Ephalon - Triumvirate
Chapter 1 - Desperation
Reign of Celestus
The third Era
The continent of Erafar
As the title might suggest, Erafar is the name of one of the six continents that make up the entirety of land mass that cover Ephalon.
For some inexplicable reason, many of the influential historical events that shaped our world took place in Erafar. I personally believe that it all stems from the fact that the worst battles throughout the War of Dominance took place here, which left a permanent scar on Ephalon.
One need only look at the Great Eastern Desert and guess how that came to be. I can assure you that region used to be a lush green landscape; then there's also that strange white mist which now perpetually hangs there, ever since the final battle was fought in that area.
Birth of Dragorax and Selene
As I mentioned before, whenever dragons procreate there's a chance of creating an entirely new subspecies. Now consider this, Celestus was a holy white dragon and Washu was a prismatic one. Both rare species if not outright unique, so there's no denying what it was they were trying to accomplish by having offspring.
Dragorax and Selene Arramore came into existence from this union; however, they turned out to be nothing beyond the slightly more common black dragon variety. Admittedly, they are rare in their own right, though nothing on the level of either parent.
It wasn't long thereafter that Washu mysteriously left and to my dismay, I've never been able to find out the reasoning. The sudden departure decidedly left Celestus in a foul mood for the coming years, something I heard no end of complaint about.
Celestus creates the Triumvirate
The severity which Celestus attributed to her vision was... significant, as it spurred her on to summon forth emissaries from all three of the progenitor species. A rather astute colleague of mine named Aeling was appointed as one. I always held him in high regard, though he did suffer from a bit of an odd streak every so often. Ever since his summoning I rarely saw or spoke to Aeling again.
I've heard hearsay of a group of individuals which were charged with overseeing projects for the betterment of everyone. Supposedly this initiative was called the 'Triumvirate'. I regret that beyond the names of those who were part of it, I know very little. The level to which they kept their secrecy was impressive as they clearly managed to avert even my curious gaze.
A long forgotten threat re-emerges
A few weeks after Lord Halcis ascended the throne; he came to my library in the dead of night. I found the sudden visitation rather peculiar, though the news he brought with him was most dire indeed.
He explained to me that the continent of Numen-Nier had many a year been plagued by a vile entity known as Lucenbris. A being which many within Erafar had long since thought defeated near the end of the war.
It is unknown why Lucenbris had travelled to Erafar. With what little Halcis knew, he could only surmise that something had lured it.
Forging of a forbidden weapon
To my regret, the following is nothing but conjecture as no one has ever been able to prove this to any extent. The Triumvirate, against the wishes of the Dragon Queen-Empress, forged a forbidden sword. It had similar properties much like the Animus Cultas, the dagger which had been used to trap Lucenbris. The Triumvirate supposedly had quite a simple goal in mind with this betrayal, namely to kill Celestus Arramore. Beyond that, I honestly have no clue as to their motivations.
Maeyl
Mere days after this supposed defeat of the Triumvirate, a mysterious man named Maeyl came to Caldrigo. Although he unmistakenly looked more like a dragon-hybrid of some sort, he fervently claimed that he was part Cenebrian and under that pretence challenged Halcis to the position of Grandmaster.
Halcis agreed and found himself on the winning side of the battle, that was until Maeyl suddenly disappeared into a black vortex only to reappear behind from whence he landed a fatal blow.
There was an uproar among the people; many were against this so-called Cenebrian claiming the title of Grandmaster. A long string of challenges followed suit, however, each and everyone was defeated, until no one dared challenge Maeyl's might any longer.
Lord Maeyl's strange dream
I don't know why, but Lord Maeyl entrusted me with quite a few of his secrets. I suspect he merely recognised the fear in my eyes whenever we conversed, though I made sure never to let it be known through my voice. The man was genuinely terrifying.
Not long after his return from Mount Arramore, he came to me and confessed he'd experienced a strange dream the day after he left. Three shadowy figures accosted him and revealed the location of a hidden chamber deep within the mountain. This secret room had no doors to go through, so only Maeyl utilising his shadow step ability would be able to enter.
I'm not sure if this noteworthy or not, but know this when the Grandmaster left he did not have a tail, yet for some reason, he was now able to summon forth one, and not only that it possessed a small green flame at its tip. To think that I thought that I'd seen it all, oh how far from the truth I was.
A moment before
Before I explain the events during which Celestus ruled over the lands of Erafar, there was one particular occurrence that preceded it, which to this day no one can clarify.
