A Captain and His Dragon [Blythe and Oniya, OOC]

[Blythe]

Continued from discussion here:

Original idea:

A Captain and His Dragon (1x1 idea)

This idea is inspired by this video that I watched on Youtube!

"Eye of the Storm" - by Lovett

I am looking to play a steampunk captain, a man who is abandoning the world he knows in favor of parts unknown. I would very much like to play this in an alternate universe—a steampunk Victorian parallel. The captain will be a man disgraced for some reason—perhaps he has failed some important mission for his crew, and now he's leaving.

I'd like to play the captain! Alas, I will only play the captain as a male character.

This is an unusual idea—I would like someone to  play the dragon (who can be sentient and capable of speech or telepathy) returning to the captain when the captain leaves his world behind and flies through the portal in the sky, and we could catalog their adventures in strange mystical lands—perhaps the cloudy portal they pass through will take them to alternate worlds—post-apocalyptic ones, horror ones, fey and mystical ones, or even the modern world.

If the dragon seems a bit too challenging, I would also accept someone who would create a character tied to the box the captain dropped! Perhaps someone he dearly loved will follow him and try to find him? Or maybe even the box will smack some poor soul on the head, and this person will be determined to find the inconsiderate ingrate who dropped something heavy from the sky!

Conversation so far

The dragon one intrigues me.  Mr. Oniya has been reading the Tremiare series by Naomi Novic (not quite steampunk, but dragons in Napoleonic times), and I have a solid preconception of a dragon race that I could happily play in a platonic manner.  I will make a gallant effort to keep up the posting pace, but should I slack, I will be sure to communicate what's going on.  I think the potential of planar travel will also keep things fresh and inspiring.

I've never read the Tremiare series, although I just might have to look into it now.

What sort of concept do you have for your dragon race? Platonic is good--it's what I'm shooting for here in the Non-Adult area. As for my character, I will likely make him a normal human, although the video inspired me to show some abilities as a chemist or an alchemist (depending on if I want a focus on a non-magical ability like chemistry or one that relies on magical theory like alchemy) in the mix, too.

Planar travel is a good way for me to keep things fresh--I like the shock of exposing characters from one type of genre to another very different genre (which planar travel gives me a chance to do).

I don't mind a slightly slower posting pace, so long as we keep in touch, which shouldn't be a problem!  ;D

I'd love to come up with a way that the dragon and the captain met, too! Depending on the size of the dragon race you want to use, I wouldn't mind using some inspiration from the video I showed--perhaps the captain might have managed to capture a dragon, a worthy foe, and the two became friends over time, with the captain finally releasing the dragon at the beginning of the story...only to find his longtime prisoner/companion follows him anyway.

There's a full description of them in my O/Os, which tells how they evolved to fit in among humans, but I was also thinking of playing it in a pre-evolved version.  The shifting ability wouldn't have come about, and it would be large enough to be ridden.  If you'd want it to be able to land on the airship, I'd say an upper-bound of draft-horse sized, pre-evolved, with corresponding wing span and neck length.  (I actually have pictures for this one, woo!  My original inspiration for the race - yes, they have feathers, no spine-ridge, though.)  Post-evolution, the body mass is such that a human-sized transformation is possible, so riding would likely be impossible (and it would probably match the size in the video).

I'm somewhat intrigued by the glowing green bottle that he threw in the furnace.  It looked like he was getting rid of a few (sentimental?) objects at the same time, so I don't think it was supposed to be fuel.

Oooh, I read about them. How would you feel about this story being almost like a prologue detailing the adventures of the captain and this dragon...that shows the "why" of how this dragon race evolved as a large part of the plot? Since they are a sparse race from the way you describe them, the captain could work to finding ways to increase their numbers via science or magic. I'd be okay with the larger size pre-evolution (riding a dragon around sounds pretty awesome in my book)--I want a game based on the music video I watched, but not stuck to every little detail, y'know? Draft-horse size would be just about perfect--just big enough to ride or land on the ship, just large enough for the Captain to complain about space, but small enough to always get where it needs to be going. ;D

Perhaps the planar travel they go through exposes the dragon to a myriad of strange effects, or maybe the Captain experiments so often with alchemy and the art of transformation that he provokes their ability to change form?

