Book of the One 3/3 - the Uruk-Hai and the Ascension

This final chapter concludes the overall arc of Dragonus' creation myth. It is a bittersweet story on how the Old World was destroyed by evil forces, and how the One seemingly sacrificed himself to help Dragonus save mankind. This has made it a popular subject for theatres, school plays, pulp comics and the young and growing science of moving pictures, although many would reccomend it is not for younger viewing! Priests of the One Faith often refer to this passage to help those in their congregation deal with the pain of losing loved ones, and for good reason.

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Now, you must be content to skip the next few thousand or more years, because the adventures the One had in the world would fill ever so many books. You may have heard about some of them told to you, such as when he pulled off the snake's legs and made him crawl in the dust as punishment for stealing, or how he made the seasons race each other to determine who would come first in the year, or how he had been the judge of the singing competition between all the animals. And there were many more like these, each one more wonderful than the last, and the One, the men and the animals all lived happily.

But meanwhile, in the Caverns of Solutide, those First Things that had fled when Dragonus had first come to the world were still there, and had multiplied greatly in number. None can say how many there truly were, for they were so numerous they nearly filled all the caverns, but they were never as many as they had been when the world began. But it soon came about that some among them found a tunnel that lead upwards from the caverns, and full of curiosity they followed this tunnel for many days and many nights, until they came to the world above.

The first thing these First Things saw was how different the world was since they had left it. The land was no longer flat, as it had once been, but was now covered with hills, valleys and mountains. The sky was no longer ashen grey, but bright and blue, and the warmth of the sun shone down upon them. There were no more of their kind to be seen, for now the world was fill with insects, birds, beasts, fish and men. And wherver they looked there was colour and laughter and happiness.

Then the First Things began to be afraid, for so much had changed since those years they had left the world behind. And they asked themselves, "What terrible power has twisted our world beyond recognition? This cannot be the same barren plain we abandoned to that monstrous dragon! And what are these misshapen things that walk around in it, as if they own it all?"

It was then that Old Bruin came walking past, in conversation with the Chief of a nearby village. They had been discussing the harvest, for it had been a fruitful year, and Old Bruin wanted to know what share of honey he would get for providing his help. You may have heard this tale before, and will know that it was really the Swift who had helpled, only he had offered Old Bruin his share for devising the plan in the first place. In any case, they saw the First Things outside the tunnel, looking out upon the world, and stopped to look at them.

The Chief was supicious, and said, "Why have those strange beasts crawled out of that cave over there? I have not seen anything like them before. Do they mean to attack us and steal our food?"

"Of course not, my friend!" cried Old Bruin in great happiness. "These are my brothers, who ran in fear so many thousands of years ago when Dragonus came to make the world! Now that they have come out of their caves, perhaps they can be persauded to live with us in happiness!" And he stepped forward to talk the First Things, for he could still remember the days when they lived in misery in the early world.

When the First Things saw him coming, however, they screamed in fear and snapped at him, for they did not recognise him in the way he recognised them. "Stay back, monster!" they cried as he approached. "Stay back or we shall kill you!"

Old Bruin was most puzzled by this reaction, for he was sure that the First Things would recognise him and listen to what he had to say. And so he asked of the First Things, "Why are you so afraid of me, my brothers? Surely you recognise me, from the days before Dragonus came?"

"You cannot be a brother of ours!" howled the First Things. "What terrible curse has come over you? Why do you walk on your legs, instead of slithering on your belly as we do?"

"This is no curse, brothers!" cried Old Bruin. "This is a blessing from Dragonus, the Maker, and it was He who made this world so beautiful to live in and gave me this new shape. Come on out, my brothers, and see the gift that He has given us, for we would be glad to share it with you!"

"We cannot," hissed the First Things. "For the sky is on fire, and if we were to come out we will shrivel up and die!" They were talking about the sun, as you may have guessed, but they did not understand what it was.

"And what," they asked, "is that monster with you, that walks on two legs and carries a stick?"

"That is a man," replied Bruin, "and he is our friend and a keeper of the Law. Come on out, my brothers, and he shall treat you as fairly as he treats us!" But the First Things did not understand him, and would not venture out of the caves. For they felt that Old Bruin had been enslaved by the man, and was trying to trick them out, so he could make them slaves as well.

