Giogioni Dragonspur©
Giogioni Dragonspur was born in a small village called Corenae, in the far southern area of Calidair. His parents were not poor, but they were also not rich, his father was an adventurer, and his mother was lovely lady of the small village.
The village is tucked within a very large and high mountain range, hardly noticeable from without. The mountains give Corenae a very secluded and defendable position, but if you were not looking for it, you would not see it. The valley is filled with very tall old growth forests, concealing the small village from vision from above.
During the great wars of the early days of Calidair, the area was not seen, nor touched by the wars, and the people were grateful for the cover, as they did see and hear the battles from beyond the mountains. The valley gave the folk all they needed to survive, water, wild life, and all the fern and fauna they could needed.
As Gio was growing, he would venture into the basement of their small cottage and investigate everything he could find. One day he discovered, what looked like a piece of shriveled meat wrapped in a very expensive looking cloth, which he took to his mother for an explanation. Not knowing what it was, she sent him to his father, who told him of a battle years ago that his father had been in, where a dragon of no small consequence was killed, and that the shriveled piece of meat, was in fact, the spur of the dragons left rear leg.
After many hours talking to his father about the spur, Gio decided to investigate the spur deeper, so gathering what he thought he needed, ventured out of the village and came to learn what he knows now about the spur.
He went in search of an elder in other realms of Calidair, and found a very elderly man that told him of what the spur might do. It was known by this old man, that if you had the spur of a very powerful dragon, the power that would or could be in the spur would be as the dragon. But the old man did not know how to access the powers it held, so Gio went in search of one that would know how and what the spur could do.
In his travels about the realms Gio came upon an old silver dragon, which befriended him, and was helping Gio learn the power of the spur, but because neither Gio nor the dragon, knew the name of the dragon that the spur came from, it was difficult to access the powers. The dragon was of some help, but not enough. After some time with the elder dragon, Gio decided to move on, looking for clues as to who the dragon was that the spur came from and how to access the powers that he thought the spur had.
He happened onto a village, not unlike his own, where he told some folk about the battle his father had told him about, and a very old woman heard about him and the battle, and asked him to visit her, so he did. She told Gio more of the battle than his father did, and knowing as much as she had, Gio asked her if she could remember the name of the dragon that had died in that battle. She told him to return the following day, and she would try to give him the answer he needed. Upon returning the next morning, Gio was astounded to find another piece of the same dragon in the possession of the old woman. She told him it was the spur from the right rear leg of the same dragon, which her late husband had taken at the battle with the dragon. She also named the dragon, Goriza. After a few days with the old woman, learning all he could about the spur he had, she gave him the other spur and wished him well in his quest to find how or if he could access the powers within.
Gio put each spur in his respective boot top, carrying the left spur in his left boot, and the right spur in his right and went off to find more answers. Two days out of the village, Gio was walking, looking up at the sky, and listening to the birds singing, and something came over him when he thought of the dragons name. He became light of foot, like they were not touching the ground beneath him. As he looked back to the path, and listened to the birds, the ground became solid beneath his feet again. This was his first experience with the spur and its powers. As he walked on, he thought of the name of the dragon with more intensity, and found himself leaving the ground, only to fall flat on his face several times. Days, weeks went by, Gio continued to think of the dragon and what they did, and how they flew, and found himself taking flight, moving here and there, not really knowing how he did what he did, but experimenting extensively with the thoughts of the name of the dragon.
One sunny day, Gio found himself flying over a small forest, he saw many animals about and thought of chasing an animal from flight, not knowing if he could, he swooped down toward a small dear type creature, and found himself caught in a tree of no small stature. Hanging from a large branch, he thought of the name of the dragon and found himself taking flight again, this time, looking where he was going. After many attempts at catching prey from flight, Gio was able to kill a squirrel, which made him very elated. Maintaining the form of the dragon, Gio came to respect the dragons and how they had to hunt for food, to exist. Gio practiced and practiced, for what seemed like an eternity, finding out how to control and move and hunt without thinking of the name of the dragon, but still keeping the name in his mind. One day, while flying back toward his village, he came upon the old silver dragon that had befriended him earlier.
Landing away from the old dragon, Gio took to himself and approached the old dragon. After a while, Gio told the old dragon that he had learned how to use the spur. The old dragon told Gio that there was much more to using the spur, than flying around catching small creatures. He said that to use the spur was to become a dragon, and each time the spur was used, a small part of Gio would stay as a dragon. Eventually Gio would become that dragon, in all ways, as the dragon once was. Gio told him of the other spur that the old woman in the village gave him, and this distressed the old dragon. He said, if there was one spur that would give Gio the power of flight, then two spurs would surely give Gio the full powers of the dragon. Gio stepped back from the dragon and said he was going to use the spurs to transform into the other dragon. The old dragon nodded, and Gio thought of the name of the other dragon, and in doing so, became that dragon. The old dragon lifted his massive head toward Gio, looking him in the eyes, shook his head. "Goriza", exclaimed the dragon, "I would know that beautiful face anywhere". "One of the loveliest female dragons ever to grace this realm." Gio relaxed back to his form and looked at the old dragon, "you mean Goriza was female?" This gave Gio a start, and his eyes went wide, not knowing how to react.
After many days and nights of discussion with the old dragon Gio was even more confused than before he had arrived. The old dragon had told Gio about Goriza, and how she was a very powerful and ancient dragon, and she had been one of the guardians of the mountains until another dragon had killed her. This the old dragon said might have conflict with the others of this world, but should not be a hindrance once Gio learns all the powers that he has through the spurs, if in fact he has all the powers of Goriza, he will be a formidable foe for most but the very old and powerful dragons.
At this point Gio had decided to visit his mother and father, for what he thought would be the last time, so he asked the old dragon if he could come back and learn of the powers that he might have with the spurs, and when the old dragon said yes, Gio left for his little village to see his folks once more. After the pleasant visit with his folks and the stories of what he had found out, and been given, he bid his parents fare well, and left for the old dragon, taking flight from just outside the village, the folk gaped in awe, circling around the village one time, he left the valley for the old dragons home, glancing over his wing, for what he thought might be the last time he sees his home, he flapped hard to clear the mountains.
To learn more about Giogioni, go here.
To return to the Adventurers main page, go here.