As for the captain, I'm contemplating his story being that he went in debt gambling and drinking, and as time passed, he tried so many ways to pay back what he owed. He even delved, in his desperation, into alchemy, to try to turn lead (or anything really) into gold...but it never worked. He discovered so many other alchemical marvels, but never what he needed, until he could no longer pay his airship crew. He only had a few personal items, his rickety one-man ship, and the dragon from so long ago. I was thinking that the green bottle might have contained one of his "failed" alchemy experiments--maybe even a mixture that affected living things-maybe something your dragon character got into (on purpose or accident) that he needed to get rid of.

Not sure if I want to fit it into the entire race's canon history, but perhaps this particular dragon got nudged along the evolution faster due to the events he became involved in.  As in, it would have happened anyways, many generations down the line.  This could also be while the original population was on the wane (possibly due to poachers in airships?  Not our captain, but far more disreputable folks.) so that the chance of encountering a dragon is uncommon but not unheard-of?

Also - looked up draft-horses.  Might want to go with a quarter-horse size instead.  56" at the shoulder instead of 64".

*nod* Understandable--kind of a lot to affect a whole race. I could see just htis dragon being nudged along faster, although if you prefer not to include that,  I'd understand.

Quarter-horse would be better. Then there wouldn't be quite as much struggling to fit the dragon on the ship.

As for the airship poachers, this does give me an interesting reason the dragon and captain could have met. What do you think of your dragon being pursued by other airship poachers, and this captain, when he was a more successful man, saving your dragon's life, and in return the dragon came with him and his crew, and witnessed over time the Captain's decline. It might make for good motivation for the dragon to follow him through that portal in the clouds seen in the vid.

That could work - I also had the idea that the dragon had been given to him as the result of a wager (with accompanying 'What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with this?!') somewhere [early?] in his gambling period.  Either way works as far as getting them together, and in either case, the dragon has been with him for at least several years before the portal incident, and has had time to get to know the captain's nature.

I'm also thinking that the locking mechanism he releases before the dragon flies off might be more of a 'seat belt' to keep the dragon from falling off the ship during storms or complicated maneuvers (or when he's asleep), rather than a surety against escape by that point.

Could kind of combine idea one and two a bit here--the dragon was captured by airship pirates, and perhaps my Captain character gambles for the dragon and wins him free? Could definitely fall into the early gambling period for my character--I mean, what's more excessive to win when one is gambling than a dragon, of all things?  ;D

Also, good idea on the seat belt concept that held the dragon in the video. Hadn't even thought of that.

It occurred to me that if I created a character sheet for the Captain, it might be easier to plan for this and get my thoughts organized. Let me work on that and post it here in a day or two!  :-)

Also, here is what I have so far for a character sheet for the Captain. It's sort of a work in progress. I'll expand on this later, especially the history section.

Name: Captain Tesla
Age: Unknown, presumably 30+ years
Appearance: A tall man, lean and hungry looking. He is rarely seen without his signature coat and helmet on, but supposedly without them, he has eyes the color of concrete on a rainy day and hair that looks like a black haystack.
Personality: Tesla is an adventurer, first and foremost. He styles himself a captain, a heroic vagabond in a steampunk Victorian-esque world, but most people would lump him in with the airship pirates he despises. He is a quiet man, whose actions often speak louder than words, but when he does speak, he has an intensity to him that's hard to ignore. Unfortunately, he also lives hard and fast, and that leads him to make impulsive choices...like fighting, gambling, and drinking. However, under that mysterious exterior, which very few can see through, there is a man who is made of loyalty, the type of person who, if befriended, would follow someone he cared for into the jaws of Hell itself.
History: WIP, but the last paragraph of this post details what little I've thought of so far.

[Oniya]

I'm going to apologize for the information dump, but I've been poking at this for a few days now.  :-)

Gwyntaan - pre-evolution version

Gwyntaan is a variety of dragon known as a snowdrake.  He is warm-blooded (as are all dragons), and his 'scales' are actually a fine coat of feathers, providing extra insulation in colder climates.  Structurally, his wings are more bird-like than bat-like, and rise from a second set of 'shoulders' behind the ones that join his foreliegs to his body.  While his body size is about the same as a standard quarter horse, his legs are more compact - about as long, but folding to give him a 'resting height' of about two feet at the shoulder.  When walking on land, this can be as high as three feet although the fully extended legs would put him at a bit over four feet.  When he 'sits' on his haunches, his front feet are highly dexterous.  His tail, which tapers uniformly to the tip, is long enough to lap over his front feet when he lies down, and his neck is long enough to bring his nose to the base of his tail when he sleeps. 

