The Inside Story: “The Dragon-Blood Clan”

The “Inside story” is series of narratives describing the back story of the comic.  This week’s installment is all about the origins of the Dragon-Blood Clan.

It is said that those who rule the dragons, rule the world.  But to dominate the will of the indomitable is beyond the scope of mortal man.

In the First Days of the world the dragons were released from their hidden dwellings.  They brought great ruin upon early civilization, bringing an end to those halcyon times.  Death and destruction–on a scale never yet seen–drove the living to the brink of extinction.  It was only until the marshaled forces of good defeated the flying serpents that a semblance of peace could be restored.

On the day that Golgorath–the last dragon–was slain, its lair and breeding ground was sealed with a curse.  Any who dared to open the door and once again unleash the blight upon the earth would share in its destruction.  The surviving warriors swore an oath, to hide away its location and to prevent its door from ever opening.  The secret to returning the dragons to the world laid in their blood; only through their bloodshed would it be revealed.

Thus the Dragon-Blood Clan was formed.  The secret of the dragons was passed to each living member and when they toke their oath they received within themselves the means of protecting it.

In the ages to come, the Tale of the Dragons was passed from the old to the young, much like any other forgotten story.  And like those stories, few believed in the terror of those monsters.  The dragon became an oft-forgotten symbol of the past, used to adorn tavern signs and the crest of dusty shields.

The Dragon-Blood Clan was regarded to be like any other social club.  It’s members would meet often in the local pub, drinking and singing.  It was, in fact, for most people, a flimsy excuse to relax and unwind after a day’s labor.  Only the oldest members remembered its beginnings, and the significance of its symbolic initiation.