Eons passed and life in creation changed and adapted to it, as the banner of AO's time unfurled into eternity. In time, the first sentient lifeforms emerged. A race of large scaled reptiles took to the sky on great bat-like wings; the first Dragons. These, the progenitors of Dragonkind were of incredible size, dwarfing their descendants several times over, but lacked intelligence, culture, language or purpose.
Greatest of them all was Kalshietz, the Seeker; the first sapient mortal. The four Titans, save AO, imbued the dragons with their essences, granting them the ability to quickly rise above their feral state. Only Kalsheitz was blessed with the essence of AO, who had become the reclusive Titan's confidant and frequent companion.
Kalsheitz, the Seeker
In time, the first dragons formed a great kingdom which spanned most of the known and unknown world. However, the conflicting essences and influences of their Titan patrons began to manifest in dissent and ideological fracturing. Within the mortal souls of the dragons, new essential forces took root - Good and Evil.
The Titans had concepts of Order and Chaos, but such abstract notions as right and wrong existed beyond their scope. Being truly immortal - their existences as perpetual as existence its self, even the greatest of suffering or deepest of joy was but a fleeting emotion to the vast beings. Without the true consequence of mortality, good and evil simply had no meaning, and therefore had not manifest in creation.
The kingdom of dragonkind fractured further, influenced by the growing essential forces of good and evil, even as their fracturing fueled the new forces growth further. Kalsheitz, in desperation, taught the dragons the first arcane magic - a gift of the essence of AO, who held dominion over such things. However, to the hermetic Titan this was a grave violation of his trust; and Kalsheitz was exiled from his company as the betrayed Titan grew weary of mortals. AO had discovered that mortals confounded his prescience - their choices defied the uniform banner of time he had first cast out into creation, causing it to fray, unfurl and knot in ways which he could not see.
Kalsheitz had hoped the gift of magic would reunite his brethren in pursuit of the deeper mysteries of existence, but it only fueled the conflict. The dragons bickered and fought over how magic should be used, whose skill was superior and even what elements were best amplified by the gift. When the empire truly fell, it fell into war. Dragon battled dragon in the primordial skies of the world, ravaging each other with tooth, claw and spell. Their numbers fell, and those that remained gathered themselves up into tribes. It is from these tribes that all modern dragons descend.
For Kalsheitz betrayal and failure, he was exiled from both time and space by AO; to be held in a prison on the fringes of creation for all time. AO despaired as the dragons wrought destruction upon creation - but did not blame them. Perhaps it was the echoes of lost love for the mortal Kalsheitz or the alterations mortals had caused to the very fabric of creation - but AO turned his scorn upon his siblings. It was they, through their petty manipulations and machinations which had corrupted the dragons, who, in time would have risen to sapience on their own without elemental conflict ingrained into their very souls.
As the four meddling Titans fretted and feuded over creation, as WU despaired that she could not send floods to wash away the winged mortals, as WI watched on in indifference as, EA wept in despair and IR stoked the passions of the warring dragons further - AO began to bind each. Having learned how to imprison creatures from Kalsheitz, AO began the process on each of the Titans in secret. However, unlike Kalsheitz, the fellow Titans could not be removed from the world; in many ways, they were the world its self. AO would not be able to remove them entirely, but their influences could be constrained to a infinitesimal fraction.
AO bound the essence of IR in a great eternal fire which blazed through a forest which would become known as Smolderwood.
AO bound the essence of WU within one of the closest heavenly satellites, the moon Aqare.
AO bound the essence of YI in a vast perpetual storm cloud which wanders the world.
AO bound the essence of EA within a great stone, buried deep beneath Orgenis Isle.
With their binding, AO retreated from the world of creation -watching from above and letting the dance of mortals play out, unimpeded by the Titans.
Art by Vampireprincess007. Used w/o permission.
Greatest of them all was Kalshietz, the Seeker; the first sapient mortal. The four Titans, save AO, imbued the dragons with their essences, granting them the ability to quickly rise above their feral state. Only Kalsheitz was blessed with the essence of AO, who had become the reclusive Titan's confidant and frequent companion.
Kalsheitz, the Seeker
The Titans had concepts of Order and Chaos, but such abstract notions as right and wrong existed beyond their scope. Being truly immortal - their existences as perpetual as existence its self, even the greatest of suffering or deepest of joy was but a fleeting emotion to the vast beings. Without the true consequence of mortality, good and evil simply had no meaning, and therefore had not manifest in creation.
The kingdom of dragonkind fractured further, influenced by the growing essential forces of good and evil, even as their fracturing fueled the new forces growth further. Kalsheitz, in desperation, taught the dragons the first arcane magic - a gift of the essence of AO, who held dominion over such things. However, to the hermetic Titan this was a grave violation of his trust; and Kalsheitz was exiled from his company as the betrayed Titan grew weary of mortals. AO had discovered that mortals confounded his prescience - their choices defied the uniform banner of time he had first cast out into creation, causing it to fray, unfurl and knot in ways which he could not see.
Kalsheitz had hoped the gift of magic would reunite his brethren in pursuit of the deeper mysteries of existence, but it only fueled the conflict. The dragons bickered and fought over how magic should be used, whose skill was superior and even what elements were best amplified by the gift. When the empire truly fell, it fell into war. Dragon battled dragon in the primordial skies of the world, ravaging each other with tooth, claw and spell. Their numbers fell, and those that remained gathered themselves up into tribes. It is from these tribes that all modern dragons descend.
For Kalsheitz betrayal and failure, he was exiled from both time and space by AO; to be held in a prison on the fringes of creation for all time. AO despaired as the dragons wrought destruction upon creation - but did not blame them. Perhaps it was the echoes of lost love for the mortal Kalsheitz or the alterations mortals had caused to the very fabric of creation - but AO turned his scorn upon his siblings. It was they, through their petty manipulations and machinations which had corrupted the dragons, who, in time would have risen to sapience on their own without elemental conflict ingrained into their very souls.
As the four meddling Titans fretted and feuded over creation, as WU despaired that she could not send floods to wash away the winged mortals, as WI watched on in indifference as, EA wept in despair and IR stoked the passions of the warring dragons further - AO began to bind each. Having learned how to imprison creatures from Kalsheitz, AO began the process on each of the Titans in secret. However, unlike Kalsheitz, the fellow Titans could not be removed from the world; in many ways, they were the world its self. AO would not be able to remove them entirely, but their influences could be constrained to a infinitesimal fraction.
AO bound the essence of IR in a great eternal fire which blazed through a forest which would become known as Smolderwood.
AO bound the essence of WU within one of the closest heavenly satellites, the moon Aqare.
AO bound the essence of YI in a vast perpetual storm cloud which wanders the world.
AO bound the essence of EA within a great stone, buried deep beneath Orgenis Isle.
With their binding, AO retreated from the world of creation -watching from above and letting the dance of mortals play out, unimpeded by the Titans.
Art by Vampireprincess007. Used w/o permission.
