Etherstorm and Dragonhame

Desoloth and the DragonGate

The 11-11-11 Portal brings you to X'dir, a Dravix pleading for the release of his master, Desoloth. You recognize the dragon's name from a childhood song about a captive behind the DragonGate, watched by four dragons and bound by a DragonMark. The song promises rejoicing when he is freed. X'dir says the four Prime Elemental Dragons imprisoned Desoloth out of jealousy and are about to seal him away forever. Desoloth embodies all the elements, he claims, and losing him would endanger their balance. You agree to help.

X'dir describes the DragonPlane as the meeting place of the Physical, Magical and Elemental planes and the Void, where dragons first arose. He has served Desoloth for centuries, opening the portal so someone can reach the four Primes and take the Dracoscintilla needed to break the DragonMark. Attuning torches let you survive each elemental realm. Under his guidance, you weaken Moganth's bond to Earth, turn Udaroth's protective runes against her, carry stolen Earth power into Cellot's winds and make Zellare's fire consume its own fuel. With the four Dracoscintilla gathered, you return to open the gate.

Desoloth's gratitude is hunger. X'dir congratulates him on a flawless plan, and the freed dragon announces that he will devour the mortal world's elements. Your reward is to be his first meal. You survive the fight, but Desoloth says you have beaten only a shade containing a fraction of his power. He has tested you, not risked himself, and sends you away while he prepares to enter your world.

X'dir now admits that he needed you because the DragonMark was warded against his own power. The Primes feared Desoloth's appetite, not his kindness. At his master's instruction, he erased accounts of that danger and softened an old warning into the welcoming song you remember. The familiar tale that helped persuade you to open the prison was part of its prisoner's escape plan.

The New Primes of Etherstorm

A letter from S'kis, acolyte to the High Priest of Fire, calls you to Etherstorm Wastes. Desoloth is turning the land's elements against it, and Lore will be next. If you freed him, you arrive remembering X'dir's deception; if you did not enter the DragonPlane, you have heard enough of his destruction to know the danger. Hs'Sakar, the Fire Priest, mourns the four former Primes and seeks their successors before the disorder spreads. Fire burns through water and stone, tornadoes carry flame, and the volcano has awakened.

Hs'Sakar has centuries of experience and little patience for your questions, but you insist that understanding the danger will make you more useful. He forbids killing the frenzied dragons: Dravix must not harm dragonkin or authorize their slaughter. A living Flame Suit lets you enter the volcano, where you rescue the young and subdue Ssikari without killing him. Hs'Sakar shelters the dragon near his altar and calls the other priests together.

Warlic arrives with Galanoth, whom he recruited by appearing at the DragonSlayer's camp and seizing his arm. Galanoth was lucky to grab his sword. Hs'Sakar welcomes both on the condition that they keep the peace. The other priests, As'iiur of Air, Ll'rillor of Water and Dr'Rader of Earth, face a disaster that makes such an uneasy alliance necessary. Galanoth can smell the dragons' blood turning rancid as their broken elemental bonds drive them mad. Warlic explains that Desoloth feeds on the friction of the elements' frenzy. Restoring the Primes must stop the turmoil before it nourishes him further.

The priests glimpse the new Primes in the altar's flame and hope to seal Desoloth away with their aid. X'dir interrupts, singling out As'iiur with a reminder of his master's power. Desoloth has another weakness in mind besides the elements: push one frail pillar correctly and the whole building may fall.

In As'iiur's sand-buried temple, you gather the makings of what he calls a binding spell against Desoloth. His words stray toward sacrifice, lies and extinguishing a mighty heart before he hastily returns to the declared purpose. His acolyte Ang'st has noticed his fear, too. Ang'st doubts his own courage despite a family history of service to Air, and takes comfort in Omom, the little companion who has played Catch-the-tail with him since his youth. When Living Air carries her away, you can bring her back and hear his hope that her young will someday play in gentler breezes.

As'iiur sends you to Hs'Sakar for a formula he claims to need. Galanoth offers to accompany you, but the priest instead surrounds you with Air magic, saying dragons will now sense a priest of the Prime Air Dragon. With you gone, he asks Galanoth to test the potency of Dragon's Fire pollen. Hs'Sakar knows no such formula and recalls that As'iiur was their mentor's favored pupil. You return without it to find Galanoth missing. As'iiur claims the DragonSlayer attacked him, ruined the binding spell and fled. Warlic cannot reconcile that accusation with his friend, and neither can you, remembering the battles in which you trusted one another's shields.

Away from the council, As'iiur gives X'dir the real account. The pollen stunned Galanoth; Air bonds and a blow against rock subdued him. The captive is a gift to Desoloth, who must spare As'iiur and the dragons in his care if he wins. While his master bargains for safety, Ang'st searches for the missing DragonSlayer. Through Walking As Air, he finds the prisoner and promises help. Omom is already there, offering what little comfort she can.

You confront Hs'Sakar over another secret: the priests have hidden the new Prime candidates, all except Ssikari. They have also discussed replacing As'iiur with Ang'st. Opening the refuge requires all four elements, but As'iiur has defected and his acolyte is away. Warlic senses that the blessing has woven Air magic around you, allowing a human to supply the missing priest's part. Hs'Sakar is astonished, then tells you not to use the power before you understand it.

