Meric the Storyman: Rega and the Dragonstones

Makloran was known as The Grand City of Rulers. Its history goes back a long way. It is told that this is where humans first set foot upon this continent.

Tylor was a mighty captain of the seas. He had a fine crew of men working for him. They traveled to many lands and had brought forth many treasures.

Tylor and his advisor, a powerful wizard named Minis, had heard of a new land. They had heard of a land where dwarves mined silver and rubies, elves crafted wondrous artifacts, and gold was just sitting in the streams.

The ship was replenished and a course was set due east. Spirits were high. The crew was eager to visit this new land.

The first three weeks went well. There were enough small islands available for adding more food and water to their stock. The occasional problems with the natives, orc, goblin or human, were handled by Minis and his two apprentices.

Then the storms hit. They seemed to come from nowhere. The crew fought the winds and waves valiantly, but still it stormed. Finally, four weeks after they first set sail, a group of three different storms hit the ship, all from different directions. Then it was calm, but it was too late. The ship was crippled.

Throughout this long ordeal, Captain Tylor worked alongside his crew. He had battled tough storms before. He wasn’t about to let this one stop him. Although it proved to be one of the worst storms he had ever been in, he prevailed. His ship was still floating.

The damage was severe. The main mast was gone. The ship had to rely on the smaller masts to catch the wind. Several compartments below decks were flooding. Worst of all was the rudder. It had split when the last group of storms hit.

The leaks were repaired and a simple rudder was constructed to replace the broken one, but it took another two weeks, under mercy of the winds, before land was spotted. Tylor steered the ship as best as possible to a large open bay.

Once in the bay, the ship was brought as close to shore as possible. Repairs were necessary, so the closer the better. Rowboats were used for the final part of the journey. But where were they? Was this the land they had been searching for? According to the stars, it appeared that the storms had not thrown them too much off course.

Tylor was the first to set foot on the land. It was a perfect place for them to stay while repairing the ship. The few remaining supplies were unloaded and a simple camp was set up.

After many years, they were still there. The ship had been repaired and traveled back several times to pick up family members and other travelers interested in visiting or moving to the new land. A small seaport village, known as Makloran, was built. Captain Tylor liked this area so much, he retired from sailing. This indeed was the land they had been looking for. Expeditions were sent out mapping the land. Eventually, other races, including elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings were met, but no other humans.

They had their difficulties, too. Many orc tribes inhabited the land. There were hill giants, giant eagles, bugbears, and kobolds as well. Proper battlements had to be established early on. Also, the kingdom from which Tylor and his crew had traveled from wanted to claim the land as theirs. Tylor wanted no part of this. He discovered the land, so claimed it for himself. This inevitably started a war.

With his knowledge of the seas and his store of gold and jewels, Tylor and his people won. He then became known as King Tylor.

The seaport continued to grow. Minis started a Wizard’s Guild. Trade routes were established with the other races. People moved out to start other cities. The kingdom also grew.

King Tylor went on to have a son named Genard. When King Tylor died, both the Dwarven and Elven Kings came for the Passing Away and Crowning ceremonies. King Genard’s first official duty was to build a statue honoring his father. A grand fountain was built around the statue. The clerics from the church were charged with keeping the water clean and pure. It was so clean and pure, people would actually drink from it.

It was during King Genard’s reign when the leader of the gold dragons came to pay a visit to him. Tosal, a very large gold dragon with many years of experience dealing with humanoids, came to Makloran in search of the King and the current Master Wizard. The elves had told him that these humans could be trusted. He had to find out for himself.

So, in the guise of an old hermit, he asked for an audience with the two men. The Master Wizard was summoned and Tosal was granted the meeting.

He got to the point quickly. By not being open up front could cause these humans to be suspicious later on. He wanted their friendship.

He told them about the land and the inhabitants living here. He also told them about the Queen of the evil dragons, the Chromatic Dragon, using the land as breeding grounds for evil dragons. The good dragons had come here to fight off the growing evil, but it was not enough.

“We good dragons have the support of the dwarves, gnomes and elves.” said Tosal. “I am here to ask for the support of the humans as well.”

After counsel with the Master Wizard, King Genard pledged his support. In honor of his support, he presented Tosal with a diamond from his treasury. It was a beautiful, flawless, fist-sized gem brought from the adventures his father had been on.

Tosal accepted the gift and promised King Genard that he would be invited to the next meeting of the good dragons, the Council of Dragonlair as it was called. He also told the Master Wizard that he would be interested in trading some magical secrets. Finally, he treated them to a sight only a few humans in the world had ever seen. After asking them to go outside with him, he changed form from human to his normal gold dragon one. He then departed.

True to his word, King Genard was invited to the next Council meeting. Tosal, himself, came to pick up the King. A special riding harness was attached to the dragon. Once the King was strapped in, Tosal was airborne.

King Genard was at first pale from fright, but upon realizing that he would be fine, he relaxed and enjoyed the ride. The dragon took him to a location high up in the mountains, many miles away from Makloran.

At the meeting, he saw the Dwarven King, the Elven King, the gnome leader and a representative from the other good dragons. He was readily accepted to the Council.

Many years passed. King Genard’s grandson, Densit, was now King. Evil dragons were being hunted. The Wizard’s Guild had been taught from the good dragons how to use some of these evil dragon body parts for magical purposes.

The human population had been steadily growing. Cities now went from one coast to the other. A small seaport had been established near the dwarven city of Cromwell.

The King’s residence had become too crowded. More young people had been asking to be apprentice wizards. Others asked to be part of the King’s Guard. Finally, Densit made his decision. He would have a castle constructed. This would house his family. There would also be the usual reception halls and private meeting rooms as well.

The Master Wizard was given authorization to establish a proper Wizard’s Guild. A suitable location near the site of the castle, but not too near, was chosen. It had several study rooms, a place for spell research, a room for potion preparation, a meeting hall, and many individual personal rooms.

The guards would be given their own places as well. Two different units were created. The Order of the Golden Dragon would be in charge of keeping order in the city itself. The Order of the Silver Rose would be sent throughout the land, overseeing the entire kingdom. They would have residences built near the castle.

The first of many Thieves’ Guilds was formed during his reign as well. Of course, that didn’t have the King’s permission.

Several more generations of Kings passed. The people continued to populate the land. Gold was found in streams, but it had to be panned. The Holy City of Morane became a place for new clerics to learn the ways of the church.

The current King was a man called Philland. He was blessed with twin sons. During their childhood, King Philland had another seaport city built on the eastern coast of the land. This new city, called Lalloran, was to be a sister city of Makloran.

Before he died, King Philland divided his kingdom in two, giving each son a half. One would rule in Makloran west of the great North/South Road. The other would rule in Lalloran, east of the Road.

During this time, a group studying in the Wizard’s Guild discovered that body parts from good dragons could also be used for magical purposes. It had been suspected that it was so, but had never actually been tried. It was due to the shortage of evil dragons that the guild decided to find out.

When word got out about this, the dragon hunters started hunting both evil and good dragons.

The dragons on the Council decided it was time to break away from contact from the humans. It was at this time the Dragonstones were passed out. The diamond which had been presented to Tosal many years ago was now given back to the city of Makloran. It was given to the Wizard’s Guild for safe keeping.

It is still there today.