In coloration, Gwyn is predominantly white, although the feather structure causes shimmers of pale blue and lavender on his skin and wings, like snow-shadows.  His eyes are a clear blue, like an Arctic sky.

Diet: Gwyntaan is primarily a carnivore.  When he was first brought on board, his captors had fed him mostly discards from the crew's rations, although he supplemented that himself with the rats that lived in the ship's hold.  Later, they devised a cage they could lower into the ocean for him to eat fish - a process that Gwyntaan found particularly uncomfortable, as he is not very fond of swimming.  (In the wild, snowdrakes will perform a 'strike from above' attack like eagles or other raptors, and this is his preferred method of catching food.)  Typical food-animals include small mammals, birds, and fish that swim too near the surface.  He does have a weakness for fresh fruit, and has been known to go to great lengths to procure it.

Strength:  He is capable of sustained flight carrying an average human, or the equivalent weight.  He can manage short flights with up to twice that encumberance.  Any more than twice a human's weight, and he can only hope to glide from a height (call it a controlled fall - no possible gaining of altitude.)

Intelligence and use of language:  Gwyntaan's vocal structure is not capable of producing human speech, although he has developed a keen understanding of English (and 'colorful metaphors') through exposure.  He can 'broadcast' emotions to just about anyone nearby, and uses this to convey general needs.  To date, this is the most communication he has exhibited.  He is quite clever overall, particularly when he sets his sights on a particular goal (like the barrel of apples in Cargo Hold #3).

Wisdom:  He is somewhat impetuous, which may have assisted in his initial capture.  He has grown beyond his youthful naivete, no longer quite as quick to trust, but can still be tricked by a fast-talker.

Dexterity:  His foreclaws (three 'fingers' with an opposable 'thumb') are capable of doing anything a human's can do.  The claws can make initial attempts at 'human actions' clumsy.  His tail can be used to 'poke' at things, and also makes an effective whip - his original captors learned to stay out of its range.

Combat (if necessary):  Has very sharp claws on all four feet.  Will bite if he has to, but thinks humans taste weird.  Will also strike with wings or tail if attacked from the side or rear.  In aerial encounters, prefers to swoop from above, striking with his fore-claws.  If he's not hunting, the 'snatch and drop' is a favored tactic.  He does not have a breath weapon (unless he has been eating fish recently.  *Phew*!)

Other traits:  Can be quite stubborn and willful.  Fastidious, but not to a fault.  Enjoys baths when he can get them, but dislikes water that is more than four feet deep.  Will sometimes curl up behind the boiler for a heat-soak, but avoids it when the furnace door is open.  (Small flames are fine, something the size of a campfire is tolerated, but the large fire in the furnace terrifies him.)  If the door is opened while he is behind the boiler, he will retreat to the furthest corner and hiss, fluffing his feathers like a startled cat.  (This produces a very amusing appearance, but he may sulk if laughed at.)  'Croons' when in a good mood.

[Blythe]

I like the sort of emotional broadcast that Gwyntaan can use to communicate--that'll make for a really interesting RPing challenge that I really like!

I have a part of Captain Tesla's history that I worked out, and a couple of other ideas:

History: Tesla grew up the son of a military man. His early days were filled with discipline and intensity. Oftentimes the family moved to accommodate his father's profession, and he could go months without seeing him. The young man grew up quiet and cold, things he associated with adulthood because, simply put, his father was either never there or distant. But when his father was there, Tesla learned all he could from the man. His father never manned an airship, only normal ships of the sea, and Tesla would watch and admire the sailing of those vessels, but dream of acquiring one of the rare clockwork ships of the skies, to sail through the clouds the way his father did through the waves. He learned how to box and how to shoot from his father, and Tesla used these talents as a mercenary and headhunter in his younger years.

