02 - Iron Kingdoms W.. - Captain Spud Is Amazing

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16 Iron Kingdoms
The ruin of lyoss
in 4,250 br, The elves of lyoss began a ProjecT ThaT, Thanks
To Their Pride and hubris, would bring abouT caTaclysmic
changes for Themselves and humaniTy. encomPassing all
faceTs of Their civilizaTion, The elves single-mindedly devoTed
Themselves To a greaT work ThaT would bring Their living
gods from The veld. They seT ouT To creaTe a bridge To sPan
The disTance beTween The veld and caen and acT as a conduiT
beTween The Two worlds.
iT Took only 250 years To creaTe The arcane framework of
The bridge of worlds, which was a surPrisingly shorT Time
considering The elves’ arcane Power in This era. once oPened,
The bridge allowed The elven gods To come from The veld To
caen, buT someThing wenT awry. PerhaPs some ancienT elven
fane holds The secreTs of This Terrible mishaP, buT whaTever
haPPened is unknown To man or dwarf. The effecTs, however,
were sPecTacular and disasTrous. The bridge of worlds
succeeded in bringing The gods of lyoss To caen from The
veld. while The gods arrived unscaThed, The bridge Tore
iTself aParT in a sPasm of arcane desTrucTion. The resulTing
calamiTy droPPed fragmenTed PorTions of The bridge uPon
caen. PriesTs of menoTh called This evenT The Time of The
burning sky, and rhulic records call iT The lamenT of ghor.
boTh races rePorTed iT as a greaT glowing in The sky.
lyoss, The earThly Palace of The elven gods, was desTroyed
by The shockwave aT The aPerTure ThaT formed The gaTeway
To The bridge. The ciTy, in every way The cenTer of elven
socieTy, was leveled in an insTanT by an exPlosive force so
massive iT eradicaTed any PossibiliTy of ruins or remnanTs. The
surviving lyosans, nursed by Their wounded gods, abandoned
The smoldering corPse of Their naTion and moved wesT aT
The behesT of Their fane, seTTling in The region ThaT would
evenTually become ios.
Spare your people the ruin of dragons!
—Khardic inscription on an unearthed tablet, circa 792 BR
The aThanc war
for cenTuries scholars infaTuaTed wiTh The lore of The
monsTrous have hinTed aT a vasT sTruggle ofTen so Terribly
subTle ThaT man has noT noTiced iT even when caughT in The
midsT of The baTTlefield. This conflicT is The aThanc war, and
The dragons of caen have been fighTing iT for millennia.
as Told in The Wyrmsaga CyCle (circa 600 br), The aThanc
war sTarTed in The Time of The rise of morrdh. The greaT
dragon Toruk, arroganT wiTh Power and filled wiTh The desire
To dominaTe all Things, gave birTh To his geT by sPlinTering
his own massive hearTsTone, his athanC, and haTching a
brood from The shards of his soul. These creaTures were To
be his children who would sTand beside him and enforce his
claim over caen. however, in his arrogance Toruk failed To
accounT for The naTure of his geT.
his children, hungry for Their own freedom, rebelled againsT
The dragonfaTher and Tore aT his hide wiTh claw and TooTh.
some escaPed Toruk’s wraTh; oThers rejoined his flesh when
They were consumed by his TeeTh and The flame in his belly.
since The beginning of This sTruggle, The accounTs of The
lord of dragons have been Terrible indeed, for he has
hunTed his children Through The ages seeking To devour The
shards of his hearT ThaT They conTain wiThin Their breasTs.
The aThanc war is much more Than a war beTween dragons iT
would seem: iT is a god sTruggling To reclaim Power from his
unwilling children.
over The years iT has been Proven To scholars and exPlorers
ThaT The dragons Themselves did noT simPly band wiTh one
anoTher To defeaT Toruk. no, The comPeTiTive naTure of
dragons drives Them To consume each oTher, feasTing on one
anoTher’s hearTsTones To grow in Power. as Toruk reclaims
The fragmenTs of his soul, so do his children inheriT The
Power of The siblings They devour. each aThanc is ParT of a
whole and seeks To be TogeTher, yeT The mind of each dragon
guards ThaT Power.
for millennia, dragons have fallen To one anoTher. ancienT
works of arT confirm ThaT Toruk slew The legendary whiTe
dragon of The wyrmwall shazkz, The scourge of calacia,
in an ePic baTTle recorded in TaPesTries and woodPrinTs as
well as in The Wyrmsaga CyCle. one record daTing back To
The occuPaTion recounTs The orgoTh slaying an unnamed
dragon. The creaTure was said To be reborn wiThin The
confines of an orgoTh TemPle where iTs aThanc was To be
sacrificed. in The resulTing carnage The dragon laid wasTe
To The TemPle before flying off under The cover of darkness.
The iosans are known To have slain The dragon everblighT in
390 afTer iT assailed The ciTy of issyrah. Their army suffered
horrendous losses, buT They evenTually felled The greaT
beasT. iT is said everblighT’s aThanc lays ensorcelled wiThin
elven wards aT nrynrr lyss, or The “ToP of The world.”
Then There is cryx, a dark emPire forged in Toruk’s shadow.
Though The foundaTion of The nighTmare emPire is shrouded
in mysTery, iT is believed The dragonfaTher esTablished his black
naTion in The days of The Thousand ciTies before The orgoTh.
since iTs onseT, cryx has grown in Power: cryxian reavers have
conTinuously raided The coasTlands, TesTing The sTrengTh of
iTs naTions and sTealing away wiTh boTh living and dead.
sighTings of The greaT dragons conTinue inTo PresenT day.
blighTerghasT, halfaug, and scaefang have been seen near
The realms of morTal men. PerhaPs The aThanc war—ThaT
silenT menace looming over all of wesTern immoren—is on
The rise again.
The Rise of Morrdh
At roughly the same time the Molgur began to grow
in strength, a human tribe settled an area between what
is now Cygnar and Khador. Before becoming a region
of swamps and tangled forest, it was known as the valley
of Morrdh. The forests were unsettled and primal, but