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Centuries ago, elemental deities dwelled peacefully in the lands of Lumeria. Eventually, the human race discovered these lands and began to settle down.
For a long time humans coexisted with the deities, some humans even learnt from them how to manipulate mana and the elements. This was how humans were initiated into magic.
Seeking for more power, the greedy humanity tricked the deities and trapped them to take possession of their power. To prevent others from having access to the deities, temples and other constructions were built to conceal the sealed traps.
Blinded by selfishness, the humans that learnt how to control mana and the elements did not pass on their knowledge to the next generations, leaving the once-shared wisdom confined to dusty tomes.
As more centuries elapsed, human civilization continued expanding across the lands of Lumeria, destroying nature and broadening their territories. During this period, deities remained calm, and patiently awaited the day that the sealed traps would be somehow broken.
The foolish humans, unaware of the sealed traps placed beneath the temples built by their ancestors, tore them down, unleashing the wrath of the deities that had been patiently waiting for this unavoidable event.
Forgotten and untouched, the sealed traps contained the power of the deities that was meant to be drawn from them. Over countless years, the deities accumulated this untapped energy causing an overload which in turn resulted in an agressive, uncontrollable and unstable behaviour on their part.
With the sealed traps broken, the overpowered deities unleashed their elemental powers taking over the lands where they once lived calmly.
Driven by fear, humans fled to the remote island of Ciliora and hid, hoping the elemental deities would eventually calm. But this was not the case, the unmeasured power of the deities affected the creatures living in Ciliora turning them aggressive, making them attack the human refugees in the island, which added another layer of chaos to their critical situation.
In a desperate bid to preserve their race, humans drew upon ancient tomes to perform forbidden summoning magic that could bring powerful beings with extraordinary aptitudes from another dimension and hoped that they could save them from the imminent extinction.
The forbidden magic casted by the unexperienced humans created a permanent portal that could not be closed. Strangely, the entities that came from the portal had a similar appearance to the users that casted the magic.
Now, beings from another dimension are coming through the portal arriving in the lands of Lumeria, they call themselves Adventurers.
I remember following a group of humans that were exploring an inactive volcanic region. After a long walk they decided to light a campfire to make it through the night.
The night was crisp and luminous, with the full moon casting its glow over the landscape. One of humans was adding few dry branches to keep the fire alive, when suddenly an enourmous figure covered the sky and darkness took over. A gigantic and fierce scaled creature descended from the skies, with one movement its wings produced wind strong enough to put off the fire lit by the human.
Frightened and shocked by presence of the creature, the humans found themselves unable to move. Noticing the ashes of the campfire, the creature lit it up again with a gentle breath of fire.
While staring at the flames, the creature introduced itself as Pyrox.
The fear humans felt the night they met Pyrox turned into curiosity and a strong desire to acquire its knowledge and learn more from him.
Humbly, the great dragon began instructing the group of humans how to manipulate fire. Pyrox's patience was evident as they practiced diligently, and with time, they gradually mastered various fire techniques. As years went by, humans kept going to Pyrox to learn and improve their skills.
Apart from their long and sustained trainings with the dragon, many nights I observed the group of humans secretly gathering to try to perform a kind of ritual involving magic spells that differed greatly from the ones they learnt from Pyrox.
It was supposed to be yet another training day with the humble dragon, but I was aware that those secret gatherings in the villager's basements did not carry good intentions.
That morning, they had packed some scrolls with strange symbols on them.
They started training with Pyrox for few hours, as they usually did. Suddenly one of the humans gave a signal, and all of them gathered around the dragon. They opened the scrolls they had hidden, and raised them in the air with both hands while pronouncing peculiar words.
A dark purple light flowed out of the scrolls connecting them, and forming a barrier that trapped and sealed the dragon. As the scene unfolded, Pyrox gazed with disappointment at the humans who had chosen to betray him.
Shortly after the humans trapped the dragon, they built a temple to cover and hide the barrier that was containing Pyrox. Once the construction was completed, more humans came and started to settle near the temple unaware of what was lying beneath them.
The dark magic casted by the humans the day that Pyrox was trapped did not only affect him, but also drained the life of the villagers. I am almost certain this side effect was caused by the lack of experience and knowledge regarding the manipulation of this kind of magic, probably proper training it can be mastered.
A piece of advice for whoever could be reading this chapter: always make sure you learn and understand the side effects of the skill that you are trying to master.
Since the human's life expectancy is very short when compared to other beings that live in these lands, few years after the temple was finished the group that had trapped and sealed the dragon died. Years, decades, and centuries went by, and the humans kept expanding their settlements evolving into cities.
Every once in a while I used to go and watch how Pyrox was patiently waiting for the magic seal to be broken.
After countless years of waiting, that day finally came. The foolish humans with the desire to keep expanding their territory, tore down the temple that held Pyrox. The very same day another three ancient structures were destroyed in different locations in Lumeria, this turned out to be one of the most tragic days for humanity.
