Let there be Dragons!
So I have been chatting with a nice member of E about dragons in this world. I want to share what we have done and invite some rp if anyone wants to explore it.
I was thinking the Island of Mysts as the home of the dragons. It will be a much larger island on its own, perhaps about the size of Iceland. I was thinking of having it further south though to allow a semi tropical feel to it. It is situated in the Sea of Hurricanes to the south and west of the mainland of Tierra.
The inhabited islands are the home of the Empress and her people, they will be a chain of isles that extent somewhat towards the continent of Tierra. I am suspecting they will be volcanic in origin, and may still have a few active volcanoes. Though they have a very dormant state and do not pose an immediate threat to the people.
These people will for the most part be simple folk who live on the islands much like the folks did in Feudal Japan. Tribal leaders become Warlords and hold sections of land and the peasants look to them for protection. They are always shifting alliances and sometimes a lesser Warlord is eliminated and the peasants are scattered and homeless. A Warlord who conquers this way can be either helpful and accept the distraught peasants or chase them off his newly conquered land. There is almost constant warfare and battles between warlords.
Their clothing is made from the spun and woven fibers of a variety of spider that makes very tough and sturdy webbing. I am thinking it is a large and mostly benign spider that has no poisonous bite, Though it can bite if provoked, it can be somewhat farmed for its silk like webbing with careful tending. I will call this spider a Silkaner. Like any normal spider, it eats other insects.
Some other things about the peasants, they will be also dependent on the ones who fish in the sea. Everything from squid to shark to whale, and lots of other varieties of fish. So they have fishing boats and nothing much larger than maybe thirty feet in length. They use nets made from a plant fiber called hempas.
I can see the possibility of the dragons having some influence on the smaller islands. I do not want to make them all super intelligent and all God like. They use magic yes. They can use elemental magic, that is fire, earth, air, and water. But they can be aware of the humans on the islands, but do not have any way of communicating with them.
I can see the possibility of the dragons having some influence on the smaller islands. I do not want to make them all super intelligent and all God like. They use magic yes. They can use elemental magic, that is fire, earth, air, and water. But they can be aware of the humans on the islands, but do not have any way of communicating with them.
As far as shapeshifting, I can see that as a more advanced technique they learn from the Goddess I have in this world I call Artemia. I see it as the Goddess wants the Dragons to have more contact with the humans and elves. So she visits the Elder Dragons and convinces them to encourage limited contact. In so doing she offers them a chance to shapeshift into humanoid form in order to learn more about humans and their culture.
The Creator will be more like a totally unfathomable Being that may or may not interact with the worlds.
I see the Goddess as more of a Caretaker Angel than an actual Goddess. She has many powers, including bestowing the ability to shapechange. But she demands absolute obedience to the rules she puts down. I call the ones she favors with this priesthood the Draelren.
The Creator really does not have much active influence on the world. She just made it and filled it with various life forms, setting Artemia as a Guardian to guide the sentient ones. Those who come into contact with Artemia call her a Goddess. She does not deny it, but rather assumes a more motherly attitude to them. Encouraging them to take care of nature, to take care of each other, and to try to avoid wars.
Artemia can do many things, as a Guardian. But she cannot stop the basic instincts of survival that all creatures possess. In fact she wants them to survive. She just wants them to be nicer to each other. But fighting over territory is one of the basic things all creatures do, even the small ones. All she can do is encourage them to learn and experience all that their curiousity leads them to do.
I don't need every creature on the Mystic Isle to be dragon based. Just that the ones who can use magic are tied to a common ancestor. There can be many varieties of birds, mammals and amphibious creatures that are not dragons. As well as insects. I see the more intelligent ones as being draconic, but there can be other creatures there as well.
-------------
1) Intelligence roughly comparable to a human's (or elf, dwarf, any other race I put on the planet I consider sentient)
2) Affinity and ability to skillfully use elemental magic. (This is what sets them aside from the other creatures on the Isle, and any other part of the world)
Any other traits they may or may not have (like wings) can be chalked up to evolution at work.
