more notes, if anyone cares
Nov. 3rd, 2007 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maderrPit dragons, or elemental dragons, this time around.
And I beg the forgiveness of Nikery and Moons, if what I say here does not mesh with everything I might have once told you. What I told you I had to make up on the fly ^^:; and I'm hoping I remember everything correctly.
Pit dragons are sneered at by 'true' steel dragons, for the most part. They're weaker, inferior, and each is limited to one aspect of what knight dragons can do -- knight dragons are no one particular element, but more a composite power that is sort of all elements, and sort of none of them. Note they've never exhibited any sort of fire breathing or whatnot. The best dragons require nothing more than their physical prowess, or so it's commonly held.
The pit dragons come in two tiers, and this is largely due to the degree of humanity they still retain.
Lower tier dragons are: fire (scarlet), water (blue), earth (green), and wind (white)
Black dragons: between the lower and upper tiers, a combination of at least two elements, and the more they contain the more prized they are. Not as strong as the upper tiers, but more versatile.
Upper tier: flame, frost, rock, gale. Note these don't have color alternates -- because they can vary slightly in appearance. They always bear some resemblence to their element, but that can vary slightly from dragon to dragon. These are always more dragon than human, whereas the lower tiers are frequently an even split, and occasionally even more human than dragon. Upper tier dragons are generally bred, and jealously guarded. Lower tier are more common, and therefore cheaper. Both can still be found amongst humans, unaware of the potential in their DNA and given the high death rate of the pits, there is always a demand for dragons.
Where there are dragons, there is almost always mobs and stuff. Precious few dragons live entirely outside of this unpleasant aspect, and most abnormals who know about dragons immediately assume they're involved in the pits and illegal activities and avoid them -- since no abnormal wants to attract more attention than is strictly necessary.
The other reason dragons are usually kept apart from most abnormals is that they don't deal so well with magic -- it's their one weakness, though the spells would still have to be pretty damn strong. Moons wrote a dragon that was involved in spellwork, which is an example of a rare exception (because he was part of the spell, rather than being the target of it). It should also be noted that the purer the dragon, the more vulnerable they are -- so steel dragons are more weak to magic than a fire.
Dragons are extremely possessive. This is a play on the tendency of dragons to hoard treasure. They are possessive of their territory, their Owners, and anything which belongs to their Owners. Their tendency to 'fixate' on foods is also a play on the treasure thing (my original thinking being that it wouldn't really make sense for dragons to obsess over jewels and stuff, too difficult to work with at the end of the day, and I wanted a more practical thing for them to covet. This eventually turned into each dragon latching obsessively on to some type of food. It can vary, by the way, from something specific - chocolate - to something far more broad - like ice cream or cookies. Nor is it always sweets).
The vast majority of dragons are very solitary in nature -- they're perfecty content to be with their Owners and no one else. But there are exceptions, which only makes sense. Some dragons like having other playmates (Sie and Ril are an example of this, as is Moon's Shale). It should also be noted that they don't see mates as a threat. To a dragon mind, mates are simply something else that 'belongs' to their Owner. Oliver is a perfect example of this. Lin accepts Oliver as Dri's mate, and therefore just something else which belongs to Dri. If Ricky for some reason acquired a girlfriend or boyfriend, he would be regarded the same way by Cal (but Ricky is content with just Cal. If they hadn't left the Clan, they would be regarded as a beautiful example of all that 'knight and dragon' should be. Of course, if Ricky had remained, he'd have been ordered to marry by this point to help carry on the Cross name).
Pit dragons should not be as spread out and integrated as they are, but when Mordred and his followers were attacked, they were scattered to the ends of the earth. Over time everything spread out and got lost in the crowd, so to speak. The Clans would very much like to take full control of ALL dragons and figure out what to do with the 'lesser' dragons, but that's nigh on impossible at present -- and it would likely bring the steel dragons far too out into the open.
There are any number of ways to find/capture/breed pit dragons. Some ARE bred, but that's rare. Most are simply found and raised -- and like in Nikery's story, it's seldom a willing or pleasant thing for the dragon (though her dragon got a happy end ^___^).
PIt dragons are rarely put into the lesser pits -- the D-pits are exclusively for the dragons, and the only pit in existence intended for just one species. The only dragons who would be pitted elsewhere at first are those with zero experience. As most dragons are raised from a young age to be pitted, training with their fellows outside the pits, this seldom is necessary -- but it does happen (Nikery again).
