The Cat Who Knew How to Cry

APPENDIX 2: MERCURION'S DRAGONS (part 2)

Cave Dragons

Mercurion's dragons were closer to nature during the first hundred years of their existence than they have been since. Seeing no need to take on bipedal form, they fluttered unseen from world to world, succumbing to their other great passion—the unquenchable thirst for new sensations. They would return home to share their impressions with their brothers, only to fly back out in all directions shortly after.

The dragons lived as "hunter-gatherers," as they jokingly put it. They hunted for life of any kind beyond the borders of Naeria (they especially liked lunching in the hills of Horned Schamp), and like true magpies, they collected piles and piles of all sorts of shiny trinkets as souvenirs of the places they'd visited. A little later, when their favorite hunting grounds became deserted by the prey (these days shampp, with or without horns, can be found only in the Abyss), the dragons switched to raising cattle. They began breeding various beasts right in the catacombs under the Fangs.

The children of the Lord of Wind resided in large caves. The floors were lined with different varieties of Lurrijan moss, which looked and functioned like giant carpets, boasting bright patterns and "hair" the length of your arm from elbow to wrist. They were regaled by singing toads brought in from the Fragrant Marshes, which the dragons kept in silver cages and cared for in every way (although, if the singers began hitting the wrong notes with consistency, they were immediately feasted on). This rather austere way of life remained unshakeable for centuries...

All the same, there came a point in the dragons' lives when things began to change. The ancient serpents were inclined to admire scenery, architecture, epic celebrations and battles. All of these they observed from above, remote and detached. However, that did not suffice for the subsequent generations. The young dragons wanted to discover the foreign world from within, in all its glorious detail.

After enlightenment came compassion, first and foremost for those creatures who were being persecuted for freethinking.

Whoever the first dragon was to think of using the Fangs as a shelter for freethinkers, his name has been lost to history. Just the same, for the next few years he and his brothers took in hundreds of creatures and blocked the way to Dragon Fangs for anyone wishing to pursue them.

The guests' presence made the Fangs unusually comfy and cozy for the dragons. Many of them realized for the first time that these two cliffs were in fact their home, and not some sort of cold, stale inn to fly to when you need to lick your wounds and swap tall tales with random acquaintances. They began to spend more time in bipedal form, as they were fond of visiting non-dragon friends. Some even furnished their small caverns with decor collected during their travels after their new friends' homes. Still, for a while these rooms were more like warehouses than habitable quarters.

For a while...

The Wings of Sunset Era

A fellow merchant quarreling with the Wings of Sunset

would be like a bird cutting off its own wings.

Haaz Farmidar,

Owner of The Rat Hole tavern and shop

Many Enhiargeans come to find out "what horror" their world really is when a clerk from WoS, our largest transport company, hands them a neat purple envelope with a letter informing them that service will no longer be available for the foreseeable future. No more portals. Your boat and buggy are your best friends. Before this, Wings' clients regarded Enhiarg as a kind of apartment with a multitude of rooms, with the ability to move from one room to another being generally overpriced.