Then a most unfortunate thing happened. For the Chief was watching from a fair distance away, and could not hear or understand what Old Bruin and the First Things were saying to each other. And besides, he was afraid of the First Things, for he thought them ugly and having too many teeth. So when one of them began to crawl out into the sun, the Chief thought at first that it was going to attack Old Bruin, and without stopping to think he threw the great spear he was carrying at it. And the spear struck the First Thing and killed it.

Then the First Things all went mad with anger, and began to flail and scream in their terrible voices. "Treachery!" they shrieked as one. "You have sought to bring us out into the light to kill us! Now we understand - this Dragonus of yours has enslaved you, and has changed your shape to suit his perverse needs! Now he has sent you and his man-thing to drag us out of our caves and exterminate us all!"

"No, brothers, no!" cried Old Bruin, for he was much distressed by what the Chief had done. "We only want you to come out and live with us, so that you should not be miserable in your caves!" But the First Things would not listen to him, and slithered back the way they had come into the caverns, full of rage. Old Bruin could only watch them leave, his heart very heavy with sadness, and then he turned and had harsh words for the Chief for his thoughtless actions.

So when the First Things returned to the caverns where their kind were, they told them all about what had happened on the surface. And though what they said was untrue, for Old Bruin had only been trying to help them, they all believed that the world above was full of wrongness and evil, ruled by a despotic tyrant and his demonic servants. And a great anger rose in all the First Things, and they clamoured together in a great mass, gnashing their teeth and flailing their stubby claws.

"Who is this Dragonus," they cried all together, "that he should force us to live in these squalid caves whilst he torments our brothers for sport? Let us go up into the world above, and put an end to his tyranny! He and his human servants shall all remember who owned this world first!"

And so all the First Things went to the deepest parts of the caverns, until they found what they had sought - the still-beating heart of Azgoth the Mad Moon Troll, which the Wrathful had thrown down into the caverns after killing him. And the First Things crawled up to it and bathed themselves in the blood that still spurted from within, and it began to change their shapes as it soaked into their bodies. They became things that stood upright, like men, yet they had horrible slimy skin like the frog's, and horrible sharp teeth like the drake's, and horrible red eyes like nothing ever seen before on this world.

And these new things raised their voices aloud and cried, "We are the Uruk-Hai, and we shall take back what is ours!"

These Uruk-Hai then began to mine the caverns around them for their iron and steel, for the knowledge to do so had come from the blood of Azgoth. And they built great forges underground, with which they made all manner of terrible weapons - swords and shields and spears and many more like them which cannot be named. And they forged armour, too, to protect themselves from whatever terrors they imagined whould be lurking outside their caverns. And once they were armed, each and every Uruk-Hai came up out of the caves in a great mass, shouting and waving their weapons, eager to slay the people of Dragonus.

Nobody was prepared for what was to come next. The Uruk-Hai moved like an awful tide across the land, blotting out the green of the grass, and whatever animal they came across they killed and roasted. They killed many men as they surged across the land, and destroyed their homes as well - they smashed down the gates, topped the towers, poisoned the water and fired arrows into their homes And wherever they went, Death walked with them, so he could harvest the souls of those killed by the Uruk-Hai and take them to the Nether. This was called the Beginning War, and it was the most terrible thing to have ever happened in the world.

When all the people and animals heard of what the Uruk-Hai were doing, they were terrified, for they never imagined that there would be anything that would wish to hurt them. And they all rushed to the foot of the mountain where Dragonus was having His Great Sleep, and they began to wail and pray for him to save them. They called out to the One also, for in the past he had stood against the many enemies of the world to protect them.

"Save us, O Great Dragonus," they cried aloud, "and save us, O One! For the Uruk-Hai are coming on a tide of blood and darkness, and they shall kill us all!"

And almost instantly Dragonus was awake, for He had heard the terrible noise the Uruk-Hai were making as they stormed across the land, destroying and killing everything. And He put His head out of the cave where He had been sleeping, and saw all the people outside His front door, crying to be saved. And the One was among them, for he had heard the people crying as well, and had run to see what the matter was.

Then Dragonus spoke to the people and animals, and His voice was very grave.

"O People and animals of the world I have made, I have heard your pleas, and I would gladly assist you in your trouble. These Uruk-Hai are indeed a most terrible foe, for they intend to destroy all life in this world until there is nothing left in it. It is in my mind, however, that I shall be able to take you away from them, so that they cannot follow and destroy us.

"But heed my words, O my people - this will come at a great price. For I fear that in order to escape from the Uruk-Hai, we shall have to leave behind this world that I have made. But do not despair, for from this Ascension shall come a new world, where you can start anew and not have to fear anything anymore."