To date I do not know of a case where an Owner has died and the dragon picks another. Dragons would rather kill themselves than live without their Owners.
It's hard to say what, precisely, dragons see that make them pick an Owner. Some of it was spelled out by Conway -- dragons are extremely sensitive to fear. They can sense/smell the slightest hint of fear in an indivivdual. That immediately lessens a person in their eyes, and they will even hold certain fearful persons in utter contempt. All Owners share an utter lack of fear for dragons (and by default, most anything). Some Owners are more dominant than others, obviously -- I think it's fairly obvious that Tori would trump damn near anyone. If it came down to it, I think he trumps both his brothers.
Steel dragons are extremely territorial, as I said before. Cal, Dri, and the twins are spoiled rotten in the massive amounts of territory they have to play in. Within the clans, the dragons have learned to live close and protect an extremely massive mutual territory (though each one is possessive of his respective home). Pit dragons are not quite this bad; they tend to be much more relaxed than steel dragons.
Speaking of the twins, that's insanely rare. I'm sure it's been noted across the clans that Cross has twin dragons (and that they're not part of the Clan, anymore, which probably got Cross in huge amounts of trouble, lemme tell ya).
Um. Am I forgetting anything? I hope I didn't bungle it >_>;; I *really* hate putting down my notes, cause I'm always sure someone will see a hole I missed and everything will fall apart (and I hate feeling stupid, and wow would that make me feel stupid).
Damn it. Now I really want to try to write about an Owner/Dragon still part of a clan -__- blah. Nor have I forgotten what I always wanted to do with Cambridge (though, again with the British thing, which is what he's supposed to be but I bailed and kept him really vague).
I really need to go write and stop goofing off with my dragons.
If I forgot something, just drop a line ^_^
And I beg the forgiveness of Nikery and Moons, if what I say here does not mesh with everything I might have once told you. What I told you I had to make up on the fly ^^:; and I'm hoping I remember everything correctly.
Pit dragons are sneered at by 'true' steel dragons, for the most part. They're weaker, inferior, and each is limited to one aspect of what knight dragons can do -- knight dragons are no one particular element, but more a composite power that is sort of all elements, and sort of none of them. Note they've never exhibited any sort of fire breathing or whatnot. The best dragons require nothing more than their physical prowess, or so it's commonly held.
The pit dragons come in two tiers, and this is largely due to the degree of humanity they still retain.
Lower tier dragons are: fire (scarlet), water (blue), earth (green), and wind (white)
Black dragons: between the lower and upper tiers, a combination of at least two elements, and the more they contain the more prized they are. Not as strong as the upper tiers, but more versatile.
Upper tier: flame, frost, rock, gale. Note these don't have color alternates -- because they can vary slightly in appearance. They always bear some resemblence to their element, but that can vary slightly from dragon to dragon. These are always more dragon than human, whereas the lower tiers are frequently an even split, and occasionally even more human than dragon. Upper tier dragons are generally bred, and jealously guarded. Lower tier are more common, and therefore cheaper. Both can still be found amongst humans, unaware of the potential in their DNA and given the high death rate of the pits, there is always a demand for dragons.
Where there are dragons, there is almost always mobs and stuff. Precious few dragons live entirely outside of this unpleasant aspect, and most abnormals who know about dragons immediately assume they're involved in the pits and illegal activities and avoid them -- since no abnormal wants to attract more attention than is strictly necessary.
The other reason dragons are usually kept apart from most abnormals is that they don't deal so well with magic -- it's their one weakness, though the spells would still have to be pretty damn strong. Moons wrote a dragon that was involved in spellwork, which is an example of a rare exception (because he was part of the spell, rather than being the target of it). It should also be noted that the purer the dragon, the more vulnerable they are -- so steel dragons are more weak to magic than a fire.
Dragons are extremely possessive. This is a play on the tendency of dragons to hoard treasure. They are possessive of their territory, their Owners, and anything which belongs to their Owners. Their tendency to 'fixate' on foods is also a play on the treasure thing (my original thinking being that it wouldn't really make sense for dragons to obsess over jewels and stuff, too difficult to work with at the end of the day, and I wanted a more practical thing for them to covet. This eventually turned into each dragon latching obsessively on to some type of food. It can vary, by the way, from something specific - chocolate - to something far more broad - like ice cream or cookies. Nor is it always sweets).
