<a class="postlink" href="https://creativefreedomrpg.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&amp;t=41792">OOC</a><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">In the beginning, centuries ago when the world was still very young, man and dragon were enemies.<br/><br/>Since he was born, it has always been man’s nature conquer anything he could, to take whatever he desired, no matter what the consequences were. Man’s civilization started out small and insignificant, they were at the bottom of the food chain, but one day something shifted and man soon spread across the land like an uncontrollable wild fire. Massive cities and kingdoms were erect seemingly overnight. They wanted to make their presence known. Nothing was safe from them, nothing was there to step in and stop them, not even their own kind; they would wage war against each other just so that they could expand on their kingdom. Because of their crusade, a crusade which all began out of greed and lust for power, the land was drenched with blood. Much of it still remains uninhabitable because of the darkness looming over it like a thick and impenetrable blanket of despair.<br/><br/>When man began to trample upon the home of dragons, they would finally find something powerful enough to put an end to them. Usually peaceful unless bothered, dragons were not usually creatures of conflict. But if they were pushed the dragons would push right back. And that was exactly what they had done to the humans who dared to storm into their land and claim it as theirs. Refusing to allow a creature much smaller, much weaker than they were try to take them down, the dragons began slaughtering as many humans as they could, wiping them out quickly. They enjoyed the confused looks upon the humans’ faces.  In their mind, they had a right to this land and they would never give it up. The bloody war they waged lasted for centuries. The dragons would destroy villages, pose as humans and kill from within, leaving behind a path of bloodshed, torture, and destruction. <br/><br/>One day, a man named Valiar, bravest knight of all the land, dared to challenge the king of dragons, Urvail.<br/><br/>It was going to be a fight to end all fights, the battle that would determine who would truly be victorious. Human or dragon. It was said that the battle lasted for days, moving into weeks. When everything was calm, something amazing had happened. Valiar had emerged riding upon Urvail’s back proving that he had managed to bond with such a beast. It was not out of conquer or force, but from the heart. The sight was something to behold, and the people he looked upon stared back at him with eyes filled with both fear and awe. They did not know what to make of this. Some thought of him to be some kind of God, others wanted him dead, called him a traitor. The idea of humans and dragons bonding was ridiculous, impossible, for dragons had been seen as horrible creatures for a long time. Peace was a thought that had been completely wiped out of the minds of man.<br/><br/>Determined to change man’s view on dragons, Valiar founded the Dragon Riders.<br/><br/>And so, two centuries later, our story begins in the Kingdom of Ma’aekhiol where young riders are about to set out on a difficult journey to the fallen Kingdom of Neyr. It is a tale of just how powerful the bond between a human and a dragon truly is. There will be things that will test that bond. Those who truly prove their selves will discover the truth.<br/><br/>Those who are prove to be incompetent? Well, needless to say, survival will be pretty low…</span><br/><br/><br/><br/>“What a wonderful day.” Darius, the King of Ma’aekhiol said to his loyal servant while he waited for the riders he had summoned to show up. It truly was nice and not too windy either. Even up here in the cliffs was not too cold. Shame he was sending them out on a mission, where they most likely would not be able to enjoy the weather.<br/><br/>“Your majesty, it has been a few hours now. What could be keeping them?”<br/><br/>“Give them time. I have faith they will come.”<br/><br/>“If you say so.” The servant sighed, folding his arms, obviously uncomfortable being around so many dragons. They peered at the two of them from their perches. The day they decided to attack would be truly disastrous indeed, but nobody ever spoke of that. Peace was what everyone wanted. As long as peace remained, the dragons would remain silent.<br/><br/>The king chuckled. “You really should learn to relax more.” With that, he took a deep breath and relaxed his own posture. He placed his hands behind his back. There was a stern look in his eyes as he waited patiently.<br/><br/>-------------------------------------------<br/><br/>Upon the desk there were few items. All of them were neatly placed; nothing seemed messy at all, as if the owner made sure that everything was neat and tidy.<br/><br/>Organized. That was a word that was usually pretty compatible with Olga.  Keeping things neat and tidy made it easier to find something, and she could not stand living in filth. Her brother was the opposite, hardly ever organized, sometimes it drove her crazy. Any other day, she would have busted his cops for being so messy, but today was an important day for her.<br/><br/>When she first got the word that she had been chosen amongst all of the Dragon Riders to investigate a fallen kingdom, excited didn’t even begin to describe how she felt. Since she had joined the Dragon Riders she had wanted nothing more than to go out and explore something or go on a mission that would really bring her closer to making a name for herself. It was needless to say that she had immediately jumped at this opportunity, sending a reply a reply to the king immediately saying she would go. Every day after that, she made sure that she was prepared. The letter had stated it was going to be a long and dangerous trip after all. As far as she was concerned, one could never be too prepared when it came to something dangerous. Besides, she loved danger. Nothing was going to keep her from going on this trip.