The Story of Valheim

The desert kingdom of Valheim was once ruled by an ancient three-headed dragon. The three heads each had a different name; however, those names have long since been lost to time. The descriptions of each head remained etched into the kingdom’s history: the first head, closest to the right of the dragon, was a shimmering gold with eyes that lit up like stars and had horns sharper than any blade that could be made. The second head, the middle one, was a dark and feathered dragon that wore bones as armor and had a glare far harsher than anyone could imagine. It is said that the glare itself was enough to kill a man on the spot. The last of the heads, the one closest to the left, was a dragon whose scales glowed like diamonds and had no eyes and no horns. However, this head had the ability to sing - and it always did.

While the other two heads were known to be destructive, the diamond head always sang a song of delight. The dark feathered head was known to conversate and try to be fair to those who stood in its way. However, the gold head was known as harsh and greedy, constantly bickering with the other heads about conquests and luxuries. Despite such differences between each head, they had learned to care for themselves and for the land they lived and ruled over. All had been peaceful and prosperous in their reign for many, many years. All until one massive catastrophe occurred…

A family of mages that lived in the land were unhappy with the dragon’s rule and sought to take the title for themselves. This sudden struggle for power forced the desert land into war and turmoil. Many dragons, mages, and civilians were slaughtered in the war that had broken out.. For a while, it seemed like each side would refuse to yield. Until one day, the dark feathered head of the dragon demanded a meeting with the head of the family. That meeting was the end of the war between the two for many years after, but it came with a hard compromise. Valheim had been split down the middle; one half belonging to the three-headed dragon, the other half belonging to the mages. Yet, there was still unrest from the mages. They wanted more from the dragon; they wanted to dethrone it entirely.

The mages waited two more years before finally striking the three-headed dragon down for good. The strongest out of the family of mages challenged the dragon to a solo battle. With rules to avoid sneaky actions and cheating within the battle, the mage had one thing that the dragon never took into consideration. The mage’s magic was not an element, it was not anything that had ever been seen before. The magic was vampirism. Slowly, as the battle between the ancient ruler and the young mage went on, the dragon became weaker. Weaker and weaker… steadily losing the energy, the will, to fight on. Once the dragon had been weakened just enough, the young mage struck each of the heads. Starting with the diamond head, sealing and transforming it into the stars that painted the night sky above Valheim. The dark feathered head was next to go, being banished within the earth itself for eternity. Lastly was the gold head. Regardless of how tired the head was, it still put up one last fight in hopes of winning. Despite it all, the mage cut its wings, then its tail, and finally sliced the head from the body.

A bloodied sight. The gold head was the only one of the three that had a fate that was unknown. On its last breath, it swore that it would come back. Come back to end the bloodline of the mages, come back to regain its missing heads and the land wrongfully ripped away from it.

Many years have passed. Many generations retold the story, changing it, twisting the history and outing the ancient dragon to be the enemy. The citizens of Valheim, manipulated and being fed lies, await the dreadful day the gold dragon head will return. They fear what will happen, not knowing that the dragon had never meant the ill intent that was told by the later generations, and pray that the promise will never come true…