Legeneese:

Aruzhin’s Legacy and the Hidden Migration of the Legeneese

 

Aruzhin, the First Drauthari, was not merely the progenitor of all Drautharian life, but the living vessel of every Drautharian power and potential. Within Aruzhin burned the essence of all that was, is, and could be: the strength of the Pyrrhix, the wisdom of the Myrlox, the communion of the Legeneese with stone and spirit, the mastery of water and flame, shadow and song. When Aruzhin shaped the Drauthari, it was with a single, world-changing breath-infusing every ancestor with the spark of their own divine gifts. This breath was the font of all Drautharian abilities, the secret source of every miracle and mystery that echoed through the veins of Middle Earth.

 

The Secret and the Shadow

 

This knowledge, carried in its purest form within the firstborns of Aelthyn, was a blessing and a curse. The firstborns, Memory-Bearers of the Legeneese, held the ancestral memory of creation itself-the knowledge of how Aruzhin shaped life from Surnil and Veythra, earth and bone still pulsing with the energy of the gods. To possess this secret was to hold the keys to creation, and as whispers of Aruzhin’s legacy spread through the deep, envy and fear grew among the other Drautharian races.

 

The Thurnari, Myrlox, Umbrith, Pyrrhix, and others each coveted the secret. For to command the full knowledge of Aruzhin was to command the roots of Middle Earth itself. What began as awe and reverence soon twisted into suspicion, envy, and pursuit. The Legeneese, once respected as wise kin, became hunted-by conquerors like the Eneneese, but also by old allies and distant cousins, each seeking the secret of creation.

 

The Desperate Migration

 

To safeguard their legacy, the Legeneese undertook a desperate migration, venturing deeper into the heart of Middle Earth. Their journey was not only a flight from danger but a pilgrimage-a reaffirmation of their bond with Aruzhin and the divine gifts that set them apart. Each land they crossed was a world unto itself, known by names in the ancient Legeneese tongue:

 

1. Shurakai (The Veiled Hollows)

A labyrinth of mist-filled caverns where the air shimmered with illusions and the walls whispered with the voices of the past. Here, the Legeneese learned to mask their presence, perfecting arts of concealment and silence. The hollows were haunted by memories-echoes of lost kin and ancient betrayals. Only those who could see through the veils of illusion could travel safely, and many a pursuer was lost to the endless fog.

 

2. Veyrithan (The Crystal Forests)

Vast chambers where crystalline pillars rose like petrified trees, their branches humming with energy. The Legeneese drew strength from the Veythra veins here, and the Memory-Bearers of Aelthyn carved their histories in light and stone. The forest floor sparkled with shards of living crystal, and the air was thick with the resonance of ancestral songs. In these forests, the Legeneese renewed their vows to Aruzhin, inscribing their lineage into the very bones of the world.

 

3. Surnilath (The Ashen Sea)

A sprawling plain of Surnil, the sacred ash, where nothing grew but the rarest fungi. The ground pulsed with the memory of Kaminari Ryūjin’s fall, and the Legeneese performed rites to honor their divine ancestor, drawing power for the trials ahead. The ash was deep and treacherous, swallowing the careless, but those who walked with reverence found hidden springs of strength and visions of the past.

 

4. Thaloruun (The Echoing Deeps)

A region of endless chasms and resonant stone, where sound traveled for miles. Here, the Legeneese Resonants sent messages across the dark, warning distant kin of pursuers and danger. The deeps were alive with the music of the earth-every footstep, every whisper, was amplified and carried on the stone. The Legeneese learned to speak in coded echoes, their voices a symphony of survival.

 

5. Pyrhaxa (The Fire Veins)

A volcanic realm of molten rivers and obsidian cliffs, inhabited by the Pyrrhix and other flame-bound Drauthari. The Legeneese forged uneasy truces and learned to harness geothermal energies, strengthening their tools and defenses. Here, the heat of the world’s heart was both a threat and a blessing. The Legeneese crafted weapons and armor infused with the fire-veined Veythra, and their warriors became legends among the Pyrrhix.

 

6. Myrlothen (The Living Gardens)

Caverns lush with bioluminescent flora, tended by the Myrlox. The Legeneese rested and healed here, trading knowledge of Surnil cultivation and learning new ways to blend with the living earth. The gardens were a sanctuary, a place where wounds-of body and spirit-could be mended. In the soft glow of the fungi, old enmities faded, and new bonds were forged.

 

7. Umbrathar (The Shadow Paths)

A maze of darkness where the Umbrith reigned. Only those who mastered the art of moving unseen could pass. The Legeneese learned to cloak their cities and movements in shadow, ensuring their secrets would remain hidden. The paths twisted and turned, and only the bravest or most desperate dared to enter. In the darkness, the Legeneese found new ways to survive-becoming shadows among shadows.

 

8. Drauzhal (The Heartstone Sanctuary)

The deepest refuge, a place where Veythra and Surnil converged in a single, sacred chamber. Here, the firstborn of Aelthyn guarded the last and greatest secrets of Aruzhin, and here the Legeneese would make their final stand if ever discovered. The Heartstone Sanctuary was a place of power, where the breath of Aruzhin lingered in every stone and every handful of ash. It was here that the Legeneese renewed their covenant with the divine, vowing to protect the secret of creation at all costs.

