| "It has indeed, Sato-San." Malachi Dronocis says sadly, shaking her
head. "Ironic that a member of the group that laid the groundwork for this
entire tragedy would be here again, menacing us.."
It dealt with the origin of the web of power that the Council of Wyrms
ruled through. The nation of dragons may have appeared invisible to outsiders,
but it was ALL too evident and apparent to the dragon citizens within!
Some reveled in it. Those few dragons like Malachi suffered silently within
it, blocked in open methods and reduced to clandestine operations to further
her beliefs...and desires.
It was now a well-known story, the strife between the nation that had
called itself the "Elder Race" (or "Elder Races" for some reason) and non-humans.
Seemingly overnight, a race of gifted human mages had appeared as if from
thin air, and commenced to enslave the world. The threat had been so large
and fierce that this had done something that had never been thought possible,
it united the what had then been a wildly diverse and fiercely individualistic
race known as "Dragons" Oriental, Occidental, strong, old, weak and strong!
The dragons had joined together, in a pact of mutual defense…Protection.
ONLY
by the combined might brought about by such a pooling of mystical power
and resources would the draconian race have any chance of survival as a
free species. By garnering more and more treasure into their Hoards, the
newly formed Council of Wyrms, a group dedicated to directing the defenses
and resources (such as spell and power enhancer) of the dragon race in
the best way possible, they hoped to be able to withstand the threat (and
do more. eventually).
The dragons, scared of the threat the Atlantians represented, were thus
ruthless in their actions. In those early days, all other races were seen
as just a liability if the "noble" dragons tried to join with them in defense.
Instead, the dragons took from the other races what they needed, by force
if necessary! When the dwarves refused to freely give their treasure of
gold and gems, the dragons took by force with such fierceness that the
dwarven race was sent teetering to the brink of extinction. In any event,
these and other acts of desperation broke the backs of many non-human nations,
which is an irony. It made the task of conquest by the Atlantians that
much easier.
These facts had been buried or forgotten by the other non-human races;
forgotten either out of pride or out of the fact that there had been more
of an emphasis on bare basic survival than recording events. Thank the
Lord that none would believe the truth now (Tarin believed, but he knew
better than to spread such an antagonizing truth amongst his people that
he was trying to be a part of again). Why rock the boat?
Atlantis, instead of finding nations able to halfway defend themselves,
found a land ripe for the picking, ready to be plucked of it's "potential
slave/toys" assets. So--as was said before--this was ironic, for there
was now little to slow the conquerors.
Nothing, nothing stood between the Atlantians and world conquest but
an increasingly desperate draconian people and...the Altanian's malignant
nature.
It was a delicious irony that the crowning tool that SHOULD have clinched
victory for the Atlantians at the gifted (but evil) hand of Lord Tesla,
should play in their downfall. Quickly, the drive of the invaders was halted
as factions arose over just WHO should actually possess the powerful artifact
known as the Crystallic.
The magic relic could have teleported vast Atlantian armies within the
midst of the Dragon Council, killing them before the dragons were able
to breath a blast of flame in feeble protection.
It should have been able, at the hands of the ungodly powerful and skilled
Atlantians to transform huge numbers of draconic defenders into harmless
animals before they got within even sight of the invaders.
Instead, it caused divisions within the evil nation. Measures had been
taken to try to stem the tide of anarchy by scaring the subjects into compliance.
Threats of releasing a horrible new curse called lycanthropy were made
to dissidents. The threats were scoffed at, disbelieved. The threat of
this new, powerful curse didn't work, for the dissidents finally made war
upon the forces of Tesla. The curse was released, and thousands and thousands
of rebels suddenly found themselves changing, some by the initial casting.
Others changed by being infected and surviving attacks by former allies.
They changed into werewolves and other lycanthropes. The new curse/disease
was TOO powerful, though. The curse spread TOO quickly. Tesla was seeing
his mighty empire, his plaything, being torn apart! In a fit of insane
rage, the mighty mage initiated a series of signals that triggered massive
earthquakes and flooding. Entire islands, including the capital island
of Atlantis, disappeared under the waves.
Lord Tesla's body atomized under the stress of his final act of anger.
The ravening monsters that had been men managed to escape the still intact
capital city, and spread. Others, in an effort to save their wretched lives
from the in-rushing waves, courted necromancy, and were transformed into
the world's first vampires. These and other atrocities still plague Terra
today; all could trace themselves to that fateful night.
The dragons were left standing, first stunned and then amused at the
fate that had befallen their enemy. The vileness within the invaders had
been the Atlantians' downfall!
It soon became a popular misconception amongst the dragons that this
was the nature of all of mankind. It was thought that mankind would
always self-destruct, due to the immature and violent nature within them.
Two schools of thought came about to prevent a threat like the Atlantians
from ever arising again. Extermination was out of the question. There was
the ethical question on such a vile act, so many dragons dismissed this
thought. Others saw it as impossible, for the humans bred too fast for
extermination to work.
Both sides were in agreement over one thing: they "knew" that humanity
was NOT capable of nobility on its own, and was a decided threat
if left unchecked.
Irony struck again, thousands of years later when Malachi would find
that humanity was very well capable of being noble and good without draconian
aid.
But that was now, this was then. One school felt that humanity needed to be guided and taught, to be
brought up to a level that would be the monsters the Atlantians had been.
"would not be"? The thought that mankind could be domesticated and civilized.
However some, while they professed this view, they saw humanity as just
a gaggle of children, forever needing protection and guidance.
The other school felt that humanity was nothing but menace, and as such
harsh measures should be taken in case it became clear that humanity was
"getting too powerful." Some dragons even took a darker view than this.
They reasoned that since Atlantis went and destroyed itself in such a childish
and violent manner, that it was obvious that humanity as a species really
wasn't very intelligent...little more than animals, actually. Animals to
be used and abused as a dragon felt.
Through long centuries, it became apparent that the Council harbored
many of the latter school. Through the Council's influence and power, the
second school of thought was put into positions of power and influence
in the Occidental dragon people's society. Soon, the entire group was almost
entirely of this school, evil and cruel. The Oriental dragons kept to the
first school and resisted following their Western brothers into moral decline
but, however, they still hoped to persuade the Council to the more benign
view through peaceful means.
Small chance, it turned out. The majority of the Council had grown to
love its power, and love the influence they had over the dragons of the
West. They soon "outlawed" some techniques that would perhaps threaten
their hold on their subjects. To put it in Probe's word's "The Council
blew off the protests of the East." Thus it was. The Council had cemented
their power base, until Minestus changed everything.
When Minestus contacted the Enemy, using the Crystallic that had been
thought lost forever, he brought the proud nation of dragons crashing to
the dirt!
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