History of DragonVale

**History of DragonVale** is a book authored by renowned historian Altare Spruce. It chronicles the history of the known world from the earliest known civilizations to the present day.

Timeline Dates: BSW (Before Scar of the World), ASW (After Scar of the World)

## Beginnings of Dragonkind

Wizard scholars agree that dragons have been evolving for thousands of years, but what relation they are to other reptiles and birds is a mystery. Some theorize that they evolved from an ancient ancestor called the Protodragon, a wyrm and the first creature to develop magic.

The astronomancer Leo Galli has a different theory. According to his theory, all dragons are descended from space-faring Galaxy and Celestial dragons. Dragons evolved millions of years ago in another solar system and eventually migrated here.

Yet another theory, the most far-fetched of all, suggests that dragons were actually created through a kind of magic by an even more ancient race than the Burcadians. There is little evidence of this theory, except some ancient drawings of a strange shape resembling a twisted ladder, believed to date farther back than the Burcadian civilization. No one knows what the drawing means.

## Ancient Times

Not much is known about the times before Light and Dark magic was banished. All dragonkind lived in relative peace, among themselves and with the Burcadians, a lost civilization of magic-practicing humans of which almost nothing is known. Myth has blended with history over time, and since the Burcadians had no written language at this time, all our knowledge of this time period comes from artifacts.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Burciter Lympos was believed to be the first leader of the Burcadians and it is believed this civilization got its name from him. A family tree carving of him was found, with their names the only written language of the Burcadians we've ever found, along with the Scrolls of Monolith.
* Zuno Lympos was his wife.
* The parents of Burciter were Laturnus Lympos and Chea Lympos.
* His son is named Vercules Lympos.
* The son of Vercules Lympos and the grandson of Burciter Lympos, Oscar Lympos, made peace with the Olymen and with their help he founded the first event now known as "The Dragon Games".

## The Dark War (circa 150-0 BSW)

Most accounts of this time period inform us that in these times, dragons were much more civilized (with organized governments, leaders, and laws) and their magic was much more powerful. This was thousands of years ago, but the Burcadian civilization was already in decline.

Darkness was not always associated with evil. Most of the fear and mistrust of dark magic originated during the Dark War. Sources disagree on many details concerning the Dark War, but they agree on a few key details: A dark dragon, known only as Void, was frustrated with the rule of the Burcadians, especially their strict regulation of dragon magic. Most sources are not specific on what this consisted of, but some say that the Burcadians cast spells over each dragon baby when it was hatched so they could not use magic unless bonded with a wizard, because they feared an uprising. Void believed that they had cast spells over the light dragons (who helped enforce the laws) and were controlling them. Void may have begun with good intentions, but by the end of the war the atrocities committed by his evil dark dragon army had become legendary and stained the reputation of dark dragons for centuries. Void gathered an army of dark dragons and rebelled against the Burcadians. A war ensued. The light, plant, water and earth dragons mainly sided with the Burcadians, but the air, metal, fire, cold and lightning dragons chose to fight on the dark dragons' side. The war stretched on for nearly a hundred years.

Finally, the last remnants of the Burcadian civilization banded together and launched a complex plot to defeat Void and his army forever. Thousands of dragons sacrificed their magic to perform the most complex and powerful spell ever cast. This spell would wipe all dark dragons from the face of the earth and destroy Dark magic forever, but since Light was the opposite of Dark, the same fate would befall the light dragons. The light dragons chose to participate anyway, believing it was the only way to save the world. When the spell was cast, there was a terrible blast, ripping Light and Dark away from our world, annihilating the Burcadian civilization forever, destroying the Tower of Erebus and tearing a deep scar in the earth, a bottomless canyon where to this day no life can survive. This is now known as the Scar of the World. In the Rift where Light and Dark dragons were sent in, time stood still and dragons did not die or age, so the Dark Dragons and Light Dragons today are the same as those thousands of years ago, making them the closest connection to the Burcadians we now have. However, Void did not survive The Cataclysm, as he tried to fly back when pulled in the Rift, making him be in two dimensions at the same time and ripping him apart into puny little pieces.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Void was an evil Dark Dragon who wanted to start a revolution against the Burcadians and started The Dark War.
* Calliste, queen of the Light dragons. She was the first to sacrifice her magic to banish dark magic and inspired the rest of her people to do the same.

