The world is changed.

I feel it in the water. I feel it in the earth. I smell it in the air.

There were Dragons when I was young, but few now live who remember it, for the Dragons are disappearing so quickly they may soon become extinct.

They are returning back to the sea from whence they came, leaving not a bone, not a fang in the earth, for the men of the future to remember them by. Much that once was is lost, for none now live who remember it.

It began with the forging of the King's Relics. Three were given to the Elves, immortal, wisest, fairest of all beings; four to the Dwarf Lords, great miners and craftsmen of the mountain halls; and five… five Relics were gifted to the race of Men who, above all else, desire power.

For within these Relics were bound the strength and will to govern each race: a shield by which to defend; a compass by which to navigate; a sword by which to fight.

But they were all of them deceived.

For another Relic was made. A Jewel.

In the land of Mordor, in the fires of the Volcano of Tomorrow on the Eve of Doomsday, the Dark Lord Grimbeard forged in secret a Dragon Jewel to control all others. Into this gem he poured his cruelty, his malice, and his will to dominate all life.

The Dragon Jewel was something which all races feared, a Jewel in the form of a piece of amber that had the power to destroy races utterly and forever. Grimbeard by producing the Jewel could forestay entire armies. He used it to force a peaceful pact with the Dragons, and placed upon himself a Mark on the side of his forehead. It was a Mark in the shape of a dragon made out of his blood and the blood of the King of the Dragons.

But from the beginning, Grimbeard planned to betray all races, beginning with the Dragons. The Mark that had been the symbol of brotherhood between Grimbeard and Dragon became a symbol of enslavement.

One by one the free lands of Middle Earth fell to the power of Grimbeard.

One King to rule them all,
One King to find them,
One King to bring them all
And in the darkness bind them.

But there were some… who resisted. A last alliance of Men, Elves, and Dragons marched against the armies of Mordor, led by Grimbeard's own son, Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second. At the foot of the Volcano of Tomorrow they fought for the freedom of Middle Earth.

Victory was near…

…but the power of the King could not be undone.

It was in this moment that Grimbeard stepped forth. Beside himself with anger that his son had betrayed him, the Dark Lord Grimbeard took out his sword the Stormblade… and ran Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second through on the spot.

As Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Second lay dying, the mighty dragon Furious swooped down, intending to kill Grimbeard in revenge. The Dark Lord Grimbeard, the enemy of the free peoples of Middle Earth, was defeated. The Dragon Jewel passed to Grimbeard's second son, Chucklehead, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever.

But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Dragon Jewel has a will of its own. It betrayed Chucklehead to his death.

And some things that should not have been forgotten… were lost.

History became legend.

Legend became myth.

And for two and a half thousand years the Dragon Jewel passed out of all knowledge.

Until, when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer. The Dragon Jewel came to the creature Dagur, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. There, it consumed him. The Jewel brought Dagur unnatural long life, so for five hundred years, it poisoned his mind. And in the gloom of Dagur's cave… it waited.

Darkness crept back into the forests of the world. Rumor grew of a Shadow in the East, whispers of a nameless fear. And the Dragon Jewel perceived its time had now come. It abandoned Dagur.

But something happened then the Dragon Jewel did not intend.

It was picked up by the most unlikely creature imaginable: a Hobbit.

This is the story of becoming a Hero the Hard Way. For the time will soon come when Hobbits will shape the fortunes of all.