Tseng

Tseng spent his younger days working as a mason, digger, and smith in the slightly nicer parts of Dragonhome. He enjoyed the tough manual labor and the work made him strong, but it also made him bored. Some dragons might thrive on the dependability and stability of such a life, but Tseng couldn't stand it. Day after monotonous day passed, wearing him down as much as he wore down the stones he worked with. In an effort to change things up, he traveled around Dragonhome to bring his skills to the various regions of stone and take jobs where he could find them. But it was never enough, there was something in him that could not be satisfied by remaining here, surrounded by nothing but rocks and mountains. But his peers didn’t seem to understand, nor possess the same wanderlust that gripped him; they told him Earth dragons are meant to stay in Dragonhome, that this was their place, that there was nothing to be gained from leaving the rocks behind. But Tseng could never agree.

The answer he so desperately sought was waiting for him at the top of the Pillar. That's what he realized one night as he violently awoke from a horrible nightmare, a terrible dream filled with stagnant water and dragons chained to the earth, trapped forever in one single solitary spot. The sweat matted his feathers but he could not stand to wait for them to dry, and so took off in a dead sprint towards the enormous stone monolith that jutted straight up into the heavens. Tseng gulped as he approached the crumbling Pillar, realizing just how daunting this journey was going to be. Dragons were not meant to ascend the Pillar by wing or by foot, for not only was it incredibly dangerous but sacrilegious as well. To be so arrogant as to think that a mere mortal would be worthy to stand upon the top of the Earthshaker’s stronghold…it just wasn’t done! Dragons often came around here to pray, leaving offerings of gemstones around the base of the Pillar, but no one dared to climb it. But as Tseng barreled madly towards the Pillar, it was all he could think to do.

He was not prepared for this pilgrimage. He had left his home in such a hurry that he neglected to bring any supplies along with him. They just didn’t seem important at the time! But after two days of climbing and flying with nothing to eat or drink, Tseng was beginning to realize how shortsighted he had been. It had not taken him long to discover why so many dragons were unwilling to scale this structure, even those who had no regard for its holy status; it was a thing impossible to simply fly up. Such a vertical trip would be exhausting to even the most resilient of dragons, and Tseng’s endurance would be strained to its breaking point before he even flew a quarter of the way up. And so he developed a slow but steady method of travel; he flew as high as he could manage, and then grabbed onto the rockface to climb. When his wings were rested and he had caught his breath, he would leap into the air again, launching himself off the side and propelling himself upwards with heavy wingbeats until he could do no more. Jump, fly, climb. Jump, fly, climb. Jump, fly, climb. He continued this steady rhythm for two more days, still with no food or water, and very little sleep.

It was still dark on the morning of the fifth day as Tseng finally saw the Pillar’s peak. He was weak and shaky, nearly all his energy spent, but he could see where it stopped. His limbs were screaming at him, throbbing in agony, none more so than his wings. And so it was by claw that Tseng finally pulled himself to the top of the world, dragging his limp frame over the edge and collapsing on the mercifully flat top. The air here was cold and thin; it would have been difficult for a well-fed and -rested dragon to manage these conditions, but to Tseng they were practically intolerable. But this was where he needed to be, he was sure of it. It was only here that he would find his purpose. Just as he finally gathered enough strength to get to his feet, the sun broke over the horizon.

Golden light began to illuminate the whole world beneath Tseng, he saw it for what it was in its entirety now for the first time. The massive tree that grew to the east, he could see all of it, it looked so tiny from up here. Down below, the spires of the Arcanist’s domain, the putrid and hateful Plague hellscape. The sparkling ocean, dark forests, expansive plains, and the frozen tundra to the far south surrounded by a ferocious sea, he could see it all from up here. There was so much out there, so much to be done, so many places to be explored and visited. And he would do it, he vowed. He would go to them all, see everything. But just as he began to feel his spirits lift, a sudden vision came to him.

Tseng couldn’t tell if he was awake or asleep. The whole world had become foggy, with clouds of grey mist swirling around him. And as he looked around, an enormous figure materialized, a being so huge that it was as though a mountain had erupted on top of the Pillar. “Rock Father,” Tseng whispered, dropping to his knees as he stared into the massive eyes of the Earthshaker. He should look away, he knew he should look away, but he couldn’t. He was positively transfixed as he looked upon the face of his Deity. The Earthshaker’s eyes were not hard and stony as Tseng had been told they were; indeed, they looked almost…sad. Yes, sad. There was a melancholy in that ancient gaze. It is because I want to leave, Tseng realized with a deep, burning shame, How could I have forgotten? After watching his family split apart, never to be whole again, the Earthshaker was filled with an unfathomable sorrow. And now here was one of his own children, so desperate to flee from this place that he would dare climb the sacred Pillar. And so it was with sadness, not anger, that the Earthshaker regarded Tseng.

