Bestiary of Phantasmal Depths - Dragons

In this new exclusive content of the best seller, Bestiary of Phantasmal Depths by Ulrich Dread, I present to you almost all that is known about this ancient creatures that have met their end before humanity could be considered a thought in Sol's mind.

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• Dragons

Dragons are magical flying reptilian creatures that came to existence long before the race of men, before even the nativity of the first minor divines. Well, this is what is believed to have happened, but I have compiled the information found in hundreds of manuscripts throughout the eras that might shed some light on this draconian enigma.

Little is known about this beasts, only the blackened bones of their once mighty bodies can be found in the most remote locations of the world. I have never seen a draconian skeleton with my own two eyes, but the works of art depicting these marvels are awe-inspiring and it really serves to put into perspective how small we mortals are when compared to these magnificent beings of old.

With massive jaws that could rip entire mountains from the ground, wings so wide that they blotted out the sun and the ability to breathe hellfire, they made the divines seem like a bunch of kids playing the roles of immortal beings.

I can vividly remember the fantastic books my dear mother used to read to me before bed. They were more like encyclopedias of magical knowledge, filled to the brim with tales of dragons and other colossal creatures. But make no mistake this beings were not on our side.

In one of those tales the ancient Furyan gods fought against wave after wave of cold-blooded demons pouring from the bowls of the planet. Amorr with their mighty bow and arrow, piercing the hearts of the unloving. Namur, father of all seers, wielding the cord of acumen with merciless intent. Chamion, bastion of the seas, bashing skulls and shooting his trident with earth-shattering force. Don't even get me started on the warmonger twins with their billowing red capes, wielding a shield and sword on each hand, Helmos cut through the enemies' defenses with deadly precision as his sister, Hulda, ravaged their scaly bodies with nothing but her Urúdum-plated fists. Vaal, the mother of all, on the other hand preferred to take the form of several of her monstrous creations, using claws and poisonous fangs to rip her enemies apart.

However, as magnificent and glorious as this tales might be, none of them come close to the gruesome reality of war. It might be difficult to comprehend but the minor gods and the furyan gods were loosing the battle. The details of that day are murky, the few texts that survived the currents of time are barely trustworthy and the telltales even less so, but what is definitely well known is that the king of the gods wasn't present to witness the near defeat of his subjects.

Sol instead went to the place he swore never to set foot in. The underworld.

You see, Death didn't have any obligation to help the surface world fight their wars, neither did their siblings, Quaboth and Nemeya. In fact neither of them answered to Sol, Death was the ruler of their own realm. The deity now known as The Abyssal was very much content in taking care of the souls of the dead in all their lonesome, someone had to maintain the wheel of life and death spinning after all.

The specific details of what was discussed and formalized that day are unknown to us, but whatever it was it guaranteed the continuity of the human race as Death and their siblings arose from the gates of the underworld surrounded by a wave of pure darkness.

It is written that Death reached the battlefield just in time to stop a mortal blow from ending Amorr's life. With Death's presence alone the tides of war were shifted into the gods' favor, ensuring a swift but bloody victory. The remnants of that day can be found littering the ocean's floor bed and the frozen deserted plains of humanity's birthplace, Harduin.

You would do good to heed my following advice, dear reader. Do not try to bring them back to life, their essences were reaped by the Reaper themselves, no power from this world can restore these magnificent creatures back to their former glory.

Your luck will be willing to protect you, but not against these beasts, of that I'm sure.