surroundings. They were completely unfamiliar to her. The rocking of the boat was the cause of her nausea, the waves crashing around the sides of the boat, a dock within eyesight.

Boat? When had they…She glanced around in a panic, looking for Him. He lay not far from her, seemingly asleep. Had he brought them here? Where was here?

Slowly she rose, looking around for her belongings. One small bag, containing only one meager outfit and a small pouch of coins. This is unacceptable…she thought to herself. She would go above deck, question the Captain and find out what lands these were. And then wait for him to wake. For he was all she had now.

Damion slowly walked into the small shrine, taking care to remove his cowl and tread lightly along the time-worn stones. He was nervous and at a loss as to how you honored higher powers above properly, but he felt it in his heart that an effort was due. Even if it were clumsy or ill worded, it was still vital that the deeds done in their moment of need were recognized. He knelt down and reached to the face of the embossed carving on the floor, brushing his hand across it to clear the blanket of dust and leaves that had sought refuge here. He set down a small vase and threaded a single flower into it, methodically filling it with water from his own waterskin before taking a drink for himself and stashing it away.
“I…am uncertain how to thank you for sending your child to us in our greatest hour of need. The deeds done seem to be the closing of a chapter written long ago before my time, a necessary restoration of balance and peace long sought. I’ve no tounge for prayer, its an acquired language at best..” Damion shuffled, setting his staff down beside him, settling down on his knees and sitting back upon his feet. “However I believe the steady song of my heart rings truer in your ear than any verse my mind could possibly wring into spoken phrase. It is that of an eternal gratefulness, a slow steady march toward something that may only shed a mere glimpse of the real thanks I’ve meaning to offer you.” Damion sat still and in silence. His ears devouring all the ancient stones could utter, his gaze tracing the lines of the ankh standing before him.
Moments passed with the soft flutter of the sands outside, caught in its dance with the breaths of the sky. He stood slowly and kissed the top of the Ankh, pulling his cowl over his face and mouth he ventured forth into the raging sands. A weight seemingly lifted from his shoulders, he felt at peace.

I sit down slowly in the sand, where we had been the day before. The day before the dreams shattered.

“Home is an empty dream
Lost to the night
[love]er, I feel so alone”

I lean forward, drawing my hand through the sand between my legs. Then with a backstroke I savagely claw at it, creating a deep fissure, the sand previously there goes flying.

“You promised you’d be there
Whenever I needed you
Whenever I call your name
You’re not anywhere”

My hands Pound the sand with a howl ripping out through my throat. I Feel my first tear well up and break free. The single lonely tear slides down my cheek, scorching it’s path.

“I’m trying to hold on
Just waiting to hear your voice
One word, just a word will do
To end this nightmare”

Again, I let myself fall backwards into the sand. Again I look up into the same foreign sky. The shadows seem to dance around me as the trees bend with their cruel laughter.

“When will the dawning break
Oh endless night
Sleepless I dream of the day

When you were by my side
Guiding my path
[love]er, I can’t find the way”

I lay there thinking of the stranger’s words, of how he threw all my help back into my face. Not necessarily in a cruel way, more so in a provoking thoughts way. I remember, and i hate him for it. The pain of realizing I am really alone is quite unwelcome. I don’t think I will ever embrace such a merciless reality. I refuse to be alone, to be gone. Yet, i’m not really completely alone, for I have met someone, right? Him and his woman? Or will this too pass, for they do not need a third; one who cannot share their world either. Yet, I wont give up, nor will I forget. I will wait for you, or at least… I will try.

“I know that the night must end
I know that the sun will rise
And I’ll hear your voice deep inside”

History of the Great Dragon Wars, Volume 2 – Deceit, Trickery, and Brute Force
By Horelipo Palusm the Historian

Wil Bartram and the great dragon inadvertently on that day put into motion something that would cause countless deaths. In the thick of it throwing king against king, nation against nation, and brother against brother. The Great Dragon, upon learning what he believed to be truth, entered a rage in which the words on these pages can not possibly begin to describe.