I remember it almost like it was yesterday. I woke up one morning whilst in my library tower in Caldrigo. The cause you ask; a massive explosion that had sent out a shock wave across the entirety of Erafar. As mentioned in my preface, this was before Celestus came to power. I later learned that Mount Arramore had ruptured, radically altering its outside by shedding a significant portion of it. As a result of this, the plateau and the lake at its top were no longer accessible by foot.
Celestus meets Washu
I cannot say how this meeting went down, but here is what I do know. Across the ocean to the west from the continent of Arack came forth a dragon of renown, Washu. He sought out a meeting with Celestus. The mysterious plan that they hatched, as a result, changed the very course of history. Although who's to say that Fate had not ordained this very meeting.
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​ I believe they wanted to usurp the future of dragon kind, but that's just me thinking aloud.
Celestus has a Vision of Darkness
I must confess that the particulars of this event I only heard third hand and therefore aren't as accurate as I would like them to be. Regardless, many years after the departure of Washu, Celestus supposedly received a vision of impending darkness. I was told that her nightmare revealed a world-ending threat would befall us one day in the coming years. Hard to believe something like that, but looking back at it now... well heh heh, history teaches us all great lessons.
A new Grandmaster arises
It wasn't long after this supposed Triumvirate came into existence that a lone warrior from the southern continent of Numen-Nier visited Caldrigo. Almost instantly upon arrival, he challenged the current Grandmaster in the rite of succession, a long-standing tradition among the Cenebrians of Caldrigo which granted one the rule of its citizens. All it really pertains is a rather straightforward fight to the death. I honestly find it a bit barbaric, but I'm not one to judge tradition.
The man was an expert at dual wielding and easily dispatched lord Calker. So from that moment forwards, lord Halcis reigned as the new Cenebrian Grandmaster. I oft enjoyed watching his practice sessions as he had a way of making his fighting skills look both eloquent and effortless. The results of which gave the impression as though he was dancing around his opponents.
Triumvirate defeats Lucenbris
I later heard from Lord Halcis that the Triumvirate had defeated Lucenbris. It turns out that they had indeed lured the foul creature to Erafar to some hidden island in the Areanas sea. However, whenever I think back to what he told me, I have to confess, I sensed that Lord Halcis sounded somewhat sceptical of their success. Supposedly, they had forged and used a weapon with the ability to bind ones spirit into it.
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I wasn't aware something like that was even possible, though I can tell you, the prospect of such a weapon terrifies me to no end.
Disappearance of the Triumvirate
Though undeniable at face value, I must preface that this is once again purely conjecture, as no hard evidence of this occurrence has ever been established. At some point, the Triumvirate travelled back to Erafar where Celestus accosted them in regards to their betrayal. Sufficed to say, the Dragon Queen obliterated them. There is but one thing to corroborate this from ever having taken place as the Triumvirate has never been heard from again since.
Regardless of what truly occurred, this event set off a chain reaction that bled through the very veil of reality.
Celestus mysteriously falls ill
A duty that each Grandmaster must perform after becoming inaugurated is to make the journey to Mount Arramore and pledge their allegiance to Celestus. Oddly, this venture took Maeyl quite long to get back from, in fact, the sad news of Celestus' sudden passing arrived at Caldrigo before Maeyl ever returned.
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The Dragon Empress had fallen ill, a thing which I wholeheartedly do not believe. I don't know how he did it, but I'm convinced Maeyl had something to do with her death.
The end of an Era
I believe it goes without saying that with the death of Celestus, the Era of her reign was well and truly over, though her legacy was not.
The following decades are some of the worst in my life. Maeyl ruled Caldrigo with an iron-fist and poverty among its citizens grew day by day, which unsurprisingly resulted in many violent outbursts. I chose to spend the majority of my days locked within the confines of my tower out of fear for my life.
Thankfully, I wasn't alone during these trying times. Before Maeyl came to power, I had met a special someone during one of my travels to the Orythorn continent.
I regret never having met Celestus in person since I always admired the way she overcame her adversity throughout life.
The third Era was, up until the end, a fascinating part of my journey. The coming of Maeyl, however, heralded a dark time, one that I wasn't sure would ever end.
Although as I mentioned previously, I met a pleasant woman by the name of Reina Thole-Set. She had a love for the written word beyond perhaps even my own. Therefore I suggested she become my assistant, and considering the situation she was leaving behind; it wasn't surprising why she accepted. After all, imprisonment isn't suited for us scholarly types. Although, now that I think about it, I may have been mistaken as she merely exchanged one prison for another.
