Rynn

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Green eyed Rynn was born in a small village in the Surdana district on Drakan. A village at the foot of large mountains, once the hometown of the famous warrior Heron. She had a brother a few years younger then she was, named Delon.

When she was twelve the village they lived in was destroyed by the Wartok and their parents killed. Rynn then  promised herself and her brother she would protect him at any cost and for that she trained herself in fighting. Without leaving her village she became a warrior over the years. She is deadly with almost all weapons, but she's a master with the bow.
Then one day when Rynn was in her early twenties there was another raid on the village. Many villagers died or were so badly wounded they would die later. Only her brother, Delon was missing. Rynn then brought into practice the skills she had trained so long for and went after the raiders in search for Delon. She would find him in the end and during that adventure she bonds with Arokh, the fire dragon of the Elder Breed. And with that a very small splinter of the Order of the Flame relived. In the following years the land is overrun by the Desert Lords and Rynn and Arokh engage in a battle against the new enemy. In doing so they accomplish a wakening of dormant dragons and even restore parts of the old Order of the Flame.

Game Series Drakan, © Surreal Software, Published Sony Computer Entertainment
Screenshots taken from Drakan, The Order Of The Flame (1999, PC) and from Drakan, The Ancient's Gates (2002, PS2)
Some artists of The Ancient's Gates
Lead design: Alan Patmore.  Lead Artist: Mike Nichols. Lead Animator: Scott Cummings. Design: Todd Clineschmidt, Andre Maguire, Spencer Boomhower, Richard Rouse III.
Art: Joe Olson, Aaron Coberty, Jerusha Hardman, Chris Robinson, Josh Anderson, Craig Blum, Susan Kim, Ben Olson, Steve Allen, Jarred gerritzen, Susan Jessup, Hugh Jamieson, Hans Piwenitzky.
Animation: Heron prior, Briggitte Samson, Perry Cucinotta, Tonya Lyle, Kent Yu, Chris Johnson.
Voice if Rynn: Jo Cammack. Voice of Arokh: David Scully

the Order of the Flame

In the old days, 600 years before Rynn lived, Drakan was torn by constant war and battle between the various races and tribes. The race of Dragons, of which there were many, burnt down houses and whole villages of the humans and men smashed dragon’s eggs whenever they could. And these were only two of the races. Then one day, in the mountains, a tribe of humans made a pact with the Dragons. And the pact held. And spread over the world. Men didn’t hunt dragons anymore and Dragons didn’t hunt men. They even went beyond that. The bravest and honest and noblest men could bond with one dragon. There was magic involved and an Dragonstone but in the end a man or woman was definitely bonded with a dragon for life. The individual bonded were scattered over the planet, guaranteeing peace and order and were known as the Order of the Flame .

The Order would last 400 years. Then a new war started. The new enemy had allied with dragons of another breed and after years of fighting the order was defeated. There wasn't much left of the enemy too but the years of the good dragons circling the sky were over. The remaining dragons of the order, now all without their bonded because these all died in the war, crept in to their caves and lairs to sleep forever.

This is one of the best games in this genre. Quality of graphics and animation is brilliant. What you see in the screenshots above is actually what you play with and see in the game. Good storyline and a lot of exploration to do the accomplish your goal. And besides that there are a lot of optional quests that brings you deeper in the game and lets you discover the world your in even more.
The world Rynn lives in is enormous. You can fly over it on your dragon or you can go on foot. If you go on foot your in for a long walk and changes are you get lost between the hills and mountains and rivers and caves. It's a good thing your dragon, Arokh, gets worried after a while and starts looking for you. It's absolutely breathtaking when you mount your dragon and take off in the air. The world falls away and you look over the trees and mountains and everywhere you've walked a while ago. As soon as you get higher you see unexplored land and often you break your journey to get down to explore the things you saw from above. 
You spent a lot of time underground in caves an in buildings and there you're on your own. The enemies are tough and they don't stand in line waiting until you've beaten one. As soon as they notice you they all come after you or await you around the corner. 
One funny thing happened when playing The Ancient's Gate. At one time you are in a cave and there you are taken prisoner and locked up in a cell. That cellblock is build of bricks and the whole building is situated in a cave. You escape and you find out there are two rows of cells and a corridor in between. The only way out is a door at one end of the corridor with stairs leading up. You have no weapons at that point of course, so I went up the stairs slowly and crossed the room on top of with greater speed. But then I suddenly noticed the guard I hadn't seen before so turned back to the stair in a hurry. But instead of finding that entrance I suddenly was in a totally different place. At my left there were gray walls with corners and at my right there was the sloping wall of a cave. I couldn't find a way back so I followed the narrow corridor and it was obvious I walked around some square building I could not enter. There were signs on the flat gray wall. Little squares and crosses, all in the same kind of color. It took me quite some time before I realized I had somehow gone through the wall near that staircase and ended up in the space between the outside of the cellblock and the inside of that cave. The little squares and crosses were the markings where doors and torches were located at the inside of the prison. It was  a thrilling thought to be at a place in that game I wasn't suppose to be. And even more thrilling to realize that place was there at all in the first place.
I couldn't get out of it though and had to reload a earlier save game. And I have tried but couldn't find that crack in the polygons near that staircase again.
Beautiful game.
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