THE PIONEERS
aka the Bagua Series
History
Just north of the Tourmaline Archives stands the peninsula of Divinity - as it was known by many. It has existed for thousands of years, surrounded by sparkling crystal mountains, glittery shores, and whirling currents of glow as green as phosphor. Numerous myths as old as the ancient times have been weaved around this place, as it is told that those who are born on these luminescent grounds are bound for greatness, for they are blessed by the gods. Not many dragons can truly verify this, however, as they have only stepped foot on these shimmery seasides no more than fifty years ago, and those who live around the plains never feel truly special. As a matter of fact, history seems to have never even existed before that.
Not a single soul ever lived on Divinity until just recently. Legend has it that millennia ago, the Dragon God who gave birth to this land perched on top of what is now known as the Agarwood Peak, swept his gaze all over the turbulent dawn of civilization. Once he flew away, what was left were islands so picturesque in appearance yet so deadly in nature - soils made out of silica, mercurial waters, miasma rolling like tidal waves, never seeing a tree sprout, a bird soar. Those who attempted to settle here were all met with the same fate. A great many tribes from elsewhere perished from being poisoned. They said that this was the holy land, the common dragon could never flourish here, and thus stayed away, barring all vehicles from even reaching the straits.
And then, the pages from Divinity’s history book were left blank. No one truly knows what happened during this period of time. During the prosperous era of the Starfall Isles, its northern appendage faded into obscurity.
Until one day, a group of dragons arrived on the central island on a flying ship of fourteen. They came from all walks of life, some were prestigious officers, some were nobodies. According to their own history scriptures, Starfall at this point looked nothing like the descriptions from ancient myths. Upon landing, a cloud of fairy dust rose up to the starry heavens above, twinkling brightly like nebulae. The barren crystal peaks surrounding it were still there, but the soils looked like soils, waters looked like waters, and despite the stillness hanging in the air, lush forages lined the horizons, and seagulls glided around, flinging nonchalant squawks down onto the observing visitors. At this peculiar scenery, the newcomers looked around to find rubble scattered about, white bones mixed within mud, and blackened scorch marks in tight crevices. It all looked desolate, albeit in a completely different sort of way.
There, they found a couple of dragons huddled together inside a sealed, dilapidated mausoleum. The elders, as they were perceived, scraped their last breaths to tell about the apocalypse. A story so mysterious, so vague, and especially so foreign to all who live.
Twenty years ago, a surge of mephitis consumed Sornieth, invoking toxic rains, firestorms, and blood-red afterglow blanketing the sky. Demons, ghouls and spirits emerged from every nook and cranny, slaughtering those unfortunate enough to have crossed their paths. The once harmonious, peaceful island was now sprinkled with mourns and grief, tears of blood converged into winding rivers, bones and flesh seeped into the earth, unimaginable carnage haunted every inch of space. The elders, who themselves were powerful magic practitioners, did their best to fight back, and yet wave after wave, the malicious creatures refused to back down. They had no choice but to retrieve into the mausoleum, cultivating their powers to take on hell itself, while lamenting the reality that out there, dragonkind were crying as the sky cracked and Inferno rained down upon them, and yet out of fear that the world would collapse with them risking their lives, all they could do was watch.
And then one day, a disciple stepped outside only to be met with utter, unforeseen silence. Mangled carcasses were mixed with budded grass, debris from broken buildings and watchtowers littered the ground, and whirlpools of stardust could still be seen above the horizon, yet the night sky sat in unblemished forbearance, and not a single scream could be heard. It was as if the apocalypse had simply vanished into nothingness, leaving behind a half-dead globe.
Over the last eight years, the elders’ health took a turn for the worse. Something within the land’s resurrected flora and fauna couldn’t give them the longevity they were so used to, but it was hard to deny that yes, everything had begun to bloom and breed and breathe once again. At an astounding speed, even. In no time, rivers started to flow, and ponds filled up with critters. Nights were livened by the sound of singing crickets, evenings by cranes roosting on top of crackled rooftops. Fields of whispering reeds were dampened by early dewdrops, their windswept chatters making up for the unsettling quietness of very perplexed dragons.
As it turned out, the elders did not have long to live. Somehow they had traded their lives for the land’s regeneration, unwittingly becoming martyrs in a way so far removed from their perceived destiny. The end crept near them with every spring and autumn passing by, so lively and drenched in invigorating scents, and just as fast as the green starting to overcome war-worn ruins, they accepted their inevitable conclusion. Their last hope was for someone, anyone of dragonkind to step foot on this island and listen to their story.
