Overview

**Lore Overview**

In days of old, the continent of **Verthaca** was home to two intelligent species, dragons that called themselves the **Dreki**, and a people with the ability to transform into the forms of animals. While the shapeshifters didn’t have a collective name for themselves, in the present day they are referred to as the **Ainvi**. For countless years, the Ainvi roamed the Great Plains,  lands east of the central mountain range which are known as the *Íssbjarg Mountains*. While the Dreki populated the north western tundra and forests of Verthaca. The two species did interact quite frequently in their earliest known days, each culture’s respective Druids working together to chronicle the birth of magic into the world.

In time, while the Ainvi maintained their traditional lifestyle, the Dreki began to form a more advanced civilization. Assuming a humanoid-like form that did not limit their powers, the Dreki built elegant cities. Settlements began to appear up and down the western coast as they expanded further south. In time, the Dreki tribes began to split and form into their own separate kingdoms and nations.

Eventually, the Dreki came to the unfortunate realization that their species was a dying one. As the eldest of Dreki aged, their minds began to deteriorate, and a madness would settle in. Combined with the discovery that the species’ birth rate was in constant decline, they realized they had become virtually infertile. In an effort to preserve their kind for as long as possible, the Dreki resorted to sealing their powers within special stones, and adopting their humanoid forms on a mostly permanent basis, only using the stones to access their true form and power as a temporary measure. Many protested this forced transformation, and those that did would always succumb to the madness.The once noble and respected Dreki would be replaced with a vile and mindless beast that would have to be put down by their fellow Dreki. Over the years, the Dreki abandoned many of their cities, leaving the ruins to stand the test of time.

During the early days of the decline of the Dreki, numerous research projects were launched to help discover a means of survival. Among them included an attempt to breed with the Ainvi, however this proved fruitless. Regardless of any precaution or genetic interference, resulting offspring were born as wretched abominations, living no longer than a few weeks after birth.

Hope seemed to be lost for the Dreki, their population dwindling as time continued on. Retreating into the far north, up into the Frigid Wastes, the Dreki hid themselves from the world, supposedly building a sanctuary for themselves whereupon they preserved all the knowledge and history of their kind.

Centuries continued on without the Dreki, and yet the Ainvi more or less continued their lifestyles.Two Ainvi kingdoms appeared, influenced through Dreki interaction. One kingdom in the north, and one in the south. With the Dreki cities abandoned, many of the Ainvi explored the ruins, moving further west than ever before. But the nomadic lifestyle and the bond to nature was too powerful, and the Ainvi left the ruins to the weather.

When the Dreki were on their last breath, a new hope came to the land of Verthaca. A brand new species had landed on the southern shores. A group of ambitious humans, settlers from a far off destroyed land, they called themselves the **Sairshi** . Upon their landing the Sairshi discovered the old ruins of the Dreki, and happily took up residence. The Sairshi began to thrive and they started to explore the rest of Verthaca, following the Dreki ruins north west, and discovering the southern Ainvi kingdom to the east.

The Sairshi interaction with the Ainvi started out amicably. While the Sairshi were at first taken aback by the Ainvi’s capability to transform into the wild beasts of nature, the two races got along rather peacefully. The Sairshi traded technology and their forms of magic with the Ainvi in return for food, and knowledge of the lands, while also labelling them as the Ainvi.

According to Sairshi records, things went along smoothly with the Ainvi and continue to do so these days. The Ainvi however tell a different tale, a tale of expansionism and theft of land and magics.

For the Sairshi that traveled to the northwest, following the Dreki ruins. Many of these ruins had begun to crumble over the centuries, and as the Sairshi fixed the abandoned architecture, they began to uncover knowledge about the Dreki and who they were. Realizing that they were dragon-folk, the Sairshi began to revere the Dreki, as back in their homeland it was, as their ancestors called them, Divine Dragons that appeared one day to help deliver them their salvation before mysteriously disappearing. Eventually, the Sairshi had expanded so far north, that they looked across the waters at the Frigid Waste.

