13th November 1951, Tunguska Siberia: A large rift in Space and Time formed, connecting Earth to another World. It received large media coverage and caused excitement and panic in equal measure. After much discussion between countries it was decided to scout out this new world. Some countries demanded a forcefull invasion to quickly take over any usefull resources, but with the second World War having ended only 6 Years prior, most Governments wanted a more peaceful solution. This solution was International Squad "Apostle", a team of 12 talented individuals gathered from all around the world. Now more commonly known as the 12 Apostles, they were sent over to the new world in a sort of Spearhead Operation with the objective of scouting out the environment, danger assessment and if possible making diplomatic connections with local governments. The members of this team were Dmitri Volkov of Russia, Leonardo Guerra of Italy, Erik Hottenrott of Germany, Isshin Yoshizaki from Japan, Frank and Kyle Dover from the US, Suzanne Smith from England, Simo Häyhä from Finnland, Valentina Martinez from Argentina, Richard Langley from Australia, Sung Jie-Hye from Korea and Huang Li from China.
They successfully carried out their mission and brought back incredible results, having made connections with the Country of Rigald, a city state in the new world founded and lead by the so called "Mercenary King". They brought back various Information, such as the existence of Magic and Monsters, the Social structure which was almost identical to that of Medieval Europe, aswell as Information of local species of Flora, Fauna and Animals. This also included information about so called "Sub-Humans", Species not unlike Humans with similar body composition and intellect. Another thing that had happened in the new world, was that all Apostles had "awakened" a magical power. It is believed that the "Mana" in the air of the new world has the effect of forcing Humans to evolve beyond themselves in various ways, albeit not all magical.
8th August 1960 the Mercenary King of Rigald visited Earth with diplomatic envoys of other new world countries. This caused a huge stir and differences of opinion flared up in the general public, especially on the more radical side. However all thoughts of Invasion got crushed when the Mercenary King, Naz de Lagra, revealed that most earthern weaponry would be useless against the power of magic. In the end a deal was made, the new world known as Vhitlan and Earth would not invade eachother and allow the exchange of goods and the transfer of civilians from either side. This came to be known as the "De Lagra Contract".
The 12 Apostles continued to work as intermediaries for 5 years before being honorably discharged. 5 went on to move to Vhitlan while the rest continued helping with relations. As relations became closer and more people from Earth travelled over to Vhitlan, the occupation of Mercenary became more and more widespread, to the point that Companies on Earth invested in Mercenary Corps or founded their own, as doing so guaranteed huge profit.
One of the 5 Apostles that had moved to Vhitlan was Richard Langley, the Ecologist of the team, and his vhitlan-born daughter Kiera. They spent their time exploring Vhitlans vast ecosystems, learning various cultures and customs from locals and Richard wrote down every little discovery into his notebook. They traveled so much, that the two of them garnered the attention of the media in both worlds, being title "The Great Explorer" and his little sidekick. But one day, the 4th January 1968, all news from them vanished. The last known location had been the body of water seperating the mainland of Vhitlan and the unexplored "Dragons Ridge", a gigantic mountain range that would put even Mt. Everest to shame, that was said to be the home of the Dragon King and his kin. Rumors of Richard having been shipwrecked spread like wildfire and he and his daughter where soon pronounced dead.
However there's another side to this story. Richard and Keira had survived their tragedy and ended stranded near the Dragons Ridge.
Richard, having been a long time Explorer, knew how to survive in the wild, however not the same could be said about his 7 year old daughter. It was but a stroke of luck that Keira, ever the adventurous spirit like her father, while exploring further away from camp, found a wounded dragon. It was a younger one with crimson scales. Though, just because it was a young dragon, doesnt mean it wasnt a threat. It was easily 4 times larger than Keira, yet she simply walked up to it and offered a helping hand. Communication was rather difficult because of the language barrier but it somehow worked out. She used the tidbits of first aid knowledge she had picked up from her father to help the young dragon as best she could. When her Father found her though, he panicked at the sight of the scaled creature. It took a bit of time and convincing by Keira before he helped it aswell.
It all appeared fine until a much larger, older Dragon with dark grey scales found them with the younger one. Thinking they were at fault for the young ones injuries, it was about to attack them and if it werent for the red dragons interference, the Langleys wouldn't have had even a shred of a chance of survival. Once the dragons had finished their discussion, their attention turned back to the Father and Daughter. The dark scaled spoke in the human tongue and said: "I apologize for the disrespect I have shown you because of the misunderstanding. When it comes to humans, we've had our share of bad experiences so please forgive me. As an apology and a thanks for treating the young master, I wish to invite you to our home upon the peaks." A bit startled, Richard pondered over it for a short while before agreeing.
