Aquil's Origin

You have an idea of where I am now, but where did I come from? I can only tell you what I was told about my birth, which I’ve gone over to some degree already. My belief is that this was the first time I was born. My father and mother state the same.

If you wanted to know where my parents come from, that’s a pretty good question. From a human, or mortal, perspective, there isn’t a lot of difference between gods and dragons. Just to get this out of the way, they are very different. Dragons eat things and create solar systems. At least, they can. And when they do create a solar system, they become quite possessive, tending to fight off gods and anyone that would come near their precious treasure.

Gods are purely spiritual. They often take a solid form, but they don’t need that form. Gods create the tapestry of the universe. They can also create solar systems, but that’s boring work they prefer to leave to the dragons.

You may be asking yourself about the ancient human gods from the Roman or Greek eras. Yes, they were around. And real. But, either they got bored and went to another place, or decided to take a nap. I do believe there are some gods still wondering this planet, they just aren’t making the noise you read about in your history books. Or they could be in the middle of a blink.

Back to me, the important subject. I’ll talk about the gods and dragons later as well, so don’t worry about that, I’m just not going to jump into that hole quite yet.

Anyway, my mortal mother had been trying find a dragon to speak about issues. I know what my mom (mortal) said and I know what others said. I don’t know if either is true, but the truth is she had to be rescued by some priests. During her first expedition, she slid on the trail and into a cave. She said it felt like she was pulled in, my dad (mortal) said she was just clumsy. A clumsy thief. Sure, I’ll go with that.

This cave apparently had a steep entry that was difficult to climb. It really doesn’t sound like a cave I’d like to play around in, but at least my mom made it out. With help. From a flying horse.

I’ve already introduced you, briefly, to my own air-walking horse. At one time, he was as white as the snow, and about as sparkly. This is what my mom said helped her out of the cave. And, it even gave her a leather bag that only a certain paladin could open. That’s what a dragon told her, anyway. The dragon that owned the cave she fell into. But, it wasn’t Drak-Bar. I don’t know of any other dragons. But, we’ll just play along, this isn’t something I saw, just stories I’ve been told.

Now, you may be asking how I heard these stories, especially since I was left in a forest. Well, a kid that’s wondering the forest and turns into a hero gets a lot of stories told about him. I traveled all throughout Drak-Bar’s boulders looking for where I came from, listening to stories. I really wish I had all my journals, it certainly would make this little website a bit more fun.

Back to the horse. The one that dropped a bag and ran away, leaving my mom to deal with a grumpy dragon, that wasn’t Drak-Bar, the only dragon in the area. Dragons sometimes would get a bad reputation. They did exist in Drak-Bar’s Boulders during my life, and much before my birth. But, they had disappeared a few years before I was born, and some say that led to the bad economy and general bad will of the area.

Dragons are willing to talk, and seem to enjoy chatting with mortals. But, they get bored fairly easily. Don’t ask for favors, don’t tell them about your day, try to have a little more philosophical conversation with them. Maybe talk about the theories about how the universe work. They love a good laugh above all else. Oh, and make sure they aren’t hungry. You’re not much more than a toothpick, but that ground you’re standing on is mighty tempting.

After the dragon let my mom hobble away, some priests happen to be in the area and helped her out. Now, these priests were told what my mom was after. And, they happened to be fairly kind priests. Who also happened to belong to my mother. I could say they worshipped her, since she was a goddess and all, but they really did belong to her. Most of the more senior priests are actually just part of the god, the subconscious if you want to think of it in human terms. Wondering thoughts.

So, these priests listened to her story, and decided that she was a good candidate for my mother’s project. Which just happened to be me. They led her to a larger cave, saying it belonged to Drak-Bar. Now, remember, Drak-Bar didn’t have a cave, really. But, I guess you could also say he owned all the caves, since he kinda created the whole planet. I am assuming Drak-Bar’s Boulders was on a planet, but it also could have been a Frisbee for all I know.

In this large cave, my mom found a deep cavern that looked big enough to hold a dragon. The priests obliged her vision and followed her down the narrow path. In my own travels, I was always leery of a dragon’s cave that had paths just big enough for people to walk down. The paths were much too small for a dragon, not to mention of no benefit to a creature that didn’t need the ground to get around. Sorry. Couldn’t resist the rhyme. But, at this time, my mom, with no apology, found herself at the bottom of a large cave with two priests and no dragon. But, according to her story, the dragon did arrive. A very large dragon. The story says the dragon looked much like the night sky, the blackest black with what looked like stars across his body.

This sounds like a dragon I described a few paragraphs ago, one that would create a world. Well, it wasn’t. Apparently, the dragon wasn’t happy with the invaders and urged them to leave. Quickly. Remember that clumsy accusation? It comes into play here. My mom was said to have fallen from the ledge and broke her leg. The priests stopped and looked. I would expect a smile to cross their lips at this time. Perfect.

The dragon wouldn’t have felt threatened by a couple priests and a clumsy thief. Possibly amused. Probably amused, if he was there. How do I know? The dragon healed her leg and then gave her, and the priests, a ride back to her town. Then disappeared into the night. The long night. Longer than other long nights.

Now, my mom blamed this dragon for this long night, since he did look a lot like the sky himself. The legend says she died believing the dragon was the night. Yes, this is another sad part of my tale. Soon after I was born, and left in a forest, my mom died. After her story got out, there were many people that blamed her for the extra-long night and overabundance of lead in their houses. People are the same, no matter the planet.

When my mom returned home, my dad had just run across a large sum of money. Found a bag somewhere. But, he was frustrated by the bag my mom had brought home. Any bag locked with magic should be valuable, but he couldn’t find a buyer in the long night. Nor could he really find any work. This night wasn’t like most, the moon shone brighter than normal. Some say it was only called a night because it was the moon lighting the area and not the sun, but the effect was the same.

When my dad’s new-found wealth turned to dust upon my birth, it was said my dad completely lost his mind. It probably didn’t help that a couple stranger-priests were helping my mom with her birth. That was the husband’s job. You might also say he never figured out how he was having a child, he’d had a minor run-in with a wizard. He did his best to believe his wife’s fantastic tale of two priests and a dragon. But, having those two priests show back up. Well, put yourself in his shoes.

My dad died shortly after my mom, or so I was told. Same problem. At this time, I was with my uncle. At least he said he was my uncle. I never did believe him.