Dawn of the Isles
"The first SilverWing was lost in the middle of an endless, black ocean, not long after the Sisters had created it.
The SilverWing begged the Sisters each night for five days, but the only help that came was a small pebble that fell from the sky. The dragon caught it in its palm, and, believing that the Sisters were mocking it, threw the stone into the depths of the ocean.
It immediately regretted its decision, but when it tried to dive into the water and find the stone, the ocean began to bubble and boil. From that tiny pebble grew the Blessed Isles, and by sunrise, the first SilverWing landed on Silver Island."
- SilverWing legend about the creation of the Blessed Isles
The SilverWings are the only tribe native to the Blessed Isles, and have resided there for time immemorial. They once ruled the entirety of it, with cities and temples on every island save for Veil Island, which proved too volcanic for them to settle there permanently.
As such, there are SilverWing ruins from Gust Island to Glass Island, and even on a few of the small islands that the SurgeWings now rule over. The SilverWings have a long history, recorded in memory stones by ancient dragons and carefully preserved by members of the Perigee.
The SilverWing begged the Sisters each night for five days, but the only help that came was a small pebble that fell from the sky. The dragon caught it in its palm, and, believing that the Sisters were mocking it, threw the stone into the depths of the ocean.
It immediately regretted its decision, but when it tried to dive into the water and find the stone, the ocean began to bubble and boil. From that tiny pebble grew the Blessed Isles, and by sunrise, the first SilverWing landed on Silver Island."
- SilverWing legend about the creation of the Blessed Isles
The SilverWings are the only tribe native to the Blessed Isles, and have resided there for time immemorial. They once ruled the entirety of it, with cities and temples on every island save for Veil Island, which proved too volcanic for them to settle there permanently.
As such, there are SilverWing ruins from Gust Island to Glass Island, and even on a few of the small islands that the SurgeWings now rule over. The SilverWings have a long history, recorded in memory stones by ancient dragons and carefully preserved by members of the Perigee.
Decline
While no SilverWing would ever admit it to an outsider, the tribe has been on a slow decline for centuries, perhaps even thousands of years, and are a mere shadow of their former wealth and power. This decline can be summarized in a few words; once, they controlled the entire Isles, and now, they control only one Island.
Here is a more detailed explanation of how such a thing came to pass.
The first Island that the SilverWings lost was not one of the major ones, but rather the small, fertile island north of Veil Island. The VeilWings made themselves known some decades earlier, coinciding oddly with a reduction in the levels of volcanic activity on their island home. Little is known of where the VeilWings came from, but they quickly left their mark on the Isles. A dragon named Gambit engaged the SilverWing prince, Octavian, who ruled over the island, in a game of chance. He won most of the matches, and late into the evening, thoroughly drunk, bet his entire island on the outcome of their game.
Gambit proceeded to win the match, thus becoming the ruler of the entire island - the first Duchess of the Forest Dukedom. Octavian was not as frustrated as he should be, instead more charmed by her wits, and soon Gambit won his heart as well as his island. The SilverWing population was allowed to remain, but in a few generations they had either all returned to SilverWing territory or been bred into the VeilWing population.
The next loss of territory would not be peaceful.
Fleeing en masse from a terrible defeat in faraway Pantala, the GustWings arrived on the shores of what would, eventually, be known as Gust Island. Not much is known of what exactly the final fate of the thriving SilverWing population was, but they were quickly and brutally conquered by the newcomers and the Island refused all contact with the outside world. Tales ranging from mass slaughter to forced marriages are tossed about, but no one knows for certain what happened. Many GustWing cities even now have are built within the ruins of old SilverWing settlements.
By this point the SilverWings were weakened and the populations outside of Silver Island were beginning to decline. The next loss of land would be one of their most fruitful islands, but also one they were struggling to maintain. When the GlassWings arrived from an unknown, faraway continent, claiming it was swallowed by the sea and they only arrived on the Isles by sheer luck, the SilverWings saw a parallel with themselves - the legend of the Isles' creation. They allowed the GlassWings to take up home on the island, and in a few generations there were only GlassWings and SilverWing/GlassWing hybrids remaining.
It was renamed 'Glass Island', and even to this day the SilverWings and GlassWings share warm relations.