"What do you mean, O Great Dragonus?" asked the people and animals. For they did not understand what He was saying.

"Go the the Great Temple, on the very top of this mountain," said Great Dragonus. "And bring two of every kind of animal with you, male and female - the insects, the fish, the birds and the beasts. And I shall show you what I mean."

And so the people did as they were told, and gathered two of every kind of animal there was in the world, from the smallest insect to the biggest oxen. And then they began to climb up the mountain towards the Great Temple, which, as you may remember, was built by men to give thanks to Dragonus after he had made the cure for the Dust Plague. And all the birds flew up after them, and the fish swam up the rivers to the temple as well. And it was a long, long climb.

Then the One turned to Dragonus and asked, "My friend, what is it you wish to do?"

And Dragonus said, "O Gein-Kiir, my plan is this. The Uruk-Hai are many, and their weapons are powerful - no army can stop them. When the people and animals have reaches the Great Temple, I shall lift the land behind and above me onto my back and carry it into the sky, far beyond the clouds. That way, the Uruk-Hai cannot reach them, and they will all be safe."

Just then, the One heard a noise on the horizon, like the roar of a thousand locusts on the wind. And as he listened, he found that it was made of many noises at once - the clash of steel, the creak of terrible war machines, the tramp of armoured feet and the roar of beastly things. And he trembled, deep down in his heart, for he knew it was the Uruk-Hai who were coming, and that they would soon be at the mountain looking for Dragonus.

Then the One realized what he had to do. And he said to Dragonus, "O Dragonus, my greatest friend, I am afraid I must leave you. For the Uruk-Hai are coming fast, and it will take three days and three nights for the people to reach the temple. And because of the love I bear for mankind, because I made them in my image, I cannot stand by and see them perish as this terrible army scales the peak. I shall stay behind and fight them, and perhaps I can delay them for a while so you can escape."

"O Gein-Kiir, do not do this!" cried Dragonus, for He was much afraid. "The Uruk-Hai are too many even for you to fight, and they will surely kill you!"

Then the One smiled, and he took Dragonus's nose in his hands and kissed it, and said, "Praan nu, lot dovah." And Dragonus knew what he meant, and without a word He went back into the mountain where He had been sleeping. Only this time he crawled even deeper into it, to a place that not even the One or anything else in the world had known about, wreathed in a darkness no light could pierce. He pushed His head into it, then His legs, then His wings, then His tail, and it was a terrible struggle, for it was a narrow gap to go through.

While He was doing this, the One turned and saw the Uruk-Hai coming over the hill towards him, armed with their swords and spears and other horrible weapons. And when they saw the one standing there, on his own, they roared at him and gashed their teeth and stamped the ground. For they had grown to loathe all humans and anything that looked like them, although they did not know what the One was at first, and thought he was just another man.

"Where is the dragon, man-thing?" they demanded to know. "Take us to him, so that we can kill him!"

And the One said, very quietly, "You will kill no more today, for I will not let you. Come and fight me, if you can."

Then the One put on his glove of Eastern fire and became the Wrathful, with his six arms and blazing eyes, and leapt amongst the surprised Uruk-Hai. Then there followed a terrible battle, of a kind that has never been in the world afterwards, and the noise of it rang all the way to the Nether, where Death heard it and thought it a great nuisance. And the Wrathful swung his fists again and again, and spat fire from his mouth and screamed like a thing possessed, and many hundreds of the Uruk-Hai were killed. But there was always many hundreds more to take their place, and they were all almost as strong as the Wrathful, and their armour was well-forged. And the battle raged for three days and three nights.

And on the third night, the people and animals had finally reached the top of the mountain, where the Great Temple was. Many of them were tired after the long journey, and went inside to rest and recover. But others stayed outside on the peaks, looking down upon the land where they had just been standing days ago, and could see the light of the Wrathful as he fought against the Uruk-Hai like a cornered bear defending her cubs. Even from where they stood, they could see that he was cut and pierced all over with sword and axe and spear, and his glittering blood was staining the grass beneath his feet. And they began to be afraid for him.

Suddenly, the ground beneath them trembled, and at first the people thought it was some terrible machine the Uruk-Hai had made. But then a most wondrous thing happened - the land all around them began to rise into the air, and it took the forests and mountains, the plains and valleys, and even half an ocean with it. For Dragonus had pushed himself into the roots of the land, and was now lifting it up into the sky on his back, up into the clouds where he knew the Uruk-Hai could not follow. And the last of the old world anyone ever saw was the light of the Wrathful as he fought against the approaching army.

