Return of the Dragon Riders
Ancient legends, brought once more to life.
Long ago, before the coming of the Age of Titans, but well after the gods of Golarion created the plane, dragons ruled the lands of Eliair, carving up the continents and islands into their own domains. Daman, the largest continent, was dominated by the scions of Apsu, and was civilized slowly by the mortal races, under the watchful eye of their metallic guardians, and the gods of law and light. However, across the waters now known as the Sea of Swords, a tiny, unnamed island continent was ruled by cruel and powerful chromatic dragons, ruled by Dahak and placed there by his allies, the gods of chaos and doom. Still further to the east lay Lycus, a land still yet untamed, despite the best efforts of the dwarves of its northern reaches. There, primal forces held sway, and an agent of shadow brooded. The ancient Umbral dragon Phrox made deals with mortal men who shipwrecked on these shores, creating nine lich barons to serve him, in a grand plan to rule all of Eliair.
The nine barons would slay and raise an army from the wilds of Lycus, turning the land steadily more barren and lifeless in their quest to please their patron, and Phrox in return plotted to bring forth strong outsiders to aid in the ending of this age, and usher in his rule. Calling into the abyss, Phrox summoned forth an army of Titans, cast into the abyss by the gods for their impudence on Golarion, now free to help him rule Eliair. But one Titan, Abaddon, strongest and most cruel, served his own master, and slew Phrox, subjugating his liches in the name of Rovagug, destroyer of worlds. With Phrox dead, Abaddon turned to Daman, a land of peace, to be the place of his great sacrifice to the destroyer. And thus began the Age of Titans.
When Abaddon's brother, Veeld, landed on the shores of Daman, he slaughtered a hundred villages, carving a swath of blood and terror unseen in Eliair. The metallic dragons, sensing the coming darkness, appealed to Apsu for aid, but he would not answer. In desperation, they sent one of their number, the swift and noble Velix, to the only place they could think of where a power to match the banished ones lay; Elysium, home of those few titans who did not fall to pride or greed. Velix scarcely had to mention the Thanatotic forces arrayed against Eliair for the titans to mobilize, appearing in flashes of light and glory to face Abaddon's forces, fighting them to a stalemate, and forcing them across the waters once more.
Thus Began the Age of Titans. But there is a little known fact of this time. In all their studies of the stone of history, carved by the Titans after their triumph over Abaddon the Titan, not one mortal or dragon has made sense of a carving near the base of the stone. It shows the Titans ascending to Elysium once more, their task complete, and a man, riding on the back of a great dragon, seeing them off, before ushering in an age of dragon riding warriors. There are no records of this Age of the Dragon Riders, and many believe this to be a fraudulent addition to the stone by later carvers from the Age of Darkness. But, now word has spread of a warrior riding an umbral dragon preying on any who travel through the nation of Erendor without a large escort. The Horselords have place bounties, but none can find this so called dragon rider, and far fewer even believe it real until they themselves are attacked. Those that do whisper in hushed tones that the rider refers to his dragon by an old name. A name many pray is not who they most assuredly fear it is. The name of the umbral dragon who created the Lich Barons. The name, Phrox.