Over time, he accumulated money, and he invested with several individuals to create his own small airship, the Sunset Dinghy, as he calls it. He gambled early in life and did well, well enough to buy out his fellow partners. But the more time that passed, the greedier he became. He gambled more and more and lost money...and he did turn to raiding and piracy, but never to those of his own country. He sailed foreign airways and attacked foreign cargo and military ships, trying to make up the difference in what he lost.

He had a small crew, all of which except one were human. Keynes was his navigator and a longtime friend since he was a child. Their fathers knew each others, and Lambert Keynes was eager to buy in to the enterprise. He didn't mind turning to piracy, either, just so long as they weren't targeting their own people. There were the twins Hua and Li, both who were excellent at repairwork and craftsmanship. The two bombshell ravenhaired beauties, met on a raid in the East, are epitomies of the Chinese steampunk style, and Tesla almost always had on again/off again relationships with either sister at any given time.  There was Jonathan Tin, a man who seemed to be more golem than anything, crippled...and slowly replacing his body parts with steampunk gear. He was responsible for supplies and quartermaster duties. There was the grizzled and embittered veteran named Charles Mackleby, a drunkard with a heart of gold hidden somewhere under the rum. He is twice as old as Tesla, a closer friend to Tesla's father than Tesla himself, but an almost family loyalty kept him around.

Until Tesla turned up broke and couldn't afford to pay the crew. Sometimes love isn't the strongest thing in the world. Money makes the world go around, and as much good will and friendship as the others bore him....they could not sacrifice their livelihoods for Tesla. One by one, they left.

Soon Tesla was left only with Gwyntaan and his alchemy...and a lone map to a portal he had discovered. It was time to make a new start. He had, singlehandedly, destroyed his own life. And now he's ready to make a new one with the dragon he won from genuinely evil pirates with the very bad habit he should never have entertained.

***

I have to work in his alchemy, but this is the roughdraft thus far. I get the feeling that Tesla will have blown a lot of cash on his alchemy experiments, too.

Genres for worlds, WIP

I was also thinking of what types of worlds we might want the two to explore. The original world setting I was hoping would be an alternate world to our own, a steampunk/fantasy Victorian setting.

Here's a list of genres I think might be cool to go through and explore:

Horror.
High Fantasy.
Post-apocalypse.
Tragedy/comedy.
Noir.
Sci-fi.

Ideas for the portal

Okay, so I've been thinking about the portal in the video. I was tempted to have it be a portal accessible to certain types of individuals, perhaps those attuned to travel and magic. The portal, though, could be random in where it sends Tesla and Gwyntaan. If we genuinely wanted a challenge, we could even use the Dicebot on E to randomly determine which world they would go to next, returning to go back through when Tesla or Gwyntaan ends up disliking a world or perhaps don't find it viable to live on or make a living on.

[Blythe]

Sorry for the double post. Didn't get quite all of my ideas out in my post before I had to run and plug in my laptop, so I had to post before I had it all typed. >.<

Lemme add some more.

[Oniya]

One thing I was thinking is that the captain might have intended to make that new life on his own, not realizing he'd been followed until the familiar, but unexpected sound of claws on the top deck. 

Also, with the portal - it might be controllable, but neither of them have any idea how to control it.  Possibly some of the other realms have tech or magic that allows for controlled travel, but until they discover it, it's fairly random (think Stargate, to a degree.)

[Blythe]

I could go for the familiar following him, something the captain would not be expecting...and perhaps might be angry about before realizing he should be truly grateful that out of all the people who knew him....this dragon chose to stay.  :-)

I like the idea for the portal to be controllable and perhaps that just needs to be discovered. We could have certain keyed or attuned items trigger the portal, perhaps, or maybe certain musical tunes could correspond to a code that would allow the gate to open?

[Oniya]

Clarification - the dragon isn't a familiar.  The sound of him landing on the deck would be familiar, given the number of years they'd spent between Gwyntaan getting 'won' and the Captain losing everything.  They've probably reached a point where he doesn't even need to be 'leashed' to the airship in order to ensure his return after hunting.

[Blythe]

*facepalm* I derped when I wrote that; my apologies. I was thinking "companion" and I wrote "familiar" for reasons only explainable with brain flatulence. >.<

And yeah, that level of closeness would make sense and would explain why Gwyntaan would follow Tesla through the portal to begin with.

