by Suleiman Russel
Once Upon a Time...

It is said that when Shanallan Silverhand emerged from the underworld,
pregnant with all the races of changing-kin, that she flew across the
world in the shape of a great gold dragon, searching for a cave in which
to lay her eggs. As she flew away, her bag split, sowing treasure far and
wide while she searched. So intent was she on finding a suitable lair,
she failed to notice the spilling gold.
As she hid deep within a cave, the moans and wails she cried out while
clutching called her dragon-husband and their children to her side from
their own branch of the World-Tree. Her husband helped with the birthing
of the new races, and eventually her pain subsided. When the last egg had
issued forth, Wei Fwei (who commingled his hoard with Shanallan's) asked
how she came to be in this condition, and where all her treasure was.
Shanallan siad she did not know where all her gold had gotten to, and
began to weep for it's loss. Her children grew greatly concerned, for she
was over-wrought, yet could not leave her clutch of eggs. So it was that
her two sons, Ho Ku and Thomas, and her two daughters, Shi Nu and Brigit,
went forth into the new-born world searching for their mother's gold.
But these were the first days, after the circle of darkness had been
broken, and the world was a growing place. Where Shanallan's gold had
struck the ground, ancient treasure troves sprung up, and then Ashlan
would breathe life into the spirits of the trees and rocks, and monsters
would spring to life to guard the new hoard. The world was growing by
leaps and bounds, and no one knew where the gold could have fallen.
The four swore an oath, to return their mother's gold - and their
rightful inheritance - to their family's hoard. This oath has passed from
father to son, and from mother to daughter, and is binding even now. It
is said there are quiet places in the world where even dragons have not
yet explored, and in some of those places, if you fly high into the sky,
you can see the faint gleam of gold, where a piece of Shanallan's
treasure fell.