Cairn

A thriving city is no bad thing. However, shifty individuals will always exist. Those who aren’t to be trusted. Those who would wish harm on others. They heard of the city as well, and some of them moved to take advantage. One in particular got close to the leaders of the city. Whispered in their ears - tales of corruption and evil. Lies meant to trap and entice.

What nobody knew (and how could they?), was that something was watching them. The book is…vague on what this entity was. There’s no real description of it. Whatever/whoever it was though, did not like this turn of events. And moved to stop them.

One day a traveller appeared. Just a normal Imperial. When questioned about where he’d come from, he simply said that he had no home anymore. That he’d come to try his fortunes here. The guards saw no reason to not let him in - there was nothing openly wrong or odd about him.

No, that’s not quite right.

He had wraithlike hands wreathing his wings. They twisted and trembled, reaching out towards everything in their path. Still, the traveller didn’t seem off in any other way. So Cairn arrived in the city.

He was, to all intents and purposes, a model citizen. He didn’t bother with interacting much, but then, neither did some of the others. In fact, Cairn kept out of the way most of the time. He’d usually be seen slinking through the main square before it got too busy, or disappearing down an alleyway somewhere. Nobody thought his behaviour odd, so they never really paid it any heed.

Until individuals started…vanishing. At first it was simply thought that they’d moved on to try their luck elsewhere. That they’d decided the city wasn’t for them. But it kept happening. The leaders called their guards and closest allies to them, but even they were at a loss to understand what was happening. Until someone recalled seeing an Imperial with wraithlike hands wreathing his wings lurking around the homes of those who disappeared.

Well. That caused some outrage. Cairn was dragged before the leaders. Who had sent him? Why was he there? What was his purpose? Their questioning gained no answers. Cairn simply shrugged, and replied that he was but a simple traveller who just wanted a place to settle down. When asked why he’d been seen around the residences of those who’d vanished he had no answer.

However, the book says, the atmosphere changed as the interrogation continued. Some emotion seemed to lurk in Cairn’s eyes, becoming more and more evident as time went on. They glowed ever brighter, and the hands became more agitated, lashing out at those around them. The stars on his hide seemed to move of their own accord, swirling and dancing across the void of his skin.

What happened next isn’t clear. The pages have been torn out. All Aibreanne can surmise is that whatever it was caused the destruction of the city. And Cairn? He appears to have disappeared.

After that…the city lay empty. Any survivors had long since fled by the time Barra and his small band arrived. Monsters and beasts had made the city their own, but they were soon chased out. The dragons started to rebuild- giving the city a new name. Felhallow.

It was slow going at first, but gradually new dragons arrived, looking for a home for whatever reasons. Slowly, ever so slowly, the numbers began to rise again.

And then, a traveller arrived at the gates one day. Just a normal Imperial, with stars scattered across his hide and wraithlike hands wreathing his wings.