In 826, the Third Council was established to rule over the material interests of the leaders of the draconic movement. The rulers began a long and intense Grand Ritual that was expected to take generations to conclude. During the development of the Grand Ritual, the fortunes of the Empire of Wyrms Friends grew. In 889, the Third Council demanded to be worshiped in place of the traditional Lightbringer deities. Immense energy and power were needed to sustain the Grand Ritual. The dance of the gods in the early stages of the ritual provided much of the energy used to expand the Third Council’s domain. However, in the latter parts of the spell, more and more power was to be provided by the population.
The Grand Ritual had countless components and requirements. Among them was the presence of Golden Age beings that predated the separation of Beast and Man – such things as horse-people, bull-people, fox-people, and bird-people. As such liminal creatures did not exist in Dragon Pass, they needed to be made and so the Third Council did just that. The infamous Stitched Zoo is where these unfortunates resided until it was time for them to take their place in the Grand Ritual.
The Grand Ritual was never completed, as the Third Council was destroyed in 1042. The Beast Men survived the Dragonkill War – indeed they were completely ignored by the dragons.
Dragon Pass region
The infamous Stitched Zoo was outside of Voss Vairainu.
Interestingly, although the Third Council was most definitely not Malkioni, they whole-heartedly embraced the God Learner monomyth and can be said to have completed the synthesis between Orlanthi and Pelorian mythology that began with the Second Council.
The origin of the ducks? that’s certainly a solid theory. But the truth is – nobody knows. There’s no recorded mention of ducks in the First or Second Age. But that also does not mean much. Maybe they have been in Dragon Pass since Time began, but were just largely ignored. Maybe they first appeared in the Third Age. Who knows?