## The Sand Kings Civilization (146-500 ASW)

The Sand Kings civilization was a land ruled by the Sand Kings living in the Sandara Desert. The last Sand King was Amun-Ris, who read a prophecy telling that in 500 ASW an apocalypse would destroy the entire civilization. In fear of the apocalypse, he suicided in 499 ASW. In 500 ASW the civilization was destroyed in the Sandstorm of Apep, a giant sandstorm caused by the War of Apep.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Ramner was the first Sand King
* Sameres was the son of Ramner and the second Sand King
* Clayopatres was  a rivaling land leader who killed Sameres
* Lootanchamon was the son of Sameres, who started ruling at the age of 7 and was killed at the age of 19. The Sand Kings after that are less important.
* Amun-Ris was the last Sand King, who suicided in fear of the apocalypse. A year after his death, the civilization was destroyed during the Sandstorm of Apep.
* Apep was the Sandstorm Dragon who started the War of Apep along with Miaris, a female Earth Dragon, Zandalo, a hatchling Pharaoh Dragon, Sidam, an insane Moss Dragon, and Muton, a greedy Mountain Dragon hoping to take over the Sandara Desert. Their acts led to the destruction of the Sand Kings civilization.

## Surya Civilization (150-567 ASW)

The Surya Civilization was the last civilization knowing how to use magic until the Age of the Wizards. They coexisted with the Sand Kings civilization and traded with them. They lived on The Berrywhite Mountains and in the land now known as Verulos, where they built the Sun Stones of Surya. Why and how they disappeared stays a mystery to this day.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Mithars was the leader of the Surya civilization from 200 ASW to 320 ASW. He only became king at the age of 30, so it is unknown how he got so old, but many think it is because of his bond with a Gold Olympus Dragon, which allowed him to use Theomancy to become so old. If this is true then Theomancy was much more powerful then.
* Rocker Hedge is believed to be the architect of the Sun Stones.

## The Silent Age (circa 600-1000 ASW)

After the Sand Kings and Surya Civilization vanished, magic was unknown for several centuries. Humans existed only in scattered, nomadic tribes. During this time, other species of predators evolved to fit into the dragons' place, and the creation of the Voyager Malofish was documented by Dragonologists.

## The Arrival of the Barbarians (circa 1000 ASW)

Almost a thousand years later, the dragons' governments and laws had mostly collapsed and most dragons lived in tribes or clans in the wilderness. Many tribes of humans still lived here, the descendants of the Burcadians, but they knew nothing of magic.

Meanwhile, from the Barbar Islands across the great southern ocean, a race of Barbarians sailed to the region now known as the Great South. These people had never heard of dragons and only saw Cold Dragons but from far away and mistook them for the then still existing dire zolves. When they met the dragons, the leader of the Barbarians from then believed they were no harm, but his son Dragor murdered him, became king, and declared they were demons of some sort and made his folk hunt them down like animals. The dragons fought back, but this only provoked even more persecution. The violence grew so terrible that the newcomers soon sought to wipe the dragons out.

The dragons, in response to this, banded together and created a law stating that all humans had to be killed on sight, and any dragon who didn't kill a certain number of humans or who helped a human would be immediately put to death. The dragons learned how to make weapons and began to refine battle magic. But still the dragons were being driven farther and farther north, and were running into conflict with the indigenous tribes and with one another.

They also fell into conflict with the tribes, a group of peoples not united enough to wage war against the newcomers, so they chose to side with the dragons. The dragons, however, were prejudiced against all humans and refused to cooperate. An Obsidian Dragon named Conchoida gained a band of followers, mostly Fire Dragons, who called themselves the Fire Order, because they trained to use fire magic and liked to set things on fire to scare their enemies. Conchoida declared that all humans were alike and the tribes were just as evil as the barbarians. Her lunacy split both the tribes and the dragons apart. Some of the tribes sided with the dragons that were against Conchoida and her plan to destroy the humans, but some turned on the dragons and sided with the barbarians, offering to teach them how to fight dragons. Still others fled into the northern highlands, and eventually became the northern nations we know today. The dragons, meanwhile, were split apart as some decided to follow Conchoida, some decided to help the tribes drive out the barbarians and stop Conchoida, and some tried in vain to stay neutral.

Everybody was at war with everybody, and there was no peace in sight.

Everything changed when a young human, whose name is lost to time, became lost in the wilderness and was injured when he fell down a steep cliff. A Plant Dragon, whose name is also unknown, found him, but couldn't bring himself to kill the young human. So they became friends and soon were bonded magically, and the young human became the first plant wizard. Soon the pair shared their secret with their friends and a girl (whom the first Plant wizard would later marry, or so the story goes) became bonded with a Pepper Dragon, and her friend with a Plasma Dragon. They journeyed to The Far North to meet the Cold Dragons, and an ancient Mountain Dragon told them of the Burcadians. They realized that the human-dragon bond was as ancient as both their kinds, and the relationship of dragon and human was not one of predator and prey, but of brotherhood.