Oh, whenever we write for the two switching worlds using the portal, how do we want to do that? Do we want to pre-plan the worlds, or perhaps alternate creating the world as appropriate? Such as...whoever first writes a portal scene can pick the "genre" of the new world and design it in their post, and the next time the other posts can do the same, and we would take turns with that?

[Oniya]

How's this for an idea:  We roll the dice (at least until they figure out how to control the thing), and if either of us has a flash of inspiration on that genre, we go with that one.  If we're both inspired, the one who hasn't gone as recently goes next.  If neither of us is terribly inspired, we see if we can hash something out together - or re-roll if it's a real muse-killer.

(I do have a couple shelves worth of table-top books and modules upstairs.  If things get really dicey, I can stand across the room and throw darts.)

[Oniya]

Eep - double-post!  ;D

It might be a good idea for the first realm to be someplace where the Captain realizes how useful having another friendly being around can be.  I'm not sure what his state of supplies would be when he decides to head through the Portal (maybe he even believes that it's a suicide mission, and coming out the other side alive is a complete and utter shock to him), but Gwyntaan would obviously improve his success at hunting and possibly defense.  He could also probably help pull down  moderately-sized trees for charcoal if the boiler runs out of coal.

[Blythe]

Sorry about the delay replying, Oniya.  :-(

And I like the dice idea as a default unless one of us has an inspiration, and we can swap control depending on who has gone most recently or whoever has the most inspiration, with the dice only as that default fallback.

As for the first realm, post-apocalyptic would probably be a genre/world that would be best to highlight needing another friendly being around.

...what else do we need before getting things set up for the first post (and I do volunteer to do the first post, as this was my idea)? I've decided the build in the alchemy history with the Captain as a post rather than setting it in stone, to leave some good potential for change and development with it.

I was thinking of the initial scene being the captain actually flying to and about to pass through the portal?

[Oniya]

That sounds like a good place to start it.  Perhaps after he's already sent Gwyntaan off.  I'm thinking that the 'hunting flights' have become more or less the norm since he's fallen on hard times, since a dragon can pretty much feed itself more cost-effectively than laying in supplies for it.  Therefore, Gwyntaan won't see anything really unusual - until he realizes that the airship didn't hang around.

[Blythe]

That could work! :-) I'll work up an IC post in the next couple of days and link it for you here.

Oh, and if you see anything that you think could be changed or fixed when I do have that post up, let me know. First IC posts are a weak point for me.  :-[

[Oniya]

As long as it doesn't completely contradict what we've already got, I'm likely to roll with it.  ;D

[Blythe]

Okay, we have an IC: https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=180763.0

Um...my first post got rambly. The portal, I figured, would always be open on their own world, which is why I could justify Tesla having a map to it. The issue will be this--its not that Tesla can't go back to his and Gwyntaan's home...it's that he wouldn't, even though it's an option, so I thought this might work. Let me know if I need to change anything. I had Tesla fly off after setting Gwyntaan loose for hunting, as agreed, and I made sure to include a trail mentioned that Gwyntaan could follow.

[Oniya]

I gave it a bit of fluctuation, mostly for dramatic effect, but I could rationalize it as having something to do with the panel not being used for Gwyntaan's passage.

[Blythe]

Hey, it worked for me! I'm currently working on a reply. Is there anything you want included in a post-apocalyptic setting?

I figure Tesla will see Gwyntaan and be both ashamed and happy to have his friend back, and they might want to seek out a settlement or somewhere to land the ship, so Tesla can explore and deem whether or not this is a good place to settle.

[Oniya]

Settlements should be kind of sparse (at least if it was a really good apocalypse, not like that Mayan stuff that went down in December).  They might have to travel a bit to find one.

Might be some 'hot-spots' of whatever killed off civilization.  Mutant critters are always good.  People are probably suspicious of strangers and weird beasties.  Maybe they find the airship interesting?

[Blythe]

Oh yeah. Definitely a good apocalypse. Nothing Mayan about it at all.  ::)

Hmm, I hear you loud and clear. We showcase Gwyntaan and Tesla traveling for a bit and living off the land. And hmmm, the idea of a "hot spot" of what killed of civilization gives me a few ideas--I can use that. :-) And I like that people might be suspicious of strangers--after all, its not like newcomers are common.

