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"Lorekeeper"
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H I S T O R Y
______ Introduction
By The Royal Council
It is a little ironic that the youngest breed of dragon has been chosen for the prestigious position of Lorekeeper. Why a Bogsneak, you might ask? Surely elderly dragons would be better qualified to write a detailed history of this lair?
As it is, Bogsneak King Taal has been fascinated with Gollia's history from his first day here as a sweet little hatchling. As the youngest king, and the only king to have had no predecessors to impart lair wisdom to him, he has shown a strong ambition to be the most knowledgeable dragon of all! With so much enthusiasm, how could we disappoint him? King Taal has been undertaking extensive research into the history of our most ancient and mysterious lair. His queen, Paka, is just as knowledge-hungry as Taal, however, her area of interest has been anthropology, and the day-to-day culture of Gollia rather than history. See Queen Paka for her anthropological report on Gollia.
______ Early History
No records remain of the earliest dragons. They and their progeny were exalted in ancient times and have left no trace. We only know they existed because the oldest dragon we have records of, Ogon I, is still significantly younger than Gollia itself, meaning there must have been dragons before him. The reason for their disappearance is a source of heated debate among Gollian history buffs. Those Gollians who are talented storytellers like to use this "blank" period in history as the backdrop for elaborate mythological sagas and heroic tales. It has been speculated that Gollia, the lair name, might be derived from the name of one of these early inhabitants, whose names and faces have been lost to history. After the mysterious disappearance of these early dragons, new founders quickly arrived to replace them. These new founders formed the foundation stock of the clan you see now, and it is these founders who shaped the unique culture of Gollia.
______ Foundation Age
Ogon I, a male mirror, is the oldest known founder. His descendants are still amongst us today, and the legends of their great ancestor have been passed down from generation to generation. All that is known of the life of Ogon I, comes from the legends and stories his descendants still tell as well as clan records. Pearlcatcher Queen Ignisia II, the clan genealogist, has a portrait of Ogon I, which he left behind when he was exalted, as well as the records of his posterity.
According to the stories and the records we have, Ogon I was born in the Sunbeam Ruins. As any member of the Geographic Society can tell you, dragons from the Sunbeam Ruins are philosophers and scholars. They grow up amongst the ruins of the Second Age civilization, and this gives Light dragons a culture of open debate and insatiable curiosity. It therefore makes sense that a particularly free-thinking and eccentric Light dragon, such as Ogon, would form the philosophical foundation of this unique lair. According to the legends that his descendants tell, Ogon I traveled to the Starfall Isles because he had heard of the more open-minded "dreamy" dragons of Arcanist. In his view, the Light dragons tended to become rather dogmatic in their theories, and he wanted a place where he could experiment and put into practice both his political and magical ideas. To this day, the Mirror King takes the name of Ogon, in honor of this great founding dragon.
Soon after Ogon I, came Gehenna I, a female snapper from The Sea of a Thousand Currents.
His other known contemporaries were:
Voltana I, a female guardian from the Shifting Expanse;
Fire I, a male spiral from Dragonhome; and
Ember I, a female fae from The Tangled Wood.
Gollian historians refer to these base founders as The Great Five: Ogon I, Gehenna I, Voltana I, Fire I and Ember I. All of their portraits and records can be found with Pearlcatcher Queen Ignisia II. Like Ogon I, they were all freethinkers and scholars. Like Ogon I, they were misfits in their homelands and wanted a new life in our land of free spirits and bohemians.
Many of their descendants still live with us, and the stories they tell of the turbulent times of their ancestors add color to the records and the portraits we have today.
The Foundation Age can be characterized by three themes:
1.) The buying, and settling in, of new dragons
2.) Conflict- either in fierce debates, or physical fights between the founders;
3.) Research- an intense study of Sornieth.
The Great Five formed the basis of what we now call The Royal Council. In those days, meetings were more frequent and less formal than they are now. Queen Masaya's Rules were still in their infancy, and though we now revere these founders, the truth is, the Great Five regularly behaved in ways we would consider scandalous today. There were no rules regarding breeding, and there was no royalty as we know it today. The Founders often mated with each other. Dragons we might classify as commoners now, often mated more than once and often mated with other commoners. Names were allowed to die out willy nilly, as were genes. Because very little care was taken to maintain gene diversity, genes often disappeared with the dragons that carried them. Another barbaric practice from this period was the exaltings of entire clutches of hatchlings. This is why descendants of The Great Five are so rare. These days, unless a truly unfortunate looking singleton is born, one egg from each nest is allowed to live in Gollia. The last known instance of exalting an entire clutch happened to the exalted Clan Elder Incandescent. Luckily, Incandescent lived through the adoption of Queen Masaya's Rules, and we had time to rectify this injustice. The Council granted her a well-deserved exception to the rules. Incandescent was allowed to mate a second time, giving us a dragon family that is still with us today, and which has produced many great dragons over the years.
What students of this time must understand is that the Foundation Age was an age of experimentation. The Great Five and the dragons they were bringing on board, were still deciding on the nature of Gollia. Fundamental questions such as "How important is beauty?" and "Would we rather have promiscuity or monogamy? If promiscuity, how do we prevent repeat matings?" were still being hotly debated by royalty and commoners alike.
______ From Chaos to Order
So how did we arrive at the balanced, harmonious society we now have? This is where the next round of founders come in, also known as the Significant Seven:
-Hariq I, a male pearlcatcher from Dragonhome
-Toothless I, a male ridgeback with unknown origins
-Diesel, a female skydancer, from the Scarred Wasteland
-Charon I, a male nocturne from the Tangled Wood
-Persephone I, a female imperial from the Sunbeam Ruins
-Apollo I, a male snapper from the Tangled Wood.
-Ignisia I, a female pearlcatcher from The Shifting Expanse
Again, their portraits and posterity records can be found with Pearlcatcher Queen Ignisia II.
The singular event which changed the course of Gollia history, forever ending the chaos, took place one night in the mind of the great Imperial Matriarch Persephone. Mirror Founder Ogon I, who had long since departed to serve Master Arcanist, appeared to Queen Persephone in a dream. According to Queen Persephone's preserved journal entries, Ogon I delivered the following speech:
"I founded Gollia to be a land of freedom and rule of law, a land where all dragons regardless of appearance, would be entitled to posterity and companionship, a land where all were free to pursue their interests and to learn from one another. Gollia is meant to be a place where all genes and colors are cherished. I have been watching from the Exalted Realm, and what I see is a land of confusion. I cry when I see the current-winged dragons dwindling, I cry when I see the daub-bodied dragons being lost. Where are the Eye-Spots? You used to have many, but you've exalted them all. Why?
You shall meet with the other dragons and design a new system based on justice. Read my old writings, read the transcripts of the Ancient Dialogues. That will guide you."
Queen Persephone, in her diary entry, indicates uncertainty as to whether this was actually the spirit of Ogon I, or a manifestation of her latent frustration with the state of Gollia. Regardless, this dream was what it took to motivate her to take action. Queen Persephone gathered her fellow Gollians and together they researched, wrote and debated. Finally, after several months, they were able to come to a consensus, the result of which was the first draft of the List of Rules. This is generally regarded as the first formal Royal Council. For weeks, commoners and royalty alike celebrated side-by-side. For the first time in Gollian history, true peace and stability reigned throughout the land.
Since then, Gollia has prospered, with a system that is fair, predictable and flexible. Dragons all over Sornieth marvel at our unique culture, our wide range of intellectual interests, and our guiding philosophy of diversity and justice.
LONG LIVE THE ROYAL COUNCIL! LONG LIVE GOLLIA!
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Rank
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