Dragon Lore

Secondary Abilities

Legendry

In the time before time, long before the light of civilization fell across the land, most of the world was wild and formless. At that time, a now-forgotten power held sway — a potent force of chaos whose very passing scattered the golden fruits of knowledge and power that nurtured our kind through its infancy.

This power was called "Modus" and he reigned for ages in his Courts of Silence before ever a creature walked the face of the Earth. And his children attended him, and were to him a great comfort.

Certainly no one could have foreseen the tragic consequences when Ellisere, the daughter of Modus, Goddess of Inspiration and Invention, brought her latest plaything into the Courts of Silence. She called this strange device "the Necronome." Its eternal ticking seemed to echo the beat of her heart. In it she found the subtle hints of a pattern that opened up great vistas of inspiration. Unfortunately, the infernal ticking drove everyone else to distraction and the Courts of Silence were no longer a place of refuge.

Something had to be done. After much deliberation, Modus banished the object from the courts. After that, Ellisere was seen less and less. She sequestered herself on a remote mountain in the midst of swirling creation to pursue her vision and the new art — music — that was taking shape with the aid of her Necronome.

The strange and wondrous sounds of her emerging art called forth many and varied creatures from the crucible of creation. They came to her and loved her, and she taught them her way.

The Firstborn were the great wyrms, masters of air and flame. The raw, primitive tones of the newly discovered art formed their magic and might. In time, all creatures who now know music, and many different races—including those who are now known only through ancient songs — came to sit at Ellisere's feet and receive her gift. At last, man overcame his fear of the wild things that haunted the world's end and came to Ellisere to learn from her.

By this time, the Art had changed. Music was no longer a simple means of expressing Ellisere's vision of harmony. In each successive teaching, it swelled to encompass new emotions. The great wyrms, for instance, eagerly gathered shining notes of power and crafted them into scales — of hoarding, of greed, of snares for those who would steal their treasures. The arrival of men also wove many complex emotions into the score, not the least of which was jealousy.

It is doubtful that even Ellisere herself knew who it was that stole into her chambers one day. Some gossips speculate that the trespasser's motive may have been jealousy for the single- minded devotion a lover paid to the goddess. Others suggest that the intruder acted out of fear—that some other race might learn a more complete form of the Art than man himself had. All that is known for certain is that on that day, someone reached up to the Necronome and stopped its swinging arm midcourse.

The silence that followed was complete. No scream sounded the moment the Necronome and the goddess' heart ceased to beat. In their sorrow, the great wyrms gathered their treasures, music and precious scales, wrapped them in grand and leathery wings and took flight. They passed over the Earth on mournful winds, landing when fatigue claimed them, and dug titanic burrows into the mountainsides.

There, it is said, they listen for the echoes of Ellisere's art in never-ending caves. In the heart of the Earth, the dragons claim, you can still hear refrains of the first songs in mournful rhythm with the final ticking of the goddess' Necronome.

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