Excerpt from “Casting the Dragon’s Bane - A Decade’s Retrospective” by Emerson terWinter, published in The Krenburra Tribune.
“In the year 752 CR, Glorien’s nightmare ended. The matchless mages of the Imperial College marshaled their magical might to defeat the foe that had ravaged the land from Navisur to Krenburra itself. The arcane arts of the supereminent sorcerers brought the feared dragons to heel. Forevermore, they would serve the mighty Krondak Empire.”
Of course, it was not that simple. The Dragon’s Bane was the most powerful - and complex - spell ever cast. It is true that the Imperial College led its development. Members of the Academy from Freyk’s Wall and witches from Myrddney in Gwenddon made key contributions. The energies harnessed in the casting of the spell immolated as many of them as it did Krondakites.
Nor was the spell completely successful. True, it did bring the Harrying of the Dragons to an end. The drakes and dragons that had been terrorizing Glorien for seven years were brought under the control of enchanted gems. And the gems remained enchanted. The spell was burned into their very structure.
These were the weaker dragons, however. The spell did not capture the Great Wyrms and, some say, the more powerful lesser dragons. These disappeared and have not been seen since. Perhaps the spell destroyed what it could not tame. Perhaps these dragons are hiding, waiting for their chance to wreak revenge on Krondak and the rest of Glorien.
Krondak put the dragons that were beguiled to immediate use. The Imperial Army created an entirely new division of drake-riding dragoons. The White Claw Line ushered in a new era of fast, long-distance travel with their fleet of dragon-pulled airships. The largest of the dragons served in the Emperor's Honor Guard.
The Krondakites did not manage to keep a complete monopoly on servile dragons. A few were provided to the Academy for study in recognition of the sacrifices the Loksentans had made. A handful of the dragon gems disappeared when the remaining witches left for Gwenddon.
Years passed. The Dragon’s Bane showed no signs of faltering. The dragons showed no signs of being able to defy their masters. Then, almost twenty years after the casting of the spell, the dragons….vanished. All of them. At the same time. The stables of the Drake Division in Krenburra were empty. Hundreds perished when the steeds pulling the airship Iron Emperor faded away. The Imperial Palace was prepared for an attack when the great red patrolling above the Emporer’s residence was replaced by empty sky.
Every single dragon, drake and true dragon alike, had disappeared. Not a single one has been seen since. The mages of the Academy have no explanation. Those of the Imperial College probably do not either, but they would never admit that. They do say that the dragon gems are still as enchanted as they were right after the Dragon’s Bane was cast. The spell had not failed.
Some note that the Great Wyrms had also disappeared. Perhaps they had found a way to defy the Dragon’s Bane. Perhaps the lesser dragons had duplicated this feat. Others counter that, if they had, they would have resumed their campaign to conquer all of Glorien.
Whatever happened, Glorien has not gone back to the days before the first dragon flight was sighted in the skies over Capivan. Capivan itself is rudderless, its ruling class having been gutted. Seamount and Teprison have declared themselves independent of Navisur. Frandylshyn is still hidden by a mystic mist. The dwarves of Peroka have not yet emerged from their underground caverns. Perhaps they cannot. Auriland has recovered the most, but the impoverishment or the disappearance of their trading partners has dealt a blow to their economy. The dragons may be gone. Their effects are not.
Den of the Red Wolf 