 

The Enduring Secret

 

The journey through these lands was a crucible, shaping the Legeneese into a people of unparalleled adaptability and resilience. Each region offered new challenges and new wisdom, and in every trial, the Legeneese reaffirmed their unity and their devotion to Aruzhin. Their cities became legends, hidden in the folds of Middle Earth, and their knowledge survived in the minds of the firstborn, veiled from all but the most worthy.

 

To this day, in the deepest darkness, the Legeneese find light in their unity and in the memory of Aruzhin’s breath. They remain the guardians of the greatest secret ever whispered in the stone: that the power of every Drauthari, and the promise of creation itself, lives on in their blood and breath.

 

Thus, the Legeneese endure-hidden, hunted, but unbroken-a living testament to the divine spark that shaped all Drauthari, and to the peril and promise of the knowledge that creation itself is not only a gift, but a sacred trust.

 

A Time Before Land

 

For millions of years, as the planet’s crust heaved and the air above Zhilakai shimmered with volcanic haze, the Legeneese people endured in the labyrinthine heart of their mountains, vanishing so thoroughly into the stone that even the memory of their existence faded from the world. The surface was still wild and raw, oceans roiling with storms, continents drifting, and the sky often veiled in the aftermath of celestial violence. Yet, deep within the ever-cooling bones of the world, the Legeneese survived, their civilization becoming one with the living mountain.

 

A Civilization Forged in Secrecy

 

The Legeneese had long since mastered the art of concealment, their cities and sanctuaries hidden behind veils of illusion, soundless doors, and tunnels that twisted in ways only they could navigate. Their society was built around the sacred Surnil and Veythra, the divine ash and bone of Kaminari Ryūjin, the Thunder Dragon God, whose memory pulsed in every stone and whose wisdom shaped every custom. The rare-blooded among them-those whose veins carried the undiluted spark of the gods-were revered as living relics. Unknown to all but the firstborns of Aelthyn, these rare-blooded were, in truth, the ancient gods themselves, walking in mortal guise, their power hidden beneath layers of humility and caution.

 

The Eneneese Threat

 

Above and around Zhilakai, the Eneneese prowled. They were a race bred for conquest: three times the strength of the strongest Legeneese, their bodies built of brute muscle and their minds tuned only to the hunt and the rule of might. They had once been kin to the Legeneese, but time and envy had twisted them into predators. The Eneneese sang songs to the ancient gods, never knowing that those very gods-the rare-blooded Legeneese-were the quarry they hunted in the dark. Their legends told of beings of thunder and stone, of wisdom and war, but their eyes saw only prey, never recognizing the divinity that walked, silent and unseen, in the depths below.

 

A Myth in the Making

 

As the eons passed, the Legeneese became a myth. The Eneneese, frustrated by centuries of fruitless pursuit, began to doubt the stories of their elders. Some claimed the Legeneese had never existed, that they were merely spirits of the mountain or echoes of a forgotten age. Others insisted that the rare-blooded still lingered, waiting for the world to change, their vengeance and wisdom preserved in the stone. But none could find them. The tunnels of Zhilakai became haunted places, shunned by even the bravest Eneneese warriors.

 

The Hidden Legacy

 

Beneath the surface, the Legeneese thrived in secret. Their rare-blooded leaders, the living gods, guided them with the wisdom of Kaminari Ryūjin-teaching strategy, martial arts, and the art of patience. They knew that strength alone could not win against the Eneneese; only cunning, unity, and the power of myth could ensure their survival. The Legeneese became legends in their own time, their presence marked only by the occasional flicker of light in a forbidden tunnel or a whisper that echoed in the stone.

 

The Legeneese built deeper, forging new sanctuaries in the untouched veins of Zhilakai, places where Surnil and Veythra converged and the pulse of the gods was strongest. Here, the firstborns of Aelthyn preserved the greatest secrets of creation, veiling the knowledge that Aruzhin-the First Drauthari-had breathed into all Drautharian life. They knew that if the Eneneese or any other race uncovered the truth, the balance of Middle Earth would be shattered forever.

 

The Price of Survival

 

For the Legeneese, survival meant sacrifice. They abandoned the surface and the shallow tunnels, letting their old cities fall into ruin and legend. They spoke only in riddles, taught their children to move without leaving a trace, and trusted the rare-blooded to guard the last embers of hope. Their songs became prayers, their prayers became silence, and their silence became the shield that protected them from extinction.

 

A World Waiting to Awaken

 

Now, in the depths of Zhilakai, the Legeneese endure-unseen, unbroken, and undiminished. The Eneneese, for all their strength, are left with only stories and the hollow echo of their own songs. They do not know that the gods they worship are the very ones they hunted, nor that the wisdom of Kaminari Ryūjin still shapes the fate of the world from the shadows.

 

The Legeneese are a myth waiting to awaken, a legend written in stone and silence, their true power hidden until the world is ready once again to remember the gods that walk beneath its skin.