Ll'rillor guides the unraveling of the refuge's elemental protections, using a trident supplied by Warlic to focus your combined magic. Beneath the water, a Deep Dweller guards the eggs. You defeat it without harming them, then use Air to steady and raise the three eggs as their chamber drains. Back with the priests, you ask why they could not simply have told the guardian you were a friend. Hs'Sakar chuckles that life is a series of tests. They were watching, and your first use of Air has been adequate.

Galanoth is free of his bonds when Desoloth comes to claim him. As'iiur offers his life without restraint, but the DragonSlayer takes up his sword. Ang'st reaches the others with the news, and Warlic fears his friend will attempt the DragonSlayer's Sacrifice, striking toward the Wyrm's heart while exposing his own life. You want to save your shield-brother, but Warlic takes Ang'st and leaves you to help the Wise Ones. Without the new Primes, there will be no one to oppose Desoloth.

While the eggs hatch, Galanoth closes on his enemy. Warlic's warning comes too late: Desoloth bites off the DragonSlayer's arm. Galanoth hopes it chokes him, apologizes to Warlic and asks that you finish the fight. Warlic refuses to let him die. He saves his friend's life but cannot restore the arm as well; drawing in enough magic for both would exceed what he can contain and destroy them and Lore. Galanoth accepts the limit with gratitude. An arm is not worth his friend's life or their home, and losing it will not keep him from the battle.

Desoloth next seizes Arradia, the young Earth Prime, whose attack cannot overcome his strength. Dr'Rader loses contact with her through a psychic fog. You enter Earth's crystalline heart to recover the elemental knowledge stored there while Warlic helps the priest search. Fire must be freed from crystal, Water's hidden secrets unlocked, Air's enchanted songs heard and the Radia Terrix restored to bear its fruit again. At last, Dr'Rader discovers Arradia imprisoned inside the Core itself, frenzied and crystallized by the element she embodies.

Subduing Arradia frees her but shatters the Core. You fear you have destroyed what you came to save, until Dr'Rader explains that Earth can renew itself. Every shard holds the original's knowledge, and its magic is now concentrated rather than lost. You can help recover the scattered shards while the priests finish teaching the Primes before war begins. Elsewhere, As'iiur discovers the worth of his bargain. Desoloth crushes him despite his pleas to serve, then reminds X'dir to know his place.

The Battle Against Desoloth

Warlic offers to find Galanoth a replacement arm. The DragonSlayer jokes about a dragon's arm or a mechanical one, but will fight with what he has. Omom offers you fruit as you wonder what a quiet life without bloodshed might have been like. You thank her and urge her to stay away from the coming battle.

X'dir interrupts with an offer for you. If you remain loyal to Good, you refuse to betray those who depend on you; if loyal to Evil, you refuse to betray your cause and Empress Gravelyn. Your allies prepare to imprison Desoloth in the Cor Draconis, the Heart of the Dragon, where a fallen dragon might be redeemed. Yet the temptation can draw you to Desoloth instead. He promises that no human will stand above you, while you privately plan to turn on him once the Primes are gone. You let Omom go when X'dir warns that she will reveal your betrayal, then follow him toward the DragonPlane to attack the dragons you once protected.

X'dir tries Galanoth next, offering an allegedly improved arm along with wealth and power if he turns on the Primes. Galanoth attacks him instead. The rejected bargain still leaves an arm worth keeping, so he passes it to Omom in the hope that Warlic can make it useful.

Chaos has entered Etherstorm through the disorder. Those fighting for Good seek to redeem the tainted Thunderbirds or capture them in hope of a cure. Those fighting for Evil may kill creatures judged beyond saving or study them before the corruption reaches the dragons. Serving Desoloth makes dragon deaths the purpose: each one increases his power. Even in his service, you notice the intrusion of Chaos and doubt he would willingly submit to Drakath.

If you stand with the allies, the Primes lend their strength to the final confrontation. Your Good allegiance calls for cleansing Desoloth; your Evil allegiance demands his death to protect Gravelyn, despite the priests' objections. X'dir brings Omom's body and taunts you for letting friends die for you. He says she attacked Desoloth as they landed. The little companion you tried to keep from the war has followed you into it.

If you followed Desoloth, he demands one final service: kill Galanoth. You refuse. Whatever reward tempted you, it cannot outweigh the bonds forged beside the DragonSlayer and Warlic, and you send them away with Air magic. Desoloth reveals his promised equality: all will be equal in their graves. When he attacks, Omom takes the blow meant for you. Hs'Sakar sees a bargain in which you and Desoloth have betrayed each other, with her paying the price.

You defeat and kill Desoloth, then defend that decision before the priests can speak. They hoped to imprison and redeem him; you believed that freedom would let him kill them all, while captivity would only give him centuries to grow stronger and angrier. Hs'Sakar asks why you alone should decide the dragons' fate and take away their choices. You accept that you have done so, but insist that protecting Lore justified it. He asks whether you regret this dragon's death, or any dragon's death.