The vast majority of dragons are very solitary in nature -- they're perfecty content to be with their Owners and no one else. But there are exceptions, which only makes sense. Some dragons like having other playmates (Sie and Ril are an example of this, as is Moon's Shale). It should also be noted that they don't see mates as a threat. To a dragon mind, mates are simply something else that 'belongs' to their Owner. Oliver is a perfect example of this. Lin accepts Oliver as Dri's mate, and therefore just something else which belongs to Dri. If Ricky for some reason acquired a girlfriend or boyfriend, he would be regarded the same way by Cal (but Ricky is content with just Cal. If they hadn't left the Clan, they would be regarded as a beautiful example of all that 'knight and dragon' should be. Of course, if Ricky had remained, he'd have been ordered to marry by this point to help carry on the Cross name).
Pit dragons should not be as spread out and integrated as they are, but when Mordred and his followers were attacked, they were scattered to the ends of the earth. Over time everything spread out and got lost in the crowd, so to speak. The Clans would very much like to take full control of ALL dragons and figure out what to do with the 'lesser' dragons, but that's nigh on impossible at present -- and it would likely bring the steel dragons far too out into the open.
There are any number of ways to find/capture/breed pit dragons. Some ARE bred, but that's rare. Most are simply found and raised -- and like in Nikery's story, it's seldom a willing or pleasant thing for the dragon (though her dragon got a happy end ^___^).
PIt dragons are rarely put into the lesser pits -- the D-pits are exclusively for the dragons, and the only pit in existence intended for just one species. The only dragons who would be pitted elsewhere at first are those with zero experience. As most dragons are raised from a young age to be pitted, training with their fellows outside the pits, this seldom is necessary -- but it does happen (Nikery again).
To date I do not know of a case where an Owner has died and the dragon picks another. Dragons would rather kill themselves than live without their Owners.
It's hard to say what, precisely, dragons see that make them pick an Owner. Some of it was spelled out by Conway -- dragons are extremely sensitive to fear. They can sense/smell the slightest hint of fear in an indivivdual. That immediately lessens a person in their eyes, and they will even hold certain fearful persons in utter contempt. All Owners share an utter lack of fear for dragons (and by default, most anything). Some Owners are more dominant than others, obviously -- I think it's fairly obvious that Tori would trump damn near anyone. If it came down to it, I think he trumps both his brothers.
Steel dragons are extremely territorial, as I said before. Cal, Dri, and the twins are spoiled rotten in the massive amounts of territory they have to play in. Within the clans, the dragons have learned to live close and protect an extremely massive mutual territory (though each one is possessive of his respective home). Pit dragons are not quite this bad; they tend to be much more relaxed than steel dragons.
Speaking of the twins, that's insanely rare. I'm sure it's been noted across the clans that Cross has twin dragons (and that they're not part of the Clan, anymore, which probably got Cross in huge amounts of trouble, lemme tell ya).
Um. Am I forgetting anything? I hope I didn't bungle it >_>;; I *really* hate putting down my notes, cause I'm always sure someone will see a hole I missed and everything will fall apart (and I hate feeling stupid, and wow would that make me feel stupid).
Damn it. Now I really want to try to write about an Owner/Dragon still part of a clan -__- blah. Nor have I forgotten what I always wanted to do with Cambridge (though, again with the British thing, which is what he's supposed to be but I bailed and kept him really vague).
I really need to go write and stop goofing off with my dragons.
If I forgot something, just drop a line ^_^
no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 05:56 pm (UTC)Damn it. Now I really want to try to write about an Owner/Dragon still part of a clan
*gently prods you in encouragement*
no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 06:07 pm (UTC)When a Dragon is born in a Clan, does he/she ever take on a little baby dragon form? Or do they grow up human and turn when they're matched?
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Date: 2007-11-03 06:09 pm (UTC)Lol. You've got it backwards. They're born as dragons, hatched and all. They don't start turning human until they're about ten or so, when they're strong enough to shift.
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Date: 2007-11-03 07:25 pm (UTC)Moons wrote a dragon that was involved in spellwork, which is an example of a rare exception (because he was part of the spell, rather than being the target of it).
I hesitated about this too - but figured that if the original spell asked for dead dragon the vulnerability wouldn't matter (except that Fusti was too much of a wuss to get dead dragon, of course), and the only magic directed at Shale was to point him out to the spell ('see? Ive got essence of dragon, right here') I figured it was safe.
But yay, I didn't know yet where the elementals came from. One of these days I'll have to figure out how Shale and Craig hooked up, though. ^_^; Probably in the pits - but how?
