Great Swarm

## The Age of Horrors, the Great Swarm

In the Age of Horrors, the good races of the world of Aerus nearly went extinct.

The series of wars, known simply as the Great Swarm, shattered mountains, destroyed countries, and rearranged the continents themselves as even the powers of the gods were brought to bear. The war started as all wars do, with a lust for power, and it nearly destroyed us all.

Let me tell you the story of Takhisis and Bahamut, and  why there are no dragons left in the world.

#### The Gods are Born

At the dawn of creation, there were many gods, fading into and out of existence as quickly as bubbles in a pot of boiling water. Some were born strong and are still around to this day, Pelor, Moradin, and the like. Some were born weak, mere flickers of light in the void, snuffed out as soon as they formed.

As the cosmos settled into the formation we now know, those gods that survived began to solidify their power. They claimed aspects of the cosmos for themselves. Some claimed distant planes of reality like Hades, Pandemonium, Celestia, etc. You would not have heard of any of their names. Some began to create here, on the Prime Material plane. These are names you would know. Pelor shone his light upon the world, Moradin gave of his body to form the lands and the mountains, Gruumsh breathed the fire of life into the Orcs while Corellan Latherin raised the Elves from the waters.

All of this you know, surely, however let me tell you about Takhisis. Takhisis and her brother Bahamut were known as the mother and father of dragons. Their creations were impressive, and even the other gods were in awe. Huge scaled creatures, dragons were strong, intelligent, capable of mastering mighty magics, they reigned as the strongest of the land and the skies for centuries.

This became a problem for the other gods. As you know, a god’s powers are derived largely from the worship of it’s creations. Without some form of worship, the gods would fade into the void, powerless to affect the cosmos any more.

Bahamut was wise and good. This was reflected in his creations, as he was responsible for what most considered the good dragons. Gold, silver, copper, bronze, all the colors of dragon associated with wisdom, compassion, and knowledge were his creations. Rather than rule over other races, they preferred to work with them, to act as guides, mentors, and protectors.

Takhisis on the other hand, was cruel and ambitious. She had created the evil dragons, red, blue, green, black, and the like. They were tyrants, destroying whole civilizations of lesser beings through their harsh rule. As great and powerful as these evil dragons were, over hundreds of years, they ruled and subjugated the land, converting many of the lesser forms of life to worshipping them, and by extension Takhisis.

The other gods were worried, they were losing power while the Mother of Dragons was gaining it. Something had to be done.

#### The Gods Take Action

The other gods first appealed to reason, there must remain some semblance of balance. They pointed out that if things continued, it would only open the door for the same thing happening to Takhisis in the future. After all, while the gods were infinite, the planes and the creatures upon them certainly weren’t, and the flux of power would be constantly changing, threatening all of them for all time.

She was concerned only with gaining and keeping her power, and she cared nothing for balance. She would not listen to reason.

While this power struggle was taking place in the infinite void, here on Aerus things were dire. Large parts of the world were under the tyrannical rule of evil dragons, while the parts protected by the good dragons were shining lights in the darkness. Sides were clearly forming, and while there had always been wars, the world could feel something coming, something that was much bigger.

1100 years ago, the Swarm appeared.

#### The Gods go to War

Takhisis was so pleased with her evil dragons, and her ambition knew no bounds, she began to create more and more. Creating life is no easy thing, even for a god, however, and she could not simply make more dragons, those were products of the time of chaos at the beginning of the universe. So, instead she created what would become known as Dragonspawn. Creatures of all types and sizes, with some dragon-like aspect to them, but with a fraction of the true dragon's power.

With the appearance of these creatures, Takhisis had her army, and she directed her dragons to enslave the world for her glory.

For the first time since creation, the gods went to war.

The Great Swarm is the name given to the period of time that this war raged. It lasted around 700 years, for many species it was all they knew for multiple generations. Takhisis and her evil dragons raised nightmarish spawn to plague the countryside, their terror a blight that covered most of the world.

Bahamut refused to follow this twisted path, instead working alongside the other gods. His good dragons recruited and supported armies of heroes from all the lesser races, working on uniting them against the Swarm of evil. They created wondrous magical items to aid in the fight. Many of the powerful artifacts we still see today are remnants of this time.

It was perhaps the only time in our long history that all races were united.

They were dark times, with repercussions still seen today, the race of kobolds, for example, has its origins as dragonspawn, and other drakes and spawn can still be found throughout the world.

Finally, with Takhisis and her evil legions pressing forward and near to conquering everything, Bahamut made an important sacrifice. He alone, with the power and worship of the good dragons, had the power to challenge Takhisis, while the other gods were fading more and more as the world despaired.

He siphoned off all of his remaining power, transferring it to the pantheon of other gods. United, augmented by his power, they could cast down Takhisis for good. Bahamut faded into the void, a mighty beacon for good now a flickering spark in the endless nothing. But it worked, and the other gods gathered themselves, striking at Takhisis and casting her into the void to join her brother.

#### The Gods Sunder the Land

The physical aspect of Takhisis had been walking the land, causing untold devastation. This aspect needed to be destroyed in order to fully banish her to the void. Now they had the power to do so.

They threw a mountain down upon her.

The mountain, hardest stone reinforced with the silvery lifeblood of Moradin himself, smote the aspect. It drove deep into the world, puncturing straight through to the elemental plane of water, where Correllon Lotherin waited. He drew upon the elemental waters, filling the chasm with a deep ocean fissure, hiding the mountain and the aspect of Takhisis that it buried, covering forever the shame of the god's failures. This is how the great oceans came to be connected, breaking the land apart.

The world was devastated, but without the power of Takhisis to aid them, the evil dragons could not maintain control of the dragonspawn, nor replenish their numbers. Some of the more intelligent ones, such as the kobolds, abandoned the war altogether and fled across the lands to start new lives. It took nearly 50 more years of war, but finally the Great Swarm was driven back.

#### The Gods Were not Done.

They knew that they could not risk Takhisis ever coming to power again, and Bahamut in his wisdom knew that he could not be allowed the temptation. As their final act to end the war, the gods united their power once more. They destroyed the dragons. All of them. Never again would the mother and father of dragons feel the divine power of worship.

Despite the war, there are few enough gods in the cosmos, and they are still a family of sorts. The gods could not bring themselves to completely snuff out one of their own. They spared one champion of each true dragon type, 5 good and 5 evil.

These dragons were left to roam the world, huge, incredibly powerful, and immortal beings that would provide just enough worship to Takhisis and Bahamut to keep their spark from fading completely. While they are free to interfere with us mortals as they see fit, they know the consequences that await should they disturb the balance too far towards good or evil. So they slumber for centuries at a time, emerging throughout history. Sometimes as great heroes, others as brutal conquerors, but always a balance to be kept. The identities and locations of these champions have been lost to time, and few now living even remember that they exist.

The Age of Horrors came to a close, and the Age of Rebirth began.

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