“Please, sir,” Tseng whispered again, bowing his head and clasping his talons in prayer, “please forgive me. But I feel as though I will wither and die here if I do not see the wonders of the world with my own eyes, fly its length by my own wings, stand upon it with my own feet. It will grieve me to leave, but it hurts more to stay. I’m so sorry, Rock Father, but…I need to be free.”

It felt to Tseng as though the Earthshaker appraised him for an eternity as he knelt there, nearly begging for the Deity’s permission. It felt so unfair, to know that dragons from any other Flight came and went freely throughout the world but they were expected to stay. There had always been those who were rebellious enough to take their leave and join clans elsewhere, but they were never looked on with favor by those who kept to the old ways. Although Tseng had never subscribed to these beliefs, finding himself fully on the side of those “defectors” and “traitors”, he could not help but feel as though he was betraying his own soul as he was in the presence of his Deity. And yet even still, the alluring pull of the whole world out there was too great to ignore. Tseng began to weep.

“Please, Rock Father. I have spent my whole life wanting something more, needing something more. I see now here before you that it is foolish arrogance, but I still cannot help it. I feel like I’m being torn apart. Please help me, sir, please show me where my place is in all this and I swear to you that I will obey. I will take whatever path you choose for me, sir. But I don’t have the strength to make that choice for myself anymore.”

The Earthshaker continued to stare gently at Tseng, his regard becoming almost soft. Unreadable to a mortal, certainly, but if another god had been here with him, they would have seen the Earthshaker’s emotion. A low, deep growl began in his immense throat, a sound of earthquakes, and he lowered his great head down to his child. Tseng watched with amazement as a single tear fell from the Earthshaker’s eye and onto the ground. It was no mortal tear made of water and salt; it was a ruby, sparkling and perfect. With trembling hands, Tseng reached down to pick it up and the Earthshaker whuffed a hot snuff of air over him, a breath that smelled of soil and stone. Startled, Tseng looked back up, but there was nothing there.

Was it a dream? A vision? Hallucination? Tseng wondered to himself as he cast his eyes about, seeing only the wisps of white clouds beneath his platform, and the whole world beyond it. Suddenly, a glint of red near his feet caught Tseng’s eye. With a gasp, he took the ruby into his claws, seeing that it was indeed a real thing. As he held it, he felt his body become warm and the pangs of hunger cease. He knew immediately that this was for him, a gift from his god, but more than that, a blessing. It was the Earthshaker's way of giving him a piece of his home to carry with him wherever he went, no matter how far from Dragonhome he strayed.

He stood back up, feeling healthy and strong once again. He took one last look at all the world beneath him and spread his wings. He stepped off the edge, letting himself glide down in a massive circle around the Pillar. He only flapped his wings enough to keep himself from reaching terminal velocity as he fell but otherwise he remained still, only making minute adjustments to his feathers and tail to maintain his spiraling descent. The ground was coming into view now, he could see the great crags where he made his home. As he lighted onto the rocks, the feeling of strength and fullness vanished, leaving him exhausted and starving. But Tseng smiled to himself as he craned his neck to look up at the Pillar, body shaking with relief and gratitude for the strength the Earthshaker had granted him to keep him safe. With the last bit of life he had in him, he dragged himself home and gorged himself on nearly every fish in his larder before collapsing onto his bed and immediately passing out as soon as his head hit the pillow.

He awoke two days later, head pounding, body aching, and heart singing. He opened his stiff fist and saw the ruby still glimmering there, and wasted no time in making a necklace out of it so he could keep it near his heart always. I will stay here until I’m recovered, he thought to himself, and then I will set out. A week later, after spending as much time eating and sleeping as he could, it no longer hurt just to be awake. He packed up what few belongings he cared about and began flying east. He didn’t know where he was going, but he didn’t care. He didn’t have to care. He was free now. Free to go wherever he wanted. And with that realization, he put on a burst of speed and began winging his way south. The rocky highlands were very dry, with not much water to speak of, and as such he had always wanted to visit the sea…