By the time the SurgeWing pirate Aleutian sailed to the Blessed Isles, there were no SilverWings living outside of their remaining island. They had once inhabited the tropical islands between Veil Island and Glass Island, and Aleutian claimed an old SilverWing fortress to keep her loot in. Thus there was no challenge to the flocks of SurgeWings who would arrive a few decades later. (For more information on that story, you'll want to head on over to the page on SurgeWing History)
Here is a more detailed explanation of how such a thing came to pass.
The first Island that the SilverWings lost was not one of the major ones, but rather the small, fertile island north of Veil Island. The VeilWings made themselves known some decades earlier, coinciding oddly with a reduction in the levels of volcanic activity on their island home. Little is known of where the VeilWings came from, but they quickly left their mark on the Isles. A dragon named Gambit engaged the SilverWing prince, Octavian, who ruled over the island, in a game of chance. He won most of the matches, and late into the evening, thoroughly drunk, bet his entire island on the outcome of their game.
Gambit proceeded to win the match, thus becoming the ruler of the entire island - the first Duchess of the Forest Dukedom. Octavian was not as frustrated as he should be, instead more charmed by her wits, and soon Gambit won his heart as well as his island. The SilverWing population was allowed to remain, but in a few generations they had either all returned to SilverWing territory or been bred into the VeilWing population.
The next loss of territory would not be peaceful.
Fleeing en masse from a terrible defeat in faraway Pantala, the GustWings arrived on the shores of what would, eventually, be known as Gust Island. Not much is known of what exactly the final fate of the thriving SilverWing population was, but they were quickly and brutally conquered by the newcomers and the Island refused all contact with the outside world. Tales ranging from mass slaughter to forced marriages are tossed about, but no one knows for certain what happened. Many GustWing cities even now have are built within the ruins of old SilverWing settlements.
By this point the SilverWings were weakened and the populations outside of Silver Island were beginning to decline. The next loss of land would be one of their most fruitful islands, but also one they were struggling to maintain. When the GlassWings arrived from an unknown, faraway continent, claiming it was swallowed by the sea and they only arrived on the Isles by sheer luck, the SilverWings saw a parallel with themselves - the legend of the Isles' creation. They allowed the GlassWings to take up home on the island, and in a few generations there were only GlassWings and SilverWing/GlassWing hybrids remaining.
It was renamed 'Glass Island', and even to this day the SilverWings and GlassWings share warm relations.
By the time the SurgeWing pirate Aleutian sailed to the Blessed Isles, there were no SilverWings living outside of their remaining island. They had once inhabited the tropical islands between Veil Island and Glass Island, and Aleutian claimed an old SilverWing fortress to keep her loot in. Thus there was no challenge to the flocks of SurgeWings who would arrive a few decades later. (For more information on that story, you'll want to head on over to the page on SurgeWing History)
Today
While it was stated before that the SilverWings today are but a 'mere shadow of their former wealth and power', that shadow is still immensely wealthy and powerful. SilverWings enjoy the best lifestyle out of all other tribes, with surprisingly low poverty levels and a highly educated population (perhaps the latter is due to their ability to easily record and share information).
It is easy to understand, then, why most SilverWings are content with their Island's status; sure, they were more influential in the past, but they're not doing so bad now! Others, however, either believe that they should take back the islands that were stolen from them, or, that they should try to spread their relative prosperity to other dragon tribes.
So far, the Queen has traditionally ignored this dissent and kept on with the current way of life, a group of dragons known as the Cult of the Shattered Moons have been making themselves quite a nuisance, stealing strange artifacts and orchestrating strikes on marketplaces and museums, seemingly with the aim of returning to the days of SilverWing dominance over the entirety of the Isles...
It is easy to understand, then, why most SilverWings are content with their Island's status; sure, they were more influential in the past, but they're not doing so bad now! Others, however, either believe that they should take back the islands that were stolen from them, or, that they should try to spread their relative prosperity to other dragon tribes.
So far, the Queen has traditionally ignored this dissent and kept on with the current way of life, a group of dragons known as the Cult of the Shattered Moons have been making themselves quite a nuisance, stealing strange artifacts and orchestrating strikes on marketplaces and museums, seemingly with the aim of returning to the days of SilverWing dominance over the entirety of the Isles...