VIDAR.

art by nightrizer

THEY SAY THE SEER DRAGON IS A DESCENDANT OF THE CELESTIAL KING.

At least, that is what the ancient peoples of Malaza believed. In the early days of the Azran Civilization, before their advanced technologies and achievements, the people of this long lost nation were far more in tune with nature. They were prominent worshippers of the sea and sky, and built monuments in the names of their most popular gods. Among these was the Celestial King.According to ancient texts, there is a tale of the Celestial King and his five sons, the Sky Riders. When the brothers' constantly warred over each other's territory, the enraged Celestial King seperated the land into ten continents, and his sons each fell to the ground, each one residing on a separate continent.From all but one son, the Azran were born. Yet the eldest and wisest of the children sought forgiveness and apologized for his cruelty. He performed good deeds for the descendants of the Celestial King, and in time, his father rewarded him with the gift of flight. "You may never see your brothers again, for divided your hearts are too far apart," The Celestial King declared. "But, with the gift of flight and the power of ice, meld your kingdom in my name." And thus, the first Azran Dragon was born.It is widely believed in ancient Azran religion that a line of dragons began from the eldest son. They spread across the European mainland, living amongst the megafauna of the Pleistocene era. They struck both fear and wonderment into early man. But to the Azran, they sparked reverence.The Seer Dragon was a creature believed to be preordained as the connection between the Azran and all other things. Past and present, life and death, gods and mortals, civilzation and nature. The Seer Dragon was taught all the knowledge of the Azran people, and acted as a pivotal figure for passing down its legacy.The Seer Dragon appears in the earliest Azran texts surrounding the dragons. It is believed that the child of the Celestial King was the first Seer Dragon, and after his death, the Azran decided to carry a tradition in his name. Some even believe that the Seer Dragon is a reincarnation of the Sky Rider himself, reborn into the next cycle.The Azran established a shrine at the base of the mountains where Azran Dragons were often found, and would begin a great journey uphill to retrieve a single dragon egg. The travellers believed that if an egg on one of the highest peaks is found covered in dew, that that egg has been blessed by the gods of the sea and sky, and is destined to be the next Seer. As tradition states, there can only be one Seer Dragon at a time.The travellers would retrieve the egg and take it to the shrine, where it was incubated and eventually hatched. A selected group of people would be chosen to raise the young, based upon who it came to first on the day of its hatching. Rather than feeding its infantile instincts, the early Azran believed that to be "chosen" by a dragon hatchling meant that you were preordained to gain great wisdom.The seer dragon was raised and educated by its chosen, who passed down the tales of their ancestors. Not only that, but the Seer was taught to learn as much as possible about Azran history. Because of the long lifespan of the Azran Dragon, the knowledge it would be taught could be passed down to several generations of the Azran people, who would then continue to pass down legends and stories to their kin and future Seer Dragons.When a dragon came of age, usually in it's late adolescence or young adulthood, it would be brought to the established capital of the growing Azran civilization with the people who raised it. Some of the people who raised it would then undergo training to become a sage. The Seer itself would live in the city for the rest of its life, and would rarely venture outside of the capitol. Many would journey just to hear the Seer's great words of wisdom.Many generations of Seer Dragons came and went. Over time, the shrine that would serve as the birthplace of the Seer grew into a great city: Malaza. Though it's ruins have long since vanished, some archaeologists have found pieces of Azran manuscript, detailing the rituals that lead to the creation of the Seer Dragon.

The role of the Seer Dragon began to diminish over the course of the last few centuries before the end of the Azran Civilization. By then, the Azran had advanced and surpassed the technology of man, and their pride was soon turning into poisoning hubris. They felt that, with their technological prowess, they had the right to surpass even the gods themselves.Hence, the Seer Dragon slowly diminished from a revered religious figure to a figurehead of the Azran council, and a chronicler of sorts. Some would still arrive at a Seer's temple to hear its tales, and brought young students along in order to educate them, but other than that, the legendary Seer began to recieve little to no fanfare.Vidar was the last Seer of the Azran Civilization. And unlike the thousands before him, he would never get to feel the true greatness of his "preordained" role.

THE LAST OF THE SEERS, VIDAR.

Like those before him, Vidar was born in the ancient shrine of Malaza, hatched only two weeks after his egg was retrieved, which is considered "premature" of a Seer to be born. However, the newborn was welcomed with open arms by the keepers of the shrine, and many Azran gathered around to see who would be "chosen" as the ones responsible for raising the dragon hatchling.Among several whom the newborn Vidar came to, one of them was the future sage Ryacaron, who, at that time, was only a child. As one of the youngest disciples to be chosen in the history of the Azran, Ryacaron was held with high regard and considered to be "blessed" to have been picked at such a young age.Raising Vidar was not any different from raising the ones before him. Under the instruction of one of the shrine's keepers, Vidar's chosen raised the hatchling and educated him in basic Azran knowledge; language, etiquette, food, and culture. It was the older, more experienced keepers of the shrine who passed down the ancient knowledge of the Azran people and, eventually, taught Vidar how to fly.Vidar's childhood played out like a play recital; each step taken at least once before by the thousands of Seers before him, each move and decision made as anticipated by the keepers of the shrine. What they did not expect was how things played out when Vidar reached adulthood, and moved to the Azran Capitol.

