DC Lore AMA

[TJ09]

Not counting gameplay mechanics, is there an age at which dragons are no longer able to reproduce?

 

And if there is, would the condition be called Ereptile Dysfunction? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Did you post this just to make a pun? If so, I approve.

 

But it's not something I've already given any thought to. I believe in other canons even "ancient" dragons still can have offspring, and other than possible population implications I don't see why that wouldn't be the case her either.

[Dirtytabs]

Do dragons and humans share body language? Are expressions like grinning, wrinkling brows, hanging one's head, etc. generally recognized between the species?

[blockEdragon]

Are gold dragon's scales made of actual gold?

 

if so do they eat gold and somehow it forms on their scales and the reason their eggs and hatchlings are metallic form birth is because so many generations have been eating gold that they get gold from their mothers while still inside her and then learn the gold eating habits from an old instinct, or their parents, or both?

Edited May 27, 2016 by blockEdragon

[TJ09]

Do dragons and humans share body language? Are expressions like grinning, wrinkling brows, hanging one's head, etc. generally recognized between the species?

It is trivially true to say that body language is inherently tied to the physical capabilities of a creature. The set of unconscious postures and movements that give insight into someone's mental state are constrained by what is possible. To that extent, there will be a lot of aspects of posture that cannot be shared due to physiological differences—humans have more expressive faces, dragons have tails and wings. There will be some overlap, sure, but

 

The more important scenario is "can humans interpret dragons' body language" and vice versa. The answer to this is likely yes, though it'd be a learned behavior; dogs and humans can learn to read each other, humans can learn to read each other; I don't see why dragons and humans would not.

[TJ09]

Are gold dragon's scales made of actual gold?

 

if so do they eat gold and somehow it forms on their scales and the reason their eggs and hatchlings are metallic form birth is because so many generations have been eating gold that they get gold from their mothers while still inside her and then learn the gold eating habits from an old instinct, or their parents, or both?

No, they aren't. Gold is definitely not a part of their diet.

 

But they are shiny and metallic.

[andromedae]

Is there such a thing as superlatives amongst the dragon breeds? Such as, the friendliest, most aggressive, the kindest, etc. ? Could you name a few?

[TJ09]

Is there such a thing as superlatives amongst the dragon breeds? Such as, the friendliest, most aggressive, the kindest, etc. ? Could you name a few?

I actually have no clue what you mean.

[andromedae]

I actually have no clue what you mean.

With superlatives I mean the "most" of something. Say the friendliest, the strongest, the most popular, etc.

[Nerei]

So we obviously know that dragons can communicate telepathically between themselves and with humans, but are humans innately telepathic creatures? What I mean is, can humans use telepathy even when no dragons are involved? And would it be a relatively simple skill, or something that requires significant effort to learn? I wasn't sure if this was addressed already, but I ask because I started thinking about how interesting it would be if young children could use telepathy to communicate with their parents even before they could speak.

 

And on a semi-related note: Is there a range for telepathy? Like with walkie-talkies, do you have to be within a certain distance to pick up a "signal" or send a message?

[Riath]

In the time period of DC, are basic firearms a thing? I'm talking about small flintlock pistols and horrendously slow-loading muskets. And if there are primitive guns, do people have mana-powered versions? Like a musket that has death mana in it that makes the bullets more deadly.

[TJ09]

So we obviously know that dragons can communicate telepathically between themselves and with humans, but are humans innately telepathic creatures? What I mean is, can humans use telepathy even when no dragons are involved? And would it be a relatively simple skill, or something that requires significant effort to learn? I wasn't sure if this was addressed already, but I ask because I started thinking about how interesting it would be if young children could use telepathy to communicate with their parents even before they could speak.

 

And on a semi-related note: Is there a range for telepathy? Like with walkie-talkies, do you have to be within a certain distance to pick up a "signal" or send a message?

Innately telepathic? No, most humans (minus ones that are mana-transformed) aren't innately magical. It would require learning the proper magic and how to correctly utilize mana.

