Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Onnu's Tales

"Not that many of you will even remember Erdewaz, so how would you know that anything was different?
   "Well, dragons remember. We are the repositories of all the knowledge from our human lives. Not every dragon will know the same things, of course, as we lived diverse lives on Erdewaz, but we each of us have useful information stored in our heads. If one doesn't know something, you can always ask another." She paused for a moment to let that sink in.
   "We are all different than we were on Erdewaz, and I'd like to think that that is for the better. The longer we live on the fortnight worlds, the less you will recall of who or what you were before, because you are no longer those people. The moment you took a name that befit the new you, the last remnant of the dross and stress of Erdewaz left you.
   "Don't believe me? Remember what happened when the dragon-hatched kin came into the worlds. They were wary, frightened. The trials of Erdewaz weighed heavily on them. Once they took new names, they forgot it all.
   "They had to, as did all of you. What use are the trappings of a planet you'll never see? Far better to make way for new memories. New ways of doing things. How can you think of solutions to problems here, if you're stuck in the problems there?"
   Again, she paused.
   "There are some few of us who will live longer than even the eldest dragons." She didn't directly say that she was one of them. She felt it necessary to prepare them for the Triplets, but didn't want to lump herself in with them just yet. She fervently hoped they hadn't noticed that only her eyes had glowed on Crossing Day, or they would surely know.
   Pannu didn't know that he wasn't one of the Triplets, which was another conversation she wasn't ready to face yet. She didn't look at him when she talked, so she didn't know that he stood a little straighter. He knew that there were few dragons his size, and only one larger than him, so naturally, he assumed that he would be one of them.
   "Even still, dragons will live the longest of anyone. That is likely not a surprise; nor would it shock you to know that the elves and dragonkith will live long lives, as well. If you still retain the lore of old, you may recall that they were long-lived in those tales.
   "I suppose, since it is still relevant information, some of you might just remember," she said half to herself.
   "Now, there is much that you must learn on your own. Even if one of us does know the answer to a question, it might not always be wise to simply give it to you. This is also in line with the lore of Erdewaz. It is not that we will never help you, only that we may think it best for you to learn the why before learning the how.
   "Imagine if you gave an infant a lit match," she said over the rising grumbles, "before telling them that fire burns, and burns hurt."
   The grumbles died down, but many were still unhappy. "We are as parents. We will teach you what you need to know, when you are ready. Imagine if Pannu taught you to sing a song, without first teaching you proper form, and breath control. You would damage your throats."
This went down better than the lit match example.
   "Dragons are not superior to anyone else. I want to make that very clear. Everyone is good at something. We are simply better at remembering. That is because we will live longer. This is why elves and dragonkith also have more memory storage.
   "Remembering even a fraction of Erdewaz is a large responsibility. There is no internet; no book to consult. We must recall what we know as accurately as possible, and know that it may not be as it was on Erdewaz.
   "And that's okay.
   "What good would it do to remember how to start a fire there, if we do not have those materials here?
   "As such, do keep in mind that we are just as fallible as anyone else. If you think we have misremembered, or are misguided, by all means, speak up. There is no hierarchy, no matter how much it may feel like there is.
   "Yes, dragons made the Holds. Yes, we've settled on our egg incubation as the measure of a year. But the Holds were made to protect you."
   She looked around, meeting the eyes that would meet hers.
   "Dragons of olde created these fortifications." She looked up at the mottled spires, bits of crystal showing here and there. "I do not yet know how, but I do know that they did."
   Her gaze dropped to the crowd once more. "Should you wish to begin anew somewhere else, I can ask the Lord above to show me how they created such impenetrable fortresses. It is by His grace alone that any of this exists--including us."
   Another pause, much heavier than the ones before. Few eyes lifted from the ground.
   "I think that has been forgotten, in our time here. You see these walls, and the colossal creatures above you, and perhaps forgot that Someone made even us.
   "I mean not to preach, simply to recall your Father in Heaven to your minds. If your first instinct is to pray, do so to Him.
   "Not to us." She sent a stern Look round the kin assembled in the Bowl.
   "If it seems that one of the dragons responds to your prayer, know that we were prompted to do so from outside of ourselves. If we seem prescient, the same applies.
   "For that is the truth of a dragon: we were the most faithful; the most attuned to Him, of those on Erdewaz. Some of us were ordained to His service.
   "If ye wonder why ye woke in a smaller, less imposing body, 'tis no flaw of character. Had ye been less faithful, ye would have gone Elsewhere. Be glad ye did not.
   "Perhaps we have been lax in our duties, these past months. We have allowed you to look to us, instead of our Creator."
   It didn't exactly help that when she began to speak of God, her eyes began to glow an eerie misty color, her pupils barely visible.
   "We are but His messengers. Look Above, before ye look below."
   The next part, did she but know it, would become a motto in their Hold, that would spread to the other Holds nearby, and eventually to the City beyond:
   "Be thee humble as a dragon, forthright as a gargoyle, clever as a catkin, resourceful as an ogre, patient as a dwarf, kind as an elf, empathetic as a furgoyle, brave as a gryphon, concise as an orc. Help thy neighbors as a giant, even be thee in the nimble frame of a gnome. Attune thyselves to this world, or any fortnight world thou dost choose, as the centaurs do. Approach life with the creativity of a faun, balanced with the critical thinking of a minotaur. Let not the material things of this world weigh ye down, as the birdkin do. And above all else, embrace this world, which yet needs a name, as do the kin that sprang from it, in forms unseen on Erdewaz."