Now I am sure you A/all have heard the many tales of the Dragon Lord, and have seen his name carved in the slave pens from Turia to Ar, but I would tell you another tale of his humble beginnings, that few have heard . . .

Not so very long ago there lived a man named Dragon, who in his youth started frequenting the taverns of the town on a regular basis, much like any young man would do. Word soon spread about this fellow, for he had an unusually large chaq, and as anyone knows, paga slaves are the worst at keeping secrets. Before long it had reached the point where he was becoming unwelcome in the taverns, his mere appearance enough to upset all the girls.

"There is the Dragon," they would whisper, and all sought to be the first to offer paga. The fact that he was usually without funds didn't help either as far as the owners were concerned, but it never seemed to bother the girls. As the Dragon moved about the town, his reputation preceded him, and a group of tavern owners was formed to decide what to do about this pain in their collective rears. The debate lasted long into the night, but in the end they realized they had only two choices. Hire an assassin from the black caste to kill the Dragon, or use the same funds to buy Dragon off, begging that he take the gold and leave their town. Wiser heads prevailed and it was decided an assassin might miss and Dragon would be upset to say the least.

Dragon, having already furred every female in the town between the ages of 14 to 60, at least twice, was only too happy to accept. He left with their gold, a song in his young heart and a smile on his lips, wandering forth to make his fortune . . .