Draining the life of the casters was not the only side effect of the magic used to seal Pyrox. Over the years that the dragon was trapped, mana kept accumulating inside of him.
I have been watching Pyrox for centuries and this was the first time I saw him raging and with uncontrollable anger. The humanmade cities built over the course of many years were burnt to ashes in a matter of seconds. The dormant volcanoes began to erupt. There was nowhere to hide.
The only remainings from the cities were the ashes left after it had all been burnt to the ground. After releasing part of his contained power and fury, I saw Pyrox flying away towards the volcanos in the distant north, his figure disappearing amidst the smoke that took over the skies. I believe Pyrox will never trust humans ever again.
I was taking in the views from the top of the mountains in the southeast of Lumeria when I saw a party of explorers putting their best efforts to reach the summit.
The air currents were strong that day, so much that a gust of wind made one of the explorers fall from a cliff. In a blink of an eye, as the human was falling a majestic feathered creature coming from high in the sky caught the explorer and saved him from a certain death. The winged creature gently laid the human on the ground. Extending its wings and with a tone of pride she introduced herself as Gwynthea.
The explorers were amazed by the majesty and grace of the creature, and thus with a bow they showed their gratitude and respect.
Shortly after their first encounter, the explorers decided to return to the mountain to try to meet once more with the majestic bird. Fortunately for them, they met again.
Climbing and reaching the top of the south mountains is not an easy task especially for creatures as weak as humans. Gwynthea understood their bravery and offered the explorers a deal: every time they managed to reach the summit, she would instruct them on how to control the element of wind.
The explorers accepted the arrangement and started learning how to manipulate the wind. With discipline, every month they climbed to the top of the mountain to be instructed, they improved their skills and soon learned more advanced techniques.
I noticed that in some of their trips to the summit, the explorers were being secretly followed. I quickly realized that the followers did not have good intentions.
One day while the party of explorers was arduously training, instructed by the majestic creature, the group of spiteful followers emerged from the shadows and murdered all the explorers, covering the ground with their blood. The murderers quickly surrounded the feathered creature and started to cast a spell that made the blood rise from the ground turning into a cage that trapped Gwynthea, who was mourning the loss of her disciples.
After Gwynthea's imprisonment, realizing the power they now held, the murderers erected a shrine atop the mountain. This temple, built from the stones of the very cliffs Gwynthea cherished, stood as a silent guardian over her prison.
As time went by, it became a place of pilgrimage for those seeking the wind's blessings, unaware of the deity trapped beneath.
Gwynthea waited countless years trapped in the cage forged with the blood of her disciples, her grief as constant as the mountain winds.
While trapped, Gwynthea kept accumulating mana, with the intention of breaking the seal that caged her by overloading it.
The same day that the Temple of Fire was torn down, Gywnthea felt the mana within her swell like a gathering storm. The sealed trap, once a potent barrier, now strained under the immense pressure of the accumulated mana.
It turns out that the mana accumulated inside the winged creature not only broke the trap but also corrupted her mind, making her unable to control her actions.
In that erratic and uncontrollable state, with the first flap of her wings, Gywnthea created a gale that swept across the southern mountains of Lumeria. Trees bent beneath the force, rivers dried up, and villages that had stood for generations were scattered like leaves in the wind. The might of her release tore through the cities built by those who caged her, turning their structures to dust and memories. The remaining dust blended with the dried ground forming a desert.
After the catastrophe, I saw Gwynthea recover her senses and fly towards the mountains at the far south.
When humans first arrived in Lumeria, they disembarked on the west coast of Virens. A large group travelled northwest towards the forest to settle down since they could cut wood from trees to build their shelters.
Deep in the forest, while they were chopping down some trees, one of them landed the first axe blow on a gigantic tree. Immediately after, a voice that rumbled the ground coming from the tree shouted, "Who dares profane the domains of the ancient Dratheog?" while the tree itself started breaking away from its roots.
Astonished by the unexpected situation, the humans were left paralysed and dropped their axes.
The silence that followed Dratheog's thunderous inquiry was heavy with fear and reverence.
The humans, aware of their transgression, pleaded for forgiveness, expressing their dire need for shelter and warmth. Dratheog, the ancient protector of the forest, saw the desperation in their eyes and decided to instruct them in the ways of the earth. He taught them which trees were to be cut for their needs, and which were to be preserved for the forest's health. Under his guidance, they learned to shape the land without scarring it, to harvest without depleting, and to harness the magic inherent from the soil and stone to grow crops that thrived with the pulse of the earth itself.
After some years, the settlers, having grown in number, might and knowledge, formed a council of elders. Every year the community celebrated a festival to honor and thank Dratheog for sharing his knowledge.
