They were called the draken, and were appalling beasts to behold. Some of our oldest parables feature these monstrosities, and at night we still tell misbehaving children of their furious anger and thirst for blood. We quickly learned to hide from them, using natural enclaves to keep their keen eyes attracted elsewhere. Still we lost thousands of our kind, while other creatures were entirely wiped out under their relentless onslaught. Others, such as the Mau, and Krall, were enslaved by the draken; only kept alive so that their brute strength could be used against other enemies.

These draken, sent by Aion to rule Atreia, quickly became more confident as their numbers swelled. However, as their greed for power grew, so did they start to forget their mission, and indeed, their god. Our stories tell of one day in particular, when something changed in the draken. They became more organised, and a few of their number gained dominance over the others. We later learned these draken called the event their ‘awakening’, and it was roughly around this time that their new masters, the five Dragon Lords, renamed their kin with the term which we still use today - the Balaur.

The first time our ancestors saw the Balaur, they thought them a new species, such was the difference in physical appearance and ability. It was only after their first attacks that they recognised the sheer brutality of their assailants, and their unrelenting desire to extinguish life, that the truth dawned on our ancestors: These creatures, who had apparently received a blessing from Aion, were the same terrors that had been so ruthlessly wiping race after race from the face of Atreia.

The Balaur had by this stage forgotten their mission entirely, becoming arrogant and greedy and demanding more power from Aion than could be provided. Aion refused, threatened by the potential consequences of granting such destructive terrors the same abilities that our benevolent creator possessed. Realising their potential was being suppressed by Aion, the Balaur eventually turned on their god, rallying forth their more warlike subjects and threatening the Tower of Eternity itself.