Staltus Dragonbane

The Banner Lords of Kaerok know their history, for ancestral lineage and the deeds of one’s forefathers are a large source of a lord’s power and prestige. This may be why Staltus has looked so deeply into his history, finding past injustices and lingering questions that have led him to his crusade as Dragonbane. Staltus makes no secret of the fact that he has never slain a Dragon, nor even encountered one. But for him this is precisely the point: the age of Dragons has passed, and to the benefit of all other species of Teleria. As Dragonbane, his quest is the remembrance of Dragons, their spawn, their empires… and their sins. The truth of Dragons lies in the distant past, and Staltus wishes the world to remember the truths of their bygone civilization and never repeat its mistakes. He travels Teleria in search of their relics which he stores securely in the vaults of his estate, and when he hears a rumor of a Dragon lingering on in some forgotten corner of Teleria, he turns that corner over. Staltus will tell anyone who will listen how the lore of Dragons begins in the mythopoetic Primordial Age, and how they were among the Firstborn of Lumaya and Siroth — immortal and powerful beyond comprehension. Created later were the Dragonkin — like Dragons but smaller, frailer, mortal, and changeable, and imbued with the Light of Lumaya, inheriting a zealous love of order and hierarchy. Staltus knows the failures of both well. During the gods’ Great Divorce, the Firstborn Dragons sided with Siroth. As for the Dragonkin, they grew a compulsion to protect, arrange, and control every aspect of Telerian existence, from the placement of buildings and towns to the comings and goings of citizens and livestock. Their firm and gentle authority slowly gave way to tyranny and oppression, and Staltus has seen firsthand the legacy of despotism the Dragonkin Empire left behind. Telerians know that Dragonkin colonies once existed in Anhelt and Peltas, and in parts of cities such as Arnoc and Velyzar ancient artifacts and forgotten caches can still be found. Bribing officials and hiring disposable Iackeys, Staltus has interrogated these townships and recorded findings of strange machines half-buried and half-smashed, of sinister technologies of torture, and of fragments of primordial magics the likes of which have not manifested for generations. He and his hired help braved the dust storms and wandering Undead of the blighted Stormwind Wastes, searching until they came across a great rift in the ground. It is said that therein Staltus discovered something that cost the lives of the rest of his companions. Though he has made it his mission to preserve the knowledge of the ancient Dragonkin Empire, Staltus has never put to word nor page the secret things he witnessed in the Wastes. He speaks elliptically of ‘the Sin of Dragons,’ of the banishment of the gods from Teleria and the fall of the Dragonkin Empire. But all saw that whatever it was he discovered there, it had invigorated his cause, for it was at this point that Staltus’ obsession with Dragons became a towering, self-righteous hatred. But the crimes that cause such anger in Staltus were in the distant past, and even the Dragonkin — or rather their Lizardmen descendants — have lamented their transgressions and made great work of repentance. Ever since the hubris of a single emperor brought about the downfall of their entire species, they have suffered much and worked for generations toward a new identity and some dignity in the eyes of an unforgiving world. Regardless, Staltus rarely separates the Dragonkin and their descendants today. He has hacked the life from many with his ax, and has lined his plate and helm with their scales and horn. Like all fanatics, his proximity to his obsession means Staltus has absorbed some of its aspects, and some say that the archaic wisdom of the Dragonkin has aided Staltus in his travels and studies. Though he despises them, he has no compunctions against using their knowledge practically, with ritual invocations that call forth different aspects of a Dragon’s power. And so it is that in battle, the Dragonbane sometimes resembles that which he hates most.