Vidar had only been a young adult when the very first golem prototypes where constructed by the Azran at the capitol. In their arrogance, the people saw themselves above the gods and felt that they were no longer deserving of manual labor; and so they erected statues of themselves, and monuments, constructed solely by golem slaves.It was a time of great conflict for the Seer and his council. Many sages were torn between Azran progression and remaining faithful to their gods. Vidar, who was caught in the crossfire, was especially divided; unable to decide which side to take, he stood in the grey area, and failed to act as a figure to sway the conflicted crowd in a certain direction.His negligence, in his eyes, proved to be his greatest failure. Many began to side with Azran progress, and those who didn't were stripped of their title and power, and left in the dust. Ryacaron, who had graduated to a fully fledged sage at the time, was among these people. To this day, Vidar still feels guilty and responsible for his friend's mishaps.Years went by. The age of the Seer seemed to have drawn to an end. Before his very eyes, Vidar had begun to realize that the world was changing. The Azran had abandoned their roots and strove to challenge the gods. The climate was shifting and adapting, and many animals, including dragons like himself, were failing to adapt. One by one, the mammoth, the megalocerus, the woolly rhinoceros, and many other creatures began to disappear. With the staples of the dragons' diet going extinct, it wouldn't be long before they too would be wiped off the face of the earth. Unfortunately, a much more drastic change would seal their fate for good.

THE FALL OF A CIVILIZATION.

To the Azran's surprise, it was the golems, the slaves that they had created, that made the blow. Through Azran technology and advancements, they had begun to gain sentience, emotion, and understanding that rivalled that of today's humans. With these realizations, the golems no longer wanted to work for the Azran, and instead be declared as people of their own, to live among their creators.Ultimately, it was the Azran's hubris that led to the destruction of their civilization. The Azran denied equality for the golems, and the golems revolted, bringing about chaos to cities all across the Azran's territory. Malaza was among the first to fall.At this time, Vidar was still living at the Azran Capitol. His role had diminished completely, and he thought that he would live out the rest of his years quietly, with no other purpose. It would come to him as a surprise when the Azran council, now members of the progression themselves, came to him with a proposition.As the golems had slowly began to invade the civilzation from the outside in, the Azran, slowly growing humbled by their losses, decided to turn the last of their golem projects into a "failsafe" for the future. Through her, the Azran Legacy would still exist. They hoped, that the knowledge she'd bare of her creators could be used to warn any future races of what had happened to them, and keep them from following the same footsteps.However, the people feared that being educated by the Azran themselves would only put her at risk of becoming corrupt and siding with their own kin. And thus, the project "Azran Emissary Aurora" was placed under the wings of Vidar's to look after.For three years, Vidar looked after the future emissary, educating her about their people and passing on as much information as he could for her to later carry on. During that time, Vidar developed a unique bond with the golem, and started to care for her like one of his own kin. While Aurora did not exactly reciprocate the friendly affection due to the programming of her AI, Vidar still believes that she saw him like a father of sorts.In the meantime, the Azran struggled with fighting back the golem revolution. In a final attempt to beat them back and regain control of their empire with technical prowess, they constructed a mechanical beast with a powerful energy beam that it could fire. For a while, the mecha worked on their side, and therefore granted Vidar more time to educate Aurora, but in time the mecha too became corrupt and began to lay waste to cities.It seemed clear that the Azran had spelled out their doom. The golems were slowly encroaching on the outer walls. The Azran wouldn't survive--it was now a matter of taking down their enemies with them.Suddenly, Aurora was hastily taken out from under Vidar's supervision. Distraught as he was to see the girl be taken away, he was quickly taught the Azran leaders' plans. Aurora was a crucial part of the plot they had been planning.In the final weeks of the civilization, the Azran built a labyrinth out of the ruins of the city capital, using azran tablets and stones. These stones were designed to move every day, under the control of an azran crystal. There, the corrupted mecha beast that the Azran could be lured, since it lacked the power of flight like it's golem allies. It would be trapped in the Labyrinth, where it remains to this very day.As the final hours drew near, Vidar was given one final task; to freeze the Azran Sanctuary with his "icefire," a breath that could spread crawling ice across several objects. Of course, the beast was hesitant; as that the moment in time the Azran council and remaining leaders had rallied there to lure the golems to their doom, with Aurora in tow. How could he seal the fates of the people who raised him, and the one who he had raised for the past three years?The death of Ryacaron was what swayed him. The sage, now elderly, was fatally wounded by a golem blast, and was greeted by the wise dragon in his final moments. All in one blink of an eye, Vidar recalled the boy who he came to on the day of his birth, and witnessed as his life was swept away before him.With a heavy heart and a renewed spirit, Vidar took charge toward the sanctuary, flying as fast as he could. Sadly, he too was not exactly spared from the golems; Vidar would eventually suffer a blast to the wing in mid air, and it was broken on impact. By sheer luck, the dragon managed to pull himself to his feet, make one last leap toward the sanctuary, and, recalling all that had become during his life, froze it and the lured golems inside with his ice fire.Vidar then crashed just outside the Labyrinth. It was over, the golems had been frozen. The Azran had fallen, and Aurora had been sealed away to sleep until whatever fate awaited her finally came. A strange stillness overtook the beast as the crawling ice from his icefire began to stretch closer to him, and everything went black.

It would be one million years before the Azran Legacy was uncovered, by the descendants of early man. It wouldn't be until three months later, that a curious worker at the site at Froenborg, where the Sanctuary once rested, discovered more Azran Ruins hidden beneath the ice. He called excavators and archaeologists to investigate, and eventually, one particular man who was tied into the legacy himself became involved...