They had been lost in the wilds for awhile, and a storm was coming. They had not much in the way of food, for many days. A month ago their camp had been attacked by some sort of monster, which stalked the survivors tirelessly during the nights. They no longer knew the way back, even had they wished to go, though they did not. Fortunately, it seemed that the small group of them were no longer being pursued. To add to their fortune, there appeared to be a cave just ahead, to shelter them from the oncoming storm. Cautiously, they approached, and made their way inside. As they settled in, suddenly they heard a voice. A booming, airy voice, with such depth as to make each word barely distinguishable from the other.

“Do you know the story of the gods”, it asked. “the real story? Long ago there were two kinds of gods, the gods of the land, and those of the sky. The Sky Gods were vane, and proud of their power and might. They exalted themselves above all other creatures, and demanded praise and worship. For this purpose, they would often appear before the creatures of the land to demonstrate their power. Sometimes, this would benefit the creatures, but more often it would not. These demonstrations where intended to inspire and frighten, and would often cause harm to the land… to its plants and animals.”

“The gods of the land were called Dragons, by the people, and they were wise and patient… tolerant, even of the Sky Gods. They slumbered in the deep places of the earth, and were they lie the ground was fertile and life thrived. As they grew the ground shook and shifted, sometimes moving apart briefly, and then as if attracted to the Dragons they would come back together again. As the dragons grew, mountains would form above them, from the displaced earth, and life would emerge in the abundance of energy which surrounded them as if it were overflowing from their forms.”

“One day, a Dragon awoke from his slumber to see a Sky God healing the land after a great storm, giving aide to both plant and animal. She was the most radiant being he had ever seen, she was like a second sun. the Dragon revealed his presence to her, and they soon began to revel in one another’s company. They spent much time together, more than a man could ever count, and then one day something new was born between them. As their energies, their spirit, became as one, a child was born. This child looked much like a Sky God, but had the power and strength of a Dragon. This child was named Ejahga of the Sun and the Mountain, and the Sky Gods took notice.”

“The Sky God’s decided to set Ejahga in his place, before he grew to powerful. They intended to make it clear that he was born of an inferior union. So, they set out to make the Dragons bow before them. However, no Dragon had ever so much as considered a Sky God to be anything more than any other creature. Never had a Dragon lowered themselves to another and never would it ever be so. In the days to come, the Sky Gods too came to realize this, so they decided that they would conquer and subjugate the Dragons. One Sky God stood between them and this foolishness, the Goddess Solaeha, Keeper of the Sun’s Light, and Mother to Ejahga. But they would not hear her words, and they bound her in darkness, where her strength would wane until she learned her place… or she perished. The Dragon Nagarah-Enaru, of the Ancient Ones, decided that he must protect his new son, who seemed to him too frail to protect himself, for the Sky Gods would surely come after him next. Nagarah was one of the oldest Dragons, his kind were known as Wyrms because in their age their bodies had grown so long as to resemble great serpents, which was in contrast to younger more feline-like Dragons. Nagarah had lived long enough to have many children, but they had all grown into fine Dragons, and he would be certain that this small one had the chance to meet his potential as well. So, Nagarah wrapped the child in his coils, were it would be safe, and when the war came Nagarah formed his body into an impenetrable egg… that he might use his power to make his son grow, both in might and Power. When Nagarah’s sacrifice was complete, his son emerged from his second birth as an adult of his kind… though he was the only one truly of his kind. He appeared to be a Sky God, twice the size of any other, and covered in tiny almost imperceptible scales which caused his skin to shine as if it had a gentle glow. Unfortunately, his mother had withered away by the time he emerged, though her spirit had been waiting there to greet him as he re-entered the world. The last of her light, the love she had held for him and his Father, had found its home in him, and he received this… his Mother’s Gift.”

“Though Ejahga felt the love of his parents sacrifice, he also felt their loss, and with it their pain. The war of the gods had caused his parents suffering, the War of the Sky Gods, who even now reaped the lives of the youngest Dragons to leverage the oldest to bow down. Ejahga knew that this would never happen, and it had only caused the Dragons who suffered such losses to lose themselves to fury. How foolish and arrogant he thought his Mother’s people must be, how blind to the reality of their position. The Dragons did not wish to unleash their true power, for fear of what it might do to the land, damage even greater than what was being levied as they were forced to meet the Sky Gods on their terms. But Ejahga was not so concerned with the world, he believed it would recover from what must be done, but that this war had lingered on long enough, and had it been allowed to continue the ruin would eventually far outweigh that of the alternative. Ejahga understood the Sky Gods as well, and decided that there must be a sacrifice, if he was to put an end to this once and for all. He would bear the weight of what he must do, and perhaps avenge the wrongful and needless death of his Mother. So, he called the Sky Gods together, with a plan to conquer the Dragons once and for all. However, this would not be the true purpose of this gathering, for those who appeared before him would know that they had failed to prove their superiority over him, and they would soon discover the reason that they should fear his power. Ejahga asked them to join hands as one, so that he might share his power with them, but as they did so, they found that it was like a poison to them. The power ran through each of them, at first filling them with a sense of strength and power unlike anything they had ever known and then, it began to overwhelm them. Ejahga’s Curse ran through them, transforming them into something entirely different in form than what they had been, and encasing each of them in crystal and stone. This Sky Stone fell from the heavens above, and wrought destruction across the lands and the seas. But when it was done, the war had come to an end, and the Dragons which remained had returned to the land, to their slumber, that the world might be reborn around them as their strength slowly returned to them, strength which had gradually been exhausted trying to fight a war on enemy terms.”

“Ejahga made his home in the sky from that day on, that he might watch over the world, and he vowed never to see another Sky God return to the world… to exalt themselves above others. this is the real story of the gods.”