# Dragons in stories



## fcbkid15 (Jul 31, 2011)

I'm at about to write a scene with a dragon in it, and i don't know what I should do. I want there to be different species of dragons in my story, but I want my own, not like brass dragons or red dragons like in dragonlance. I want to know what you guys think. Should I just say that it's a dragon? Or come up with my own species? Which one works best, and which one do people like the most? I cam up with my own general idea. Theres different kinds of dragons for each climates. So up in the mountains there is ice dragons, in the sea theres aqua dragons, the forests theres regular dragons, and so on. Whats your guys ideas?


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## Matty Lee (Jul 31, 2011)

The real world contains endless inspiration. What do you think dragon's would look like in different ecosystems (not even desert/island/mountain, but different forests, continents,  different diets etc.) and how would they adapt.

Also, there can be several species in one area who have different survival strategies.


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 1, 2011)

It is truly difficult to be original with dragons, but that shouldn't deter anyone from using them in a narrative if the author so chooses; they are a fun breed. But, again, it's pretty much all been done before. Ecosystem-individualistic dragons...been done. Locale-version dragons...done, etc. etc. 

However, just go with what you invent and stick to your guns. If something similar was done before, just keep in mind, it is similar but not the same. If you're really worried, post your specific ideas and see what fantasy fans here on the forums think in terms of cliche or what not. 

There are dragons in my published novel; my publisher told me before even reading my book that the dragons better not be too cliche. Mine are about the size of a volkswagen, can speak, change colors with mood and intent, and are agressively sarcastic assholes. Thus...funny.


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## SeverinR (Aug 1, 2011)

You could expand on the real dragons of the world and take them into fantasy.

You could create your own dragons.

I created my dragons based on the D&D and then modified them. They are called by characters of their color. But officially they are:
Desert fire dragon(red)
Desert Lightning dragon(blue)
Arctic frost dragon(white)
Desert Gray dragons(hybred)
 gray sub class: desert swift dragon(the messinger dragon), Arctic Buff Dragon(C5 of dragons, ie transport) Swift strike dragons(bred for speed and attack)
My dragons are not restricted by alignment, they are thinking beings, thus they tend towards their natural alignment, but can be much different. 

And so on. I don't like using other peoples rules for my fiction. My dragons are not all one color, they are primarily the color, but they can have some other colors in thier appearence too.

Dragons have become cliche, but like people they don't have to be. If we all wrote the same cliche characters in a story people would roll thier eyes when they read them. But every individual can be different even with the same basic traits.

Make your dragons special. Be as similar as others or as different as can be, but make them unique and there is no cliche.


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## Motley (Aug 1, 2011)

Having dragons that are different based on their locale makes ecological sense. Snakes in tropical rain forests are different than snakes in deserts, for example. I suppose any type of dragon could be considered cliche, but I rather think they are tropes of the fantasy world, just like elves or wizards or eating stew after your horse has galloped all day. (Ok, maybe not the last one.)

That being said, I think it's incredible fun to come up with entirely new species. "Dragon" holds certain expectations. Other beasties can fulfill the roles too, as long as they're not just dragons called something else.


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## BearJ29 (Aug 1, 2011)

Motely is right, there are endless things that are inherently "clichÃ©" in fantasy; Dragons being one of them.  Unfortunately, this is something that is endemic of the genre (you don't see faster than light travel in sci-fi called clichÃ©, or murder in a crime novel, do you?)

Regardless, if you're going to use them then make it real to your world.  So, if you have a magic-driven world then make them, like everything, magical.  However, if you've got a more earthy and natural feel world, have them evolved from something.  

Remember though, the creatures you inhabit your world should be run of the mill, unless there is a point to them.  If you just mention dragons, then they need only be a word.  But if they are integral to the story (like The Hobbit or Dungeons and Dragons) then spend some more time on them making them part of the story.

