Xorvintaal Dragon. The Ones Who Play The Great Game. By Allan Frost AKA: Big Ugly

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1 Xorvintaal Dragon The Ones Who Play The Great Game By Allan Frost AKA: Big Ugly

2 Dragons of the Great Game All dragons, above the age of adult, devote their lives to a competition called Xorvintaal, the Great Game. They scheme against their fellows, wagering their hoards and manipulating their minions like chess pieces. Sometimes those that don t directly serve a dragon find themselves caught up in the game. Dragons choose to take up Xorvintaal when they re adults, drawn by the allure of besting their fellow dragons and the promise of vast treasure and respect. But the game demands commitment from its players. Dragons are a proud and solitary creatures, so Xorvintaal is one of the few ways a dragon can earn draconic prestige. Masters of Xorvintaal are regarded as the finest minds among dragonkind. To join the great game, a dragon must preform the Ritual of Xorvintaal. The rotual requires the dragon to spend a month meditating in a magic cocoon. When the dragon emerges, it is forever marked as a dragon of the Great Game, having sacrificied its innate spellcasting ability for the ability to manipulate its minions, to interact telepathically woth other Xorvintaal dragons, and to gain power as it advances in the Great Game. Xorvintaal has a feudal element as well, with older, successful players taking new players under their wings. A new player that does well earns esteem and influence for its older draconic partons, and the older dragon earns a share of the younger dragon s hoard and of future conquests. The rules of Xorvintaal forbid dragon-todragon conflict except under rare circumstances. Most players act subtly to divert attention from themselves, avoiding the direct ire of other players. Because they join the Great Game through a transformation ritual, Xorvintaal dragons are incapable of breaking the rules, but they have the potent minions and the unusual abilities granted by the Ritual of Xorvintaal. They manipulate adventures and other creatures to raid the lairs of their opponents. These pieces in the Great Game draw attention to themselves rather then to their manipulator. After a successful move, such pieces might find themselves the target of a more powerful Xorvintaal dragon that had a stake in the defeated dragon s treasure and winnings. 1 Xorvintaal takes years to learn and centuries to play. Only dragons understand the finer points of the rules. At its heart, Xorvintaal is a combination of chess and poker, played with the world as the board and lesser creatures as the pieces. Dragons use lackeys to take over one another s territiries and hoards, but they must also place their own hoards and lairs at risk. 1 Monster Manual V

3 In the Beginning In the beginning there was only one dragon. He was the first and all who came after, came from him. Xorvintaal, was the first dragon of Milosha. He was created as the Gods created the world. He spent his time traveling Milosha observing the creations of the Gods. Always being alone and never a part of Milosha as it developed. As the years went by he grew bored with the world and the creatures that inhabited it. He created dragons in his image and gave each type a piece of his body and soul, insuring that each type of dragon was just a smaller aspect of his nature. But soon he become frustrated with the way the other creatures viewed his children. Instead of accepting them they feared them and tried to destroy his beloved children. His children became a solitary race, only associating with each other. This enraged Xorvintaal, how could these mortals be so naive that they would shun his children? His children are magnificent creatures born with size, beauty and intelligence that these lesser races could only dream of obtaining. This is the point where Xorvintaal decided to create the Great Game. Instead of trying to be accepted by the lesser mortals, his children would control and manipulate them like puppets. Many years were spent defining the boundaries of the Great Game. Perfecting it, determining what could and couldn t be done within the rules of the Great Game. Many mortal life times went by as Xorvintaal and his children developed the Great Game. The rules were constantly changing and evolving as new concepts and maneuvers with tried. Some good for the game and some that would only lead to the destruction of the dragons. Xorvintaal made dragon-to-dragon conflict the first unacceptable practice. Having his own children destroying each other was not the goal he was trying to obtain with the playing of the Great Game. Instead he wanted his children to use the mortals as pawns in his own game. As a way to show them who is the strongest race on Milosha. After playing the Great Game for over 5000 years, Xorvintaal found that his children had developed their skill in the Great Game to a point where he was no longer needed to act as a player, but as a judge. He spent all of his time traveling around the known world determining who was winning and losing at the Great Game. After many years of constant travel and always having to get information second hand, Xorvintaal decided that the time had come that his children would succeed on Milosha and the only thing that truly mattered anymore to him was the Great Game. It had become his only purpose in life and the form he was in didn t help him observe and tally the scores in the game correctly. After consulting with several of his older children he decided that it was time for him to leave his physical body and ascend to a higher place where he could better observe the Great Game. After a few hundred years of gathering the need materials and researching the powerful magic that would be needed. Xorvintaal created the Ritual of Xorvintaal that would bind all his children to the Great Game and to him in his new form.

