Chapter Text
Chapter 1: History
Centuries ago, there came to be a planet known as Ninjago. Ninjago originally was a planet without life, surrounded by darkness. Then came the dragon of creation. The dragon of creation, known as the creator, deemed Ninjago the perfect blank canvas to begin a new world. He began to paint the surface of the planet with life, growing vast forests and erecting huge mountains with nothing but the power of his imagination, and his own two hands.
Long after his descendants had come to inhabit the surface of Ninjago, the creator continued to build, his power slowly fading as he aged. Centuries passed before the creator found himself on his deathbed, his two sons at his side.
The eldest, Garmadon, was born a dragon of darkness, the youngest, Wu, born of light. On the day of his death, the creator turned to both his sons, bestowing upon them a gift. In Garmadon’s hands sat the power of destruction, in Wu’s, the power of creation: two halves of the creator’s power.
“Use these gifts as you see fit, be it creation or destruction. Be the balance of this world, or watch it crumble. The choice is up to you.” the creator explained, taking his last breath.
Both brothers found interest in their own gift, a magic unique to dragons. Both brothers sought to make the most of their magic, eventually leading to the creation of day and night, death and life, and man .
Originally, Wu and Garmadon saw man as the ultimate combination of their magics. A being capable of destruction or creation, unbound by the laws of Ninjago. An organism capable of growth and learning.
And just as the dragons had come to witness man’s creation, they came to witness man’s destruction.
Humans were quick to develop greed and hatred for the dragon kind. They sought to replace the winged beasts as the superior species, leading to mass deaths among the dragon kind. Men, women, and children were slain at the hands of men, their bodies scattered throughout the lands of Ninjago.
Forbidden by their ancestors to retaliate against humankind, the dragons instead adapted to escape the murderous beings, retreating far into hiding amongst their own. Elder dragons came to form sanctuaries, places where large populations of their fellow kind could retreat, yet remain safe from man’s hate. While dragons were still bountiful in Ninjago’s many lands, they shied away from humans, for fear of being slain, enslaved, or worse.
However, not all escaped man’s wrath.