At the end of the day, you're spinning a tale, and that's what your energy should be expended on.  Everything you write down should collectively add to that story.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 1, 2011)

There are different species of felines, from housecats all the way up to lions and tigers. each has its own niche it fills within the region they're located. Their social structure and hunting gechniques are different as are their builds and coloration (lion vs cheetah for example). You can see the same with snakes, for example. Thus, why not with dragons.

It's your world, *Fcbkid15*. Create them such that they fit with the vision you've created for that world.

My novel has dragons in it that breath fire (think flame thrower) and acid (think spitting cobra but with acid instead of venom) and frost (stream of liquid nitrogen). They're bred and trained mounts for serpent cavalrymen, but also do exist in the wild. Unlike Map's dragons (in his novel) mine do not speak--they're not that smart. 

In the end, whatever you do, just be consistent and have their existance make sense and fit both the world and the storyline.


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 1, 2011)

One of my favorite dragon creations/explanations was a real-world application in the film Reign of Fire. I'm not sure if there was a previous book for the film and don't feel like looking it up right now.

But the inclusion of dragons in the film was explained via science. Dragons existed at or before the time of the dinosaurs. Dragons in the story burn organic matter and feed on the ash - this lead to the extinction of the dinosaurs. When there was no more organic matter in easy access, they killed each other and the some went into eternal (or close to it) hibernation. Once wakened in contemporary society, they began to feed again. Even their ability to breathe fire was explained with a scientific process involving the combination of certain chemicals that combusted.


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## rjklee (Aug 1, 2011)

Dragons are one of the greatest traditions in the fantasy genre. Even recent examples like How to Train Your Dragon or the species shown in Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire show that there are still entertaining ways to show this fan-favorite. I hope we never get to a point where dragons are considered overly played out and people are too afraid to use them in pieces.


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 1, 2011)

Luckily, I don't think we are there yet, rjklee.

Case in point: We have three published novelists to my knowledge on this site. All three have dragons!


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## UnionJane (Aug 1, 2011)

*Reply to dragons*

For my story purposes, I was trying to avoid stereotype...So instead of ultra-intelligent dragons, mine are little better than "beasts." I made a world where dragons fight each other with riders for sport, which was more attempting to think outside the box. My methods are by no means original, but I tried to think of an interesting application/reason to include dragons in my story.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 1, 2011)

Dragons aren't a huge part in part one of my story, but later on they come back and are more important. Heres the dragons I've come up with so far. Please tell me what you think!

Northern Dragons: Isolated from society for a long time, so they are brutish and vicious. They can't speak, they can only breath fire. Their colors are black, gray, and white, and different mixtures of those. About as big as a semi truck.

Central Dragons: Live closer into society for awhile, so they've picked up how to speak to some degree, but not perfectly. They talk a little more advanced than The Hulk. They come in a variety of colors, since they can pretty much live anywhere. Some breath lightning, some fire, and some toxic gas. It's all genetic, like how we get the color of our hair or eyes. Its inherited, not acquired. A little smaller than Northern Dragons.

Aquatic Dragons: Smaller in size, a little over half the size of a central dragon, the aqua dragons live in tropical climates, mainly islands beaches. Most actually live in the sea itself, building caves that are half in half out of the water. They come in shades of blue and purple, and have fish like features. They have gills, they have fins on their calves, backs, and their tail is finned like a sharks. They have webbed feet. They are kind of like a shark mixed with a dragon hybrid. Their only breath weapon is breathing ice, which isn't even very powerful. They just suck up water and can turn it into ice.

Mountain Dragons: Otherwise known as ice dragons, mountain dragons are very lean and agile, and are bigger than an aqua dragon, but smaller than a central dragon. They live up in the mountains, obviously, and are able to fly, but not very well. They glide mostly. They come in colors of grays, whites, and browns. They can breath ice, much more powerful than aqua dragons. They have long horns, and are kind of like a mix between a mountain goat and a dragons. Mountain dragons can have some fur, but most don't.

