Races

Asyndi (Shar'Vaire and Quar'Vess Clans) - by T.A. Saunders ©1997 v3.7

Racial Articles The Meeting of the Dragons of Imarel

Throughout their explorations of the world they had fought so savagely to protect from evil the Shar'Vaire would eventually encounter the Dragons of Imarel. The males were gold and green striped along their scales, while the females were a brilliant emerald green from snout to wingtip, but regardless of gender these creatures were enormous, spanning fifty yards from snout to tail and had one hundred yard wingspans, yet were able to take flight with the grace of any bird.

In wonder of these great creatures the Shar'Vaire set out to make peace with the Wyrms who…for the most part were affable unless one crossed their territory without leave to do so. While this little quirk made for tenuous relations at first, the Dragons and Shar'Vaire became fast allies…for a time. It was the strange bond these peoples shared with one another that established such a quick friendship, but it would be the Curse upon both races that would ultimately bring this friendship to bloodshed.

For a good several hundred years the Dragons conveyed knowledge that had been lost to the Asyndi but for their ancient companions, who were longer lived still had committed to record and memory — including sorcerous knowledge and lore of ancient Imarel. This was a time of learning for the Asyndi, who had been so far removed their original ancestors that the wealth recovered knowledge was a great boon to their society and some say the beginning of a great troubles to come. In return, the Shar'Vaire shared vast mineral wealth, consisting of precious jewels, gems and metals that pleased the Dragons and their heightened sense of vanity.

Yet, despite the vast treasures the Dragons were collecting from the Shar'Vaire, they became suspicious and wary of their intent, especially with a recent trend towards worship of infernal powers. Some Dragons did not trust these descendants of the ancient Asyndi; they had betrayed their ancestors once, who was to say history would not repeat itself? Further, other Dragons grew greedy for more of the wealth the Shar'Vaire had and thought to take it from them by force.

A mistake the Dragons of Imarel would soon live to regret.

At first, the Dragons caught the Shar'Vaire unprepared. The first city to fall was Mithrys (which stood where Sundown stands today) and opened what would be known later as the War of Betrayers. Even with an even knowledge of magic, the Shar'Vaire had nothing to protect them against the explosive fire the Dragons could burn whole city blocks with. City after city fell to the Dragons as they plundered and razed each one for their resources, until the great Wyrms were upon the gates of D`Mir itself.

But despite their failures to stop the Dragons elsewhere, the Shar'Vaire had been preparing, biding their time to unleash their counter-offensive. The Dragons had underestimated the Shar'Vaire who had taken the knowledge they had given them and expanded upon it, expounded upon it and did something the Dragons in their arrogance could not have possibly expected.

The Shar'Vaire had surpassed the Dragons while the peace still existed and had discovered a secret the Dragons did not know. The truth of this came as the sun dawned behind the great spires of D`Mir as a great flight of Dragons set upon the city. First there was a bright flash of white light, then another and another. These silent flashes of light were soon followed by great waves of super-heated air that caused a thunderous rumble in their wake.

Dragons were falling from the sky left and right, while some were merely vaporized where they flew. In a great panic the Dragons scattered and flew off in random directions, hoping to survive the massacre to come. The Battle of D`Mir marks the first use of what the Shar'Vaire refer to as The Radiance in battle.

Radiance is called forth by a focusing a great blast of Mana: the raw unshaped magical energy that exists in the world and within those who can wield magic. While the principal behind the feat sounds easy enough, it requires great discipline to channel such energy and not end up consumed by it. Unleashing ‘Radiant Magic' in this fashion can not only kill an unprepared caster, but can leave an area dead to all magic if mishandled. To this day Shar'Vaire and Quar'Vess guard carefully who learns this magic.

The second surprise for the Dragons came when the stragglers from this surprise attack turned and fled from the battle. En route back to where they roosted (where modern Farwind stands) they were intercepted by vessels from the budding seaport of Anthalas…vessels shaped like sailing vessels but flew as fast as the Dragons did.

These Airships harrowed the Dragons all the way back to their roosts in a pitched battle that roared across the skies of Tal`Rah. In the end, many of these mighty airships were lost but so badly beaten were the Dragons, they would never rise again in a considerable force…assuring the Shar'Vaire as the dominant species on Imarel.