The First War and Legendary Love
Over a millennium ago, during what would later be called the First Chromatic War, Elpis Basajuan stood as one of the mightiest opponents to the Council's tyranny. In those days, he fought openly in his true form, a gold dragon whose very presence inspired hope in allies and terror in enemies. It was during this conflict that he met Arties, a drow noble whose courage and conviction matched his own. Their love became legendary among their allies, a symbol of unity between different peoples and proof that the bonds they forged could transcend racial boundaries. Their union produced a daughter, Eden, who represented everything they fought for: a future where different races could coexist in peace, where the strong protected the weak rather than exploiting them. For a time, it seemed their cause might actually prevail against the overwhelming might of the Chromatic Council.
Betrayal and the Long Search
The turning point came when Elpis left to seek additional allies for their cause, a journey that would take him to distant lands and consume precious months. During his absence, betrayal shattered their coalition from within. When he returned, wings beating frantically across familiar skies, he found only ruins and scattered survivors who could offer nothing but conflicting accounts of the disaster. The details were fragmented and contradictory, but the result was undeniable: everything he loved had seemingly been destroyed. For a hundred years, Elpis searched every corner of Xeres Prime with obsessive determination. He followed the faintest whispers of survivors, investigated every rumor no matter how unlikely, and refused to accept what the evidence increasingly suggested. But after a century of fruitless searching, even his draconic stubbornness had to acknowledge the truth: Arties, Eden, and all he held dear were gone, consumed by the very war he had left to support.
Three Centuries of Isolation
The grief that followed was profound enough to reshape mountains. Elpis retreated to the highest peaks of the Dragon's Eye Mountains, seeking solitude in places where no mortal could follow. For three hundred years, he dwelt in isolation, his sorrow manifesting as fierce storms that locals attributed to angry mountain spirits. During these long centuries, he filled the emptiness with study, diving deep into magical theory and draconic lore. He created vast libraries in hidden caverns, documenting everything he had learned and seen, as if by preserving knowledge he could somehow give meaning to his loss. The isolation transformed him, tempering his grief into something harder and more purposeful. He emerged from those mountains not healed, but changed, with a new understanding of both magic and himself. The dragon who descended from those peaks was no longer the passionate warrior who had ascended them, but something more calculated, more patient, and infinitely more dangerous to those who would threaten peace.
Building an Empire in Secret
After emerging from isolation, Elpis began a project that would consume the next seven centuries: the methodical construction of a power base that could prevent another catastrophic war. He traveled in various guises, using his mastery of visage magic to move undetected through human society. He established trading networks under different identities, founded schools of magic under assumed names, and carefully placed loyal individuals in positions of influence across Xeres Prime. He accumulated wealth not for its own sake but as a tool for building infrastructure and influence. He documented everything, learning from his past failures and ensuring that this time, his foundation would be too deep and too broadly distributed to be destroyed by a single betrayal. His methods were patient beyond mortal comprehension, playing a game measured in centuries while those around him thought in terms of years. By the time he began to reveal himself as a contender for leadership, the groundwork had already been laid so thoroughly that his rise seemed inevitable.
The Emperor and Shocking Reunion
Elpis's coronation as Emperor came not through conquest but through demonstrated necessity. When crises emerged, he was there with solutions. When threats manifested, he had already positioned defenses. His wisdom and power became so essential to the realm's stability that formalizing his leadership was simply acknowledging reality. As Emperor, he worked tirelessly to unify Xeres Prime, establishing systems of mutual defense, creating teleportation networks between major cities, and developing magical early warning systems. His reign was characterized by strength tempered with justice, and many considered it a golden age of peace and prosperity. Then came the discovery that shook him to his core: Arties lived. She had been preserved through cruel magic in a mining prison, enduring centuries of suffering while he believed her dead. Their reunion brought both joy and complexity, reopening wounds he thought had scarred over. The birth of their second daughter, Elodie, gave him hope he thought lost forever, but also reminded him of everything he had missed, all the centuries stolen by fate and cruelty.
The Final Siege and Assassination
By 1303, Elpis faced threats on multiple fronts. The Drow armies pushed up from below with increasing boldness. Undead hordes gathered in the shadows, their numbers swelling with each passing month. Most concerning, the Chromatic Council had re-emerged, their methods more insidious than the open warfare of the past. Elpis coordinated defenses across the entire realm, his centuries of preparation being tested against enemies who had learned from previous defeats. Then came Goldenleaf 1303, and with it the coordinated assassination attempt that targeted every leader of the Southern Coalition simultaneously. While other leaders faced single assassins, Elpis was deemed dangerous enough to warrant an entire squad of elite warriors. Additionally, a secondary team infiltrated the engine room of his special floatilla, the flying fortress from which he commanded. Despite his power and the strength of his guards, the two-pronged assault overwhelmed his defenses. The explosion that followed lit the sky with fiery orange and red visible for a hundred miles, marking the end of an emperor whose reign had promised so much. The ancient dragon who had survived a millennium of war fell not in glorious battle but to calculated treachery, history repeating the pattern he had spent centuries trying to prevent.
Reclaiming the Throne
Whatever happened in the aftermath of Goldenleaf 1303, Elpis Basajuan is back. He arrived at Arties' mansion without warning, alive and unmistakably himself, and made his intentions plain: he has returned to Xeres, and he wants his seat as Emperor back. The world believed him dead, the throne he built sits without its rightful occupant, and his enemies have had time to entrench themselves in his absence. None of that appears to concern him. If anything, the composed certainty with which he announced his return suggests this is not the beginning of a plan... it is the continuation of one.