Non-game story thread

I would like a place to present story ideas that residents here could do input and hopefully develop something that could turn into a game. We could either open it up as a setting for a current game system or have someone develop a system for playing in the setting. Just so everyone can think in the same way let's use something with which everyone here should be familiar. Westeros. I'm not saying we steal from George Martin. It's only meant to be a benchmark.

You have a fully developed world (something we would do here), a wide number of races and cultures and a major event or individual.
We should start with a concept that would revolve around that event or individual. Let me start the ball rolling with a fairly vague statement and everyone who is interested in joining can post suggestions.

"The Dragon is loose in the land."

Big question. Who or what is The Dragon?

Let's hear your thoughts.

The Dragon is a band of mercenaries. In the last decade they have amassed huge numbers in the east and have now invaded this land, and no one knows what drives them or who their client is.

They have also attracted the attention of a very real dragon, because a horde of valuables is quite appealing to the young but still deadly beast

The dragon is a euphemism for a noble of sone sort and their party. Maybe a young prince or princess whom is rather despised by less fortunate subjects. Or the name of a hardass mentor and it's a group of his memtees whispering humorously as their mentor is in an awful foul mood.

The dragon is an actual dragon, and as far as anybody knows, it's the only dragon that exists.

And this isn't one of those smart, spell-casting, treasure-hoarding D&D cliches. No, this is a collosal, mindless beast that appears randomly somewhere in the realm every 30-40 years or so, the precise time lapse varies, rampages across the lands, killing huge amounts of people a it feeds, and then vanishes to nobody knows where, where it lies dormant for another 30-40 years.

I like the euphemism idea the best. The dragon is not necessarily human but can exist in a human world because others have at least heard of others like him or at least something like him.

He doesn't necessarily have any special powers but he may be able to channel an inner beast that, combined with how he looks, could make some superstitious people think in terms of a dragon. His appearance is not unheard of but is only seen perhaps once in 20 or 30 generations.

I'm doing this in small bites because my system is giving me problems.

It may be his/her appearance that conjures the "dragon" image, or it could be simply that this individual has the capacity to breath fire (or pick your breath weapon).

The dragon is humanity itself. Compared to the other long-lived race, it is spreading quickly throughout the land. It is outbreeding both elves and dwarves. It's unending thirst for natural resources, land, and general disregard for the environment is greatly disturbing to the elder races. To them, humanity looks like this giant beast that just consumes...

Awfully progressive of you, kal. But an interesting concept. Probably better for a literary work than an RPG game. Let's focus on an individual for a moment. What would there be about an individual that would prompt images of a dragon? And let's not think simply in human terms.

Do you ever write, kalajel? I really like that one. It'd be interesting to see a fantasy story from a non-human perspective.

I like these in general, really.

The Dragon is a mysterious plague. Victims suffer burning fevers, drying scaly skin, and an insatiable desire for meat. Superstitions spread across the land. Some blame the heavenly, purging the wicked. Some purge the profane, toying with mankind. Most are just afraid.

The dragon simply wants to be left alone. After he refused the king to join him in his conquest of the known world, the King united the Kingdom by secretly burning enemy villages, spreading false stories of "The Dragon" burning them and offering his protection in exchange for servitude...

No, I don't write.

Ah, bummer kalajel

And nice one, deadpool!

I'm gonna have to go see the Geek Squad. Every time I type more than two or three lines I get knocked off the site and lose all my work. I don't know if it's just Google Chrome or if I've got a virus that my software didn't catch.

So, I saw a couple of very good ideas there. I wouldn't go so far as a plague. Affects too many people. An individual recruited by an evil King sounds good but having already conquered vast territories may be better left for actual game play than for game setup.

I'm thinking our Dragon might be from the desert southwest and was shunned by his community. He wandered the desert and grew mad from the summer sun. He was saved by a priestess from the north who had come south with a small group to spread the word and found him at death's door.

Mythic Rasputin-type?

Moves lightly on his feet and can do a medieval parkour so it appears he can fly. And/or he has learned the art of "breathing" fire using a flammable liquid and a small hidden flame.

The dragon is a weapon

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.