Lore Dissection: The Calamity at Emerald Valley

 The Calamity at Emerald Valley is an event that occurred in my D&D campaign setting. This event takes place over 1000 years before when the campaign will be set, and is intended to be discovered and learned about throughout the campaign, primarily through environment and set pieces, and later through dialogue from key characters. The overall role of this event in the setting is both as a sort of creation myth, to explain why the world is the way it is, and as a way to change player's views on some of the characters in the story.

The event, henceforth referred to as the Calamity, takes place in the context of a years-long intercontinental territorial war between two larger-than-life mythical races: Giants and Dragons. During this period, both groups boasted impressive, continent-spanning empires, both in a constant state of expansion, though for different reasons.

For giants, expansion was proof of might and strength, qualities inherited from their creator god, Tor. Giant culture viewed ownership as a right earned through strength, and thus viewed lesser races as unfit and undeserving to rule the land they lived on. Typically, giants reserved their rule for the hills, mountains, and northern forests, viewing the lands further south as undesirable and not worth ruling. However, this changed with the advent of a new rival approaching from the far south, drawing the giants out of their preferred terrain to clash with their new challengers.

On the other hand, Dragons viewed their expansion as a divine right, bestowed upon them by their patron god. Dragon society is structured as a racial hierarchy, With the 7 Divinely appointed Gem Dragons sitting at the very top, true dragons (at this point essentially immortal) sitting just below, and letter draconic beings such as kobolds sitting at the very bottom. The empire's expansion was born out of ideology, specifically that of the Emerald Dragon, who had come to view mortals as inherently unwise, weak and unfit to rule themselves. However, her fervent expansion, and the race's overall backing of this, lead to the dragon god abandoning the race, as they had deviated from his divine order. Throughout the war, Sapphire, Topaz, Amethyst, Diamond and Ruby would all go on to abandon the cause, viewing her atrocities unjustifiable, doubly so in the wake of the enchaining of Obsidian.

The setup for the Calamity begins at a pivotal point in the war, right after the construction of the Emerald Citadel, situated at the center of the newly renamed Emerald Valley. At this point, dragon forces have been decimating the southern plains, and have almost pushed giant forces back to the northern forests. It is at this point that the Giant King, frustrated by recent losses, is approached by a mysterious sage with cherry blossom eyes, who speaks of a weapon that could bring an end to the Dragon empire. However, the weapon wound need to be constructed inside the tallest mountain in the continent: The King's Throne room. Though reluctant, the king agreed, under the condition that he oversee the construction and never be made to leave his throne room. 

However, unknown to the Giant King, this mysterious sage had her own agenda, For she was no mortal, but the immortal Magnolia, daughter of Alicia, and ex-associate of the Emerald Empress, and though her intention was to end the war, her plan's scope went far beyond the dragon empire. 

The construction of the weapon took place over a few months, Magnolia's blood and magic making quicker work of the project than should have been possible. Once finished, the weapon, dubbed Mobile Fortress Vulkan, was a thing of equal parts awe and terror. It's legs were the size of mountains, even it's secondary arms could blow holes clean through dragons, and at it's core, in the throne room, sat the engine. Grown from Magnolia's own body, this colossus of flesh and blood was the literal beating heart of the operation, powering the fortress's movements and weapons, and acting as the catalyst for it's primary weapon.

At the dawn of the day of battle, the machine stirred to life. It's legs tore it from it's base, as it's heart began to start, beating hard and fast enough to feel like an earthquake, before coming to an abrupt end with an ear-shattering crack, as the mobile fortress teleported directly to the heart of the Emerald Citadel, Their destination made clear by the Tele-fragged debris left behind.

It was in the events that followed that Magnolia's true intentions became clear. As commotion erupted in the invaded citadel, dragons dropping dead left and right, the Emerald Dragon, enraged by this bold display of force coming from one she once considered a friend, charged blindly into the fortress, blasting her breath directly down it's center, unknowingly sealing her fate as the weapon fired, discharging all of it's energy directly into the Empress's  head, dispersing enough heat to melt the weapon inside out, and shattering the ground for tens of miles around, creating vast ravines and sheer cliffs around the area of impact. 

At this point, it must be explained how exactly the weapon was intended to work. Simply put, the weapon would use magnolia, and her flesh and blood, as a catalyst for vast amounts of energy. this energy would then be focused into the Emerald Dragon, using the strength of her connection to the dragon as a channel through which to harm or kill all dragons by forcefully severing their connection from their god. Similarly, the presence of the Giant king at the heart of the weapon was also planned, as the Giant king's soul was itself the catalyst through which all giants are collectively connected to their god. The heart chamber was constructed not just as an engine, but as a prison, designed to incinerate the Giant King and imprison his soul in the heart, Thus preventing the divine spark from moving to another vessel, and causing all giants to revert to the stone from which they were carved.

The aftermath of the Calamity is an event not known about by many, remembered only by a mysterious sage, with eyes bleached a vibrant orange. The weapon was rendered mostly inoperable after firing, however it's heart still beats, pumping out molten rock infused with immortal blood. The seared carcass of the Emerald Dragon fell down into one of the ravines, half engulfed in magma, it's gem core Shattered into shards. The jungle itself was left in ruins, later to be revived by the gods, in the form of a magical meteor that breathed life back into the biome, causing the shards of the Emerald Dragon to form into the Altarian Jade Dragons, their minds eternally confused by muddled shards of memories they don't understand. Finally, the sage herself gradually faded into oblivion, along with the story of the Calamity she caused.