The Arch

In the earliest seasons of the world, the vast lands were empty save for two mighty races: the Dragons and the Giants. These primordial powers moved across a world still finding its shape, each convinced that only their vision could endure.

The Dragons, vast and self-directed, claimed the open sky and the long horizons beyond it. They envisioned a world without boundaries—where growth and transformation would decide what deserved to persist. The Giants, immense and deliberate, set their hands to stone and soil, shaping mountains, valleys, and foundations. Their aim was not freedom, but stability.

One Springrise, a Dragon called Aeloria and an ancient Giant named Grondar are said to have met upon Theia. They did not meet as friends, but as representatives of incompatible futures. Their debate was fierce. Aeloria traced burning arcs through the sky, marking what might yet be, while Grondar struck the land, measuring what must be held in place.

As their contest escalated, the world itself began to strain. Sky and stone alike threatened to fracture under the weight of opposing intent. It is said that both perceived, in that moment, that unrestrained conflict would leave nothing worth claiming.

What followed was not reconciliation, but alignment.

Aeloria spoke of passage—of a structure that would allow motion without surrender.
Grondar answered with measure—of a form that could endure such motion without collapse.

Together, they raised the Arch. Dragonfire carried fragments skyward, while Giant strength gathered and set them, bending swarms and stone into a vast span. The Arch did not unite their realms so much as contain them, creating a controlled crossing between Mundus and Aether.

The Arch stood as a boundary made mutual—a compromise etched into the world itself.

In time came the Enclouding, and the Arch passed from common sight, revealed only during Springrise and Autumnset. Whether this concealment was deliberate or an unintended consequence is unknown.

Few now remember the true purpose of the Arch. Fewer still agree on whether it represents cooperation, restraint, or the first admission that neither Dragons nor Giants could shape the world alone.