Vandrovic was a hostile, cunning young Ice Dragon who had unusual powers. He was the son of the great Ancient Ice Dragon that terrorized mankind for much of the Ice War, until she was slain by a huge army during the Full Sleeping Moon, Year 433. Vandrovic was wise and reasonable, but he harbored much hatred towards humans for what they did to his mother, and this anger often clouded his reasoning.
The Ice War[]
Vandrovic first appeared in the Ice Dungeon on Day 165 of the Waking Moon, Year 434, during the Dragon Wars/Ice War. At this first meeting, he revealed that he had "studied humans" and had learned some of their magic. He could use Paralyze Field and Poison Field, as well as magic healing. It is also now believed that Vandrovic was the same dragon who summoned elementals to best his human adversaries in a 433 battle that ended with him burning down South Duldrus.
Vandrovic attempting to forge an alliance with the Forest Dragons.
On Day 226 of the Growing Moon, Year 434, there was an attack on Foehan by a Lich and Frost Giants. The Lich could summon Ice Golems to his aid, an obvious sign that the attack was connected to Vandrovic. Amalphus Vei, who was present at the battle, believes that Vandrovic was responsible for the attack.
Later that day, Vandrovic was seen conversing with a Forest Dragon outside of the Tree Maze. He spoke of an alliance between the Ice Dragons and their Forest brethren, making a proposal to the Forest Dragon there. It wasn't made clear to the humans what the proposal was. Vandrovic then toyed with the humans that were present, asking for their help to collect some reagents. They foolishly accepted, and the reagents ended up being human hearts. Vandrovic then demonstrated that he had full knowledge of the Fireball spell.
On Day 50 of the Bleeding Moon, Year 434, Duldrus became overrun by many Frost Giants. A Lich soon appeared and summoned more Ice Golems to its aid. Many humans came to liberate the town. During the battle, Vandrovic flew overhead, snarling at the humans. After the battle, they discovered that Vandrovic had left the battle and had been wandering through Mirith. He had found Mackenna, and – with her permission – laughed a terrible draconian laugh, before flying away.
After this battle, Vandrovic vanished. However, his disappearance did not mean the end of the war. Fighting with the Lizard Men continued for a few moons. It was generally presumed that Vandrovic was still alive, however, and that he would one day return.
While the war still raged with the lizards, rumors began to circulate of a dragon and a warrior locked in an eternal battle. They would fight throughout the day, with neither one gaining an advantage over the other. One adventurer reported seeing this legendary battle face-to-face, around the full Dancing Moon of Year 434. Later in the moon, the lizards were routed in Welif, and thus the Ice War finally came to a close.
Vandrovic, Vaup, and the Vale[]
The return of Vandrovic and Nyatha Vaup within the Hidden Vale.
In the years after the Ice War, there were no more reported sightings of the Dragon and the Warrior. Still, the rumors persisted. Meanwhile, the long-drawn-out quest to recover the Royal Scepter of Mirith was drawing to a close.
It was in the Dancing Moon of Year 438 that this quest brought an army to the Hidden Vale. They sought the Emerald Prism, one of the final pieces of the Scepter. The Prism was locked away securely in a facility of the Division of Diabolical Devices, hidden within the Vale. The army managed to break into the facility, finding not only the Prism, but the Dragon and the Warrior as well.
As soon as the Prism was taken from its pedestal, the everlasting battle finally stopped. The Warrior turned out to be the missing Commander of Marali: Nyatha Vaup. And the dragon turned out to be Vandrovic himself. For the past 4 years, the Diabolicals had managed to keep the two of them trapped in a magical duel, with the power of the Emerald Prism.
With the Prism gone, Vandrovic was now free. He fled the scene with a warning that he and his army – the Ice Flight – would return.
The Second Ice War[]
Vandrovic made good on his threat over a year later, on Day 11 of the Blue Moon, Year 439. On that day, the Ice Flight poured down from the mountains of Duldrus into the Hidden Vale. The invasion was eventually repelled, and a new pass up the mountains was discovered: the Hidden Peak.
Later in that moon, the Knights of Silver became known throughout the lands. One such Knight, Commander Gruodland, had the ability to kill a lich by playing three notes on his Silver Flute. Such an ability would've been a valuable asset against the liches of Vandrovic, and so the government of Mirith was considering an alliance with the Knights in order to fight Vandrovic. However, the Knights disappeared at the end of the moon, and were never seen again.
Vandrovic continued to build his armies, and was ready to strike again just over a year later, in the Fighting Moon of Year 440. Toward the end of the moon, he resurrected the spirit of an old fighter that had become a watchman of the Frozen Wastes. This spirit – commonly referred to as the Ice Spirit – joined Vandrovic on Day 228 in a massive assault on Duldrus. The town was overrun, but Vandrovic seemed to have no permanent designs on it.
Vandrovic speaking to a forest dragon.
In the following moons, and into Year 441, there were more battles between the Ice Flight and mankind. These took place within the Hidden Vale, which had by now earned quite the reputation of being a battlefield for the two species. Vandrovic himself did not make any appearances until just after Blue Moon Festival 441. While the cities across Oberin were being devastated by assassinations and kidnappings, Marali was subdued by Vandrovic and his armies.
