Dragons in the Library

[Izlin]

“Once upon a time, dragons existed in vast numbers. Attempting mostly to avoid the constant strife created by man, they lived in secluded cities and spires build in the midst of great mountain ranges. However, there was one particular city that the dragons favored. Aesir, what was once considered a paradise, floating high above the land and away from most petty strife. It was with these people that the dragons allied, sharing knowledge freely with the city of magic. The dragons believed that these humans would be able to rise above their fellows. They were wrong.

War came to Aesir, with the warrior city of Avaren. At first, the dragons were torn. On the one hand, the city they had allied themselves with had allowed itself to be drawn into a pointless war. On the other hand, the reason the dragons had allied with Aesir at all was due to the belief that they were above such petty strife. In the end, they took an initial stance of non-involvement, while they could deliberate further.

Unfortunately, there were greater powers watching the actions of dragons, at least one of which who hated them and wanted to see them fail. Nor were all dragons truly in favor of the peaceful resolutions their race valued as a whole. So it was that this dark deity promised evil dragons the ability to fell their peers, that they might be able to seize power for themselves.

So it was that the evil dragons went to the mages of Aesir. They managed to convince them that the reason the dragons had not yet come to their side was that they had been plotting to side with Avaren, so that Aesir might end up as theirs when the war concluded. Aesir called their strongest of mages together and, along with the help of the evil dragons and their dark god, cast a mighty spell to seal away the power of the dragons and prevent them from turning on Aesir. Binding their powerful magics and forcing them to assume the forms of humans, the dragons were rendered nearly powerless. Unfortunately, the evil dragons were themselves deceived, and their deity turned it's back on them, letting them suffer the same fate as their fellow dragons.

Shortly afterward, the war was concluded and the city of Aesir fell. The vast majority of dragons, left powerless died in the last days of the war, or perished soon afterward, unable to adapt to the forms they were bound to...”

Izlin was working on a book, which, once finished, would go into the library here at the academy. So far he only had the barest of abstracts written for it, detailing the entirety of the course of events in a few paragraphs. Perhaps he would add onto this piece later, yet for now he was done writing. Izlin leaned back in the chair of the desk he was seated at, looking around to see who was currently present.

[Bloodwing]

True it was, that the weak perished. It was the way of the world and it was one of the few absolute truths. Those that denied or didn't under stand that truth would be educated in due time. You see those dragons that survived had their own agendas. Some accepted their fate, while some sought to undo the curse that was laid upon them. One of these dragons was roaming the library searching for an old tome.

This dragon's name was Bloodwing. Named so for the color of his scales and the ferocity of his wrath. Because his birth name wasn't exactly used as a name among human society he was forced to use an alias, so as long as he was confined to this weak, fleshy shell he was known as Alexander Skye. Bloodwing had been one of the dragons under the influence of empty promises from that devious deity.

Bloodwing was as proud as any dragon, but his superiority to all other made things different. He would have his revenge, both on the deity and on humanity. He remember that there was once a god that ancient dragons themselves worshiped. As proud as their race was they once had a god, and because his problem was with a deity more than it was with a physical force he decided he would seek out this ancient entity. Before he did this however he would do his research, he wasn't about to fall into the same trap as last time.

As he entered the library he noticed a man the looked familiar. He tried to put the face to a name and failed. He walked over to dark haired man just as he was putting down some notes or whatever. "Do I know you?" He asked wondering to himself why he was so curious.

[Izlin]

"Hmm?" Izlin said, focusing on the man before him. "Yes, probably." He answered casually, "I am on the city council, so it is highly probable that you recognize me." He said somewhat dismissively.

Although it was not uncommon for someone to recognize Izlin from somewhere around town, due to his position, he had to admit he had an unsettling feeling about this newcomer. He also shared that general sense of familiarity, though as to why it was so, he couldn't say. He didn't particularly like the feeling, though he had no true reason why.

"Well then, are you here at the academy for some purpose? I could be of help if you are."

[Bloodwing]

Bloodwing wasn't sure that the answer given was the answer he was looking for but it was enough to ward off more questions for now. "I do have purpose here. But seeing as your on the council I do have a question for you. How would I go about getting a position here at the academy?" Blood wing asked the oddly familiar man.

Bloodwing was at odds he was questioning his trust in this man. It was like he was talking to a crooked politician. that looked like he was up to something but other than gut feeling there was no reason to feel this way. He decided not to forget this man.

[Izlin]

"Position at the academy?" Well, at least that sort of question was considerably easier to answer, along with qualifications being much easier to empirically test. Whether or not he knew or liked this figure aside, he was on the city council and would have to put personal misgivings aside to seem to give the closest thing to an impartial judgment.

"Well, seeing as this is an academy of magic, I would like to hear of your talents with magic. What sort of magic do you specialize in? What have you done with your magic? What can and will you do if you had this position? How can your magic ultimately benefit the people of this city?"

"And finally," he said, coming to the end of his brief list of interview questions, "Could you give me something of a demonstration of some of your magical talents?"

