How the Conflict Began
In ages past, the dragon races coexisted in peace and the Realm knew no war. Dragons learned to master the elements, each being born with a gift-be it fire, earth, ice, or electricity. Some even controlled the power of time itself. The elders were treated as sages for their great wisdom and abilities, and the young learned the arts of the ancient ways from them. However, never in the history of the dragons had there ever been a serious need for such training, for warfare was then an unknown thing.
A millennium passed and in that year, the year of the dragon, something unheard of happened-a purple dragon was born. Never had there been such an occurrence. Dragons had always been born with the color of their gifted element-green for earth, red of fire, and so on. Purple, however, was completely alien to all. The dragon prophesists searched the ancient scrolls of old in vain for any mention of such an occurrence being foretold. Not being successful in this search, but certain that this dragon held a special significance, the elders of the race began to raise the purple dragon, which they eventually named Malefor.
Under the guiding eyes of his mentors, Malefor was trained with the greatest degree of education and shocked the most sage-like of his teachers when one day he breathed fire. Many were quick to assume that this purple dragon was actually a fire dragon with an unusual body color; however, the older, wiser dragons only shook their heads and waited, not believing that the rare creature could be a mere fire dragon. In time, Malefor would master not only fire, but also earth, ice, and electricity. The elders knew then, without a shadow of a doubt, that their pupil held much promise and had some great purpose to fulfill. However, their thoughts soon changed.
Malefor grew older, stronger, and more powerful, and soon he was mastering elements that many had never even thought possible. Wind, darkness, poison-they all became his, and more besides. On more than one occasion, the elders met out of concern over the purple dragon's newly discovered powers and warned Malefor to cease from using some of them, for they were dangerous, and Malefor, now a fully-grown young adult, used them recklessly as if he had suddenly grown a thirst for power. However, any effort to stop him was in vain. Soon, the mighty purple dragon became his own master-harkening not to authority, and demanding leadership over the dragon race as though he felt himself to be superior over the others.
The elders knew that Malefor's power was limitless and that he was beyond their authority. They were left with no choice but to cast him from the Dragon Realm as an exile.
Livid with anger, Malefor winged off to the barren lands and set himself up as ruler, not over dragons, but over apes-the wild barbarians who had so often caused trouble in the Dragon Realm. There, among the mountains, he gathered the creatures to him, until he had grown an army of shocking proportions. So great was the power and hatred of Malefor, that an earthquake shook the face of the land-one so great that no other like it had occurred before or since that time. This phenomenon caused a great crack to form in the earth, and from this crack emerged a mountain-a mountain that the purple dragon vainly named after himself, Mt. Malefor. It was in this mountain that the apes would make their fortress, mining Spirit Gems (the life source of the dragons) for their power, and using the fuel for whatever their master bid.
The elders of the Dragon Realm knew that war was coming and that it was unavoidable. Wisely, but with much regret, they sent their forces to the mountain of Malefor, and there the first great war in the dragon history was waged.
Many were lost on both sides, but in the end the dragons managed the victory. A meeting between the elders and prophesists was held, and at last a decision concerning Malefor's fate was finalized. He was to be exiled again, but this time far more severely. He was to be sent to Convexity-a prison that could be reached only through a portal and was neither a world, nor a netherworld, but was considered by all to a be a terrible place of desertion from which there was no escape.
Shortly after his imprisonment within Convexity, the eldest of the prophesists, Baughulous the Sage, began to prophesy in an ancient tongue that few could understand. His words have nearly been swept away with the golden dust of time, but some still remain who can speak them as they were spoken long ago:
"Malefor he was called, Malefor-bane of the wicked. Ah, but we were so blind to the truth of his dark heart, to his thirst for power...No more shall he be called Malefor, but the Dark Master, for it is a name more suiting to one of such low means. Ah, Malefor, would that thou hadst recanted of thy malice. Thy destruction do I foresee. Thou wert the first of thy kind-the first in the line of the purple dragons, but there will be others...one every ten generations...and the thousandth, Malefor, the thousandth will bring thy destruction. Beware of him, Dark Master, for thou shalt seek to have him destroyed. Yes, even before his birth, but thy efforts shall be in vain. In the year of the dragon wast thou born, and in that same year shall he be born. So is thy fate...It has been written...It can not be changed!"
Millenniums passed, families died out, and purple dragons were born every ten generations, but none of them were the prophesied one destined to restore balance to the Realms. The elders studied the scrolls, searched the stars, and waited...waited for the special dragon to come.
The Dark Master was an ever-present threat. Though bound within Convexity, he too had heard the words spoken by the dragon prophesists of the past and he also waited, slowly counting the generations, and waiting for his moment to strike. The apes were out of his reach, but only just. They still followed his every word under the command of their Ape King, Gaul, who took orders directly from Malefor.
There was one way to escape the netherworld of Convexity, a way that the elders of old had overlooked. If another dragon, born in the Year of the Dragon, was to unite the four powers of the elders within Convexity, Malefor would be freed and one step closer to being released into the world.
So was the mindset of the Dark Master when at last the day came. In the Year of the Dragon, the prophesied dragon, still a mere egg, lay resting in the Dragon Temple along with many others who were hoped to hatch and bring forth the next generation of dragons. The four dragon guardians stood watch over them, each knowing the importance of the small life within the purple egg they kept vigil over. Each guardian, a fully grown male, stood ready and confident to defend the egg with his very life if need be. They had prepared. They thought they were ready for the storm.
Oh, how they were wrong.