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The Age of Giants: Little is known about these primordial centuries. According to the Ammouric priests of Vesulum, the Allfather, wearied after having laboured to create the world and its giants, fell asleep and dreamed wild things. Chaos arose in the dream and was seen as a vortex. One phantasm appeared from the vortex, a great winged beast, a dragon, both terrible and wonderous, glistening yet covered in darkness.

The beast rose up to defy the Allfather, like a child gone mad. Then a female being appeared who sang a song which terrified the beast. Seeing how unsavory was this beast, the Allfather cast the beast from the mountain of Heavan. When the Allfather awoke, so real had been his dream, so worthy of retelling, that he allowed the beast to remain.

The Allfather had slept long. The giants had taken the opportunity to cause havoc on the earth. They tore up the plains and made mountains and valleys, they dug huge caverns, they changed the course of rivers and created salty seas and volcanoes. Also, his sleep had lasted so long that many things were overgrown or been left unchecked.

The Allfather was displeased with the giants' bad behavior. He had created the giants to govern the various relms of the natural world, some giants governed the fire of the earth, others ruled the ice and frost. Some giants dwelt in the earthy hills and others in the clouds. These creatures were originally spirits, but after the passage of centuries they inhabited huge bodies.

The giants, hearing that they had to behave again, set up huge monoliths and dolmens for unknown purposes and tried to assail the sacred Mt Arguzinial, home of the Allfather, in order to seize his cosmic throne for themselves. The Allfather repulsed them and warned them to cease, allowing them to sign a treaty.

Then the beast, monstrous scion of primordial Chaos, the hideous dragon Vorthragna, again sought to conspire against the Allfather. She entered the seven underground streams, and embracing them gave birth to seven monstrous underworld races who tunnel beneath the earth. The seventh stream, the River Ocean, had resented the dragon's unclean embraces.

From the union of Ocean with Vorthragna came the race of dragons, offspring not hideous to look upon like Vorthragna herself, for Ocean had kept the dragon eggs hidden from the devouring beast, and each one he kept by warm water in the divers places of the earth, the twelve regions. In this way sought he this vengence; that the dragon might be embraced by envy.


 

When Vorthragna saw the graceful dragon offspring of the River Ocean, she was infuriated that her own dragon nature had been much more finely reproduced, and she sought to destroy the little dragons. After devouring all twelve of her own offspring, Ocean, in horror, appealed to the Allfather for help. The Allfather agreed and created the lizard-like basalisk, a creature so hideous that it causes nausea when looked upon. This creature confronted Vorthragna and she vomited up her twelve dragon offspring of twelve elements.

Many are the creatures and races of unknown origin which dwell in the lands of intermundia, ogres and manticors, griffons and hippogriffs, harpies and mermaids, centuars and sphynxes. These are not the same as the six nether-races, offspring of Vorthragna. Some of the offspring are not hideous, such as men know to be the race of dragons themselves, and the nether-race called the Vri, (the lizard-heads).

After the burning of the famous Library of Nystol in the third age, certain knowledge of the other five underworld races was lost. However, those who have dared to go beneath into the caverns say that they have seen the histories of those races, and those pages writ in an unearthly tongue.

There were various accounts of what happened next, but all sources agree that the Allfather drew forth from the dusts human beings, new creatures whose beauty would put Vorthragna's underworld offspring to shame. These he created in his own image, that they might have companionship with him, and so the dragon might be afraid. The first man some say was named Anathron, who dwelt in a golden age, when the land bore fruits of its own accord, without labour, and God walked with men.

The Allfather also made for the humans fertile lands and taught them many divine things, and he showed them how to use their wondrous powers. He warned them never to give heed to the winged worm Vorthragna, who would seek their demise.

Before he left the earth, Anathron prophesied that the world would be twice be destroyed, first by flood and later by fire.

A son of Anathron, named Labsar, while he was gathering figs, espied the dragon (who pretended not to notice) and saw how the dragon slew wild boar and cooked it with her firey breath. The man, who some claim was a giant, dared to come before Vorthragna and speak.

Vorthragna made herself seem both beautiful and terrible to behold. The dragon explained that the meat was for a sacrifice and asked the man to tear the meat with his nimble hands. This Labsar agreed to, and cutting the pieces

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