Base dragon specifications

Summary:

What are the base abilities of the dragon race?

Base dragon specifications

AmigaDragon 1247727729|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I've read some (non-MK) stories where dragons are mere (or not much more than) animal intelligence and barely magical, somewhere they're at or above human intelligence, some where they shape-change innately, some where they can't without additional magic… the list goes on.

What are the base specifications of the race in MK (abilities, limitations, etc.)? Of course, magic and other individual differences will modify this to varying extents.

Re: Base dragon specifications

MishaFox 1247799289|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Here are some basic info on MK dragons. They come in a wide variety of sizes and races. Also they are intelligent and weild some powerful magic.

Re: Base dragon specifications

Kamau 1247839520|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

I don't think anyone has really set any 'standards' for dragons in MK. We've seen them in a variety of forms in the stories already posted. Anything from those that can set on you shoulder to those the size of ships. Most, as I recall, are intelligent and a few have magic. Of anything that comes to mind most dragons in MK seem to speak telepathically. Some are natural dragons while a rare few were Keepers who were transformed into them by the curse. The one I have in my story, Tychicus, is a transformed Keeper who in his most human form is bigger then a horse but when he reverts to full dragon is large enough to carry a fully loaded cart in his claws.

As with any character/creature in a shared universe the trick is not to make them too powerful and to have limits set, at least in your own mind, as to what they are capable of. I'm sure others here who have produced far more MK stories then I will give you more advice and insight about dragons.

Re: Base dragon specifications

RavenB 1247899949|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Hi AmigaDragon!

We've seen three major species of dragons in MK: true dragons, eastern dragons, and dragonettes.

True dragons are the classic Western dragon archetype. They come in a variety of different colors, but those colors don't have anything to do with what powers they have; they seem to be similar to the variations in skin tone among humans. They fly with wings, though their bodies have a natural magic field that gives them more lift than they otherwise should have for their wing size. They are as intelligent as a smart human or smarter, and they can live a very long time, so they can accumulate a LOT of experience. Like reptiles, they never stop growing, and they get stronger as they get older. They develop a breath weapon sometime during adulthood, and older dragons can shape-shift at will without paying attention to petty things like excess body mass. All true dragons have an innate aptitude for sorcery, but they don't all develop it to the same extent, and they get better at using it as they get older. True dragons are native to the Dragon Mountains and the Vysharad (sp?) mountains east of the Flatlands.

Eastern dragons don't have wings; they fly through sheer magical force, swimming through the air like an eel. This may or may not mean that they have a stronger talent for magic than Western dragons. I have no idea if they have a breath weapon. So far they've only been seen in Khumar, but they probably also live in Yamato, the Oriental Coastlands and other eastern parts of Galendor.

Dragonettes are native to the Dragonette Islands, an archipelago west of Metamor. They are about the size of a housecat, but they can breathe jets of fire of impressive size. Dragonettes cannot speak, but they can understand speech; they communicate with non-dragonettes through telepathic word-pictures.

I've not heard of dragons of any type inhabiting places other than Galendor, but that may just be because we haven't seen much of the other continents.

Hope this helps!

Cheers,

Raven

Re: Base dragon specifications

MatthiasRat 1247999478|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

It's spelled Vysehrad. They are the Great Eastern Mountain Range on the map, but the locals call it Vysehrad, which means Great Towering Castle in the ancient Steppe language.

There's only ever been one dragon (in MK canon), that was seen in Vysehrad, and he didn't come from there. So I'm not sure where you got the idea that there were native dragons in Vysehrad. I don't have a problem with it if folks want some there. I just have a hard time imagining what they would be eating.

Dominus tecum

Re: Base dragon specifications

RavenB 1248017214|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Ahh, my mistake then.

Re: Base dragon specifications

Ryx 1247878345|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Indeed,
There are no hard and fast specifications for dragons in the Metamor world setting save one… that they're dragons, not dinosaurs or blimps with wings but classic dragons (Western and Eastern) in the style one might expect in a fantasy setting.

Thus far no one has featured any truly bad dragons or even questionable dragons but those are sure to exist… and the weapons they use, be it magic or breath weapon, is bound to vary considerably.

I've used small dragons (Gornul) as well as large dragons (Saroth) in various stories, and featured an entire island where dragons live wing and hand with the natives (Whales).

So… as you can see… sky's the limit when it comes to these beasts but bear in mind:

The greater the power, the greater the foil.

Re: Base dragon specifications

MatthiasRat 1247999569|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Vissarion the mad is the only evil dragon that's been encountered, and he wasn't born that way. He attempted to break the power of Marzac, but was corrupted by it. He then died in the Vysehrad mountains. The Magyars stumble over his bones in the story "Night Amongst Whispers" and one of my favorite scenes ensues. :-)

So not naturally evil, but it's a very bad things when dragons go evil!

Dominus tecum

Re: Base dragon specifications

RavenB 1248017706|%e %b %Y, %H:%M %Z|agohover

Ryx also had evil dragons in Lom Shi'Un's history; they were disciples of various daedra lords. One of them designed the draconians as winged stormtroopers for Lilith's armies; another was Emperor of Lom Shi'Un for centuries before being assassinated. I don't know if Lom currently has any dragons in residence, and whether or not they're evil or just self-serving.

I suspect it's a nearly universal trait that true dragons are covetous and prideful. Indeed, I'd have to say that those are the defining character traits of dragons in Western literature, just as dwarves are known for being doughty and plain-spoken and Elves are elegant and mysterious. A dragon may be very good-hearted and care a lot about the humans it interacts with, but it's still going to have that innate need to hoard the things it finds beautiful and keep them for itself, and it's never really going to believe that non-dragons are its equals.