The World of Seven Dragon Saga
Few written records predate the founding of the Empire of the Seven Dragons, and the crowing of Emperor Sithu I. So it falls to the Chanters of the Court to retain and tell the stories of the founding of the world, and the precarious victory over the great enemy, the Malloi.
It was this victory which led the Seven Dragons of Heaven to descend and anoint the seven founding Houses as the eventual rulers and guardians of the entire world. This duty has come down through the thousand years of the Imperial dynasty, and rests upon the hearts of every citizen of the Empire.
The Chanters of the Court commune with the ancestral souls, and help provide the Emperor with their accumulated wisdom. It is through the memories of such ancient spirits that modern men understand the origins of this world.
Over five thousand years ago, this world (along with many others) formed. Created like froth from a stormy sea of Chaos itself. Within this celestial sphere rose five groups:
Spirits- the soul of the world; imbuing plants, animals, even the most mundane of objects, with purpose and energy. To this day, we honor and appease them with shrines, gifts and celebrations. Ethereal beings interested in preserving only the small bit of the world they are bound to.
Fae- the mind of the world; foreseeing the future and setting up the rules the world must follow. It is due to these immortal, ethereal beings that snow falls in winter, grain ripens in the fall, and the sun hangs overhead for only part of each day.
Dragons- the heart of the world; guiding the forces of the world simply by their presence. These Heavenly Dragons were massive beings of the ethereal realm, able to generate storms with a beat of their wings, raise mountains with a shrug of their shoulders. The lesser, corporeal dragons and dragonkin that roam the modern world are their much diminished descendants. There are seven Heavenly Dragons, plus innumerable spawn with limited powers.
Man- the hands of the world; mortal and dedicated to creation, they spread across the face of the world, building kingdoms and cities. Being corporeal from the start, they are more attuned to the forces of Chaos than the ethereal beings.
Monsters- the teeth of the world; mortal and dedicated to destruction. They too spread across the world, seeking to clear what Man and others create. Monsters spawn in infinite variety, from hordes of goblins, to giant beasts, seeming to arise from barren rock in the desolate corners of the world. The tensions between Man and Monster have left many a blasted civilization in their wake. Ruins dot all but the most isolated of areas.
In times since the origin, these orders have intermingled, spawning innumerable hybrids. The descendants of Man and Fae became the wandering tribes of Elves; those between Dragon and Man became races such as the Feydri and Drakyri. Dragons and Monsters produced a wild variety of forms, including the great Wyverns, and the Wyrms of the earth.
To this barely stable mix of beings came the Malloi, spawned by Chaos from a different world. They ripped the minds from those they captured, creating puppets to do their bidding. Powerful entities, wielding the greatest of elemental magic, they could withstand the powers of all the beings of this realm.
In the end, the Fae and Dragons sacrificed much of their energies to call upon the most fickle and powerful force they could find, the endless Winds of Chaos. Simply opening a path to this great storm would destroy the lands along with the Malloi. Instead, the Dragons chose men to act as vessels, to channel the Chaos and direct it only against the great enemy. The Fae agreed, only because they believed this link to Chaos would only persist for the fleeting lifetimes of those humans. It was not difficult to find Men who desired such powers. Those Touched by the Winds of Chaos would not long outlive the war, and the world would return to how it had been.
This gambit proved successful, and the Malloi retreated and sealed their gates behind them. The few kingdoms of Man lay shattered, their people scattered across the globe. The Fae and Dragons, exhausted, could only hope the Malloi had left for good.
Fearing a reprise of this war, the Seven Dragons founded the Empire. Not willing to abandon the power of the Chaos Touched, and much to the displeasure of the Fae, these dragons also left open a small conduit to Chaos. Its unpredictable winds dance around the world and, upon occasion Touch a human.
In future posts, we’ll discuss more of the Empire of the Seven Dragons, which now, a thousand years on, rules most of the world (save for a few isolated islands). And the relationship between the Chaos Touched, the Emperor, and the seven Imperial Great Houses. Let us know if something particularly intrigues you!
- The TSI Team
