Pydwellian Tales

***Pydwellian Tales*** is a series of short stories set before and during the events of *Draconis*, providing character backstories and lore that appears in the mainline series. The frame story involves Zolton Brievor telling the tales to the young Minerva during their time on the road with the Black Blade Company.

## Synopsis

### "The Town of Pyres"

Decades after the Knot's rebellion, a group of six young mages successfully escape Tír Miraak through a series of secret tunnels. They bribe a guard for a boat and successfully cross the great lake within which the tower sits. They land on the Norgardian shoreline and escape into the countryside, only to find witch hunters, informed of their escape, on their tail. The mages are chased into an isolated farming village, where they make a stand to defend themselves; in an act of desperation, one of the mages releases an uncontrolled fire spell, setting the fields aflame. The dry soil carries the fire into the town, and the simple homes are set alight. In the chaos, three of the mages escape, while the others are killed by the witch hunters. The fire kills many, including a family leaving just their young son alive. The lead witch hunter approaches the boy and comforts him, offering him bed and board at their castle in neighbouring Bohaem. The boy buries his family before leaving with the witch hunters.

The hunters stop and make camp, planning to rejoin their compatriots in their search for the escaped mages. The lead hunter makes the boy an offer: join the Inquisition and train with them, and in exchange they will help the boy avenge his family. The boy agrees and reveals his name: Kaleb Croft.

For the next two years the young Kaleb receives both an education and sword training. Once a believer in the nordling pantheon, he converts to the Lŷrian Flame. One of his tests consists of prolonged exposure to felsteel; he is welcomed as a brother of the Inquisition when he survives unscathed. He is granted his own sword and uniform, now a full - if low-ranking - brother of the Inquisition. Upon his joining ceremony, he asks the First Hunter to join his hunt for the mages; contrary to his promise two years ago, the First Hunter refuses. Angered, Kaleb steals a horse and rides for Norgard, determined to catch the fire mage.

### "Dragonlord"

A boy is born to two skogarmaor parents, and thus clanless. His parents abandon him to Dagon on a beach, where he is found by a simple fisherman of Clan Druwso. Despite knowing of the boy's outcast origins, he takes him in regardless and raises him as his own, giving him the name "Thanel".

Thanel grows up on the small island of Iseal Kett, ruled by Clan Druwso, in a simple fishing village. As he grows, Thanel demonstrates incredible strength, lifting timber, rocks and hauling nets by the time he reaches seven. Thanel's feats and kindness are enough for the villagers to ignore his skogarmaor birth, but he is never granted the name "Druwso". At age fifteen he saves the life of a villager by lifting a fallen tree; although he loses his leg, the grateful man gives Thanel permission to court his daughter, Brienne, his childhood friend. They fall in love and marry when they come of age, and Brienne gives birth to a boy that they name Brynjar; to give his marriage legitimacy and his children a name of their own, Thanel gives himself and his family the name "an Kett".

In 4:702, the Starscourge begins: the everlasting dragon Aarzal, accompanied by a legion of lesser draconids, descends on the island of Ard Shen, devastating it with dragon fire. The few that survive, as well as many others across the northern islands, pledge themselves and their souls to the dragons. Iseal Kett is destroyed by a single dragon; Thanel and his family survive, but his father does not. He pledges to destroy the dragons and relucantly leaves his family to fight in Clan Druwso's army.

Despite being a fisherman, Thanel adapts well to the sword and axe. He earns respect for his might, strength and fighting talent, and becomes leader of his own unit. While battling cultists, Thanel and his men are suddenly attacked by a dragon; despite his sword breaking on the dragon's armour-like scales, Thanel refuses to give up and tries to attack the beast's legs and belly. The creature knocks him aside with its wing and corners his fellows; as he lays stunned, Thanel is suddenly greeted by the Lady of the Lake, who offers him Death. Thanel refuses, and the Lady tells him to face death with pride.

Thanel stands up and offers himself to the dragon, demanding that his fellows escape. As the dragon prepares its fire, the sky is suddenly darkened, and a mighty storm gathers above. Lightning bolts rain down, striking the dragon and incapacitating it. A series of bolts strike the ground, followed by a magnificent thunderball that lands before Thanel. He steps forward to discover a sword, glowing with electric energy, before grasping it. In an instant its name is known to him: Himinsverd, the Fallen Blade, Death Made Steel. The dragon cowers in fear as Thanel begins his attack, slicing through the beast's scales with ease and drawing blood. Within minutes the dragon lies dead, its body and soul destroyed; Thanel removes its head and lifts it above his shoulders, shouting a war cry as his men cheer.

With Himinsverd in hand and his company beside him, Thanel leads a series of victories. In one of his battles, a wyvern submits to him; Thanel realizes that the lesser draconids are under Aarzal's spell, and the Fallen Blade can clear it. The beast gives its name, Nalithor, and allows Thanel to climb on its back. The pair become a fearsome duo and earn more victories for the islanders; Thanel becomes a hero to the islanders.

Thanel calls a meeting of the jarls, who reluctantly agree. He presents to them the Fallen Blade; a soldier dies instantly when he tries to take the sword and offer it to the jarls. Thanel calls the jarls weak and selfish: the clans and islanders cannot succeed over the dragons if they remain divided by class and clan, and suggests they unite as a single kingdom. The jarls dismiss his demands, but the people choose Thanel as their king when they see that he has tamed a dragon. With no other choice, the jarls pledge their clans to Thanel, and he becomes the Archipelago's first king. A crown of lightning bolts is forged for him, and he leads the united islanders to many victories.