4 Xorvintaal s new form would be a magical mirror that would be used as a focus point for the binding ritual and also a home for his spiritual essence. He would be able to follow every move in the Great Game at once. Observing them as they happened and therefore being able to judge and rank each move immediately. Not only will the mirror provide a new base and home for Xorvintaal, it will serve as a trophy that will be maintained by the Supreme Master of the Great Game. The mirror has many benefits that will help the Supreme Master as he plays the Great Game. The Mirror of Xorvintaal The Mirror of Xorvintaal is a large oval shaped mirror made of living liquid silver that is the essence of Xorvintaal. It had an obsidian frame that in inlayed with thousands of runes and gems. The mirror is 20 ft. high and 15 ft. wide. The obsidian frame has a width of 3 ft. When you look at the gems and runes inlayed in the obsidian, you get the feeling of looking into the clear night sky of Milosha, gazing upon millions of stars and far away worlds. 1/century-The mirror can remove 50 years of aging effects from one person/dragon. 1/decade-The mirror can remove 1 year of aging effects from one person/dragon. 1/year-The mirror can remove 1 month of aging effects from one person/dragon. 1/month-The mirror can remove 1 day of aging effects from one person/dragon. These powers are usually used on the Supreme Master or other players, exarchs that have gained great favor with the Supreme Master. 1/year-The mirror will show the Supreme Master the one person/dragon who is their greatest challenger in the Great Game. The current Supreme Master Knasith an Ancient Gold Dragon who lives on the Thrillian Islands has used the mirror to keep his age effectively at 550 years, even though he is almost 1000 years old. The mirror is a very powerful artifact, and it grants many special abilities to the Supreme Master and his exarchs. Powers: 3/day-The mirror can be made invisible for up to 3 hours each time. At will it can be shrunk down to 2 by2 for travel and protection. 3/day-The Supreme Master can use the mirror to communicate with any player in the Great Game.

5 The Great Game in Milosha On the World of Milosha there are currently forty five dragons playing the Great Game. They are all based around the continent of Aslem. There are many dragons throughout the World of Milosha but the Great Game has been lost to all but the dragons of Aslem. Not ever dragon plays the Great Game with the same amount of zeal and effort. Many of the dragons have adopted a passive approach to the Great Game. This trait worries Xorvintaal, because this same attitude is the reason that only the dragons of Aslem play the Great Game. There are currently 15 dragons of adult age or greater on the continent of Aslem that are not players of the Great Game. Twelve of them have been given lifetime banes from playing the Great Game by Xorvintaal. Most of them have been exiled from the Great Game for multiple infractions of the rules of the Great Game. Almost everyone one of them still tries to affect the Great Game by disrupting all the players or by just harassing a selected player. Two dragons do not play the Great Game due to great injuries or illness that have affected their abilities to play the Great Game. Xorvintaal insures that all their needs are taken care of by the Supreme Master. And one dragon a Great Wyrm who has lived will beyond her time as given up on the game waiting for her journey into the Twilight.

6 Xorvintaal Map of the Continent of Alsem on the World of Milosha.