ToI -- The Golden Age
From Create Your Own Story
Welcome to the Golden Age of Illnora, a time period taking place long after the Great Cataclysm where very little resembles the world that came before it.
A brief history of the Golden Age:
Dragons were the first race to appear on Illnora. But after reaching unparalleled heights in knowledge and technology, they did something that would forever break the world, breaking the fabric of reality to tap into the Void. The resulting chaos triggered the Great Cataclysm, a terrifying event where Void energies ravaged the entire world, splitting continents, raising mountains, and changing the very face of the land. The Void would’ve torn the world apart if it wasn’t for the timely intervention of the Gods. When the worst of it was over, the gods punished the surviving dragons by banishing the dragons and their home continent into a seperate pocket dimension, thus forming the harsh lands of Draconia.
In the time since the dragons were banished to Draconia, Humanity had risen from the ashes of the Great Cataclysm. Hardy and tenacious, the human race soon rose to fill the void left by the dragons as the dominating force on the planet. The Gods, worried that the humans would be as foolish as the dragons were, decided to walk among men, guide and teach them in order to prepare them for the day when the patch they put on the void would surely fail. Under their leadership, Humanity prospered and grew even stronger, eventually learning to tap into magic themselves under the watchful eyes of their benevolent deities. However, the Gods soon realized that they would not always be able to strive with man, and so they departed, leaving their wise teachings, prophecies, and some powerful artifacts behind to be used in the days when Void Energy would ravage the world once again. With the warnings and teachings of the Gods still fresh on their minds, humanity experienced an age of innovation and increase in knowledge, to the point where they rivaled the dragons at their peak. But of course, the humans grew prideful over time, and lost much of their religious teachings. Now, all that remains is ancient myth, shrouded in the mysteries of almost forgotten legends and stories.
Meanwhile, for thousands of years, the dragons dealt with strange beasts, famine, wars, and disease. And then, they discovered that their connection to their homeworld was still strong, and that said connection allowed them to freely warp between Illnora and Draconia, although the effects of the warp would be taxing upon the dragon, leaving it in a weakened and exhausted state for the next few days. An expedition was soon formed to explore their old world, and see if Illnora would serve as a suitable hunting ground for young dragons, as if all the dragons were to migrate, then surely they would end up overhunting this lush world. What they found, however, was a world well into the golden age of man.
Upon arrival, the dragons stumbled onto the grazing pasture of a herd of cows. Too exhausted and hungry to realize that the cows were domesticated beasts, nor the full implications of this, the dragons ate ravenously before retreating to shelter in the nearby mountain when humans discovered them. This, alongside, several other misunderstandings (involving mysterious forest fires and giant dung heaps) quickly led to a short but bloody war between the combined might of humanity and the dragon expedition. The fighting was fierce and resulted in a stalemate as the humans raw numbers and magical might easily countered the raw power and cunning of the dragons; it seemed like neither side had the advantage, and there was no end in sight.
It took the machinations of a daring, and slightly insane wizard, to end the war. He theorized that the Dragons were intelligent beings, capable of parlay. If such was the case, he could find out why they came to Illnora, and perhaps negotiate a truce. One night he snuck into the dragon’s camp, and met with the Dragon leader, Xar’Goguz, who promptly woke up and pinned the wizard. But before he could deliver the killing blow, the wizard cried out that he came not to assassinate him, but to negotiate. Xar’Goguz curiosity was aroused, for the humans had not even attempted parlay before. Always, the humans fought dirtily, using tricks and stratagems to counter draconic might… and had never once seemed to consider that dragons may actually be intelligent. Impressed by the wizard’s apparent bravery and bravado, he chose to humor the wizard, on the condition that he would eat the troublesome human if he made any attempts at trickery.
The two beings talked for hours upon hours, trading the histories of their people, and learning all they could about each other’s cultures and customs. Finally after much debate the two settled on a treaty that would hopefully resolve the problems between the two races. Dragons would be allowed to enter and move about in Illnora peacefully as visitors, so long as they made the local government aware of their presence and agreed to abide by human laws. The humans would set aside specific areas for younger dragons to hunt in, and would regulate when they were open and closed to ensure that overhunting wasn't a problem, and that there would always be available for the younger dragons. In exchange for this privilege. However, in order to help maintain the Dragon Hunting grounds, the Humans would require an additional boon for their services to the dragons. After much negotiation, the two decided that for each year a dragon stayed in Illnora, they would spend at least half of that time serving humanity as a gesture of good faith, to encourage the two races to work together, and to encourage the two races to learn more about each other. When the mutually agreed upon time of service was completed, the dragon would be sent home with some extra food.
The Wizard and Xar’Goguz departed as friends to present the rough treaty to their respective peoples for ratification. At first, both sides rejected the idea, but after much negotiation and persuasion, both sides adopted the treaty that would become known as he Human-Dragon Compact. To enforce the Compact, the humans established a new order of wizards, called the Dragon Masters to serve as ambassadors to the Dragons and act as enforcers of the treaty and human law within their world. The dragons likewise, also established their own orders to serve as ambassadors and enforcers. A few years after the treaty was established, the humans realized that with the dragons jumping back and forth, they couldn’t keep track of them, nor enforce the required servitude. Likewise the dragons sought an easier and less taxing way to travel back and forth between the two worlds. Thus the practice of using magic to summon dragons began. For a while at least, tensions between the two races eased, and peace fell upon the world of Illnora once more.
Of course, as time passed, both sides soon began to abuse the treaty, and tensions began to once again arise between the two Illnoran races. Young Dragons rebelled against their elders, and would make the jump to Illnora themselves in order to keep their freedom in tact while they gorged themselves upon whatever wildlife they could find. Humans, on the other hand, soon began seeing the dragons as inferior servants at best, and as slaves at worst. Dragon Masters were sent out to capture the rouge dragons or (failing that) tag them with a tracking spell so that they could be forcibly summoned. As time passed, the knowledge of the treaty was all but forgotten, except by a small few, and summoned and captured dragons would serve in increasingly inhumane situations for longer and longer periods of time. Both races were outraged at the abuse suffered by the other side, but… neither dared to open hostilities against each other, for fear of the mutual destruction a total war would bring. And so, things remained almost the same for 500 years... at least until the present day.
Now that you understand the circumstances of the time period:
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