Salazar Caradini’s Lecture
Euphanyx Apotheps
Since everything is back to normal, I now call Salazar Caradini, Royal Historian, to tell us about the place of the Dragon in the teaching of the Karavan.
She applauds Salazar Caradini.
Salazar Caradini
Deles silam esteemed colleagues! First, I would like to thank Euphanyx Apotheps and the Pyr Academy for the invitation to this Congress and the opportunity to contribute to it. It is much appreciated.
As Serae Euphanyx Apotheps said in her introduction to this congress, the existence of the Dragon was announced to homins by the Karavan. He is also called the Prince of Darkness because he had deprived hominkind of light until the Goddess returned it to them by locking the Dragon in the bowels of Atys.
According to the prophecy delivered by the Karavan, a day will come when the Dragon will wake up from his sleep to consume Atys and the Goddess will rescue Her followers by guiding them to a safe place.
The reason why the Karavan is suspicious of the Dragon quest is due to the Great Beast's ability to corrupt those who seek him.
This corruption is not only expressed in the blind fanaticism of the Great Dragon Cult, nec! The danger is that it may be wearing far more subtle finery.
Thus, a member of the Karavan had been sneakily corrupted by the Dragon. In 2481, Elias Tryton was one of Karavan's agents fighting against the Great Swarming, which was part of the Dragon's machinations. In order to save hominity from eradication, Elias supposedly agreed to a pact with the Dragon.
The power the Dragon granted him had the desired effect, but in turn it started corrupting Elias who began to wilfully weaken the Powers. He rose up as a false prophet - a real prophet in the eyes of some homins, whom he took to himself but he took them away from the light of the Goddess.
While his homin followers are probably not aware they serve the Great Incendiary's purposes, they do no other thing by undermining the established order and weakening Jena's forces before the day of judgment.
The Church of Light and the Karavan have always fought to protect hominity from the Dragon's threat and believe that the Guild of Elias, while probably having good intentions, is since then an integral part of this threat.
Indeed, in the unlikely event that Elias and his followers succeed in preventing the end of the prophecy from fulfilment, the Dragon's breath would obliterate us all and that would be the end of the hominity.