Tundra Dragons: Cousins of the mountain dragons, tundra dragons are gray and white in color. They are bigger than their cousins, and less goat like, more dragon like, They are as big as a central dragon and can breath ice even more powerful than aquas and mountains. Live in the tundra.

City Dragons: City dragons are a weird type of dragon. They live in big citys and kingdoms, which doesn't give them much space to live. So they are only a little bigger than full grown golden retriever dog. They are very small compared to others, and aren't very vicious since they learned to live with people. Since they live in cities with a lot of people, they can speak perfectly, and are the smartest of all the dragons. Come in any kind of color.

Thats it so far, I'm still coming up with more.


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 1, 2011)

fcbkid15 said:


> Dragons aren't a huge part in part one of my story, but later on they come back and are more important. Heres the dragons I've come up with so far. Please tell me what you think!
> 
> Northern Dragons: Isolated from society for a long time, so they are brutish and vicious. They can't speak, they can only breath fire. Their colors are black, gray, and white, and different mixtures of those. About as big as a semi truck.
> 
> ...




I like your mix here; I especially dig the city dragons and would like to read about a world with more peer-level human-dragon interaction.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 1, 2011)

Thanks, but what do you mean by peer-level-human-dragon interaction?


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 2, 2011)

You mentioned that they learned to live with people, so that's what I mean. Be it as a pet or a peer of some sort, an intelligent beast that poses no threat (you said "aren't very vicious") would present an interesting look into dragons from the interaction perspective between them and other races.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 2, 2011)

If dragons are to live in a city, unless they're going to eat rats and live in dark alleys, they would need to have a way to interact, work with humans (or others who run/inhabit the city) and have a method to 'earn a living' or provide for their needs.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 2, 2011)

Oh okay, I see what your getting at. They can be pets, but most people just accept them as creatures in the city. It'd be like how we think of birds living in the city, or alley cats. But I could see some people wanting them as pets.


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## TWErvin2 (Aug 2, 2011)

My concern would be how an intelligent, speaking creature would fit into a city. While it's fantasy, they'd still be different than birds. What if they need to be reduced in population (like too many pigeons)? Some cities in India struggle with over population of monkeys and it's a real problem because their intelligence enables them to get into things and cause lots of trouble. How 'satisfied' would an intelligent creature be as a pet? May provide some interesting situations, to be sure. Again, just questions and nothing wrong with the direction you're taking your version of dragons.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 3, 2011)

Thats good, I could have them crowding a city and have to be lowered in population. Thanks!


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 3, 2011)

fcbkid15 said:


> Thats good, I could have them crowding a city and have to be lowered in population. Thanks!



This could provide for a pretty interesting conflict for a story. Typically, dragons are rare, and we didn't discuss this part of the cliche earlier in the thread. But, if you make them smaller as you mentioned, then use them for overcrowding in a town or city, I think you then have a good story on your hands. Also added to the mix here is your mention of their intelligence. Think about the Rats of Nihm. If rats everywhere were as smart as the Rats of Nihm, then we would really have a problem. Well, you now have a city run-over with intelligent pests the size of a dog. Could be fun.  If you don't want to write it, let me know and I'll turn this into a short story!


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 3, 2011)

Haha, I'll write it. But those aren't the only dragons in my story, remember. I mean this part won't be a huge part in my story, but maybe a little side thing. But what were you saying about dragons being cliche?


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## Map the Dragon (Aug 3, 2011)

I was just saying that their rarity is a cliche in most fantasy literature. Meaning...its cliche that in a world, a dragon is a rare species that most don't come across. To play with that stereotype and put them in abundance into your world would be a nice twist.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 3, 2011)

Oh okay. Yeah, dragons in my world are as common as anything else. There not some special ancient thing nobody has seen in hundreds of years, that is pretty cliche.


