In a distant world, there once lived a dragon with the power of life, on a lone mountaintop. It was white, with white eyes and white wings, with a white so pure it seemed to glow. Its universe was filled with all sorts of powers, and the dragon liked them. To express these, it created humanoid creatures called "vessels". The dragon commanded the energies of the universe to fill these vessels, and gave them life.
Each vessel contained only a fraction of this energy, but these energies were plentiful and powerful. The energy in the vessels came to expression by giving each vessel a specialty. A vessel excelled at its specialty, but other things it could only do sloppily at best. Multiple vessels shared one specialty, but no one vessel had two specialties. Among the vessels were farmers, warriors, nurses and many more, each fuelled by their specialty.
With the help of the dragon, the vessels built a society on each other's strenghts. Each vessel did what the others could not, and they found joy in what they did. They knew no currency, as everyone got what they needed by mutual support. The vessels constucted a large city around the mountain on which the dragon resided, and revered it for giving them life. At its apex, countless vessels resided in the city, all working together for their mutual survival and happiness.
Unfortunately, in the deep, dark caves of the world, there was also a black dragon of death. It was completely black all over its body, so black it seemed to be only a shadow. It hated the white dragon and wanted its destruction. The white dragon, however, had proven itself stronger. Therefore, the black dragon sought to destroy what the white dragon loved most: its vessels.
But it did not kill the vessels; instead, it came out of hiding and told the vessels in their dreams that the white dragon was hiding their true potential from them. For weeks, it planted doubt into their minds and hate into their hearts. The vessels who believed it found no joy in their jobs anymore and wanted more. These would move to the lowland, away from the white dragon and its mountain, to start their own societies. They used rocks to keep track of how many services they could buy and tried to be generalists, which they were not. Some found out they were truly specialists, but told themselves their trade was the only good trade and all others were lesser. These vessels brought even more segregation and battles ensued.
As time went on, the mountain city ran empty and began its decay. The white dragon figured the vessels' societies would collapse in on themselves under their own pride, and it needed to reunite them. But it could not make a generalist vessel. Instead, it made a special vessel. One unlike the others. One, which was very pure and beautiful. The dragon gave it its own power, the power of life. This vessel of life had the purpose of showing the white dragon's power and tell the other vessels of what they were missing out on.
Everywhere it went, it raised vessels from the dead and told the vessels that the white dragon was looking for its children, and that they needed all specialties to be together to thrive. Those which believed the vessel of life returned to the mountain city and helped rebuilding it. Others only grew jealous of its life power and angry at its words, and sought to kill it. Still, little did they know what this would do.
A group of the angry vessels awaited the life vessels on its travels, and with a majority they overwhelmed and killed him. They dumped its body outside their city to rot. However, while the vessel itself was dead, the power inside was not. With pure life energy coursing through it, after just a few days the vessel of life stood up again, and walked. The vessels in the city were unaware of what was going on, until a guard saw a vessel approaching. But, it was not just any vessel. It was the vessel they had killed. White like a ghost, the guards told the others, but they were laughed at. Then, the vessel entered the city and panic broke out. Those marvelling at its power second guessed their life choices and came to the conclusion the life vessel was right. Those blinded by pride wanted to kill the vessel again, but they had to conclude it would not make a difference. The vessel of life came to another city, where again it was awaited and killed. They beheaded it and buried its body outside the city walls, while keeping the head itself as a trophy. Again, they were not ready for the result. A few nights later, the head rolled away and attached itself to the body, which had dug itself out of the ground. Some of the life energy had been lost, but not enough to keep the vessel dead. The morning after, the stubborn vessels saw the life vessel, standing at their city square, alive and well. Shocked and confused, they chased the vessel away. It was not seen again.
Years passed, and the independent societies crumbled as they failed to take care of themselves. However, the mountain city was alive- be it in a state of disrepair. Realising its plan had failed, the black dragon showed itself and attacked the city directly. The white dragon knew the black dragon would likely attack again, and in the path of the black dragon it set up a trap. The black dragon stood eye to eye with the vessel of life. It had been with the white dragon all that time. Angered by its appearance, the black dragon killed it. This time, the vessel of life stood up within seconds. Every wound it got healed immediately, and every time it died it regained consciousness moments later. Even when its body was in pieces, it reassembled before all parts had even hit the ground. Unsure of what was going on, the black dragon used its complete might to kill the vessel, but it resisted death so strongly it remained unscathed. Weakened and confused, the black dragon stared at the vessel. At this point, the white dragon came from above and smit the black dragon down. The dragon of death was forced to retreat. Now, it became clear what happened: the white dragon had used its life power to fuel the life vessel, and gave it the winning edge. The battle left the life vessel drained of energy and it collapsed, finally dying definitively.
Despite the life vessel's death, its memory lived on into legend among the vessels of the mountain city. The white dragon throned above like usual, but it seemed nearer than ever before. Even today, the story of the life vessel is told in the city, and it shall not be forgotten easily.