<br/><br/>Not even her brother’s antics. She knew that he had hidden some of her items. Being the organized person that she was, she knew when things went missing. Her brother was just the kind of person to pull something this. It frustrated her to no end some days. Unlike her parents, especially her father, who seemed really proud of her to have been accepted, her brother was wary. He did not want her to go out to some dangerous place and potentially end up dead. The extent of him not wanting her to go drove him to be a pain in the ass. As much as she loved her brother, she wished he would just grow up; they weren’t kids anymore. He was supposed to be the older one around here. As the older one, he was supposed to set some kind of example and not keep up these childish pranks.<br/><br/>When she finally confronted him, he had expressed yet again that he did not want her to go. This time their parents stepped in and Olga’s things were returned to her.<br/><br/>As soon as she had everything her final good-byes were said and she left.<br/><br/>Once she was outside, Olga smiled a little and took in a deep breath, trying to keep composed, walking with her head high over to the cliffs where she was supposed to meet up with everyone else. It was the middle of the afternoon, on a typical sunny spring day in the kingdom of Ma’aekhiol. In this quiet lakeside kingdom everything was relatively peaceful. The skies were clear, and the warmth of the sun felt wonderful.  Such a day was not uncommon, for it was always pretty quiet here in the kingdom. Not a lot of people passed through unless they were traders or looking for a place to rest, at least not during this time of year. Most of the time people were terrified of the dragons that roamed about the area. Even though this was a place of harmony, to this day some people disliked the idea of living with dragons.<br/><br/>King Darius stood waiting for everyone, as she had expected. Even though he seemed at peace there was a mildly intimidating presence about him. Above them, the dragons loomed, their eyes watching the situation. She was truly in awe as she slowly walked a little closer, feeling her heart pounding in her chest. She wasn’t sure if she was excited her nervous. Her entire body was shaking. The man next to the king, his servant, seemed so small and insignificant compared to him. Then again, the man was known for his discomfort around dragons. Which was something that was understandable, as the presence of dragons was intimidating even to her some days. But she remained calm, cool, with a resolve that said she was not afraid.<br/><br/>She even heard the familiar roar of Vehrgeist; she was just as ready as Olga was to head out.<br/><br/>“I have arrived, your majesty.” Olga bowed gracefully, balling her hand into a fist and placing it over her heart. “I’m sorry if I was late.”<br/><br/>The king shook his head, waving his hand slightly. “No need to apologize. You’re just in time.”<br/><br/>There was silence for awhile, until the others were accounted for. When everyone arrived, she looked around at everyone, remembering working with them at one point or another. This was definitely going to be an interesting trip. She could hardly wait to get going.<br/><br/>The King cleared his throat to gather everyone’s attention before he continued, “Now that everyone is here, I want to wish each and every one of you good luck. I have chosen the lot of you for one reason and one reason only: I know you will not fail, however, I am not expecting all of you to come back in one piece either.” He was a man who liked to see people off, especially when it came to his soldiers. “Do you have any questions?”<br/><br/>“Not at this time.”<br/><br/>“There is no telling how long this may take. I expect full reports every other day.” The king made a gesture towards his servant, and the servant handed everyone some extra supplies. Arrows, herbs, whatever was needed. "I want to make sure you're well prepared. Take whatever you wish, however, keep in mind to travel light."<br/><br/>After picking up a few things, Olga gave a salute, “Understood.”<br/><br/>The king smiled a little, “Dismissed.”<br/><br/>As soon as the word was spoken, Olga made her way to the edge of the cliff, looking down. When she first stood here she had been terrified. Now, she was not afraid. She closed her eyes, and allowed herself to fall off the edge, plummeting toward her death. The ground below was littered with skeletons of those who had either been rejected by their dragons, or had decided to end their own life. It was usually the former. Sometimes people would falter at the last second as natural fear took them over before they knew what hit them. However, Olga did not fear rejection, falling, dying, knowing full well that Vehrgeist would not let her down. Just as Olga would never let Vehrgeist down; the two were inseparable. As long as she had Vehrgeist by her side there was nothing for her to fear. That went for this mission as well.<br/><br/>She heard a sound from above her. Something was coming toward her at high speed. The next thing she knew, Vehrgeist caught her on her back. Wrapping her arms around her companion, she let out a soft breath, smiled, and relaxed herself, more than ready to face whatever was out there waiting for her and the rest of the group.