Boss Profile: Medeus

He is thoroughly unamused
by this biography.

Long ago, the world was inhabited by dragons and humans. Mankind and dragon always cooperated, and peace reigned as the dragons shared their wisdom and power with the humans. There were five types of dragonkin, each distinguished by their appearance and abilities.

The tribes lived in harmony with each other, save for a few minor quarrels (none of which ever devolved to full-scale conflicts). It was well known throughout the world that Loptyr, leader of the Earth Dragons, had a disdain for Naga, leader of the Divine Dragon tribe. Naga was looked upon by all as the leader of the dragonkin, he was king and his word was law. Despite personal grudges, the world continued to move forward. Mankind and dragon shared their home. The dragons bestowed upon man their miraculous inventions, and mankind, in return, shared everything they had with the dragons. Eventually, however, the dragonkin began to decline. Although blessed with incredible lifespans, the dragons drew their power from another world - as time went on they began to degenerate into feral beasts. To avoid destroying mankind, the dragons would join mankind. King Naga, leader of the Divine Dragons, decided it best for the dragons to seal their dragon forms into “dragonstones” and assume human forms instead, to allow the dragons and mankind to continue their coexistence. These sealed dragons were called “manakete.” With the use of their dragonstones, the manakete could become dragons, but only for a short periods of time. All tribes followed Naga’s lead, except for the Earth Dragon tribe. Loptyr, refused to sacrifice his power to protect the weak men who sought to conquer the world. Medeus, a trusted disciple of Loptyr, urged the Earth Dragons to follow King Naga and seal their forms, doing so himself as an example. The Earth Dragons, however, refused and continued to degenerate.

Time marched onwards, but the threat of the Earth Dragons still loomed over King Naga’s mind. Eventually, the Earth Dragons had degenerated to the point where they began to lose their sanity. They formed packs and began to rampage throughout Archanea. The manakete had no choice, they could not let this destruction continue. Naga lead the manakete to war against the feral Earth Dragons. A fierce battle erupted, which eventually lead to a direct confrontation between Naga and his longtime rival, Loptyr. Loptyr, to defeat Naga, sacrificed his soul in an ancient ritual to become a Demon Dragon. Loptyr became more than just a jealous rival, he was now a force of evil, a living, breathing embodiment of darkness. An enormous battle between the two, almost god-like figures occurs. Light versus darkness, the savior versus the destroyer. The pure power unleashed by both dragons threatened to tear the Universe itself apart. The fabric of time and the laws of physics were distorted (similar to the Elibian "Ending Winter"). After a long battle, Naga emerged victorious, Loptyr was sealed away, imprisoned within the depths of another realm. The rest of the feral Earth Dragons were sealed in the Dragon’s Shrine, left to wither away until death. Naga appointed Medeus, who had betrayed the Earth Dragons by sealing his dragon form, to watch over the seal placed on his fellow tribesmen. Deep within the Dragon's Shrine lay a hidden gate - a portal to another dimension.

After the war which scarred Archanea, Naga and most of the remaining Manakete fled to create a "Dragon's Realm." They built dragon’s gates throughout the world, portals to their new realm through which only dragons could pass. Naga lead his tribe to this new world in order to prevent another catastrophe like what happened with the Earth Dragons. The battle with Loptous was fierce, it drained King Naga of much of his strength. However, Naga further taxed himself with the creation of the Dragon Gates, using all of his power to scatter portals to the dragon realm across the land. Unfortunately, Naga would never recover. He left behind Gotoh, the Divine Dragon King’s faithful advisor, to watch over mankind. He trusted that Gotoh could protect them in his stead. Naga also left behind two objects, tools for man to wield against dragons should the need ever arise. The Falchion, a sword fashioned from one of Naga’s own fangs, and the Shield of Seals, a shield that protected its wielder from dragon’s attacks. Naga left Tiki, his daughter, for Gotoh to raise, and he then left the world of man forever. He died shortly afterwards.