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## Leuco (Aug 4, 2011)

Not that it matters, but it seems like there were a lot of dragons in "How to Train your Dragon." They were pests there too, but I still agree it's more interesting than having them be ancient seers. What about the Dragon Slayer hero? Do you think that's cliche? I think it's still interesting. What about you? Oh maybe the dragon pests can spread disease, like rats during the middle ages. That could be cool.

Hey do you guys remember that Dragon Heart movie? I think that's what it was called.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 4, 2011)

I know dragons themselves are pretty much dinosaurs with a bit of variation. For my world though I have dinosaur frankensteins as my dragons. I have regular dinosaurs as well. The difference between them being dinosaurs are stuck inside the micro-ecosystems they are able to live in. Outside of those "bubbles" they're exposed to the harsh weather outside. Dragons are mutated dinosaurs, able to go ouside the microsystems. They have different traits of different dinosaurs and are generally smarter. The further down the generations the smarter for the most part.


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## Telcontar (Aug 5, 2011)

I think that dragons have transcended the boundary of trope or clichÃ©. No matter how many times I read about a big, ferocious, treasure-hording, fire-breathing, flying beast, it never gets old. Of course, variation is always wonderful as well. The first book I ever tried to write (when I was eight) was called Dragon World. As you can imagine, dragons weren't exactly rare...

I've always been intrigued by the fact that nearly every human culture had their version of a 'dragon.' I wonder if it came about independently in each, or if somewhere WAY back in our common history this notion formed, and evolved into the many different types we see in stories today.

Anyway, as I was saying, I think dragons have transcended clichÃ© and simply become a symbol for all that is awesome.


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## myrddin173 (Aug 5, 2011)

In my world two of the seven races are dragons, based on Western and Eastern dragons respectively.  They are shape-shifters, beings that look human but can shift into what we think of as dragons.  The southern desert dragons are based on the traditional European dragon, in "beast" form the females are considerably larger than the males so they have established a queendom.  The northern ice field dragons are based on Japanese dragons and don't really have a central government.

As to the origin of dragons, there are two main theories.  One is dinosaur bones, ancient people would sometimes come across gargantuan bones and wonder what they were, these wonderings evolved into the modern day dragon myths.  (On a side note, ground up dino bones are still sold as traditional medicine in China under the name of Dragon bones).  The other is that as primates we have an instinctive fear of snakes, large cats, and birds of prey and that dragons have traits from all three.


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## JBryden88 (Aug 9, 2011)

My dragons in the world I've made are basically just legend now. Nobody even believes they exist cause proof is long gone -> but it used to be that dragons were a plentiful species, and like anything, there were variations. As of the story I am writing, there are three "living" dragons in the part of the world most of my adventures take part in. We've got the Dragon of the North, a noble beast that has sworn loyalty to the barbarian peoples, and is said to be frozen in the great ice sea. Then there's the Twin Dragons of Anatosh, which are basically, two dragons that were corrupted and twisted into abominations and then basically petrified underground in some vast ruins, never to be heard from again. All three dragons mentioned will appear. At some point  just not in the book I'm presently writing.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 11, 2011)

I've come up with a new dragon, a tempest dragon. They are very rare, a little bigger than a northern dragon, and are a grey color with mixes of dark blue. But heres the kick, they can only be born during a storm. They live anywhere they can, but mostly in cliffs and high up in mountains. There are only estimated to be about 15 or 20, because whenever a female lays eggs, when it is time for them to be born, they will not hatch unless its a storm. People hardly ever see them. They have the power to control lightning and some grand dragons can call forth storms.


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## Leuco (Aug 11, 2011)

fcbkid15 said:


> I've come up with a new dragon, a tempest dragon. They are very rare, a little bigger than a northern dragon, and are a grey color with mixes of dark blue. But heres the kick, they can only be born during a storm. They live anywhere they can, but mostly in cliffs and high up in mountains. There are only estimated to be about 15 or 20, because whenever a female lays eggs, when it is time for them to be born, they will not hatch unless its a storm. People hardly ever see them. They have the power to control lightning and some grand dragons can call forth storms.



