Non-game story thread

I like the idea of a world where mentalities and lore's actually create real things. So if enough people start believing in a dragon or a beast of a dragon it becomes that. Or gods even. Or if people believe someone to be dead they die. It doesn't have to be a hard line and it could be more random or mythical, but it seems interesting.

I don't know about a Rasputin-type. Sounds just a little too off-the-wall. I like the parkour idea and flying is something worth exploring but I have another idea for the fire breathing.

One of the special granted powers resulting from the virus is incredible speed or, perhaps rather, quickness. Parkour is the result of a very quick brain to feet reflex which could be part of the quickness. I'm thinking flying is just a bit overpowering but maybe he could actually have wings which he could use to glide with. I'm sure everyone is maybe a little familiar with kitesuit soaring although it may be known be a different name. It's something like that.

The lore of his breath of flame may have come from those he travels with. He could always have at least one of these priests with him who have as a spell a burst of flame. Not enough to do a lot of damage but enough to put on a show for those who lack a certain wit. Can anyone put all of that together and describe our dragon?

The imagery of the scaly skin or reddened eyes from wandering in the desert as lavtodd suggested appeals to me. Perhaps this visage was expanded upon by some self-mutilation or rites (traveling priests?) in an effort to make him/herself more of an icon.

Mutilation like a forked tongue, perhaps? Red eyes doesn't quite fit. Golden eyes with verticle pupils would be more real even though a bit less chilling. I'm having difficulty with the idea of wanting to be left alone and making himself an icon. Perhaps the mutilation was done as an enslaved youth. The priests would have healed him and perhaps even set him free.

Maybe he liked how his appearance scared and shocked people so he just took things a step further.

It osrt of depends on whether we want him to be a sympathetic character or something else altogether.

Maybe he's not mutilated at all, but he's a half-breed with some inhuman heritage. Those who do survive encounters with him aren't familiar with those other folk, and they exaggerate what they see out of fear.

I like a clear cut Disney villain every now and then~

Over time, the use of a breath weapon could cause disfigurement of the tongue. Even if the breath weapon is some sort of charm. Evil spells might leave nasty after-effects on the caster.

The breath weapon could be the result of a build-up of a toxin in the Dragon's body. Releasing it is the only way to preserve his life.

Well, I tried to respond to all of this yesterday and got carried away. That means I got timed out somehow and lost all my work. So, I'll try again.

The idea of half-breed is interesting. Let's explore that angle a little bit. To know how that would work we have to build the world and all it's sentient beings. Let's work north to south. The frigid north is populated by mountain clans who worship the stone gods and are very aggressive and very hardy. That's the only way they can survive the bitter cold winters which usually last a good 9 months or more. And there is only winter and time that is not winter.

Also in the north but not in the mountains there are great forests and broad steppes. While the mountain dwellers are light skinned, light eyed and light haired, the rest of the north, especially in the steppes, are slightly darker in all respects. I'll leave the forests open for now and we can populate them later depending on whether we want to add elves or not. A little farther south are plains and fields where agriculture is possible with one growing season. The people here are somewhat pacifistic, mostly farmers who worship a god of peace. They are similar in racial characteristics to the steppe dwellers.

South of the plains is a great desert populated by a swarthier race who tend toward black hair and dark eyes. They worship the sun and the moon. They have a number of cities that have grown up around oases. There are a few smaller oases throughout the desert that allow trade caravans to travel from city to city. Farther south are open plains resembling the northern plains only in geography. The people who live there are much darker in color than even the desert dwellers.

To the west of the southern plains are the sea people. Racially similar to the desert people, these people worship sea gods. They trade with an empire across the sea that is not well known to the rest of the world.

That's a very rough set up. There could be other races and populations that are hidden from plain sight and who could lend themselves to interbreeding.