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The Langleys packed their essentials, climbed upon the grey scale's hand and were flown towards the mountainrange. Withing the mountainrange was a humongous city, filled with tall buildings, markets and most of all, people. At the highest point of the city, built into the mountain, was a giant palace. That's where the grey scaled dragon was heading. They landed in the courtyard, greeted by an entourage of Soldiers and Servants. They all looked very human, except they all had various types of horns and scales on their body. After letting Richard and Keira down, the grey scale started to shrink down to human size and form. Albeit not entirely. He still stood large at around 3,40 meters, almost twice as large as the 1,74 meters tall Richard Langley. The now humanoid dragon had dark skin, covered in various tribal like tattoos and even more scars, aswell as long and messy dark grey hair reaching down to his waist. "Welcome to the Allfathers home, dear guests.", he said. He turned to the servants and spoke something in their language and then turned back to the two humans. "These servants will escort you to the reception room. If you have anything you require, ask them and they will oblige. I will be with you shortly, after i bring the young master to the palace doctor." He turns to the hurt dragon, telling him something upon which the red dragon also shrinks down in size and turns into a human-like form. He is extremely pale, has messy silver hair and a weaker body build when compared to everyone else around. The two of them walk off towards what seems to be an annex building, while the Langleys get escorted by two female servants.
Not long after the Langleys got to the reception room, the tall dragonoid from before entered the room. "My Apologies for the wait. I hope you've been comfortable?", he said in a deep and rough voice. "Thank you for your hospitality. Its been pleasant, although i would like to inquire as to why exactly we were brought here. I don't mean to be disrespectful but i have to worry not only about myself but my daughter aswell, I hope you can understand.", Richard said in a concerned tone while carefully looking around. The room was lightly decorated, more focused on comfort than extravagance. "Ah, I understand. Well, first off I should introduce myself. My name is Argos, I am the leader of the 1st Unit of the Royal Guards. May I inquire your names aswell?" "My name is Richard Langley, an explorer from beyond the rift. And this is my daughter Keira." Richard and Argos exchange a short handshake before Argos starts speaking again. "The reason I have invited you here is to thank you for providing first aid to the young master. You see, he is the son of our Leader and as such of immense importance to us. He has a weak constitution so he is a sheltered child with more curiosity for the outside than is good for him. I shudder to think what could have happened, had you not helped him when you did. I thank you!" Argos lowered his head in gratitude and continued speaking. "The Allfather would like to thank you aswell, but due to his duties he is unable to do so right away and in person. He has ordered me to fulfill any wish you may have, aslong as it is within my power. So if you wish to return to the human continent, I shall do so." After a short moment of thinking, Richard answered "If possible i would like permission to explore this place some more. I wish to learn how the people here live, their culture, their past and their way of life. Would that be possible?" "Are you suggesting you'd live here among dragons as humans?" Argos seemed quite surprised but let out a hearty laugh that could be felt even in ones bones. "That can be arranged! Although let me warn you in advance, you would have to learn our language and it's not the easiest to learn and some of our people have a bad view of humans so it's not impossible for something bad to occur. Are you sure?" Richard nodded. The two of them continued to talk out the specifics, such as a house for the Langleys aswell as organizing someone to teach them the draconic language. It was also decided upon, that Richard would be allowed to explore the old Ruins located near the city, which are normally off limits due to potential dangers.
3 years passed by in a flash. Keira was now 10 years old, the age that most dragons start learning magic and martial arts, so she got trained by Argos himself. She was a prodigee with both fighting styles and especially talented fighting with only her body and a spear. Meanwhile Richard kept researching the old ruins and wrote down every little detail he could find. He worked tirelessly, to the point he wouldn't eat for days on end. That was what caused a tragedy to hit. Richard became weaker and weaker and ended up contracting a disease unknown to Earth's science and known as terminal in Vhitlan. At first it was nothing more than a slight cough and outbreaks of cold sweat, but after a month Richard couldnt move his legs anymore and coughed up blood periodically. Once it became clear he wouldn't make it much longer, Richard begged Argos for a last favor, taking care of his Daughter.
The funeral took place not long after and Keira was moved into the Palace's Guard-dorms, where Argos lived. After what happened she had become numb, both physically and mentally. She barely ate or slept and her training with the grey dragon came almost to a halt. Every day was spent going over her dad's research notes, for days, weeks, months. Then one day, as if a new fire had been lit, she declared that she'd finish her dad's work of documenting the entire world.