Of Dungeons & Dragons

The second story in a series of fairy tales written for the world of Soyl--although chronologically the first.

When The One made the world, He brought it into being without form and void. And out of the void He brought forth a great mist. The One then divided the waters. Amongst the waters above He set His throne. He then sent down His faithful servant to serve as lord of the waters below.

The One set His servant to the task of bringing forth from the waters a swarm of creatures. For many days The One’s servant crafted a menagerie of beasts. He toiled long and hard, but always in quiet joy and contentment.

The One’s servant then set to work on the greatest of his creations. Through many seasons, The One’s servant set to work crafting the forms of large slithery beasts. These great serpentine beasts slept in the watery abyss for their birth into the air.

Finally the time came and The One rained down fire from His heavenly abode. The fire called out the beasts from their slumber into the air where they met up with the fire and burned with life. They then flew out into the world toward the dry land of their calling.

Although The One’s servant knew this time was to come, he grew wrathful in his watery abode. The One’s servant reasoned in his heart that the time was too short. As he watched his creatures fly out toward the dry land, he longed to pull them back into the seas.

The great serpentine beasts quickly set to work when they reached the land. They were called to prepare the world for the coming of The One’s children. In that vain, they tore down mountains and built up hills. They burned down deep dense forests and spread seed elsewhere. Through all their great works, they softened the face of the land and made it abound with great beauty.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the waters, The One’s servant grew embittered and cold. Knowing all things, The One called out to His servant through the waters and asked, “What troubles you my faithful servant?”

“Nothing troubles me, Lord. My troubles have been taken from me,” The One’s servant replied with sharpness, his stabbing wrath kept just within his mouth.

“Fear not, my faithful servant. You will have plenty to do in times ahead. I will have greater and ever more joyous work for you,” The One explained with all tenderness.

The One’s servant rejected his Master’s love and replied, “My work was completed. I only desired to bask in the fruitage of my hands for a little while longer.”

The One then withdrew his voice, for there was nothing more to say. The One’s servant had grown possessive and it blinded him to the truth of the matter. While all his thoughts screamed “Mine!”, he had not come to realize his true place in the world. He was not master of the seas and all within, if not for The One. The beast forms which he cherished were nothing more than shells. Their true nature was that of fire and star light. That light was nothing, but not for The One. No light would penetrate his dark abode now, however.

The One’s servant then withdrew into the deepest darkest pit of his watery abyss and over times and seasons he schemed. Long had he trod along this dark path. From before the world was sung, he had pulled away from The One’s light. And in the depths of his abode, he reached the bottom of his own wickedness.

In the deep waters of the seas, The One’s servant crafted the most glorious and majestic of all the serpentine beasts. The One’s servant crafted this last of his creations with such glory, that the entirety of his own flame was imbued within the shimmer of its scales and the flash of its wings. The One’s servant then took that form for himself and walked out from his abyss onto the dry land.

When the great serpents caught sight of this new creature they were struck with awe. Never had they seen such power and such beauty in one of their fellow creatures. It was for this reason that they called this new one Leviathan, for in their tongue the word meant “Glorious”.

Leviathan, as The One’s servant now took to be called, flew out through the world and observed the many works of the great serpents from afar. Never did he share in their works, but he simply observed.

One day, a group of serpents finally approached Leviathan and asked him why he would not share with them in their works. Leviathan had long planned for this day, and so with much eloquence he quicky replied, “Why must we toil long and hard in the world as we do? When our work is done, will we enjoy the fruits of our labor? What special privlege do these new ones have, creatures of whom we may never even see ourselves?”

With his cunning response, Leviathan led many to question their calling. As they looked around at the paradise they were making, some grew prideful and possessive. Leviathan reasoned with them that the land was of their making, and they decided that they should enjoy what they felt was rightfully theirs.

As time went on, Leviathan’s numbers grew. At first they left off from their work and wandered about the land, doing with it as they pleased. Finally, when he had all that would follow him, Leviathan roused his followers to battle.

The time was fast approaching when they would be called to leave the land, and the only way they could stay is if their work was never done. Leviathan and his vast army worked against the loyal serpents. Where the loyal ones would build, Leviathan and his followers would tear down. Where the loyal ones would soften, Leviathan and his followers would harden.

After much hardship and battle, Leviathan’s forces were defeated. The defeated beasts were gathered together into the vast valley of Shellow to be judged. The One thus called out from the heavens and laid upon them a curse: “For the reason that you have forsaken the light of your true calling, you all shall come to despise the light of day. It will serve as something rotteness to your bones, and it will singe your flesh with the condemnation you have laid upon yourself.”

With that curse, the rebellious beasts howled in agony and immediately withdrew into the dark caverns of the world away from the light. There in the great bowels of the land, Leviathan gathered his rebels together. The loyal serpents above were then called into the light of the heavens, as was their destiny, while their fellow brethren were cursed to drag on in the depths of the world.

When Leviathan had rallied his defeated troops together he called out to them with much vigor and vim, saying, “Fear not, my brothers! We have what we desired! This is not a curse, but a blessing! For it is better to reign in the bowels below, than to serve in the heavens above!”

Further and further they descended into the bowels of the land. Along the way, they came across the dwarves, strange creatures whom they had never seen before. As they witnessed the vast mines of these small creatures, the beasts enslaved as many as they could to suit their own purposes. With fear and trembling these dwarves served their large overbearing masters.

In the great caverns of the world, the dwarves whom the beasts had enslaved built vast dungeons for their lords. The great beasts gathered around the great lakes of fire within the bowels of the world. The serpents’ sought warmth in their dungeons, for their flame within was nearly extinguished now, and their very soul was left cold. Many dwarves were able to escape with time, their strong will proving too powerful for even the largest of the great serpents. These escaped dwarves rejoined their kin in other mines throughout the world. The unfortunate dwarves that remained enslaved became twisted with time. Their appearance was corrupted and dark. Their very flesh charred and reddened with the fires of the serpents’ lair.

Leviathan finally left the beasts and ventured forth in the world. He had told them to await his return, while he went forth to endure the pain of the day light. With that, Leviathan returned to the seas and left his serpentine shell in the dark abyss for safe keeping. The One’s servant no more, Revelle, as he was now known in the heavens for his deeds, returned to the dry land as a creeping shadow. There the great rascal found The One’s children amongst the forest set aside for them.

After his foulest of deceptive deeds toward Fay and Man--Revelle the Rascal, Dark Lord of the Seas, Leviathan of the Dragging Serpents, was thus cursed to never take form in the world again as any of his most cherished creations, until the Time of the End. Ever awaiting their dark lord to arrive, the dragons (as they became known to Man) remained in their dark dungeons of flame, continually growing more twisted and cruel.

Author's Note

In case it isn't immediately obvious, this work is intended to be in the literary tradition of classic fairy tales like that of the Brothers Grimm or Hans Christian Andersen. I only make mention of that fact since I have received feedback on another forum where the reviewer seemed to critique it as though it were contemporary fiction. That's simply not what I'm trying to accomplish here. (However successful I've been in that regard I leave to you to determine.)