Tempest dragons sound cool!


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## SeverinR (Aug 11, 2011)

Kaellpae said:


> I know dragons themselves are pretty much dinosaurs with a bit of variation. For my world though I have dinosaur frankensteins as my dragons. I have regular dinosaurs as well. The difference between them being dinosaurs are stuck inside the micro-ecosystems they are able to live in. Outside of those "bubbles" they're exposed to the harsh weather outside. Dragons are mutated dinosaurs, able to go ouside the microsystems. They have different traits of different dinosaurs and are generally smarter. The further down the generations the smarter for the most part.



Inteligent aerial magical pyro-dinosaurs?


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## Kaellpae (Aug 12, 2011)

@SeverinR: That pretty much sums them up. Some of them won't have flying of course, and the newer generations will be smarter than first generation. First generation is literally just a mutant dinosaur(able to go out of the bubbles) with the current generation is self-aware with sub-human intelligence.


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## fcbkid15 (Aug 13, 2011)

That'd be cool if you had dragons steal other dragons eggs like some dinosaurs did.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 13, 2011)

It would be a sort of social game for them. The strongest and smartest(also the luckiest) get to pass their awesome genes.

Still working out details. I don't even know how big of a part in my world they'll play. Seeming like a fairly big one.


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## Matty Lee (Aug 13, 2011)

If they are stealing eggs and sneaking them into other's nests and other odd reproduction strategies, it won't necessarily be their genes, but their learned survival strategies that will be passed on. If I steal your child and raise him as my own, my ideas and strategies are passed on while yours die out. Idea hegemony would rule over genetic hegemony.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 13, 2011)

It could be a good idea to get as many eggs as possible or eliminate as many not yours, depending on the game plan.

I hope you aren't planning on stealing my child though.


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## Matty Lee (Aug 13, 2011)

Unless the dragons practice a food communism and share everything having too many dragonlings would cost too much food. Eliminating eggs that aren't yours would be too dangerous to be worth the effort. 

Hope all you want, it won't save you.


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## Kaellpae (Aug 13, 2011)

I'm thinking maybe have them lay one egg at a time. Make the way they raise their young a bit more mammalian. At least the newer generations. A few of the oldest dragons are still alive, but not able to have offspring anymore.

I really need to think about the history of the race. They seem to be taking more fleshed out than all my humanoids, besides the humans, that is.


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## Saigonnus (Jun 22, 2012)

I remember coming up with a spectre dragon during a gaming campaign. They are half the size of a full grown green and instead of a traditional "magic", their abilities focused more on psionic talents. They had camoflage like a chameleon (though much better) and were fully telepathic, even able to overcome another telepaths mind. They didn't have a breath weapon, instead had a psychic blast that could create real problems for even the biggest of dragons. That combined with their abilities at concealment made them a very formidable creature indeed.


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## Eeirail (Jun 23, 2012)

The idea of different varients of dragons bassed on the elements is a bit old-school but it is good, make sure you include special features, like if it is a cold place, give the dragon thick fur, it would be different, and maybe do about naming them something other then dragons, for example, I took the concept of dragons, beefed it up in my image and named them Ravens unstead.


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## Saigonnus (Jun 23, 2012)

Eeirail said:


> The idea of different varients of dragons bassed on the elements is a bit old-school but it is good, make sure you include special features, like if it is a cold place, give the dragon thick fur, it would be different, and maybe do about naming them something other then dragons, for example, I took the concept of dragons, beefed it up in my image and named them Ravens unstead.



If they look like dragons, only with fur... why change the name? Readers already have a mental picture of what dragons look like and the presence of fur... or butterfly wings etc. will only augment that picture but not really throw it off completely. That is like calling a rabbit a smeerp, unnecessary to change the name since it looks exactly like a rabbit. Also, when I think of "ravens" I think of a black bird related to a crow, not a creature that resembles a dragon.