As they did.
The fourteen were left in stunned silence. Nothing strange truly happened twenty years ago as they knew it, aside from a brief eclipse, and Starfall was still an island of death, a toxic abscess swelling at the edge of Sornieth. They had some sliver of explanation themselves, which they kept hidden while tending to the elders’ last breaths. They shrouded the old dragons inside the mausoleum, named the Mausoleum of Yearning, and started their reformation.
Along with two of the last supposed disciples of the elders, who were seemingly spared from the same demise by their young age, they started to spread the word. Soon, farmers, builders, and traders arrived and settled down as they witnessed the transformed islands. They helped with the process of seaside damming, canalization, and reclamation. Villages huddled around the highest mountain in the middle of the central island, separated by vast plots of rice paddies, nourished by temperate seasons and buzzing with life.
The sixteen pioneers now rest on top of the mountains, inside valleys, among communities where they built houses, towers, and temples, coming together as a community. There, they made it their mission to collect, research and decode thousands of books and scriptures handed down by the elders. Under the guidance of the two former disciples, they created an academic system dedicated to science, technology, cultivation, and martial arts. They have been practicing these wisdoms for fifty years now, becoming more ageless and powerful as time goes by, their abilities to exercise magical powers rivaling that of the divine. They keep their teachings a secret from outsiders, but since they want their techniques to be passed down from generation to generation, occasionally they would accept students all over the Arcane Flight, and thus, Huyen Nghi Hoi <The Society of Divine Dualism> was born.
The Clan
The Society of Divine Dualism is an alliance of eight Sects formed by the Sixteen Pioneers. They are, to date, the only organization focusing on the cultivation, knowledge, and skills involving magic unique to the peninsula. The function of these factions varies, ranging from tight-knit educational institutions to loosely connected communities, but they all have one common purpose: help dragons influenced by the magic of Duality cultivate their own Dragon Core, prevent the Duality dragon population from becoming obsolete from physical deterioration, and research the connection between the two realities.
Dragons of Divinity origins are an odd bunch. They are often born with mild to severe physical problems, often manifesting in discoloured scales and hair, or deformed claws, and weaker than normal immunity. As they grow, the magical substance in their bloodstream also becomes stronger, allowing their physique to superbly improve. However, this power is often limited and destructive without proper cultivation. If a Diviner does not properly maintain their powers, they will suffer an early demise from qi deterioration.
As leaders of the community, the Pioneers serve as its backbone and directly design their educational regimes. Hatchlings harbouring potential - not just those born with Duality magic - from both the peninsula itself and around Sornieth are taken to any of the Society's eight Sects to cultivate, though more often than not these hatchlings end up being abandoned due to the great toll the peninsula's energy has on them.
Dragons are selectively taken in for a brief period of time, studying martial arts, magic, and science, all the while undergoing various arduous, often dangerous trials to shape their body and mind until they have what it takes to go through a process called “Ascension”.
Ascension is a dragon’s cultivation high point and is unique to Diviners, a period where they must undergo sustained magic training to form their own Dragon Core. Dragon Cores enhance one's magic prowess tenfold, causing their aging to slow down, their veins are now full of celestial blood, and they are surrounded by a noticeable, godly aura. It is said that dragons of higher cultivation levels can even reach the potential of the Deities themselves.
It is hard to imagine the Society in and of itself as an organization, but rather an environment from which dragons with special abilities are born. As these dragons start to spread out all over the Archives, their interactions full of amity and drama alike, it is safe to say that a unique community has been formed, and their relationships among each other as well as with those without Draconic Cores lay the foundation for many tales to come.
Theme
All dragons from this series are themed around the I Ching hexagrams. To give you a brief rundown, I Ching is a book of philosophy and divination written in ancient China and has since been integrated within much of the cultures in the East Asian Cultural Sphere. The list of Hexagrams can be found
here. The hexagrams are arranged according to the Fu Xi sequence in my clan emblem for symmetry, but all other arrangements (colours, elements, cardinal directions, etc) follow the King Wen sequence, which I also use to order my dragons.