[Bloodwing]

He listened carefully to man's questions. He nodded as he listened and the sat down in a seat opposite the councilman. "My talent's councilman, are in Elementalism, more specifically the manipulation of the earth and fire, the two have rather dramatic combination. I haven't done much with my Magic other then hone and entertain. This is one of the reasons I'd like to find something here to do so that my talents aren't wasted on myself. I believe my talents would be better server to help those that wish to learn."

He paused a moment as he thought of how word his next answers. "Another thing I'd do is learn. Quite obviously i can and would teach young minds the ways of earth and flame, but I also seek knowledge for myself. As for the benefits to the city there are many. With the power of earth one can dig wells, and build homes. Fire, is a source heat and light, with out fire this world would be dark and cold. Combining the two elements creates tools and weapons with which to make life easier." He explained.

"As for a demonstration.... Fire is quite simple." He turn up his palm to hold a flaming sphere about the size of a modern day tennis ball. "Fire is a wonderful element" He said moving his fingers the ball became like a snake and slither around his fingers then back to his palm. "It heats ones home, it brings light into the darkness and it fuels the forge, and is the sun. But without control, it brings great pain." He closed his palm into a fist and the flame vanished.

"And their is earth." He said he stomped ground with his foot and a jumped up from the ground, Blood win caught in and held it in his hand. "The earth is solid and unmoving it personifies strength. Is there a better place for a demonstration? I'd rather not destroy the Library And if you want a more impresive demonstration i can provide one more easily if I don't have to worry about personal and property damage. you see Fire and rock can combine one of two ways. Slow and steady," He said as the rock began to glow a red, yellow then whiter be for it began to become misshapen, "Or explosively." The son cooled down with the impurities burned away the stone was now more like glass than rock and as Bloowing forced the center of the sone to super heat it shattered, the glass like shards didn't go far as Bloodwing kept them from doing so, there was now a pile of black shards on the table. I could give a demonstration at a grander scale if you like."

[Izlin]

Of course, the guy he had misgivings about used fire. Wasn't that what evil people always used? Weren't the majority of mishaps and 'accidents' ultimately caused by fire and their practitioners? Or was this just his personal prejudice, being a water user himself, the element that opposed fire.

The man did posses some talent with magic and gave exactly the sort of demonstration Izlin asked for, along with some rather textbook answers to his questions. Guess he passed, then? Well, Izlin could always keep an eye on him, which would be made even easier if he were constantly here at the academy.

"A grand demonstration is quite unnecessary at the moment. Given the history of this kingdom, it is likely you will find a time for your demonstration in due time. In the meantime, I am impressed with both your answers and your demonstration of power. I would have no problems with you staying here in this academy and teaching." Izlin stood up to face the man as he said this, offering him a hand to shake. "MY name is Izlin, and I am in charge of this academy."

[Bloodwing]

Bloodwing nodded. Satisfied that he had gotten that out of the way he extended a hand and shook Izlin's, "You may call me Alex, or Alexander I respond to both. Shaking this mans hand felt odd. It was like shaking hands with someone that had just held a knife to your throat. Again there was no reason except for gut feeling.

"Now that that business is out of the way. I must find what I was looking for." He noted, then after a slight bow. he turned to find that book.

[Izlin]

"What exactly are you looking for, if I may ask?" Izlin asked, his eyes looking vaguely in the direction that Alex was facing. As he was here in the library of the academy, it was safe to assume that he was searching for a book, right? Well, it was usually quicker to ask for help when searching, especially if the person in charge of the library is available.

"I might be able to help, if you tell me."

[Bloodwing]

"I'm looking for a book of course why else would I be in the library?" He said in a smart tone. "Actually the book I'm looking for is rather old in fact I'm hoping it wasn't burned like the rest in Aesir. It's bound in dragon hide so i doubt that the fire would have harmed it, still I'm hoping it's here even if its damaged it would be valuable." He explained. vaguely he didn't trust divulging too much at the moment, but having help would speed up the process.

[Izlin]

"What sort of book? If it exists anywhere in this city, it likely will be found here." Izlin said, ignoring the man's somewhat rude tone. He was only trying to help and the man was deliberately dodging divulging proper information. He either didn't really know what he was looking for, or simply didn't want others to know precisely was it was he was after.

"Though, many of the powerful tomes were lost with the fall, along with all manner of other powerful artifacts. Now, it seems more likely than not that, if you are searching for something that is of true importance, it will not be here after all. However, if it is as resilient as you seem to believe, then it very well might still exist within the ruins of Aesir."

"Though," he added as a final note, "There have been very bad rumors going around about things happening to those who wander around in the ruins. Several expeditions to recover valuable artifacts have failed to return. I would personally suggest you do not try searching there."

[Bloodwing]

He stopped and pondered Izlin's words. Well, then if none of the books have been recovered I'll do it myself. "Thank you Izlin now I have something to do." He said turning to the man. "What excly have these rumors been anyway?" he asked sure that what ever danger there where nothing could best him.

[Izlin]

"To put it simply?" He said, "Undead. Lots and lots of undead, crawling throughout the ruins. I will remind you again about how dangerous it might be and caution you against exploring those ruins." Of course, his warnings would probably fall on deaf ears. Once someone had a task they committed themselves to, they often threw caution to the wind.

Still, he had to at least try.