There are many legends which predate the formation of the Empire, and very few material artifacts. While the scholastic orthodoxy often dismisses such legends for their lack of clarity and the caginess of the spirits involved, the Dust of Ages Sect contends that through study and comparison of the regional tales it is possible to discern historical events which occurred before, during, and in the aftermath of the age of Dragons.
Scholastic orthodoxy coupled to historians dismissing history for a lack of clarity...suggests to me that 'orthodoxy' basically means referencing written histories exclusively. Whereas Dust of Ages implies they favor more...hands on archeology.
When the world was new and the people had not learned to mark the movements of the sky, the world was without law. Seasons came and went without order, winter following spring and summer following fall, without rhyme or reason. It was difficult to live in such a way, but the people persevered.
Calender was invented by the Weilu IIRC?
But the world did not belong to their children alone. Many parts of the enemy had stained creation, blood and bile, bone and flesh. From these arose the woes of the people; sickness and death and impurity. From these arose Beasts.
Yet Beasts were not as the stars, not things from Outside, who sought only destruction. Beasts were of the earth and the sky, the moon and the sun. They were the unwanted children, born from death. They coveted the gifts that had been given to the people, and schemed to rule that which was theirs.
Not sure how much of this is propaganda.
It does sort of justify spirit core toxicity at a superficial examination...but given the creation myth humans would be made of much the same stuff, except deliberately rather than a blender set to Chunky.
From the Beasts[1] arose Kings and then Gods, and the people did suffer. They were not mighty, having never been made for war. So Beasts came upon the people and came to rule them, unassailable in might. They chained the gifts of father and Mother, and hid them away in their vaults. They came for the people, reeling in their barren homes. Many were devoured, many were hunted, and many more came to serve. For the mightiest and wisest of beasts knew that should the Eldest despair for their siblings, they would turn their faces from the world, and there would be only the laughter of thirsting stars.[2]
- This is the most common divergence point in regional legends. Tales from the northern portions of the stories reach will tend to speak of dragons rather than beasts. It is possible then that the event's this story represents occurred during the transitory period between the pre-draconic and draconic eras. It is just as likely however that it is simply a distortion wrought by loss of cultural memory.
- It is interesting the degree of agency accorded to great spirits in the oldest of tales, indicating that their role may have once been a more active one.
Given the "Beast Kings" of the Emerald Seas, Yao's origins and Granny Snake being half dragon herself, I think that sounds like a hell lot more like every region had their own local super spirit beasts, where the dragons got syncretized with whichever local creatures dominated, as Celestial Peaks(where the dragons dominated) was the center of Imperial culture and their stories were pushed into local variations when Peaks based humans conquered.
Uncounted ages passed in misery and bondage for the people, and the Beast Kings grew fat from the world's bounty. They warred and feuded and quarrelled, but never so much that their power wavered. In the comfort of their might, the Gods grew slothful, loath to rise from their thrones. The mighty artifice of mind and spirit which had carved their domains turned to idle things, and soon in the halls of the gods there was only decadence.
And this part is definitely dragons, as Formations were their work.
The Bag of Winds, which the first of the Gods, long dead by now had crafted to entrap Father's breath, and bring all the world outside of their lands into stagnancy.
De-mythologizing it, as beings of the sky, a weather controlling formation, a prison for wild Wind Spirits(which in large quantities certainly could give dragons trouble)\, or both?
Or maybe they just used it to suck up wind spirits annoying them into a big wind spirit container until all the Wind Spirits fused together.
Inside the girl found treasures beyond counting, but she had eyes for only the Bag of Winds, bulging with the captive power of Father. With her prize before her at last, the girl drew forth a knife, and carved the the bag asunder.
She laughed as the winds tore loose, tearing the vault asunder and bursting the door, such that the mighty vault boomed open and shattered, scattering the treasures back into the earth. The winds howled, tearing through the halls of the gods, even as they cradled the girl like the hands of a Father.
For some reason this bit reminded me of when Ling Qi used her knife on disarming Renshu's formation security.
Only then did the wine sodden and fattened gods see their folly. They roared and raged, struggling to rise from their thrones. The girl laughed even louder to see their comical struggle. How foolish the Gods seemed and how petty, heaving and flopping about!
But the girl's mocking laughter did what the theft did not, it struck the Gods pride, a sin which the mighty never forgive. The halls of the gods were torn asunder by their rage, some semblance of their past glory girding their limbs as they roared into the sky after her, doggedly chasing her heels.[5]
The use of laughter and mockery to stir the gods to wrath is also common to all known versions of the story. Proponents of dragon theory believe this a mark in their favor. It is well known after all, the pathological response mocking laughter from a perceived inferior induces in Dragons of all kinds.
Sounds like racial trauma lol
But the wind was not without mind any longer, and the girl was no longer bound by her weakness of body. She rode the wind and she became it, laughing at every attempt to contain her. The girl's laughter rang out one last time as she flew high into the sky, as if to soar to the sun itself.
There, burning with the light of the sun, the winds became four, and the gods were cast down to break upon the earth. The girl was no more and there was only the winds, North, South, East, and West.
In the night, when the wind whispers through the trees, it is her voice that you hear.
And this bit sounded like the Wind Thief absorbed an energy field far too large for her and she had to crash ascend or die.
Or maybe she faked exploding.