It is common knowledge that dragons love their treasure hordes, and with the utmost possessiveness will guard it to their death. We must surmise that the great dragon decided in his mind that his rival was out to destroy him, and to take his horde of wealth for its own. What we do know is what young Bartram over heard the dragon bellowing, and later recorded as he made his hasty retreat to escape the dragon’s jealous wrath. Bartram described the dragon as having wailed that it would, “vow to amass the greatest treasure horde any dragon had ever seen or possessed.”

In all of its jealous fury the Great Dragon had not only let the ‘thief’ escape, but it now believed that its rival was after its own treasure horde. With that thought in mind the monster took flight, and headed to its rival’s layer. Upon arriving the Great Dragon discovered the rival dragon’s lair to be deserted. Legend has it that there was no great battle on that day. Instead, the Dragon took advantage of the situation and pilfered the horde of gold as only a dragon can. It stole items of value and power that are beyond imagination and returned to its lair with the newly claimed wealth.

The Great Dragon’s rival returned to its own lair only to discover that its dragon horde had been plundered; This setting into motion a chain of events that would untimely drag the four corners of the known lands into a great conflict. Nothing of this nature or magnitude had even been witness or recorded before the races of the lands. The great dragon begin to steal from others and events escalate. The great dragons, undoubtedly jealous of one another, begin competing to see which could amass the greatest treasure horde.

It began simply enough with some of the Great Dragons enlisting small groups of the different races of men, beasts, and monsters to their cause. They initially accomplished this by means of employment or trickery. While others resorted to more devious methods of enrollment. It was not long before whole cities and armies were under the controls of these great beasts. This continued for a time until the dragons competing for more power brought whole nation under their control and command. The nations that had managed to remain independent of the Great Dragons conflict were after one another. These nations beguiled out of a necessity to survive join with one dragon or another throwing the entire known lands into a series of chaotic battles. These battles laid waste and destruction to everything.

He had left before she had risen.. She was near to waking and he could tell it… her breathing had shifted in the telltale way it always did in the moments before she would wake, when consciousness was not far off..

He strode forward, blades in high guard to meet his shadowy twin, a thin cold line of a smile forming on his lips in the moonlight.. his words coming soft and murmured, preceding the clang of metal by scant instant..

“And so now I must find such a one.. “

History of the Great Dragon Wars, Volume 1 – The Blunder of Wil Bartram

Many years ago a young adventurer by the name of Wil Bartram set out to find his fame and fortune. As all young men desire to do he ventured far and wide. He traveled from one land to another until one day he inadvertently stumbled upon a great horde of treasure. Just as Wil began filling his coin purse with glittering gems and gold the great dragon to whom the horde of wealth belonged to returned, and caught him in the act!

Normally under such circumstances a dragon would not stop to ask questions of such an act however on this day something most peculiar happened. Whether the dragon was full from a previous meal or if it was simply in a forgiving mood no one shall ever know; however, it is known that instead of making a quick meal out of him, the great dragon instead conversed with him demanding to know why he was there and who had sent him.

The exact conversation that took place on that day is unknown. What we do known is that the great dragon suspected that a rival dragon had sent young Wil to pilfer his horde and as such asked him. As fate would have it, the young adventure in an attempt to make a hasty retreat unwittingly answered yes to having been sent by another dragon. Young Bartman believed that if he laid blame on another, even another dragon in this case, he might escape his almost guaranteed fiery demise. So to the utter ruin of many young Bartram’s risky gamble paid off.

Upon hearing that Wil Bartram was sent by another dragon to pilfer his gold horde the great dragon became enraged. The dragon then asks Wil a question which has thus been referred to as the catalyst that began The Great Dragon Wars. The dragon asked, ‘if the rival dragon (exact name unknown) believed his horde of wealth to be larger then its own?’ For the second time in one day, as fate would have it, Wil Bartram answered yes to the dragons question unwittingly setting into motion a series of events that would untimely lead to the ‘The Great Dragon Wars of the 7th Age’.