Anaxia the Reborn

“A most irregular curiosity. This Dragonkin… for that is what she was… still lives. She must have been here for centuries. What knowledge must she have of times long past? What treasure troves of the ancient Empire we thought were lost could she direct us to? She is priceless. One of the greatest discoveries lha ve ever made. I will bring her to Perdition, my most welcome guest.” Losan K’Leth Anaxia was once the Grand Nautilon of the Dragonkin Empire’s navy. Many, including Amoch the First Satrap, considered her the greatest to ever hold the rank. She had circumnavigated the globe a dozen times, guided an entire flotilla through the Razorbed Reef, and destroyed the one hundred-vessel fleet of Rothgar Saltbeard, the feared Norr pirate, in a single battle. All the empire mourned when she and her flagship disappeared without trace. No one knew Anaxia was shipwrecked in the Gloom Lands during a terrible storm. No one knew what monsters she fought to survive in its grim forests, nor the nightmares she endured whenever she closed her eyes. One thing prevented her from losing her mind entirely in that maddening place — the thought of escape. It took her years, but she succeeded. Anaxia washed up on the shores near Twinrift on a raft, dehydrated, starving, emaciated, hallucinating. Dragon Emperor Undrakar hailed it a miracle, and after the Grand Nautilon had seemingly recovered, a great parade was held to celebrate the return of the peerless imperial hero. This time of elation was short-lived. It soon became apparent to the court as well as the empire’s leading legates and admirals that Anaxia was no longer who she once was. Though never restored to full rank to give her respite, she was nonetheless invited to military exercises, war games, and formal dinners. Her peers found Anaxia prone to outbursts of rage or tears, and that she frequently became confused in conversation. For a time they merely exchanged glances, and hoped it would all pass. But it never did. Anaxia’s actions became less and less excusable. When she upturned multiple tables in a fit of anger at a royal banquet – during Undrakar’s closing toast, no less – she had to be wrestled to the ground by royal guards and taken away. It was decided then, for both her own and the empire’s sake, that she be retired. On the order of Hierophant Lazarius, Anaxia was moved between increasingly obscure colonies and outposts until she reached the Stormwind Wastes. Within a few weeks, during which time she had been bound to her own bed and force-fed, she died, penniless, her end not marked at all in Allreach or Twinrift. She was not forgotten, however. Some Dragonkin still loved and admired her, seeing what had happened to her as a tragedy. They mummified and buried Anaxia with full honors in the Stormwind Wastes. In their disgust at the way the Empire had treated her, they drove one of her blades through her back and heart as a symbol of ‘that betrayal’. As the centuries passed, the bitterness of that act, the madness induced in Anaxia by the Gloom Lands, and the cursed magic layered in the Stormwind Wastes became fused with her. Together the dark emotions and sorcery marinated, intensifying and deepening, for a century and a half. When Siroth unleashed the Scourge of Darkness, his shadow magic blended and wrestled with the forces seeped within Anaxia’s mummified form. She was restored to life, though she remained unconscious. Nearly three quarters of a millennium later, Losan K’Leth, operating the Representation, discovered her. He was stunned. The burial was of classical Dragonkin style, and thus incredibly rare. But its occupant still being alive? It was miraculous. With great care, K’Leth had Anaxia’s sarcophagus shipped to Perdition. K’Leth performed several rituals to wake Anaxia from her hibernation, each he carefully designed after studying ancient tomes on shadow magic and Dragonkin history. When Anaxia opened her eyes at last, in a fire-lit stone chamber of a design she did not recognize, she was terribly confused, frightened, and furious. Screaming and roaring denial, she surged from her sarcophagus, blades in hand, believing she was back in the Gloom Lands. K’Leth barely escaped her wrath. His assistants did not. She beheaded, disemboweled, or de-limbed them all, before fleeing. For days after, Perdition was in chaos as K’Leth ordered his warriors and servants to track Anaxia down. Not even Giath the Truthshield succeeded. The Dragonkin escaped. The pandemonium did not escape the notice of Hierophant Lazarius, who had been tasked by the Arbiter to watch Perdition. He decided to investigate.