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Date: 2007-11-03 07:39 pm (UTC)But where are the RAINBOW DRAGONS, Meg? WHERE?
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Date: 2007-11-03 08:50 pm (UTC)Must...resist...lure...of...dragon...fanfics...
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Date: 2007-11-03 08:55 pm (UTC)... maybe after I finish the bribe story for Tygs. ^___^
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Date: 2007-11-03 09:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 09:53 pm (UTC)I did. I'm sorry, I was talking with mechante and tygati at the same time, and totally could not manage a reply in there. But it made me happy, and I'm glad I could distract, and as soon as this dumb necromancer story is finished I intened to resume work on it, which I did this morninng before necro stopped me. You were very motivating to me <3
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Date: 2007-11-03 09:53 pm (UTC)Aha, that's sort of why I keep writing. The pits are depressing as hell, I like pulling out the happy stories where I can.
Oh? What are you attempting to bribe out of the Kitty?
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Date: 2007-11-03 09:54 pm (UTC)Lol. I didn't mean to interfere with nano!
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Date: 2007-11-03 10:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 10:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 10:39 pm (UTC)Then I'll send you the chapters as I write them ^_^ That usually helps me, anyway, since writing for someone is a better motivator than simply meeting a word count.
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Date: 2007-11-03 10:39 pm (UTC)cool ^__^ what did she pick?
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Date: 2007-11-03 10:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 10:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 10:57 pm (UTC)Hmmm, do not recall them, but I'm sure it was a most tasty drabble. They're not the ones with wings, are they? I seem to recall she was enamored of that one.
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Date: 2007-11-03 11:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-03 11:27 pm (UTC)Oh, Sweet! ^____^ I really really liked that drabble.
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Date: 2007-11-04 06:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-11-04 02:19 pm (UTC)^___^
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Date: 2007-11-04 02:30 pm (UTC)I look forward to learning more about Mordred, and that whole thing.
And, just for clarification on the clarification, pit dragons, at least some are born human and then later forced to change, like Nevada? How did his parents know he was a dragon, btw? *glares at them*
Thanks for sharing!
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Date: 2007-11-05 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-17 10:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-17 10:51 pm (UTC)Mmm, it's possible, though the dragon would always be unhappy. A dragon without an owner is always unstable and bereft. They're like living weapons left to rot. They want Owners, want to be used, though I guess if a dragon was abused enough he might try to give up wanting/needing an Owner.
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Date: 2008-01-18 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-01-18 02:33 am (UTC)Mmm, in a case like that the pit guys are likely to keep him drugged, though maybe they risk not drugging him to keep hi so savage. Either way, I pity them dealing with that ^^
Oh, the treats thing is completely separate. It's actually a play on the idea that dragons are obsessed with treasure. That did'nt make much sense in this context, so I manifested it as an obsessive-type personality. They fixate on some manner of food, their 'treasure'.
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Date: 2008-04-22 02:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-22 09:38 am (UTC)I haven't really covered the evolution, though it's not that they evolve into being dragons - it's more that way back when the Pit dragons were created/bred, it wasn't very controlled. A whole lot of them were around, and over time some were lost or forgotten about, so there's a good number of people who carry the dragon genes.
And yeah, they do change mentally. A person whose dragon genes wake will cease to act like a human and act more like a dragon. The dragon genes take over. Dragons like this are often more inclined toward more human speech, but otherwise they become indistinguishable from other dragons pretty quikcly.
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Date: 2008-04-22 11:55 am (UTC)Dragons.
Date: 2009-04-28 07:20 am (UTC)Does it become steel? Something new? ???
Also, I would appreciate links to these stories you refer to /that I have not read/ as I would very much like to read them and livejournal navigation is not my strong point.
I'm also toying with story ideas... I'll let you know if something comes of it.
Also, about the raising of dragons and their... 'hatching'. Correct me if I'm wrong but... In one comment you said something about how they're actually hatched and assume human form at age ten or so... but then wouldn't all of them know they were dragons? And that frost... the one who you wrote about, he didn't know he was a dragon did he? (confused)
Re: Dragons.
Date: 2009-04-28 11:03 am (UTC)Then he's extremely badass, but that very rarely happens. It would not become steel.
Use the tags. All these can be found under the dragon and dwtd tags.
Steel dragons are hatched; they're raised very traditionally. But there are a lot of humans who have no idea they have basically dormant dragon genes in their blood, and so they can live as humans unless something triggers that. Those would be most of the pit dragons.