In a historic moment, one of the first Sairshi scouts to sail across to the Frigid Wastes, laid eyes on the first Dreki to be seen in ages. The Dreki invited the Sairshi scout back to their sanctuary, a feat no other Sairshi in existence has ever been capable of doing. The Dreki, now having finally met the Sairshi, believed that a chance to save their race had come at last. For the Dreki knew of the existence of the Sairshi from centuries back, where they aided them in a terrible war before retreating, but had thought the species extinct for the war was considered a loss for the Dreki.  Many of the last remaining Dreki took to the surface and traveled back to their old homes, now inhabited by the Sairshi. Treated as gods, the Dreki that embraced the Sairshi were thrust into positions of power. However, many of the Dreki had no interest in ruling over these humans. They wanted to see if by breeding with the Sairshi their race could live on.

The Dreki were gravely disappointed. While the offspring of a Dreki and a Sairshi did survive, they were more Sairshi than Dreki. At best the offspring were stronger humans, living longer than the average human lifespan and possessing special powers no human had, one of which was the ability to utilize the biometric technology of the Dreki. In the end though, they were not Dreki. Instead they became known as the **Dragon-Blooded**. Accepting extinction as their fate, the Dreki returned to their sanctuaries to die out. However, not all Dreki wanted to go out on a somber note. Being treated as divine beings, some of the Dreki decided to stay behind and live a life of luxury among the Sairshi.

The Sairshi kingdoms led by the Dreki flourished under their knowledge. As the Dreki aged and died, the countries they left behind looked to their neighbors that were still led by a Dreki for guidance. This attitude, combined with some of the Dreki’s combative nature, eventually led to two powerful supernations of Sairshi. A massive empire known as the **Diagantan Empire***,*  took up the entire south, and much of the lands west of the Íssbjarg Mountains was led by a single Dreki referred to as the Dragon Emperor. In the north, from the empire’s borders up to the frigid wastes was a collection of provinces led by a small number of Dreki, that were collectively known as **Fornland**.

Time eventually claimed the lives of all Dreki living among the Sairshi, leaving them without their divine rulers. The massive empire led by the solitary Dreki fractured into many different kingdoms that to this day still fight for the throne of the Dragon Emperor. While the lands to the north also split up, their war lasted a much shorter timespan and eventually they came back together to form a sort of commonwealth and renamed themselves back to Fornland. It has been four centuries since the last publicly known Dreki touched the surface of Verthaca.

In the time since the Dreki graced the surface, the Empire has fallen to war due to the vacuum left behind. The Dragon Emperor had entertained many wives and fathered many Dragon-Blooded children over his long reign.  Being a Dragon-Blood was seen as something truly special and gave the child a position of power, being thought to have been blessed by the Divine. Dragon-Bloods were able to pass down their powers onto their children, but it did not last many generations before the power seemingly vanished entirely from the bloodline. As a result, to preserve Dragon-Bloodedness among the nobility, many of the Dragon-Bloods were rounded up and forced to marry one another to preserve their lineage after the death of the Emperor.  These Dragon-Bloods ruled many of the nations at war in the power vacuum left by the Dragon Emperor’s death. It was declared that the one to ascend the throne had to possess Dragon-Blood. In the four hundred or so years since, Dragon-Blood has become rarer and rarer among the nobility, yet they still war for the empty throne, claiming to possess the sacred blood. Every seven years the leaders of each nation convene in the city of Portashan, where the Dragon Emperor ruled from, to vote on one to assume the throne. Every year the throne remains empty.

The lands to the north fared much better in the aftermath of the Dreki extinction. While many of the Jarls that were guided by the Dreki did war with one another, their wars did not last for centuries and they were more or less able to resolve their conflicts. Every so many years, the Jarls of the north come together in the city of Reginfell where one Jarl is selected to represent all of the Clans for a special tradition.  In a week of festivities, the gathering pits the Jarls and their champions against one another in combat to show whom among them is the strongest of Fornland. The winner is chosen to represent the country, for it is the winner’s responsibility to travel to the Frigid Waste and make an offering to the Dreki, much like the first Sairshi scout did. The Sairshi of the north revere Dragon-Bloods as sacred, blessed people but do not make a large fuss over it as those of the Fallen Empire do.