And I have an idea for strange beasties (eyeballs! There will be many!)--I have an idea for that I can use in my next post. I should have it up in a day or so.  :-)

[Blythe]

Derp. Accidentally posted my IC reply here. Moving it now.

[Blythe]

Just checking in--any preference for the genre for the next world, or do we want to use the DiceBot to determine it? ^^

[Oniya]

I'm thinking something radically different from the wasteland.  Maybe encountering other humans, but of a suspicious sort?

[Blythe]

Humans but suspicious? I think more modern or sci-fi settings would lend themselves pretty well to that tone, maybe a noir setting if it's modern.

Also, I might whip up a couple of NPCs soon and toss them in here for you to look at when we decide for sure which world type want. ^^

[Oniya]

Hmmm.   Maybe something Shadowrun-esque?  Not going for anything near canon, just the general feel.  Magic and strange creatures are commonplace, but either feared or looked down on, technology would have gone in a whole different direction, and that whole noir atmosphere would come with the package.

[Blythe]

Let me read up a little on Shadowrun to get a feel for the atmosphere (never played Shadowrun)--but what you describe for the general concept does sound good. ^^

[Oniya]

It's kind of cyberpunk meets urban fantasy.  It's not uncommon to see a troll as a bouncer at a club, or an elf with an implant that lets him experience the internet from the inside.  Corporations are the new 'states/countries', and there's a thriving underground/black market.

(If it doesn't strike your fancy, I'm willing to keep bouncing ideas around.)

[Blythe]

Okay, got to read some about Shadowrun--one of my tabletop RPG friends has played it, and he described it, which I thought sounded cool. ^^ I'm more than willing to have a Shadowrun-esque setting be the next place Tesla and Gwyn go. I was thinking, though, that it'd be kind of cool to have the two have a systemless/diceless adventure in the actual Shadowrun setting itself, too, if that's something you'd find cool.  :-)

[Oniya]

I could do that - I've actually read more of the sourcebooks than I've played (I'm such a geek ^^>)  The idea of the world is fascinating.  I'd have to re-read in order to recall specific critters and settings, but that's not a problem at all (we unpacked the gaming books first - priorities, you know.)

[Blythe]

I have a friend who'd be willing to lend me a corebook at least, although he told me I need to be specific about which edition. Might take me a few days, but I'm sure that I can find some things in there I'd quite like. And it let's us diversify out the cast of characters in this RP a little bit, which will be quite nice. Maybe we can even show Tesla recruiting new crew members on each world (even though he's trying to find somewhere to settle, he won't get away from being an airship pirate!), so we might get to make a Shadowrun character to add to the crew. ^^

[Oniya]

My books are a probably an older edition.  I'll check the library later today.

[Blythe]

Woo! Got the IC set up for whenever we're ready to change settings. ^^

[Blythe]

Er, any idea on what edition of Shadowrun so I can borrow a copy of a gamer friend in a few days, or is there an online wiki or something I could look at to get setting ideas for it? I'm more than stumped about how to write a reply right now.  :-[

[Oniya]

Sorry about that.  The library is less organized than I remember.  *glares at packing boxes*  The source books that I've unburied are all supplemental, and don't have a specific edition tacked on, but they were published in 1990.  I was able to track down a wiki that will be a good source for flavor and names and such, so that will be a help for both of us.

[Blythe]

Ah, yay, wiki link! Thank you. <3 I'll take a few days to read over it, and I'll get a good post up! ^^

[Oniya]

From the description, I'm guessing Seattle?

[Blythe]

That was the area I could find the most description of. ^^ But yes, Seattle.

[Oniya]

It was the rain.  ^v^  One of the actual hardcopy sourcebooks I have is Paranormal Animals of North America, so I'm going to check for things that are likely encounters.

[Blythe]

Cool--I'm working on an NPC since you mentioned working on an encounter--I've hinted at her in my last post, and I'll flip through the wiki and see if I can just borrow a core rulebook off of my cousin, no matter the edition, just to get an idea of character-types, and I can flesh out the NPC.  ;D

[Oniya]

Let me know what class you're thinking of, because I'm also thinking of bringing in someone at least a little more 'verbal'. *laughs*  Perhaps Tesla might end up with a bit of a skeleton crew, at least for a bit.