Note: This lore has been revised several times, mainly because I'm torn between making my dragons humanoid and following site lore. I'd be lying if I say the entire time writing lore, I imagine my dragons as actual dragons - because I don't. Therefore it is just hard for me to write them as dragons. I still refer to them as dragons outside of lore writing, of course, and even in lore I'll still find ways to compromise, but please don't be alarmed if you catch me referring to them as "man" or spot a distinct lack of wings and tails in my bios. I know that many users vastly prefer dragon writing, and that's okay. It's just that I cannot bring myself to imagine my own OCs as anything but humanoid :(
Structure
As observed by the Dragon God, there are eight main points surrounding the peninsula where the dragon energy is the strongest. Thus, each of the main eight Masters situated themselves in one of these areas and set up their own organization, colloquially referred to as a Sect. Their mates are also well-respected and considered by their students to be the Sect’s second-in-command. If a citizen wishes to study Divine magic, their best bet is to formally apprentice under these Masters, upon which they are known as Disciples.
Every Sect is different from one another. Generally, each Sect has a school directly under the Sect Master’s control that teaches the ways of dragon cultivation. Students only apprentice for 10 years at most, depending on the program. After they have finished materializing their Core, they are free to leave the school ground, but they are still considered part of the Sect, and their actions may reflect the Sect itself.
The Sects are named after the location that they're situated in, as followed:
- Northwestern Sect of Celestian Hall: Ruled by a high-ranked royal regent, it comes as no surprise that this Sect aims to serve the monarchial government. Students from this Sect tend to be appointed prestigious positions in the government - secretaries, magistrates, and archivists who keep the inner workings of the country running. The Sect Master lives the closest to the Tourmaline Archives.
- Western Sect of Miredance Valley: Looked over by a famous musician, Miredance Valley draws in the most artistic individuals located anywhere among the lush greenery of the Western Midlands. The region itself is picturesque, the climate temperate, and people here are dreamy and open-minded. Those who graduated from here excel as performers, traveling all over the nation to entertain.
- Southern Sect of Torchlight Camp: Not long ago, civilians from the remote Southern Plains banded together, built bases, trained soldiers to fight against invaders. Nowadays military bases and martial sects still operate, training hundreds of thousands of potential soldiers. Torchlight's only difference is that it focuses on dragon magic. Students from this Sect are the most formidable warriors, assassins, mercenaries, and strategists whose main goal in life is to serve the motherland.
- Eastern Sect of Jadebolt Manor: An alliance of villages all over the Eastern Plateau prefecture devoted to crafts and technology. Those living in these quarters are highly skilled innovators who make their earnings through creating physical goods using their craftmanship - be it weapons, jewels, or pottery. It is hard to believe just how many Diviners make a living here, as they spend most of their time in their workshop, but one could only stare in awe once these seeming commoners decide to pick up their magical artifacts.
- Southeastern Sect of Crosswind Island: The distant Crosswind Port Island is where the heart of Crosswind Sect lies. Those from merchant families flock to this island to learn cultivation while trading goods, and the Sect's relaxed atmosphere might make outsiders question the skills of its disciples. Make no mistake, though, Breeze dragons are just as fearsome as other Huyen Nghi disciples, albeit a little bit richer.
- Northern Sect of Shroudsea Palace: A Sect specialized in magic and the occult. Its lair sits atop the Northern Crystalspine Peak, shrouded in mist and mystery. Arguably the most tight-knit faction of Huyen Nghi, they are admired and feared alike by not only commoners but other dragons as well. Disciples from this Sect are experts in sorcery, necromancy, and divination.
- Northwestern Sect of Houfell Academy: An academy located in the mountainous northwestern region of the Archives, reserved for research and science. The operation of this academy is independent of the imperial government, which strikes up fear that they might hold treasonous ideas. The school itself, though, is smart enough to maintain a friendly attitude towards the Temple of Literature. Not to mention, students from this Sect are exceptionally skilled in Draconic powers in addition to their knowledge.
- Southwestern Sect of Earthsong House: This Sect welcomes every Dragon from the most humble backgrounds, and their jobs often involve taking care of other people. Those who work for this Sect ideally get along well with other Sects - the glue holding them all together, and their commune living in the Southwestern villages is a popular hangout place, but could it be that their Masters are planning something...?
- Not started
- Planned (in terms of scry, skin and outfit)
- In progress
- Completed/Satisfied
- Reconsidering/makeover needed