From that point on, the Ice Flight used Marali as its base of operations. Vandrovic recovered his strength after this invasion, and his next move was on Day 182 of the Fighting Moon. In secret, the Ice Spirit moved a force of dragons to Foehan, where they began to hole themselves up. The humans were made aware of this maneuver, and managed to thwart the Spirit.
There was something very disturbing about the fight, however: the ice dragons were fighting alongside forest dragons. The green-blue alliance from Year 434 had finally taken effect. Just after the dragons were chased out of Foehan, Vandrovic appeared in person. He slayed some of the human warriors present, and boasted that he had killed his old enemy, Nyatha Vaup.
In the following days, it became known that Vandrovic was in league with a vampire named Elphina. Elphina’s main reason for helping the dragon was her animosity toward Elisabeth, another vampire. Elphina proved to be a very useful ally for Vandrovic, as she managed to disable the dragon Pervil with a powerful curse. Pervil, being the daughter of Crausaar, had a good deal of authority, and desired peace between humans and dragons. It would be no secret to Vandrovic that Elisabeth was attempting to cure Pervil. And so, when not busy developing strategies or leading armies, Vandrovic spent some of his time trying to stop Elisabeth. These efforts included hunting for Charlotte, the daughter of Elisabeth.
Still, Vandrovic had to face resistance from his own species as well. There was a group of forest dragons – led by Mexur, son of Crausaar and brother of Pervil – who also preferred balance between dragonkind and humankind. Near the Tree Maze, an enormous battle took place between the forces of Mexur and the allied forces of Vandrovic. There were great losses on both sides, but the Ice Flight continued to gather in Marali, while Mexur became absorbed in trying to heal his sister Pervil.
At the very end of the Sleeping Moon, word spread that the gates to Marali were no longer sealed up. A sizable force gathered in Marali to fight the armies of Vandrovic. Despite initial success, the party was turned back by Vandrovic and an ancient.
Just a few days later, in the New Year 442, Vandrovic responded by launching a small raid on the west gate of Mirith. The defenders of the city eliminated the threat with minimal casualties. But when they returned to their city, they found Vandrovic inside, holding a terrified citizen in his claws. Vandrovic demanded to be told the location of Charlotte. Upon realizing he wasn’t getting any answers, Vandrovic killed his captive and flew away. Eventually, Charlotte was found, and was placed under the protection of her uncle Viktor. Viktor soon placed magic runes around the gates of Mirith, as part of an alarm system that would warn when frost creatures were attacking the city.
The location of Vandrovic's outpost.
Meanwhile, Vandrovic began to try and expand his territory once more, setting up an outpost not far from The Dragon’s Mouth. A force of humans came to destroy the outpost and succeeded, but not before a fierce fight with the Ice Spirit. During the battle, the Spirit claimed that he could not be killed, as his powers stemmed from Vandrovic’s.
Vandrovic’s next move was a large-scale assault against a Mirithian outpost, near the bridge northeast of Foehan. A task force attempted to stall the ice creatures so that Mirith could rally a defense. Vandrovic’s forces quickly overpowered the humans, who then retreated to Mirith to fortify the defenses. However, Vandrovic had other ideas, moving his army toward an unsuspecting Andris.
Once they realized their error, the Mirithian defenders marched after the ice army. The road to the Red City was crawling with ice creatures. Even sand creatures from the Tower joined the battle, demonstrating just how far Vandrovic’s influence had gone. As the fighting drew nearer to Andris, Vandrovic reminded the world of his skills in magic, unleashing a lich who had the power to summon ice golems. Also present in Vandrovic’s army was an ancient ice dragon. This ancient and the rest of the army was routed, but tensions did not dissipate. Vandrovic’s offensives were rapidly growing in both magnitude and frequency, and there appeared to be no end in sight.
The Liberation of Marali[]
And so it was on Day 153 of the Waking Moon, Year 442, that an army of humans gathered at the Marali Refugee Camp, for one last assault on Marali. Plans that had only existed in rumors beforehand were now announced to all. The army was to attack Marali through the catacombs, while Elisabeth and her vampire allies would create a diversion at the front gate of the city. The two groups would then meet inside the city to engage Vandrovic. Elisabeth and Viktor would then try and subdue the dragon as much as possible, in order to leave him vulnerable to the humans.
Vandrovic was prepared to defend the city, of course. All of his allies and servants – sand dragons, forest dragons, liches, golems, giants, and associated kin – were expecting the human army in full force. There were many casualties on both sides, but the humans prevailed, eventually reaching the city.
As they approached the audience room, the army found a number of dragon corpses lying around – Elisabeth had come through. The army stormed into the chamber to find Elisabeth and Vandrovic facing off. All the while, more ice creatures were attacking from outside, sandwiching the human army. The fighting only intensified when another lich appeared. Elisabeth and Viktor each tried to restrain Vandrovic in succession, and almost succeeded, but each time Vandrovic would rally himself just before falling. After a third attempt by both the vampires and the humans, Vandrovic was finally overcome.
Marali was soon cleared of all the remnants of Vandrovic’s army. Going against all expectations, however, the Ice Spirit did not lose his power. According to Elphina, the surviving dragons united under the Ice Spirit, now more appropriately called the Dragon Spirit. Some speculate that Vandrovic’s malice and iron will could not even be contained by death, and were now manifested in the Dragon Spirit. However, the Spirit has not been seen since the liberation of Marali, so it is not clear if he has been able to maintain Vandrovic’s coalition of dragons. Only time will tell.