The eternal suffering

DIR(8): untold legends

Many, many years ago, long before the purge was but a thought in the minds of men, dragons roamed the realm.
But not the way you know them today.

When the dragons were created, the gods hadn't thought about wars or torture. All they thought about was to create life. So they gave the dragons the ability to live forever.
That didn't make them immortal. At least not in the eyes of the gods. Gods were immortal, because they could not be killed.
These creatures could be, given the right circumstances.

But they had made their lives endlessly long.
They were creatures of magic. And some of them were allowed to use it. Unlike the druids however, their magic was powerful. More powerful than that of any human.

Dragons, by nature, were completely unprotected. There was no shell to their skin. No scales that shielded them. Instead of those, they had colorful feathers to protect them from the cold.
Other than that, they could be hurt easily. They could be killed easily. A normal sword would have been enough.

In the beginning... there were no dragon lords. No one who controlled the dragons. The dragons were free.

There was dragon kin however. But dragon kin did not have to be human.
In fact, they could be anything.
Dragons were creatures who were given the wonderful gift of shapeshifting. An ability many humans envy to this day.
And, if a dragon was petty enough, they could change to be something completely different.
Another species, if they wanted to be. Because it would be cruel to live forever if that meant never being yourself. Not being allowed to change.

For years, the dragons lived in peace. They roamed the sky, they visited all lands, and all species. They had ancestors of every kind. They were friends to the spirits and even the gods themselves.

Until the day humans became more significant in the hierarchy of the world. When the gods turned away from the world, the spirits hid inside the wells and species began to fear each other.
That's when the hunt on the dragons began.

Humans decided they wanted to possess the world. Become the new gods. They started wars against each other and they knew exactly how to use dragons to their benefit.
To them... dragons were but giant chicken, running around. They were, as many animals were, declared a delicacy. And the feathers worth a fortune.

In addition to that, humans had the tendency to believe that they could inherit powers by consummation. Because dragons were quite strong and had healing and shapeshifting abilities, humans grew hungry for them.

The dragons to be afraid of humans. And they were right to do so. Their kind decimated under the starving gaze of humanity and they hid, however they could.
Many of them decided to hide as humans among them.
If you cannot escape the oppressor – make them believe you're one of them. It was safer than hide as another kind. That would be hunted as well.

They would still have extremely long lives. That is... unless they were forced to consume their own kind. Because the blood and the venom of dragons was poisonous to dragon kin.
It took their abilities to heal, and to grow beyond the age of the kin they had taken form of. It also took their ability to change back.

Because it was obtuse and morbid. They did it to survive and yet, it was a betrayal to their own kind. It is why the dragon kin couldn't persist in the new human form. These families were wiped out. Or hid so deep in the realm of humanity, they didn't recognize themselves.

But as in every story, there are exceptions. There were exceptions to the dragons. And there were exceptions to the humans. The greatest legend of all, connects two of such exceptions.

The bigger the war became, the bigger the dragon's fear grew. More of them decided to hide. Even more to become human. Like the druids did with the triskelion, they gave themselves marks, so they could identify each other. And know who they were safe with.
A group of dragons decided to run away and start their own civilization on an island. An island that a goddess provided for them. One of last of their kind who had not yet turned against their own creation. The guardian of the dragons. And the gate keeper of Avalon.