Then, quite suddenly, that light went dim. And as the first peaks broke through the clouds, it faded completely, and was seen no more.

Then all the people and animals wept aloud, and said, "Woe! Woe to us all! The One has surely been killed by the Uruk-Hai, for they are so many! Now we shall never see him again, and who will protect us and be our guide from now on?"

And then, quite suddenly, they heard the voice of Dragonus in their heads. And His voice said, "Not so, O my children! Gein-Kiir has not died, for his spirit is immortal and can never perish! The Uruk-Hai may have destroyed his body, but I sense that his spirit has returned to the Aether to rest and recover from his battle, as he has done before. And someday, O humans and animals alike, someday he shall return to you, though it may not be in your generation, and bring about the age of prosperity and richness that you enjoyed before!"

When the people heard these words they were comforted, for they knew that Dragonus would be there to help them, and that the One was not gone from them forever.

And Dragonus said to them, "Now, my children, we have lost the old world, and that is a terrible shame. But as long as I sleep, you will be safe in this new world upon my back, where no evil can touch you. Perhaps someday, when the world below is no longer full of evil things, I shall awaken and bring you back down to it. But until that day, my children, go forth and build your lives anew upon my back, where I will always watch over you."

And so, as Dragonus had commanded, the people and animals went out and explored the world he had taken onto his back. And they found that he had saved some of their old kingdoms that the Uruk-Hai had not destroyed, and began to start their lives anew from what they could recover or rebuild. And whilst the kingdoms that grew were prosperous and hapy, they would never compare to the days when the One walked the world among them, and there had been no war or fear. 

Old Bruin survived, as did Lord Stag and the Seasons, and many others besides. The Chief who had attacked the First Things was put on trial, and in the end was sent to prison, and a new and wiser Chief put in his place. What became of the terrible Uruk-Hai nobody knows, but nobody has ever seen them or their kind ever again in the world, from that day to this.

And in honour of what Dragonus had done for them, they named the new land they had made after Him - The Kingdom of Dragonus, above the clouds, forever circling the world below.

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Notes on the text:

• An interesting note is that, whenever the First Things/Uruk-Hai refer to Dragonus, they do not capitalise the He's etc. that refer to Him. This could be considered a form of disrespect, as it denies His divine power and role in making this world.
• This is one of the most controversial chapters in the Book of the One, due to the way it supposedly portrays the Orc race. "Uruk-Hai" is a defunct word from Ancient Dragonian to denote Orcs of any kind, and the portrayal of the Uruk-Hai as rutheless warriors and killers has been challenged by modern Orc societies as a negative sterotype of their culture. Confusion, however, reigns over wherever "Orc" is a literal translation of the word, as Orcish culture was not fully recorded in the olden times.
• The Orcish Codex preaches that all Orcs were born of Azgoth the Moon Troll, similar to how the Uruk-Hai are depicted in this tale, which is one of the factors that has caused the recent outcry. Since the Uruk-Hai are stated by the Book of the One to be forms of the First Things, however, and not Azgoth's progeny as stated in the Codex, scholars have suggested that the Uruk-Hai in this tale are not Orcs, but a separate race or offshoot of Orcish blood. As there are no Uruk-Hai alive today, we cannot say for certain.
• Another controversy comes from the Drow, and has become a large factor in their religion. Since Death was seen amongst the Uruk-Hai, it is claimed he had set them upon the early Drow to wipe them out, and because of this he has become a satanic figure in Drow religion. This has caused conflict with the One Faith, who state that Death is impartial and neither cruel nor kind, but merely does his appointed task.
• No records of Uruk-Hai exist past AD 12. It is only fair to assume that the species became extinct, most likely due to infighting.
• In some versions of the story, the Chief is replaced with a King or Queen, sometimes a prince or hunter.
• The Great Temple is a real building that exists on the Crested Peaks on the Headlands. The Order of the Dragon practice their worship of Dragonus there, living in isolation in order to achieve enlightenment through practical application of drugs, alcohol and hitting people with a stick.
• The Dovah in this passage reads "Rest Now, Great Dragon."
• Remember those scholars from earlier? Yeah, they were about to publish a theory on the One sacrificing himself for humankind out of love for them. We gently advised them to hold onto their receipts.