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## Eeirail (Jun 23, 2012)

Saigonnus said:


> If they look like dragons, only with fur... why change the name? Readers already have a mental picture of what dragons look like and the presence of fur... or butterfly wings etc. will only augment that picture but not really throw it off completely. That is like calling a rabbit a smeerp, unnecessary to change the name since it looks exactly like a rabbit. Also, when I think of "ravens" I think of a black bird related to a crow, not a creature that resembles a dragon.


I was reffering to the name change just as a thought, and the Raven thing is explained in the novel I am writing, but yes as it stands, I do understand why it would not make much sense, I chose the name due to the fear of both dragons and Ravens in superstition. I see it as an open minded concept, it may be flawed but I did not want to use the word dragon, and I have desribed them enough for people to know what the basic design of the creatures are. If I take your example of calling a rabbit a Smeerp, you are right, but is I said something like 

"The Smeerp hopped across the trail, its puffball like tail bouncing with it as it disappeared into its hole it calls home"
 You can imagine it well enough to get the sense that it is a rabbit. And with mine I could say; 

"with mighty talons the mighty raven thrashed at its foes, its scales gleaming out from under the blood. The battle was far from over but the raven knew it was a hopeless battle. There were too many demons to fight off, so with one massive beat of the beasts wings it soared up and spat an incinerating flame down upon the ground at its rivals, now mear cinders on the ground"

 Do not pay attention to how sketchy the writing is, I came up with that off the top of my head within a matter of a few minutes, but you can sense what I am trying to depict to you and that is all that matters to me with this.


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## Saigonnus (Jun 23, 2012)

Eeirail said:


> I was reffering to the name change just as a thought, and the Raven thing is explained in the novel I am writing, but yes as it stands, I do understand why it would not make much sense, I chose the name due to the fear of both dragons and Ravens in superstition. I see it as an open minded concept, it may be flawed but I did not want to use the word dragon, and I have desribed them enough for people to know what the basic design of the creatures are. If I take your example of calling a rabbit a Smeerp, you are right, but is I said something like
> 
> "The Smeerp hopped across the trail, its puffball like tail bouncing with it as it disappeared into its hole it calls home"
> You can imagine it well enough to get the sense that it is a rabbit. And with mine I could say;
> ...



No worries, I wasn't criticizing your style, just giving my observations. Have you thought about giving the creature (especially if it's important to the story) a name? Even relatively unintelligent creatures would have a way of differentiating one from another especially if they look the same. With a name, you could avoid using the word "raven or dragon" all the time.


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## Eeirail (Jun 23, 2012)

Saigonnus said:


> No worries, I wasn't criticizing your style, just giving my observations. Have you thought about giving the creature (especially if it's important to the story) a name? Even relatively unintelligent creatures would have a way of differentiating one from another especially if they look the same. With a name, you could avoid using the word "raven or dragon" all the time.


You mean, like Maybe actually name them as if it were a charecter right?

If that is what you mean, then yes, I have actually thought about it, and I am making something of the sort in my novel as we sit and spin our observations back and forth, you bring up some well written arguments.


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## Saigonnus (Jun 23, 2012)

Yeah, Like Rivhan the Raven... 

*The raven looks down silently into the canyon from his perch far overhead, seeing the humans making their way through the treacherous ground to the cave that will serve as the venue for their inevitable meeting. They've pursued him for days now and Rivhan decided to set the stage for this encounter so he will have the advantage over them.*

Just an idea of a way to keep you from overusing the name of the creature in the book.


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## Anders Ã„mting (Jun 23, 2012)

I don't think dragons necessarily need to be original - they are, after all, one of the most classic components of fantasy literature. Rather, one must keep in mind what they represent. Dragons aren't just smart, flying, fire-breathing dinosaurs; they generally have a symbolic meaning.

