Finley Ray

Finley Ray was a powerful sorceress who lived on the Lowland Plains during the second-half of the Second Chaotic Period. Very little is known about her, but she was believed over 150 years old at the time of her death, and to have traveled extensively in her youth.

Early Life

Finley was most likely born Atayan, although no record of her in Ataya exists (this is common for most people at the time; Eieber himself had no birth-records). She probably lived in one of the minor outlying villages whose name and location are now lost.

She must have traveled extensively in her youth, as she told stories of Rowen clear down to the Erum Range, and even claimed to be an honorary member of the Kepakemapa Tribe. Though her credibility was many times called into question, historians agree she was likely truthful about most of her journeys. Eieber himself claimed she was at the forging of Echbalder.

If her great age is believed, Finley was probably born around B.G.A. 140, or roughly the middle of the Second Chaotic Period.

Throughout the early part of her life, Finley traveled widely and became a powerful mage. A Sorceress, to be precise. because while she lived in a tower, she never practiced tower-magic.

The Lonely Mountain

By around 100 B.G.A., Finley had settled at a little tower to call her own. She did not practice tower-magic and used the tower as a home. From her vantage point, she used powerful Anomancy to gain control of hundreds of feral dragons which did her bidding.

Finley used her dragons to protect dozens of small villages that no doubt otherwise would have had their populations enslaved;–– all in near-secrecy.

Later Life

In 4 B.G.A., Eieber was still on his Long March. He had heard that the dragons of the Lonely Mountain were sympathetic towards humans, and traveled there to climb the mountain and speak with their elders. He was, at the time, preparing to launch an invasion of Korrinth, but was faced with the obvious problem of getting his troops there.

Korrinth posed several problems for Eieber. It was protected by a massive desert and an armada of ships. The only land-route his army could march through would require him to attack the well-defended Two-Fang's Pass. High Mountain Flight was too far to send significant aid, so he turned to the Lonely Mountain Flight.

Rumors had persisted that Lonely Mountain was not a 'true' dragon-flight, but Eieber had to see for himself. Having grown up beneath dragons, he was well aware of their flight patterns and behaviors, and very quickly realized something was amiss. When he saw the tower, he knew a mage of signficant power must be involved (Finley was basically unknown at this time; even her "subjects" were unaware of her existence).

When Eieber first visited Finley, he was surprised to see her tower looked more like a lonely homestead than the base of dragon-commanding wizards. Finley first turned him away, so he cut some firewood and piled it by her door before leaving.

The next day, Eieber brought a basket of cheese and simply left it on Finley's doorstep, not even bothering to knock. On the third day, he arrived carrying a collection of rare scented soaps and freshly-baked cinnamon bread, and Finley invited him inside. They spoke for many hours, and finally reached an agreement.

Finley and her dragons would join Eieber's march, and in exchange Eieber would leave behind a contingent of soldiers to guard the lands in place of her dragons.

Eieber's March

Finley's dragons carried Eieber's army over the Deadlands and into Korrinth, where they took the capitol city in a siege that lasted just three weeks. The dragons were then set upon the Korrinth Armada, destroying it in a single night. Reinforcements sailed around Two-Fang's Pass and laid siege to the fortress on both sides.

Finley stayed with Eieber's army in Korrinth and helped them take the nation, while Eieber continued his march.

Later Life and Death

Most of Finley's dragons were killed while fighting in Korrinth, and she returned home with the help of Eieber's soldiers. She never attempted to rebuild her forces, and her lands became a part of the Alliance.

The exact date and year of her death are unknown. 10 years after the war's end (and 14 years since they'd last spoken) Eieber journeyed to the Lonely Mountain to thank Finley again for her service, but found her long dead, alone in her tower.

Legacy

The exact borders of Finley's land were never established, though somewhere in the northern region of the Lowland Plains is considered the general area, with the northern-most border at the mountains of Rowen.

Hence, the entire region was never taken under direct control by the Alliance, and was made a Remote Autonomous Region, with the small villages allowed to grow and flourish of their own accord.