The Comet
Summary and Origins
Formed from the darkness of the hearts of the ancient dragons, the Comet originated deep in space. In those days, the Aether occupied the space between the worlds and allowed nearly every planet to be habitable. With the coming of the Comet, the Aether was ripped apart as it traveled inexorably to IIo. Life on the other planets floundered and became precious as guardian dragons raced to shelter the lesser creatures with great domes of solid Aether.
The Comet hit IIo with the force of over 1000 megatons of explosive power, but its dark magicks proved to be even more destructive, and the dust and magicks settled over the lands, suffocating the Saurians wherever they gathered. Then the dragons were still like gods in their power, but they suffered a devastating Lessening as their twisted magicks backfired on their own kind.
Using what power remained to them, the dragons forced the comet from the planet, which had already begun to intermingle with the land. Entire continents were ripped from IIo along with the Comet and all gravitated to the primordial moon that existed then. The new moon merged into an unholy ball of power and malevolence that would always exist to remind the dragons of their folly.
The magickal backlash concurred with a great cataclysm taking place in the Realm of Lysia, opening the First Gate between the two Realms and allowing elves to flood over into the Realm of IIo. The newly Lessened dragons were forced to deal with the remnants of their magicks along with this new race of creatures empowered by their link to their own dimension.
Extensions
Dwarves have adapted the legend as their own to further their beliefs that the moon (known as Seluna) is an evil god that hates all life on (or under) the planet of IIo.
The Legend Today
The Saurians that survived the devastation of the Comet told the legend to remind their children of the great treachery and power of the dragons, and that evil begets further evil, or that evil turns on itself. In their last citadels, great mosaics tell the tale of any that can decipher the pictures and ancient Saurian text.
Very few of the aviadin shamans have access to the ancient legends, and they guard the knowledge ferociously as it is linked to their true origins.
Dragons still tell the tale to their young in a mostly unedited form as a sign of what comes from attempting to interfere with the lesser races. In the draconic version, the dragons are usually portrayed less arrogantly and the disaster unfolds because of their attempt to right a wrong, not because of their attempted genocide of the Saurians. Few dragons know of the existence of life on the other worlds, and there has been no contact with them since the Seal of the Archmagi, prompting those that do know to postulate that any life on other planets has probably died out without the existence of the Aether.
Related Legends
The Death of Nova
The First Gate
The Moon