As my input, my idea was the plague which was released in Eiskalt infected said dragons. This disease was not enough to kill them, but instead affected higher brain function. Essentially this will make them rabid. The quest arc can take the form of killing said dragons or seeking a cure. Their origin nest could also prove a final loot point once the story arc concludes.
"All mortal men possess the capacity to do evil. Some are simply more capable than others."- Anonymous
Isn't there scope for both ideas here? I like the idea of the war driving the dragons out to begin with, that the selfish actions of the players caused problems that they couldn't foresee. Those dragons with some form of immunity to the disease begin migrations in search of refuge from their rabid counterparts (the territorial issues Zook's raised) and/or a cure.
Of course, this ties in with the factions within the dragon ranks that Warpath was alluding to earlier...
-Level 10-
You made me laugh, you make me smile
For you I will always go the extra mile
I hope that the day will come when I can banish this pain
I just hope that one day I will see you again
My character Dorian's canon is that at some point in Salvar's history, it was ruled by a breed of Black Dragons, headed by the great dragon Malanthar. Eventually, a wizard rose up and drove the dragons away and magically imprisoned Malanthar in an underground castle, where he sits to this day.
Dorian found this castle and was bound to Malanthar's son, Fallow, who is confined to a small form when with Dorian until Ozoric breaks him out (get on that, Duffy!).
Anyway, I had an idea a while back that the black dragons, upon hearing that Malanthar lives, return to reclaim Salvar, and Dorian is conflicted between having to fight the family of his friend and protecting the people.
I think that element is important. There's no real dilemma in opposing a bunch of bona fide monsters. The dragons should be intelligent, determined, and they should have a reason people can empathize with. The thing about an FQ is you need multiple sides, because the conflict between characters is what drives interest. You could say all the clan wars are mini-FQs, except they're disjoint because there's little cohesiveness between all the threads. They're sort of just vignettes in a greater story.
If the dragons have a good enough reason for what they're doing, Dorian would likely join them in order to try to stop them from within with reason. Maybe even drive a faction away from the main pack and join the humanoids.
Last edited by Rayse Valentino; 04-14-14 at 02:21 PM.
I agree with Rayse. The moral ambiguity really peaks my interest, it could be a mixture of being driven from their new home and deciding to reclaim their old. You could also have factions within the spreading dragons. So one group decides now is right to reclaim salvar and find their king. Another just wants to punish humans. Another is driven crazy by the disease (Which I know nothing about >.>) and spreads out killing and eating anything they can find, and so on. One of the reasons I like that approach is because it generates collective chaos in how to respond. Some people will hunt the dragons, others empathize and some just avoid. Characters are therefore free to interact as they want.
Would it be useful to have a starting point thread, which has general numbers and the faction descriptions, and then record all the changes for completed threads? So 10 dragons head south in search of people to kill. 15 go to salvar to find their king, etc and then we record the RPers actions on the story as it unfolds?
Honestly, hard numbers would probably stifle creativity a little too much, especially if we're talking 10 and 15 to an area. Keep in mind that we're talking about dragons from all over the world being affected by this, across an unknown number of species. I say we come up with as general of figures as possible, and make it clear that those numbers are based on surveillance and scouting reports, and not definitive.
Current Threads
Clean and Clear (Solo)
Recently Finished Threads
Through Forge and Flame (Solo, 77)
The Rubric: Remeberin Garthabel (1)
The Memory Man (Closed to Ataraxis, Twylith, and Chucklecut, 68)
The Fated Embrace (Closed to Vortimo, NSFW, 51)
I raised it more in terms of the method of keeping track and
giving everyone the ability to input. I take your point about the numbers. A more general statement would allow more freedom. What si you think about having community organizer or some such who will keep track of the changes and update a 'current status' thread? He/she wouldn't be making decisions as such about the changes, that would be community decided. They would be more like a a dragon war admin.
Okay, sorry for the delay on getting on this, but I've had a busy last few weeks, between parents being here and it being my birthday. Some good suggestions so far; I'll get compiled in the first post some time this evening.
In terms of the migration vs rampage idea... I actually like it, but I saw in the Eiskalt War that an ancient dragon was killed in one of the Gisela matches. To me that would give sufficient motivation for the dragons to actually go out to exact revenge.
What do other folks think, considering that update?
Current Threads:
To Rob The Family - Solo.
A Barside Demonstration - Battle.
Inability To Forgive - Quest
The Valakut? The dragons of the Drakengard wouldn't rampage (is a possessive lore whore), but it would definitely rile any of the wild dragons elsewhere in Althanas. They are the first sons of Chalazae and Fafnir (the progenitor dragons, one of four dragons that remain Althanas that saw the world before the War of the Tap). So, it'd piss some people off for sure!
What if the observation of the dragons swarming the skies above all the lands of Althanas is the intro to a new era where dragons can be found all over the world and can be interacted with all characters? Also, what if there are civilized dragon communities as well as Rogue Dragons in every land?
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