[@Shadow Dragon]

"Powerful scrying magic, although truth be told, there is a coldness about you that even a lay dracon can sense through that disguise. You had best work on hiding it better" Ophion explained. "Now, lower that scythe and we can talk like civilized dracons, or else we shall truly give the citizens a cause to run. I don't want that to happen and you'd better not want to cause that kind of mayhem either."

[@bloonewb]

Ternoc could only sigh wistfully at her first comment. "It isn't that I didn't grow up with such stories, but rather, they lost their magic for me at a young age. Growing up in such a unique household, one learns the falsehoods of such tales very quickly, and then relearns them as weapons of propaganda to be unleashed on the weak-minded. I need not remind you that my childhood was hardly a happy one. And yes, that is a fork. One of my uncles had his eyes stabbed out by one in a failed assassination attempt. In any event, such martyrdom tales aren't uncommon among the underdogs of the world. I find they the tales people tell their children can turn from martyrdom and victimhood with miraculous victories into stories which justify oppression in no time at all. In fact, I have one myself that I was told over and over again as a child. Didn't believe a word of it then, still don't."

He finished his wine before speaking. He was going to need it to belt this one out.

"It has been said that long ago, the world was run by a hard and fast rule: that one gets what one deserves, whether it is in this life or the next. It was also said that no one went to heaven or hell, but that all were born anew upon death, with their station in their new life being a reward or punishment for their deeds in the last. In life itself, it was said that if something bad happened to you, it was a punishment for one's sins, whereas good luck was recompense from the universe for good deeds. This held true for entire species as well as individuals, families, and nations. If a species suffered, they had done something to deserve it. Same thing with those races who prospered."

Ternoc took another bite before continuing. "Funny how that works. The myth of a perfectly just universe being used to justify poverty, misery, and inequality. Not that all inequality is bad, but too much of it causes problems, as I'm sure you're aware. Anyway, it was in this era of rebirth that the hero Nergamesh was born. He was a dracon of great renown in almost every way: a prince, a soldier, a mage, even a poet. And yet, despite all he had, the only thing he could think of was the day when he would lose it all, for no matter what great deeds he accomplished in this life, all would be wiped away when he died. And while he led a good life, the prince feared that his next would never be able to match what he had. The same could be said the rich, who feared coming back into a life worse than what they had. The poor feared it too, for few of them led lives which matched up to the lofty expectations set by them. The priests of those days were said to have made it very clear that only an exceptionally virtuous life could merit rebirth into a higher class, as the poor far outnumbered the rich. You can see why one would imagine that being reborn with more wealth would be seen as a hard thing to do" Ternoc explained, briefly breaking the flow of the story to finish his food.

"Nergamesh called a meeting of all the priests and princes of all the lands and all the races- this is where I stopped taking the story seriously as a child- and he bade them pray, fast, and meditate in hopes of being given a way out of the endless cycle of death and rebirth. After one hundred days and nights, the gods answered the assembled magnates, offering to allow mortals into heaven in exchange for three things: increased worship, the construction of great temples, and the acceptance of the possibility that everlasting hell might await the sinners."

"After much deliberation, the assembly agreed to the god's new plan, with the only dissenters being the kobolds, goblins, and orcs. For this rejection of divine mercy, they were cast out from the possibility of heaven, yet exposed to the fires of hell, with only their stubbornness to blame. Nergamesh went on to perform many deeds in the name of all the gods, most of which are etiological myths to explain how things came to be. Supposedly, he dug whole rivers in a day, opened passes into mountains, slew horrific monsters and used their body parts to make natural landmarks, and so on and so forth. I won't bore you with the details. Many of Nergamesh's exploits involved wars against kobolds and goblins, along with excursions to other continents. When he died, it is said that he was placed in the highest sphere of heaven, where the gods themselves actually dwell. Now, I could talk about the historical Nergamesh and the mythical one, but I think you get my point. If there's any truth to the myth at all, it has to do with the last part, where astrologers seeking answers to hard questions can often find clues to them in the stars in Nergamesh's Belt. That's his constellation, after all. Sort of a catch-all place for amateur astrologers seeking quick if incomplete answers to their problems. Not that any of his depictions show him wearing a belt, but that's besides the point."

He cleared his throat, then continued. "The actual point is that myths can be and often are used to explain and justify behaviors, not tell the truth. While myths may, at their best, provide moral instruction, it becomes difficult or dangerous to try and apply their literal meaning to the real world. If dracons who heard the tale of Nergamesh believed it and if it were true, kobolds would be damned to a life of misery and poverty, and it would totally be their fault. And on a minor note, if that fruit is really as you say it is, perhaps Rughoi could use a bite of it."