We remember.
Though the humans who live there have forgotten, we of the Draegoni still remember.
Though the dwarves of the mountains and the elves of the forests have forgotten, we remember what the land now called Bethel was.
Before the human Empire arose, before the Orchans retreated to their eastern islands, before the war that shook us to the very foundations of our beliefs, we of the Draegoni used to wander the lands with our lord and maker, Glydoc.
Before the Centaur and the Satyr were destroyed, we used to find pleasure and entertainment in their company. Before Selain overran the whole of Irilion with his army, we had peace and prosperity.
All in the land you now call Bethel. It’s true name we are forbidden to tell, yet we must not let you forget.
We cannot forget.
In the days when the Centaur and Satyr were still alive, we settled in the plains of the land you know as Bethel, and built a mighty fortress and a port there. It was a time of harmony. But when the Gods began to make war upon each other, we followed our masters into battle. The lands of Irilion fell to the armies of the Orcs, Orchans and Ogres, until only our fortress was left. The other races came to us, for they had been decimated by the insidious attacks of Selain, and we sheltered them. We built a mighty fleet to sail to the continent of Seridia, where our allies needed our help. We fled to the sea in our ships, carrying all of our soldiers with us.
Except a few.
We of the Draegoni still remember. The last of the great rulers of the past, Irinveron of the Black, had formed the members of his caste behind him, and strove to defend the port while the armies of Irilion fled. We last saw the Black retreating into the caves that we had carved out from the mountains, centuries ago. Those caves still stand, until today.
But the Black are gone.
We have lost our greatest caste – that of our natural rulers. It was by necessity that the Gold took up the burden of ruling our race. But our ties with our forefather – the great Iringold, have been cut. The Black did all perish in those caves. When we arrived back in Irilion, after waging bloody war on Seridia, and witnessing the deaths of our closest companions – the Centaur and the Satyr – we searched those caves, hoping to find even one of the young.
No more, no more.
So we sealed the caves with great and powerful magics. Though the Humans and the Orchans have fought over the lands, and have even used the caves as camps and fortresses, we know that they have not penetrated our spells. The final resting place of the Black shall not be disturbed, though it may have been forgotten by time. We had buried them with royal honours, along with the bodies of our dear and long-lost friends, the Centaur and the Satyr. We mourned them, and we retreated to the ice. No longer would we be involved in the arts of war. No longer shall we take part in the affairs of the world. Our wounds are too great.
The undead came.
The undead came, and with them, we sensed a great and terrible danger. The Human Empire lacked the strength to prevent them from entering the caves of the Black. We knew that whoever controlled the undead had the power to unravel the spells in the caves. When we heard of the news, the Gold gave the orders, and we marched out to protect the caves. We held the land for years, re-learning the arts of war and fighting the undying hordes to preserve the remains of our ancestral rulers. Once the other short-lived had cleared the source of the menace, we retreated again to the icy fortresses, and left behind our rulers to the unknowing care of the lesser races.
But now, there is great trouble afoot. And great hope as well. For the God of death has relinquished his hold over the caverns of the dead, and the souls of the past are rising again. Now, we open our kingdom with great eagerness, and the Gold have sent out Draegoni to all parts of the world to search.
To search for the risen souls of the Black.
Once again, we of the Draegoni may soon see our long-lost ruling caste, and begin anew. We need no longer mourn them if they have arisen again. And so, we now spread the word, in hopes that those of the Black who have risen again as Eternals may remember how we have honoured them, and come back to take their rightful places among us once more.
~As told by a wandering Draegoni mystic to Captain Gaildren~
