Rough-draft of a high-fantasy novel I will be editing for submission to publishers. |
The Lady Rokhr Dragons are among the oldest and wisest of races. They originate from a world unknown, their history so long and far gone that even they do not remember. For time immeasurable they have had the ability to travel between worlds, through time and space itself. Many would settle on worlds filled with life, to rest and hunt and simply survive. Most cared little for the lesser races, finding them merely interesting, amusing, or simply useless. Then came the Lady Rokhr. She was a great, strong, majestic and powerful white dragon. She grew in knowledge and wisdom greater than that of her peers, and she took a great interest in the beings of the worlds they traveled. She found that in their short lives humans, elves, dwarves, and other sentient beings provided wondrous spectacles and lessons. Their lives were filled with passion. Rokhr wished to learn more and did what no dragon before her had ever done. She deigned to take on the shape of her lesser and walk among them. She studied their growth, their life, their freedom. She was filled with compassion, and decided to create a world of her own to fill with the sentient inhabitants of the many worlds, a world over which she would stand as protector and cultivator. The dragon brought together human, elf, dwarf, halfling, merfolk, centaur, minotaur, unicorn, griffon, goblin, and orc. She filled her world with countless plants and animals, carving a great variety of lands- forests, plains, deserts, swamps, bogs, oceans, lakes, rivers, mountains. And she taught them. She gave them technologies and magicks. Those who followed her devoutly became known as the Order of Rokhr. The people worshiped her as their creator and protector. Already in her old age when she concocted her plan, she could not remain their protector for long. A few generations grew under her tutelage, and her world began to flow in harmony and order. Hers was a time of peace, but her wisdom and experience assured her that it would not always be so. These many races would eventually war amongst themselves, but she knew all would remain balanced- the evil weighed equally with the good as her world tipped the scales in favor of equilibrium. There was only one thing that could threaten her creation, and that was her fellow dragons. Should one decide to toy with her world after she’d passed, she needed to place something there for protection. And so, the Lady Rokhr provided her followers with her most cherished creation. Using great magic and the life of her own eggs, she created a strong race of Lesser dragons. These dragons were not as great and powerful as herself and her kin, hence the Lesser. They would not possess the ability to travel between worlds and it was their purpose to serve and protect the other races. Her nest provided a great variety. They came in all colors- white, black, red, blue, green, yellow, silver, gold. They breathed ice, fire, lightning, acid, mist. Some were small and dumb as the animals. Few of these had a powerful breath and many sported feathers. Some were quite large, and possessed an intelligence equal to that of the unicorns and griffons. And a select few had the size and strength of the Lady Rokhr herself. Finally, the Lady Rokhr reached the end of her days. As she felt the life seeping from her bones, she joined her soul with the very planet, delving deep into its center, so that she might provide life and rejuvenation to the many races for years to come. |