Lore: The Legend of Nazderon

For you Lore-buffs and for those who weren't around for the Nazderon events in summer 2004, here is the Legend of Nazderon for you.

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Legend of Nazderon

Before the emergence of Ashlander Vandus, when half the world was still under the thrall of Dragonkind, a cruel mage named Nazderon rose to power.

Nazderon’s Reign

The means of his ascension vary depending on who tells the story, but the most common tale relates that the young Nazderon was taken under the wing of a well-meaning Dragon seeking to guide Humans to enlightenment, who gave him his name. The boy had led a hard life in the desert with his nomadic tribe and seized the opportunity when it came. Though the Dragons had not yet suffered the Great Schism, already there was some disagreement on how to deal with the Human problem, and Nazderon was to be a grand experiment.

The Dragon Mellohndar tutored him in the ways of what he considered higher learning. Nazderon became obsessed with his magic lessons, and devoured every crumb of magical theory and practice that came his way. Unfortunately, as time passed, his days were spent less and less with the magic he craved and more and more listening to tired diatribes on Draconic politics and their views on the Human race. He began experimenting with the power opened to him and prepared for the day when his teacher ceased being useful.

It took many years. Nazderon was a grown man before he finally sickened of Mellohndar’s patronizing speeches. Using the components he’d carefully hidden around the lair, he cast a complex spell that would slowly drain the life and soul of his Draconic mentor and feed it into his own body. He listened dutifully in the following weeks as Mellohndar spoke of the world and its workings, until at last the Dragon became too weak to stand. Nazderon then took up one of many swords from the hoard and drove it into his teacher’s eye.

When at last he returned to the desert, Nazderon refused to return to his previous nomadic lifestyle. Over the years, he had grown used to living as the Dragons do, returning to the same lair night after night. He sought out the desert tribesmen and, using his hard-won powers, forced them to build a grand city from which he could begin to reign properly. Living with the Dragons had given him a great deal of contempt for his own people; they were there to be ruled.

Nazderon was fascinated with the concept of souls and life force. The transference of such power was what had freed him from his insufferable tutelage, and if it could bring down a mighty Dragon, what more could be done? From the nomadic tribes brought under his baleful gaze he selected several strong hunters. These he bonded to the Draconic soul enslaved within his own body. Through this link, he could cause them incredible pain, or make them stronger than any Human living save himself. These hunters he named the Magadi and declared them his personal guard.

Once the Magadi had been created, his influence spread across the desert quickly. His kingdom, Mellohndar, named after his departed Draconic mentor, swallowed tribe after tribe. Villages settled around the city in an ever-expanding ring, and Nazderon ruled over them all without mercy.

Nazderon’s Bride

Seventy years later, Nazderon and his Magadi still appeared in their youthful prime, and the kingdom toiled under the mage-king’s reign. Nazderon’s research into the forces of life and death took up much of his time. The priests of Nyrevin, goddess of death, had been attracted to his workings and found Nazderon to be a surprisingly tolerant patron of their normally shunned religion. They aided the mage-king in his experiments with knowledge of a new and different kind, and he in turn graciously allowed their rituals to be performed publicly in his realm.

The High Priest of Nyrevin, Kiruu, became Nazderon’s right-hand man. It was he that first noticed his king’s restlessness and suggested he might find interest in pursuing a bride. Not long after, an edict appeared in all corners of the kingdom of Nazderon: the mage-king planned a tour of his lands, and upon his arrival all women between the ages of 16 and 36 were to present themselves for the king’s approval.

Nazderon swept through town after town, village after village, and became more and more foul-tempered with each settlement they passed. Kiruu began to fear for his life and was finalizing his escape plan when they came to the small, outlying village of Kaiyar. There, Nazderon laid eyes on the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He stepped down from his litter and demanded she return with him to the capitol city of Mellohndar.

Brienaire, the woman in question, was not at all impressed with this spindly, unpleasant man demanding things of her. She had a good life in Kaiyar, surrounded by friends and family, and had no desire to leave it. With a cold, polite tone, she declined Nazderon’s offer, and the townsfolk backed her up with murmurs of approval.

The mage-king was taken aback. It had been many years since anyone had dared defy his wishes, and for the first time, ordering their demise would not solve the problem. Instead, he called upon the townsfolk, promising boons to them if they would allow her to leave; it would be a simple matter to overpower the girl, after all, but an entire town could cause problems.

The citizens of Kaiyar did not have much contact with those in the heart of the kingdom; while they were technically under Nazderon’s rule and knew of him as the heartless and depraved man of rumor, they did not feel any loyalty towards him. And so the king was declined again.

This sent Nazderon into a white-hot rage. He struck the woman down for her impudence and swore he would have Brienaire for his own. As he left the town, he shouted orders for the Magadi to lay siege to the town and slay anyone leaving unless it was to give up his bride-to-be. With that, the king dragged Kiruu back to the capitol and began working on a darker means to acquire his latest obsession.

Legend is unsure on what, precisely, Nazderon called to for aid during the Siege of Kaiyar, but descendants of the Nyrevin Priests maintain it was a being from the Realm of Shadow, a demonic creature of strange and fell powers. What is known is that Nazderon formed a pact with this beast; the creature bound Brienaire’s own life force to a jade statue about a foot high and imbued it with powers understood only by the mage-king and high priest.

The king came again to Kaiyar after a year’s worth of preparation, and again demanded Brienaire be brought forth. The people had dwindled under the siege; they were fewer, and starving... but still they would not allow their precious jewel to marry someone so foul.

He raised the statue of the woman overhead and chanted a long, complicated curse, changing the flesh of Kaiyar’s citizens to stone where they stood. He then had servants bring forth a specially prepared stone pyramid, which was placed in the center of the town. He seated the statue in the deep recess on top. In a chill tone, he proclaimed that the curse on Kaiyar could only be lifted by unlocking the secrets of the statue, and in order to do so, the statue must be removed from its pedestal. The pedestal was charmed, however; no one who desired to remove the statue could do so. And with that, the bitter king returned to his city and brooded.

Preparations for the Future

Despite Brienaire’s stony state, Nazderon (by now quite insane) was still determined to have her. He spent the days and nights locked in his study, weaving spells in preparation for what was to come. So obsessed was he that he ordered the temporary deaths of the Magadi, the most devoted priests of Nyrevin, Kiruu and himself, that they be mummified and stored deep within the catacombs of the city for the time when the curse was broken and Brienaire would awaken. He had bound himself to the statue, which was in turn bound to Brienaire – when she returned to her flesh and blood state, the powers he commanded would return Nazderon and his faithful followers from their deathly state and the king would have his bride. Kiruu was vehemently opposed to this idea, but the Magadi were stronger than he...

They were entombed deep within the city, and without Nazderon to rule, the civilization gradually crumbled. The Dragons struck Mellohndar’s name from history, for his experiment was a colossal failure... and with the rise of Ashlander Vandus, such mistakes as Nazderon’s reign were omitted from the history books. But legend lives on.