Tragically, the plant dragon was discovered with the three humans soon afterward, and his treachery was revealed. The humans escaped, but the plant dragon was captured and executed. But instead of strengthening the dragon's cause, the plant dragon became a martyr. The dragons soon realized not all humans were evil, and then, overthrowing the law they had instituted, they sought to form an alliance with the humans--the only way they could both survive. Conchoida, who had gone truly insane, was imprisoned, and the barbarian's evil king, Dragor the Ferocious, was dethroned and a new, better king, Valior the Great, put in his place.

The age of the wizards had begun.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* King Zagdor the Majestic was king of the barbarians at the time they fled. He believed peace with dragons was possible, but was murdered by his son, Dragor, who then became king and declared war against the dragons.
* King Dragor the Ferocious murdered his father to take the throne for himself. He sought to destroy the dragons, but failed.
* Conchoida was a charismatic obsidian dragon who led many dragons to commit terrible acts of violence to make them victorious over humans. She died in prison. At the time of her death, she was very likely insane.
* Valior the Great made peace with the dragons. He is known for giving up some of his power and becoming the leader of the Wizard Council. He was murdered by Torbin the Wicked's sympathizers.
* The First Wizard is the name given to the young human who bonded to a plant dragon.
* The First Bonded Plant Dragon is the name given to the Plant Dragon that bonded with The First Wizard.

### Dragon Discoveries and Re-Discoveries

* Plant Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Fire Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Earth Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Forest Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Poison Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Flower Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Moss Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Cold Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Lightning Dragon was first seen by the barbarians
* Water Dragon was first seen by the barbarians

## The Age of the Wizards (circa 1050-1400 ASW)

For some time, the wizards and the non-magic users had many disputes and skirmishes. After being at war for so long, it was hard for the dragons and humans to trust each other. Similar disagreements occurred among the dragons. The different dragon kinds did not want to cooperate with one another. Many of the tribes had been nearly destroyed by the war. Some assimilated with the barbarians, but others fought to hang onto their culture.

Soon, the wizards reorganized their government and instead of a monarchy ruled by a king, a ruling council and a set of laws governed. The recently instated King Valior the Great gladly adapted to this change. Schools were set up where young wizards could be trained, and the dragons made laws and governments of their own.

The fragile peace was shaken when the Valior the Great mysteriously died and Torbin the Magnificent, now known as Torbin the Wicked, became king. Torbin hated dragons, and still remembered all the violence they had caused. He tried to turn the people against the dragons. He nearly destroyed the plant dragons when he tried to burn the Krollsmarsh, but a young plant dragon called Thornbark united them together and led them across the continent to their current home in The Great Forest in an event now known as The Great Plant Migration.

Such rifts in the alliance persisted for many decades, and revolts and riots and massacres kept popping up, but for the most part, the wizards became predominant and formed a new, peaceful society in which both dragons and humans could live safely.

At this time, the wizards began exploring and mapping and gathering knowledge. Many dragons were discovered, and documented in a book Nogard referenced to make his Book of Dragons. Most of the famous wizards we hear about in Nogard's book come from this era.

Also, at this time, wizard schools were founded so that wizards could study magic. Many of these schools still exist to this day.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Franklin Dogood made many advances in the study of magic and discovered many dragons.
* Professor Dravin explored distant islands and documented their dragon species. He is credited with the discovery of the first known opposite dragon, the frostfire dragon, which obliterated many of our assumptions about how magic works. He is known for his book, the Origin of Dragons.
* Wilfred Wiggleswand
* Eduardo Kigamm
* Clarence Agondray
* Becker Ploop

### Dragon Discoveries and Re-Discoveries

* Pepper Dragon was first documented by Cheelei
* Plasma Dragon was first seen by Franklin Dogood
* Frostfire Dragon was discovered by Professor Dravin
* Tempest Dragon was discovered by

## The War of the Wizards (1400-2025 ASW)

The wizards' magic was growing more powerful, and as Nogard is often quoted as saying, with great power comes great responsibility. But sadly, some wizards couldn't take this responsibility, and started abusing magic. They wanted to destroy everyone else to become the rulers of the world. A civil war began, with the evil wizards on one side, and the rest of the wizards on the other. They started a war, but lost it, because all evil wizards didn't team up with each other while the non-evil wizards did.

