Kaia Chloros

~10 AD

Tower of Descensus, exact location unknown.

Provide a screenshot of the in-game text with location details in the #lore-notes channel on The Compendium Discord or to Mortalitas (marot on Discord) in order to have your name listed here.

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The Imperial Campaigns are remembered by the descendants of the Empire as a time of many things. It was a time of grand battles, conquests, and conquering. It was also a time of abundance and glory, where goods both domestic and foreign flooded the markets of Tindrem allowing her people to partake in Nave's many bounties and curiosities.

It was also a time of architectural and infastructural ingenuity that saw the Empire's reach stretch from Tindrem; to the eastern settlement of Gabaria; to the southerly settlements of Canteri, Chloros, and Amodia; to even the western continents of Sarducaa and Nordveld. The success and refined cultures of the settlements of Beth Jedda and Varborg clearly owe their successes to the Empire's guidance.

From a more poetic perspective, the Imperial Campaigns are also known as a time of Dragons and heroes.

As a scholar of magical history, you may find it surprising that I would cover a topic such as Dragons. Or perhaps, if you are more informed, you are surprised I didn't write the topic sooner. Do not be misinformed, dear reader: There is much magic to be found in Dragons.

As magnificent, gargantuan creatures of fable and legend, it is little wonder that precious little can actually be confirmed about them. Those who may know hide themselves away in Specula Summa, and as such we must draw from the wealth of information uttered from all sources, including the Khurs who despise the Dragons so.

The Dragons are tried heavily in many legends to the mountains, particularly the Talus Mountains in Tindremic folklore and history. Some say that they are intelligent beings who could fully communicate with mankind if they so chose, while others claim they were nothing but simple beasts, circling the skies and burning cattle.

Others still have speculated that they may have something to do with the lizard-men found in the Stairs of Echidna, which would indeed make them the largest, most powerful, and most influential of the Cold Broods.

As for what they have left behind, there is a rumor that several isolated communities in the Talus Mountains revere them as Gods, gathering the bones of Dragons and treating them as sacred objects, praying that one day the Dragons will return to them.

The Khurites gather their bones for different reasons entirely, as evidence of the “defeat of the Dragon” by their legendary bird-man "Geeredh". It is said that a statue of this creature can even be found in the city of Morin Khur, curiously permitted to stand even after the city was taken by Emperor Livi Avitus.

It is said that these bones, as well as the other parts of a Dragon, hold unique magical properties unseen elsewhere. There are also tales of mages and shamans who can harness the lingering power of these magnificent creatures, though evidence of what said Magic or ritual would look like is quite lacking.

Instead, we must look to legend and myth to perhaps slightly understand what this could be. The Tindremic Provinces claim that the Empire used Dragons during the Imperial Campaigns, a fact rather well attested to by the skeletons said to be found in the south and the Khurites' tales of defeating a dragon that is synonymous with the Empire.

How then were these Dragons used?

Were they allies, as some would have us believe? Or trained animals, as others would have us believe?

Is the power found throughout their remains merely a coincidence? Or were they themselves capable of great magics?

Is it true that they still exist in the caves beneath the Talus Mountains? Or are they long-dead beings, driven to extinction by exploitation and war?

There is much to wonder about Dragons, and a great wealth of information to sort through.

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