Elder Dragon Freer and Prince Rayne
Son of Sheer |
Son of Frohr |
|---|---|
Product of a temporary union between the Ice Dragon Matriarch and a powerful Elder Fire Dragon, Freer was the only one of his clutch to hatch. Being the first hatchling of Elder Dragon Freer, a lot of expectations were put on him before he could even fly. Even worse, his mother named him after her late best friend, the first king of the Northern Water Clans. He managed to endure his first century, but eventually the pressure broke him and he left his mother’s clan to live in a secluded cove to the north of her domain. Freer remained mostly isolated, spending his time breeding a stock of mammoths to trade with the waterclaners and chatting with his mom or younger siblings when they decide to drop by. Freer always felt bad for having chased her eldest child away without realizing, and constantly tried to make it up to him, despite him insisting that it wasn’t her fault. Most of all, he felt lonely. Being well within the age and power range of an Elder Dragon and still couldn’t find any companion. Despite his mother’s and siblings’ efforts, he never liked any of the suitors they’d bring to him. None of them were attractive to him, and he resigned himself to the fact he’d never find a mate. |
The only child of king Frohr was always dotted on by him. Having an Archmage as a father, Rayne was a naturally skilled mage and would often experiment with his magic’s limit. Once he reached his mid teens, Frohr, knowing that his son could handle himself well enough, allowed him to go out and explore the Northern Water Clan territory. Rayne would make sure to send updates to his father at least once a month, to ease hid old man’s worries. One day the updates stopped coming. After none arrived for three months, Frohr sent a search party at Rayne’s last known location. While they never found any signs of the prince, there had been a string of disappearances of young mages in the area he was last seen. Rayne wouldn’t be seen in the northern water clans for another four years. When he returned, a battered starving mess, he told a tale of how he was kidnapped by southerners who called themselves “The Masters” and forcefully trained to be a soldier for them. His eyes were filled with a determination to help those others affected by the Masters. |
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Whispers of a war being fought in the lands south had been circulating for decades, but being relatively isolated from the rest of the world, the northerners couldn’t get adequate information. The Kyrik pass, the only way through the northern range by land, is infamously treacherous and few travelers risk it. Occasional trading ships from Westill and the Silver Isles are some of the only times news from the outside world reaches them. Even then, Westill only has marginally more information about the war, being almost as isolated as the northern territories. The Westillese only care enough about the war to turn a profit.
The Silver Isles are the front line of the war, but few risk sailing the Northern Straight, preferring to trade with the closer Itanee if they need anything. Being fellow waterclaners, the north often sent whatever supplies they could spare to the Silver Isle. Itanee, the closest kingdom to the northern territories, were isolationist pacifists, refusing to get involved past trading fish with the Silver Isles and fur with the Northern Water Clans.
Even Freer, in self isolation at his cove, was aware a war was taking place. He scoffed, not understanding or caring why the small humans would waste their already short lives in petty conflict. As long as he wasn’t getting affected by the war directly, he couldn’t care less.
Frohr was only vaguely aware of the state of the war, and only fortified Kyrik and the port cities as a response. The Silver Isles begged him for help, but there wasn’t much he could do, and it just wasn’t worth spending the precious few resources in the tundra to get involved. Most of all though, the king was in a deep depression after the strange disappearance of the prince, who was his only family remaining at that point.
It was only when prince Rayne reappeared, battered and starving, having dragged himself through the Kyrik pass to get back to his homeland did Frohr finally understand the severity of the situation. It took the prince two weeks to finally recover, but when he did, he told a tale that shocked not only the King, but the entire territory.
Rayne had been kidnapped by the Masters, along with many other northerner youths. They’d been taken to what was essentially a prison to train young mages from all over the land. Rayne recalled seeing many children and adolescents of various ethnic backgrounds, most taken from their families and lands against their wills. All to create more soldiers and spies to use against the Masters’ enemies, and potential enemies. Rayne himself only managed to escape with the help of a handful of other captives, who soon dispersed towards their homelands and to be harder for their former captors to track them down. Traders from the Silver Isles backed the prince’s story asserting that some of their children had been stolen as well.
Furious, Frohr sent a part of his army to guard the Kyrik pass to prevent anymore child-stealing operations and help any refugees that may be desperate enough to risk the pass to escape the Masters.
The Ice Dragons of the Sheer Sea were notified of the situation. Matriarch Sheer herself was said to be horrified, and instructed her kin to keep an eye on westbound ship traffic for any suspicious activity. The Elder Dragoness even set up a checkpoint at the West Sheer pass to inspect cargo entering or leaving the sea. Freer was notified, seeing that even his mother and kin were getting somewhat involved, he decided to donate some of his war-bred mammoth stock to the Northern Water Clan as support.
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