The evil wizards were defeated, but wizard society was crumbled and broken. It wouldn't be restored to its former glory until almost a thousand years later.

### The Gemstone Migration

During The War of the Wizards, a witch known as Sera kidnapped the Diamond Dragons from The Shimmering Isles and stowed them away in a warehouse in The Far North. Back then, The Shimmering Isles was called The Shimmering Glades because it was still part of the mainland. To prevent the evil wizards' army from kidnapping more Gemstone dragons to increase his power, experienced wizards from the other side of the war used a large amount of Terramancy and Hydromancy to disconnect The Shimmering Glades from the rest of the land. As a side effect of the spells used, all the native Gemstone Dragons were moved to the land next to where The Shimmering Glades used to be. The Gemstone dragons then were brought to The Shimmering Isles with ships in what was called The Gemstone Migration. The Diamond Dragons eventually broke out of the warehouse, but they were not moved to The Shimmering Isles and to this day stay in The Far North.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* Torbin the Wicked was the evil wizard that practically started the war. He was responsible for the destruction of many wizard cities, schools and monuments, and was driven to the Great South after he lost the war.

## The Time of Desolation (2025-2200 ASW)

After the War of the Wizards, wizard society mostly collapsed into dozens of squabbling nations, and fewer and fewer people were being educated in magic. As knowledge of magic declined, people turned to technology to support themselves. Factories and cities were built. As the population grew, and as wars between nation boosted the economy of many nations, more dragon habitat was destroyed. Soon, many young people who would otherwise have been trained as wizards or witches spent all their days working in factories, without ever seeing a dragon in real life. Many species went extinct.

### Extinct Species

* Snowstorm Dragon, was already a very rare dragon but became extinct due to global warming. It was a hybrid of Cold and Air. It was an evolutionary offshoot of the Snow Dragon, and very similar in appearance, but it was not the snow dragon's ancestor; the two species coexisted.
* Plasma Dragon, became extinct due to destruction of their habitat. However, some eggs remained in small pools. These eggs hatch when a bolt of electricity goes through them, so when lightning striked those pools, the eggs hatched, making the species come to life again.
* Mercury Dragon, was the ancestor of the more known and more common Quicksilver Dragon. The Quicksilver Dragons adapted to live in other habitats after The Krollsmarsh was destroyed, but the Mercury Dragon wasn't able to live anywhere else. Also was a hybrid of Water and Metal.
* Sky Dragon, was one of the most common dragons, but all were killed by mass hunting for their beautiful scales. Was probably a hybrid of the element Air, but the other element is unknown.
* Grass Dragon, after the Plant Dragon the most common dragon in The Krollsmarsh, wasn't able to escape in time due to being flightless.
* Spruce Dragon, the ancestor of the Evergreen Dragon, became extinct of unknown causes. Also was a hybrid of Cold and Plant.

## The Vale is Created (2217 ASW)

The wizards soon realized that the only way to save dragonkind was to create a safe refuge where dragons, magic and knowledge could be preserved. They all worked together to create a new world, accesible from the other world by Magic Portals.

### Rediscovery of Dragon Knowledge (2207 ASW)

The wizards rediscovered and compiled all the documentation they could find on the world's dragon species. They worked to restore old manuscripts and protect them in libraries. During this, a couple of wizards found an old manuscript describing an island in the sky that floated by magic, without support of any other kind. The wizards became convinced that this was the solution they were looking for to create dragon parks, and what later would be known as DragonVale. Soon, a team of wizards was put to work trying to recreate the floating islands.

### Founding of the Grand City (2210 ASW)

After three whole years of trial and error, the wizards were able to create reliable, stable floating islands. It was at this time that they built a capital city to serve as a central hub for wizard society, called The Grand City.

### Creation of Parks (2217 ASW)

Seven years later, the Vale officially opened to park owners.

### Important Humans and Dragons

* The Great Nogard was elected leader of the Vale at its founding and leads the Vale to this day.

## The Return of the Lost Magics (2248 ASW)

It had been two years since the Wizards had created the Vale. It was a booming place, with new dragons, decor, and magic galore. But there was something missing. The world's magic was incomplete. Dragons and wizards alike knew they had to summon light and dark magic back into the world.

