In the centuries past the kingdom of Altera’s history was one of strife and war. Humans, Elves, and Orcs lived in a constant state of bloodshed with Humans and Elves in fear as their villages and cities were pillaged and burned by the Dark Mob.The Mob was a massive coalition of Orcs and Goblins that hailed from the Northwestern part of the kingdom. They had managed to conquer huge sums of land, putting people in chains or to the sword. Their capital city of Orkilas, a dark pillar rising in the North that sank nearly the entire kingdom under its shadow. The armies of Orkilas rained supreme over Altera for nearly two hundred years, capturing every major city save for the Elven capital of Eastmarch. 

   It has been over a hundred years since the fall of the Orcish two hundred year reign, with hope for the world rising in the form of a young human woman. Her name was Analisa Renaldi. She was of the blood of Riften, the Renaldi's having once ruled the great city of men until it was conquered by the Orcish warlord Garog-ta. Her story is legend, a young slave girl cast into the mountains to die at the hands of her Orc master. Her situation dire but, instead of becoming a meal for a beast....by sheer strength of will she survived and her luck and willpower brought about a revolution. While taking shelter in a cave from a snow storm she came across an odd object. What she assumed was a massive golden stone was in fact....an egg. When her hand was first laid upon it the egg began to shake and rock before shattering and revealing a small golden dragon. Analisa and the dragon formed a soul bond, sharing minds and bonding closer than any form of love ever spoken of before. Now neither could live on if the other died. The bond between rider and dragon, there was nothing more beautiful on this planet. The golden queen dragon was called Faranath, the first dragon to ever walk the lands of Altera with a Soul Bond and Rider.

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   Over the next two years the pair lived and grew in the secluded mountain range of the north. Not just surviving, but thriving and growing to the point no cave remained that could house the Queen dragon and her rider. As Faranath reached her maturity her first rising came upon them, after gorging herself on the blood of a fresh kill the golden queen leapt into the air and flew high into the clouds. Analisa watched from the ground, confused as her partner soared into the air and with a draconic roar called out her challenge to the world. 'None shall catch me, none is clever enough, or fast enough to capture me! I am a queen and the world quakes at my visage!'

   However, there was an answer to her call for moments later hurtling out of the sky was a massive bronze dragon, nearly the same size as the great queen. Thus he began the chase, his own urge to mate called forward by the gold queen's lust. Analisa was left to suffer her dragon’s feelings alone, struggling to keep the mental bond with her dragon from entirely overpowering her. She had never felt such lust in her life shifting between lust for blood, and then eventually the lust for another. Unsated, Analisa woke the next day with a miserable fever. Her entire body in pain, however her dragon awaited her sated and content but confused as to why her rider suffered so.

   Nearly four months later Analisa and her dragon were forced to leave the mountain range. The Golden Queen had not just been sated by her flight; she was in fact heavy with eggs and ready to birth the first generation of her kind that would possibly have Riders. However, the cold caves of the North would not sustain them. So instead Analisa mounted her dragon and the pair flew off towards the Southeast. Flying over her hometown of Riften and on until they reached the vast sunny plains to the East. Untouched by man, the pair had found the perfect place to raise Faranath's clutch. The Golden Queen crafted her nest in the center of the plains, tilling the earth until a warm bed of soft soil was created for her eggs. In the end she had laid fifteen eggs, these would be the first dragons the world had seen as Dragons were reclusive creatures and primarily lived in the solitude of the mountains. As the eggs hardened on the sands and began to grow the queen informed Analisa of their peril. Without riders these young dragons wouldn't survive, unable to leave the clutch it would be Analisa's task to venture out and find riders to stand before the eggs on the sands. Faranth knew if they hatched without a suitable rider then the hatchlings would suicide and go beyond to die leaving the world with one less dragon.

   Analisa would never have risked the death of her dragon's young, so for the first time since their bonding the pair separated. To the South of the plains rested the city of Griffin's Roost. It took nearly seven days for her to travel there on foot, and that had been at her fastest pace. Upon arrival she began the search for Riders appropriate for her dragon's clutch. However, after speaking with the strongest warriors, and the most powerful magicians she was at a loss. When she blended her mind with Faranath to show her a prospective candidate the great dragon refused, unsure as to why. Each of them had been unsuitable. It wasn't until she met a young boy named Rallay Le'stev that she found her first prospect. The answer had been children, adults past a certain age seemed to lose the ability to impress a dragon. So visiting the various orphanages of the city she eventually found twenty candidates to stand on the sands. Together with the children, Analisa began the long journey back to her dear Faranath, her clutch’s future in hand.

   It was ten years later that the world was introduced to the dragon riders of Altera. An army of dragon riders led by none other than Analisa. They greeted the world with fire and steel. In two short years the entirety of the Dark Mob had been pushed to the most Northwestern part of the kingdom, entirely out of human and elven lands. The riders of Altera had retaken the free world, forming a council that would rule over Altera as Analisa herself laid down in their laws no rider would take up a crown. Analisa spoke for the riders of Gale's Rest, A human man named Marketh for the cities of men, and the elven queen, Rellora for Eastmarch. For the last two hundred years the council has ruled over Altera protecting it from all threats. However, unknown to the Riders the Dark Mob breathes once more, and darkness gathers over the lands of Orkilas. The Dark Mob believes the riders have grown weak, and the lands of Altera are ripe for the picking once more. Will you stand against the Dark Mob and make safe the lands of Altera? Or will you watch as it all burns...in fire and steel.