During the preparations of what would be the last festival with the presence of the ancient creature, a stranger in a cloak approached the council of elders. The stranger gave them an offering and a scroll as he said, "If you spread this powder on the ground while pronouncing the words written on the scroll, the soil will greatly increase its fertility".
The time for the festival opening ceremony had arrived, the whole settlement was present, ready to celebrate. The council presented the offerings, including the powder from the stranger. By the time one of the elders finished reading the scroll outloud, Dratheog merged with the ground and got trapped in his own dominions. The only one that knew about the trap was the stranger with the cloak that was dissapearing away deep into the forest.
Everybody in the settlement kept celebrating, thinking that Dratheog had merged into the ground to provide more fertility.
The next day the council ordered to build an altar around the area where Dratheog merged with the ground. Declaring that area a sacred place. For countless years, the community kept giving offerings and celebrating festivals around the altar, unaware of the true nature of Dratheog who was sealed beneath them.
The words read that day by the elder were actually a very dark and advanced magic that put Dratheog in a very deep sleep, that he could not awaken by himself. As you might have noticed, sometimes these human creatures can be so naive.
The same day that Pyrox was released, a dense blue light coming from the east where the Altar of Dratheog was built, purified and removed the seal that was keeping the ancient creature in a deep sleep.
Now awaken, Dratheog, who for decades was unconsciously gathering energies from below the deep layers of ground, emerged and stood up. Walking across the lands, each step he took left behind enormous roots on the ground and a great variety of trees behind.
First, he walked eastwards, where the light had come from, forming what is now the Coilldaur Woods. Then, heading north, by reshaping the ground and moving mountains, Dratheog created what is now known as the Valley of Dyffryn. He continued walking, rising mountains across the reconquered domains to prevent anyone from following him.
Nature can stomp you anytime, when it happens, there is nothing you can do about it.
Shortly after the first humans arrived at Lumeria, on a warm and sunny day, I followed a young man who was exploring the area. He found a lake surrounded by hills, the water was crystal clear, so he decided to dive in.
While he was swimming, he was unexpectedly pulled down into the depths of the lake by a creature I could not identify. Suddenly, waves began forming at the center of the lake and a creature that looked like a woman emerged from the waves.
Carrying the young man on her arms, the gorgeous creature slided through the water. She laid him on the ground, but he had stopped breathing. Gently, she placed her hand on the man's chest and a warm blue light began to glow. After a few moments he recovered his breath and opened his eyes. The beautiful creature looked at him and introduced her self as Neorah.
Full of gratitude and relief, the man said to Neroah, "If there is anything I can do in return for saving my life, I am at your disposal".
After a short silence, Neorah answered, "It has been long since I last spoke to someone, and I'm getting bored. I will offer you a deal: If you promise to visit me everyday and spend your time with me, I will share with you the wisdom to master the waters.".
The young man agreed, he kept the promise and started learning from Neorah.
Day after day, the bond between Neorah and the man grew stronger, they both enjoyed the time spent together.
Just like every day, the young man walked to the lake to meet Neorah, but that day he came across a travelling merchant.
The merchant showed him some rare and fine jewelry. While pointing at a necklace he said, "This could be a wonderful gift for someone you care and appreciate". The young man agreed with the merchant's words and decided to buy the necklace.
When he arrived at the lake to meet Neorah, he gave her the gift. By the look on her eyes and smile on her face, it was evident that she loved receiving gifts. She was delighted by the refined necklace and asked the man to put the necklace around her neck.
The second after he clasped the necklace, a powerful dark magic came out of it and spread over Neorah's body, absorbing her until nothing but the necklace was left, lying on the shore of the lake.
The man tried to grab the necklace with his hands, but he bearly touched it when his hands began to burn and his energy was drawn by it. Despite of his youth, the energy drained from him left him looking like an elder, years were taken away from him by the cursed necklace that trapped and sealed Neorah.
With his remaining years, he built a Sanctuary on top of the necklace to ensure no body could touch it and suffer his same destiny.
A few years after finishing the Sanctuary, the once young man died near the lake. The necklace remained untouched for endless years.
It turns out that while the man was building the Sanctuary, he unconsciously imbued the structure with sacred water spell, capable of absorbing mana from the environment.
One day, the sacred magic that had been accumulating for decades covered the Sanctuary, putting a powerful purifying spell that broke the necklace's curse and released Neroah.
Countless years passed, but for Neorah it felt like seconds. During the time she had been trapped, an enourmous amount of mana gathered inside of her. Once released, next to the Sanctuary, she saw a tomb that was raised in honor of the man who Neroah once shared her time with.
While under the purifying spell, she sorrowfully shed a tear that turned into blue light. Intertwining with the purifying magic, this blue light covered the whole east of Lumeria, leaving traces of water and flooded the surroundings. This same light was the one that released Dratheog from his seal.
I saw how Neorah walked towards north, forming a river with her trail.