The magic of light and dark had been missed since they were lost. When the dark dragons held an uprising, the remaining Burcadians cast thousands of dragons' magic into the Corundum Crystal, activated it, and banished both elements from the world. Ever since, dragons and humans have been trying to bring them back. Their experiments were unsuccessful, until October of the year 2248 (in DragonVale time).

During this time, a few wizards were excavating for remains of light and dark in the Scar, but found no signs of life. They did, however, find something more important. Blue Amber. Called the "Tears of the Cataclysm", these large ambers were created in the explosion that formed the Scar. The amber once stood were trees were, and when the Scar was formed, it petrified the trees, and hardened the resin into amber. However, as light and dark magic disappeared, some traces were trapped in the amber, and they stand as fossils of two lost magics. They also discovered mysterious rift eggs, which were placed down by the Light and Dark Dragons, as a way to carry on their legacy.

The wizards brought it to Nogard and the High Council of Wizards, and they made up their minds to return the magics. They had terramancers of all kinds collect pieces of the amber, and constructed the Tines of the Scar. The used some of the light and dark in the amber to start up the portals to the Rift.

After a month of casting magic, the DragonVale community successfully summoned light magic back into the world, and with it, Light Dragons, such as Loboduke the Luminous, the first arrival, on November 5, 2248. But before anyone could celebrate, there was a big problem. Without it's opposite, Dark, Light couldn't exist for long in the world. The wizards were torn. They had heard stories of the Dark War, and were wary of bringing back Dark Dragons. However, Nogard explained that, "There needs to be balance in the world of the Vale. Dragons should not be judged be their actions in history, but of their promises for the future.", and many wizards agreed.

After more casting, Dagor the Dark made it through the Rift. He explained to Hartfell, the wizard he first met, that Dark Dragons and dark magic are not evil, just misunderstood. He promised that Dark Dragons would never attack an innocent dragon again, and would return to help make DragonVale an even better place. Hartfell told Nogard, and the two wizards, along with everyone in the Vale, welcomed the new types of dragons back into the world with open wings and hearts.

Under the rule of Loboduke, the Light Dragons sought territory in the Southern Sandara, with endless sun-bathed dunes and warm sunny days. Dark Dragons, under rule of Dagor, sought dark areas, such as the Drag Marshes, which bordered the Sandara, so Light and Dark Dragons could get to know each other better as they tried to start over. Nogard claimed it was time to celebrate, for the magics of Light and Dark had returned! The Tines of the Scar were dismantled and forged into the Rift Monument. Nogard thanked all park-owners for helping, and made it so Light Dragons, Dark Dragons, and their hybrids, could all be bred in the Vale. Finally, the Lost Magic, had returned at last.

## The Return of the Cataclysm (2273 ASW)

Exactly twenty-five years after the return of the Lost Magics, something terrible happened. The Rift, once thought to be completely separated from our world at last, suddenly returned. The evil Telemancer Chyrus thought that the world was stupid and decided to destroy and replace it with a new, better world, which he could rule. Along with his ally (or actually more slave than ally) Caron he tried to merge a Pearl Dragon and a Diamond Dragon, as he believed this would open a portal. After this failed, he decided to throw a Platinum Dragon in the mix, to no avail. He then opened The Rift and decided to build a new world there, but it was a terrible blunder to do this next to the Scar of the World. The Rift soon became something like a magic-sucking vacuum cleaner, draining all magic out of the scar and causing a second, more devastating Cataclysm. The Scar grew bigger and the Rift portal exploded, killing both Chyrus and Caron on impact. Wizards and witches everywhere knew what happened and rapidly made dozens of new islands, the Living Vale. In a few days, all humans (wizards and non-wizards) fled to the islands, rescuing as many dragons, plant species and non-dragon creatures as possible. Exactly two minutes after everybody boarded the islands and let them into the air, the whole world was struck by a massive earthquake and covered in a thick magical mist. Everybody thought all life that stayed on the planet ended, but actually the mist let the remaining dragons evolve into new species and elements.

## The Return to the Surface (3280 ASW)

A thousand years after the wizards ascended to the floating islands, the Scar of the World finally healed. The healing process had begun when the Lost Magics returned, and finally completed only now, erasing forever the terrible magic of the Cataclysm and healing the broken world. In response to this, the wizards deemed it safe to return to the surface.

To the wizards' shock, they found that new dragons and magics had evolved in an event called The Great Evolution. They were dubbed the New Elements. Many locations had drastically changed as well.

The wizards recolonized the Surface and soon learned the magics of the new dragons. Schools were opened; some of the old schools abandoned when the wizards retreated permanently into the skies were re-opened as well.