Malghourn, The Stone Serpent

[Swgrclan 2682]

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEfTac8gJPA

“The great stone one flies high 'pon the clouds whence the legg'd cannot reach; so po'r is he who, without wings akin to a bird, cannot drift so high above and beside the stone serpent Malghourn; he who is of strength and virtue. Accurs'd be the form of mine brethren; accurs'd be their tough encave and flesh, that naught fit f'or the gracefulness of those of the frozen sky and their wings.”

There dwelt a great force that scoured the skies of the Frigid North; one that settled upon the clouds for centuries, ever to scan the wasteland below and observe what tarried about upon the soils. Dragons -- they were dragons of the North, a place that was once their home. A home they shared with others; those of thick skin and ragged features, that of swine and beast. From the point of when the fields were lush to when they were frozen, the dragonkin have been the North’s vanguard; they were feral guardians, wild watchmen, and even held in a regard to that of Gods by the pigfolk Bohra who were trapped upon the ground with no way to ascend to the skies like their feared, scaled deities.

“His grace spans back archaic a time, whence when the those of Kata roam'd fields with but cheveril hide of beasts to cov'r their skin. His kind scorn'd mine own -- they devour'd mine kin whe'r weak and elderly 'r but babes within aeries of wheat. So furious was mine brethren's wish to grow wings and ascend like those of the frozen sky; and without the means, their fury was cast 'pon those that they bore envy f'or. They scorn'd their gods -- they scorn'd them, and rode them akin to mounts.”

The Bohra sought not only to worship their dragon Gods, but to fly like they had. To fly like graceful, wild beasts; to wreak havoc as the dragons had upon them and to rule the world with an iron grasp without mercy; with no quarter spared. They eventually ascended with the growth of civilization through time; ascended to the skies after honing the power of training their furious Gods and making them obedient and docile enough to ride them. The Bohra people had attained the power of flight, but only through the enslavement of their Gods, whom of which - for whatever reason - they still held such a high regard for. But there was one amongst them… one that would not be chained.

“But Malghourn, of strength and virtue, couldst not be bound by bilboes and toughen'd twine; f'r his skin of the earth couldst not be bound, not by the force of of the bohra and all their might. So they sought him naught as an ally, but as god; f'r his might was greater than their own, greater than all others of the frozen sky and it's earthen brother.”

Bearing the height of two dragons stacked and the strength of tenfold human legions, the Stone Serpent, Malghourn, ruled the skies with an untamed fury. Those that garnered a foolish confidence were destroyed when they faced him, whether in single numbers or in armies. Those that feared him were decimated when they attempted to reason. Even those that began to worship him and offer their riches, whether it be ore of thanhic metals or the raw flesh of game-beasts, were torn asunder under his righteous might.

“They stride like their god, in pride and in fury be their strength; f'or they follow naught but his being, but his essence -- bless'd it be, fo'r it nev'r is to be falter'd by claw n'r spear. They trekt the frozen fields as he dost its' skies; acting in the shadow of his stone-scale'd wings, akin to a wolf to it's chieftain master.”

And worship they did. With the ushering of the age of civilization, the Bohra had been enlightened; their faith only growing in their Gods to the point where separate cults and gathering had been established. One most prominent one was of Malghourn who, despite treating his worshipers with such feral fury, was deemed that of the essence of passion, virtue and might. These cultists and their respected “dragon-warriors” served and feared the Stone Serpent for over one-thousand years after the fall of their city and the revolt of their tamed Gods; remaining ever-loyal to the cause they built from the lessons Malghourn’s might provided them.

But even the godly Stone Serpent bore his weaknesses. A time after Setherien had claimed the North as his territory, his corrupted minions - the Harbingers - sought out the dragonkin and snuffed them in their dormancy; using the accursed ever-winter the thanhic ore pockets cast over the wasteland as their bolstering tool for this. They tore them asunder; dotting the once fertile land with the burning blood of the scaled and their fleshless corpses cast into the snow to freeze for eternity. But they failed in one regard -- like the Bohra could not tame Malghourn, the Harbingers could not defeat him. Too massive was he, a giant of his kind, to be felled with simple frostfire that could not touch his flesh and drudges who could not break his scales of stone.

Knowing they could not break him nor his dragon-warriors which assaulted them in droves with enough fury to match that of their dragon god, the Harbingers sought out their Dark Lord. It is there they explained their burden; told the Black Wyrm of their prime enemy, one that safeguarded the frozen North and kept the cogs of dark progress from turning. Enraged by this weakness, Setherien himself arouse from his resting place; untangling his massive wings as to take flight with his course cast upon the North. The shadow of his wingspan blotted out the sun as he flew overhead; drawing both beast and Bohra into their homes of carved earth and tents of hide. Upon a mountain-top, Malghourn and Setherien met -- and with a clash of nearly evened might, the very North shook in reaction to their battle.

Without wit matching that of his larger, dark-minded brother, Malghourn was defeated -- but instead of casting the Stone Serpent into the sea as to affirm it’s doom, Setherien acted upon other goals. The mind of a dragon is a feral one; higher than that of animals, but it was weak and without sentience. Forcing taint to seep into Malghourn’s very being, the Black Wyrm twisted the creature into an abomination; a shell of his former self. Malghourn had become that of darkness; evil in his own right. A Drake in mortal tongue and a slave in present where he was a stalwart, furious defender in past.

With his turning, Malghourn was blessed with a dark intellect -- a type of sentience that allowed him to form thoughts. And with these thoughts came plots of sinister intention; for he existed all for naught but Setherien and his conquests now. Taking notice to the disheartened Bohra dragon-warriors and cultists that still clung to their beliefs despite having witnessed the fall of their mighty God before their very eyes, Malghourn spread his corruption unto them -- he warped them. Those that did not flee were immolated and twisted as to act as his knights of darkness - once of valor and righteous fury, but now of emptiness and goals akin to their shell of a lord’s.

[Swgrclan 2682]

((Would this be the Drake that attacked earlier today?))

 

[[ Neit. ]]

[Birdwhisperer 1174]

Moved to the Great Library. It shall be sorted into appropriate category shortly.