While the other dragons lived peaceful lives in the Dragon Realm (with few stragglers left behind in the human world), Medeus kept watched over the Earth Dragons. He led a dull, isolated life. He only spoke with Gotoh, and their communication wasn’t exactly frequent. Gotoh himself watched over mankind, forming the magical academy of Khadein and teaching humans the arcane arts, further spreading the dragonkin's knowledge to mankind. Medeus, meanwhile, only watched men from a distance. He watched them grow, he watched them live and die, and he observed their hatred with his own eyes. Individuals being killed for simply being accused of being a manakete, with an active interest in hunting the stragglers down. Over the years, Medeus grew bitter, he grew angry. He was convinced. Mankind routinely spat on the Manakete, a race that sacrificed everything; their home, their power, and in many cases their lives, to protect the humans. “This is our repayment?” Thought the enraged Medeus. They had no right to inhabit this world, decided Medeus. So, the Earth Dragon left his post at the Dragon’s Altar. He scoured every corner of Archanea, searching for the dragons who remained in the world. Not many were found, but eventually Medeus had found enough followers to threaten mankind’s rule. Medeus’ armies attacked Dolhr Keep, a human castle, and took it. Medeus declared Dolhr the realm of the dragonkin, and proclaimed that the rest of the continent would soon follow. Dolhr began its march to conquer the world, with the remnants of the manakete and the humans they had scared into allegiance fighting against the Holy Empire of Archanea. In the territory of Altea, a peasant named Anri heard news of the manakete’s march. Hiding in his village was Artemis, princess of the Holy Empire. The two met, and the two fell deeply in love with one another. Anri saw Medeus’ threat, he saw his fellow men being slaughtered, and he saw the threat to his lover. So it was decided, by Anri, that he would venture to the Ice Dragon’s Temple, guided by the White Sage Gotoh. There, Anri would find the power to slay Medeus. The journey was long and treacherous, spanning over terrain that no man had yet crossed. Yet, Anri, driven by his love for Artemis and his desire to protect mankind, crossed the uncrossable. He arrived at the Ice Dragon Temple, and Gotoh, deciding the Anri had proved his worth, bestowed upon him the Falchion, a sword fashioned from Naga’s own fang, and the Shield of Seals, created to protect Anri from the manakete’s power. With these great weapons, Anri then marched into Dolhr Keep and confronted Medeus. The battle was fierce, but Anri stood victorious at the battle’s end. Medeus was slain, Anri had saved mankind from his wrath. The remaining manakete all went back into hiding. Mankind was safe from Medeus’ rage, for now...

The people of Archanea continued on with their lives after Medeus was defeated. The hero Anri disappeared, but his conquest became the stuff of legends. The holy sword, the Falchion, was passed down by his brothers, who each formed the Kingdoms of Altea and Gra (one for each of them). Falchion is kept in Altea, and passed down through its royal family, the descendants of Anri. However, the world had not seen the last of Medeus. Many years later - at the Khadein magic academy, Gotoh trained two spectacular students, Miloah and Gharnef. These two were fantastic magicians, they could very easily one day rival their master. However, Gotoh had to pass down the Aura tome to only one of them. It pained him to choose between his brightest apprentices, but Miloah was Gotoh’s choice. Gharnef was enraged. He felt that he was the only one worthy of that legendary spell. He grew angry, envious, and bitter over his master’s choice of Miloah. Gharnef, out of bitterness, stole the Darksphere from his master. It seized upon his jealousy and twisted his soul. Gharnef became a wicked man, determined to get revenge and destroy both Miloah and his master. Over the years his plot evolved, he crafted for himself, from the Darksphere’s power, a spell called Imhullu, which would protect him from death and overpower his foes. Gharnef plotted to revive the Earth Dragon, Medeus, planning to revive the Earth Dragon, use him to destroy the world and show Gotoh the true extent of his apprentice’s power. Gharnef was able revive Medeus, but the Earth Dragon was confined to the dark halls of Dolhr Keep. Thus, the “Shadow Dragon” was revived, the world threatened by his hatred once again.