If you express regret, Hs'Sakar invites you to return and work toward restitution. If you remain unrepentant, he banishes you from Etherstorm, sparing you for your earlier aid but refusing to answer for the Primes or their children. Either answer brings the order to strip away your Air magic. The Primes will seal Desoloth's remains in the Cor Draconis, preserving their hope that his spirit might someday be cleansed.

Xing and Xang admire the shining grave before leaving for an appointment somewhere, or somewhen, else. Drakath arrives to claim what remains. A living Desoloth would be an annoyance and an imprisoned one a waste; chained by Chaos, he can become a mount. Desolich rises at his command, privately insisting that he is still a Prime and will serve in silence only for now.

The Plague of Dragonhame

In Dragonhame, An'Desi's first solo flight begins as a celebration. Then he coughs, grows dizzy and falls. The young dragon barely survives. Warlic cannot identify the illness, and an ancient plague recalled by a healer offers little help as other dragons become comatose, die or disappear. Warlic calls you back. You remember how badly your last visit ended, but he insists that Dragonhame needs saving now.

His former student Drakor receives you warily, knowing your reputation for death and destruction. Recovering Hs'Sakar's stolen Golden Flame Sigil earns the priest's blessing and helps win Drakor's trust. Driving off undead from Shadowfall proves you are willing to defend the city. Around you, Ll'Ara and her apprentice Shi'Nah struggle to care for the sick while Phelan searches for medicines. Dragon armor and carefully fitted weapons can prevent other injuries, but not this illness; even the city's craftspeople wonder how many customers will remain.

Questioning Fotia's cultists yields no culprit. The local elementals are affected without dying, so you bring uncorrupted cores from Gilead for comparison. The apparently healthy Merdraconians suggest another lead, but the Scroll of Salubris reveals something worse than the absence of a cure: someone made this plague to harm dragons. While the healers investigate unfamiliar magic and consult the knowledge of Dragonrune Hall, you gather Dragonhame's eggs beneath protective wards.

An infected young dragon escapes quarantine in a delirious rampage. Drakor asks you to contain it without harm, but the dragon is beyond curing and cannot be allowed to spread the plague. Bringing it down leaves Drakor mourning the cruelest demand of the plague yet. He sends it toward the DragonPlane in hope of purification, but the wards cannot protect everyone and the dead begin to rise. Galanoth agrees to help before the infection spreads through Lore, perhaps even beyond dragonkind. You gather healthy draconic samples and recover the Red Dragon's account of the Last Great Dragon Plague. It describes a different illness, but Warlic finds useful information in it. Artix helps obtain undead dragon bones from the Temple of Light. Comparing these with elemental and necromantic samples, Warlic finds the connection he feared.

Back in Dragonhame, zombies have overtaken the Infirmary. You put them down, then defeat an elemental dracolich in quarantine. Before its body can be studied, Dr'Rader sends the fallen Earth Dragon, Ferus, to the DragonPlane. You protest that the remains might explain the plague. The priest answers that Ferus lived longer than you ever will and deserves to be honored, not dissected. His bones will become crystal and sing for thousands of years. Warlic apologizes, explaining that you seek knowledge to save the living, but the urgency has again set you against the priests' reverence for dragon life.

The evidence points to Desolich. A mysterious letter delivered to Warlic by someone he believed to be Drakor's messenger helps connect the army to its commander: the plague kills dragons, and Desolich raises them as elemental dracoliches. Drakor knows nothing of the letter. Elsewhere, Drakath reveals that he arranged it. Desolich built his army believing his master distracted; Drakath expects you to destroy much of it while spending time on the disaster. He warns his mount that created life, or unlife, cannot always be controlled. Desolich privately turns that warning back upon him.

To reach all the dragons, you must return to the Heart of the DragonPlane and sever Desolich's hold. Warlic's wards contain the infected regions while you knock recoverable dragons unconscious so they can be taken home for treatment. You cleanse the realm's tainted columns and break the elemental dracoliches' connections. Purified Water helps cleanse Fire, purified Fire restores Earth, and Earth's cleansed stones carry the work into Air.

Deluge, Tempest, Inferno and Granite still connect Desolich to the Heart. Slaying them releases more of the corruption, leaving one final avatar: a proud Fire Dragon killed and raised to act for Desolich through a bond between their spirits. Drakor believes Drakath's hold prevents Desolich from leaving the Chaos Realm himself. You defeat the avatar and shatter the last connection. As the energy sustaining Desolich's renewed life drains away, Drakath pulls him back through the Chaos Portal to watch and wait.

Drakath congratulates you, pleased by the rage and disorder the struggle has created. You strike at his watching portal and it vanishes. The DragonPlane is clean, and Drakor names you Dragon's Champion, promising you a home among the dragonkin. Desolich has not been destroyed, but he can no longer create elemental dracoliches through the Heart.

Six weeks later, Dragonhame's infected survivors have recovered and the city mourns those it lost. An'Desi tries his first flight again. He rises, spins and falls as the crowd watches, then swoops upward and cries out in delight. He is flying again.