In the west, dragons traditionally represent adversity - a big monsterous antagonist that the hero must "slay" in order to achieve his ambitions. (Note that in trope-speak, "The Dragon" is the whichever antagonist the hero must defeat directly.) In Asia, dragons tend to represent natural forces like storms and floods - forces that are not necessarily evil but never the less dangerous, demanding respect. 

Fantasy tends to use a bit of both depending on the story or make up its own symbolism. Point is, I think it's more important to ask what the dragons actually mean to your story rather than trying to make them different from all other dragons. At any rate, you shouldn't just have dragons for the sake of having dragons.


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## Lavender (Jun 23, 2012)

In an earlier draft of my novel I had a dragon that helped my protagonists out of a tight spot - (depressed because it was one of the last of its kind and also because in reality it was friendly and social but society viewed it as a menace and thus kept a distance or "ran away screaming," as the dragon put it!!) However, I disliked this concept... I was aiming to write a fantasy story that wasn't entirely "cliche" and ultimately decided to create an entirely new species of my own. This made it a lot more fun for me and I invested more interest in the character, it was very enjoyable to envisage an entirely unique creature. 
However, this is your story and if it needs dragons, well, it needs dragons! Go with what you think is best for your tale. Sit down and do some thinking and jot down a list of ideas, and even include the rubbish ones then read through it and see if it helps you come to a decision - that's my advice


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## Saigonnus (Jun 24, 2012)

I had one of those exceptionally vivid dreams of flying as a dragon... and after munching a cow (I knew they were owned by the Aerie) landed on a ledge and transformed into human form because the entrance was too small to accommodate my larger dragon form. Inside were lavishly decorated halls and other dragons in different forms and it got me thinking that it would be an interesting concept to have a completedragon society in plain sight of other races, but concealed at the same time. 

Each young dragon can shapeshift at will into humanoid forms, but this process goes away as they get older. Once they are basically like teenagers reaching puberty the shifting becomes more focused... mostly one or two guises until it becomes impossible to transform to more than one; though there are a few that can still shapeshift at will but it's a rare. Some aeries by necessity have to be all dwarves (the halls and rooms are too short for anything else) or Elves (like near other elven communities). Mostly they are a "metropolitan polyglot" structure with most of the races present in any aerie.


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## Jabrosky (Jun 27, 2012)

I generally prefer my dragons to be simply wild animals without anthropomorphic intelligence, speech, or supernatural abilities. At most my dragons would have a feral sort of intelligence analogous to the Velociraptors in _Jurassic Park_. They wouldn't care about hoarding gold because wild animals have practically no use for human currency anyway. Nor would they breathe actual fire, as that would burn themselves up from the inside. Some might spit venom though.

I picture my dragons as occupying a variety of ecological niches. There would be flying dragons, herbivorous dragons, aquatic and amphibious dragons, pack-hunting and intelligent dragons, and large carnivorous dragons that function as their ecosystems' apex predators. However, most of these dragon species would reside within the world's tropical and subtropical regions which are more hospitable to large, scaly reptiles.


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## Queshire (Jun 27, 2012)

In my setting, dragons are a type of physical spirit along with other legendary beasts such as pheonixes, and unicorns. As physical spirits, Dragons litterally embody the concept of the "king of the beasts" their exact form various from place to place depending on what the idea of an what the king of the beasts looks like in that location, but it always combines features of the greatest animals in the land. Should the dragon move somewhere where the concept of king of the beasts is different or should the concept of king of the beasts where they live change then their body will slowly change to fit the new ideal.

Dragons tend to be just a bit smarter then the smartest sentient being living in their territory, and similiarily are just a bit more magical then the most magical creature in their territory.

Just like other races, dragons run the gamut morality-wise, some are good, some are bad. Hell, one of the most successful kingdoms in the land has a dragon for a king! (Though he's only king because he fell in love with and married the princess he was supposed to kidnap and eat as part of his dragonic rite of passage)


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