 

The strength of a telepathic "signal" would obey the inverse square law (which means the energy required to communicate scales quadratically as distance increases). Thus, there are practical limits before the cost becomes too high, but it's all up to a given creature and how much energy they have to spend. Reasonably, most situations would be constrained to roughly the same distance as earshot.

[TJ09]

In the time period of DC, are basic firearms a thing? I'm talking about small flintlock pistols and horrendously slow-loading muskets. And if there are primitive guns, do people have mana-powered versions? Like a musket that has death mana in it that makes the bullets more deadly.

Black powder is most definitely within the target time range, and even some form of handheld weaponry would fit the period (from what I can tell, the earliest known gunpowder hand-cannon from China dates to the 13th Century).

 

I'd say it's far from prevalent, but what you're describing isn't impossible (although a bit more primitive than you're expecting; muskets don't seem to have been common until the 17th century).

[Dirtytabs]

Is there a collective name for the guardian avatars, one used to refer to all three together? How about for the dragons who can summon a GoN? We have "trio" for the latter, but I feel that's outdated now that there's more than one.

[DuskOfTheStars]

Canonically, can Expunge be used on living dragons? If so, all Soulpeaces or just really powerful ones?

 

I assume Expunge is some type of spel that sends the soul to the afterlife.

 

If that is possible I would think it sends the dragon's soul to the afterlife, making it lok2 asleep but actually is dead.

Edited June 21, 2016 by Dusky_Flareon

[TJ09]

Canonically, can Expunge be used on living dragons? If so, all Soulpeaces or just really powerful ones?

 

I assume Expunge is some type of spel that sends the soul to the afterlife.

 

If that is possible I would think it sends the dragon's soul to the afterlife, making it lok2 asleep but actually is dead.

Expunge is not general-purpose "detach soul from body" magic, no.

 

Under normal circumstances, the connection between soul and body is pretty strong, and difficult to sever. When a creature is brought back to life as a zombie, that connection is reformed, but in an unnatural (and weaker) manner. It is this forced tether to the material world that expunge targets and removes.

[Obscure_Trash]

Is there a collective name for the guardian avatars, one used to refer to all three together? How about for the dragons who can summon a GoN? We have "trio" for the latter, but I feel that's outdated now that there's more than one.

Not TJ, but suggestions -

 

Avatars?

 

I feel like trios is way too entrenched to just suddenly change now, but they could also be Elementals?

[TJ09]

Not TJ, but suggestions -

 

Avatars?

 

I feel like trios is way too entrenched to just suddenly change now, but they could also be Elementals?

The official name on their announcement was the "Legendary Trio" though that's mostly a Pokemon reference. Elemental Trio may fit better.

 

In-lore, the ability for the trio to summon is likely little more than a myth to humans. I've mentioned before, but things like holiday dragons or GoNs are extremely rare (there's probably only one GoN period), such that only a handful of people would have ever seen them. It's not like the trios are going around summoning GoNs every few years or something.

 

But yes, Avatars is the correct term. Their official name as a group is the "Avatars of Nature," I believe (better than the more verbose "Avatar of the Guardian of Nature").

[Dirtytabs]

I understood summoning GoNs and breeding avatars are Gameplay Thingies to make DC fun. It isn't like Lugia is a common sight in the Pokémon world, either.

 

 

Are Aliset and Nulhora (and other towns from past events) in Galsreim? Or canon, for that matter?

 

Are there any organisms that existed on roughly-the-same-time-period Earth that definitely don't on Valkemare? Say, due to dragons occupying their niche. Can we assume everything is there unless explicitly mentioned otherwise?

 

Are breed descriptions written from an in-universe human's perspective? Whatever descriptions say is whatever the Valkemarian writer knows/assumes?

 

How do you pronounce "mutamore"?

[TJ09]

I understood summoning GoNs and breeding avatars are Gameplay Thingies to make DC fun. It isn't like Lugia is a common sight in the Pokémon world, either.

 

 

Are Aliset and Nulhora (and other towns from past events) in Galsreim? Or canon, for that matter?

 

Are there any organisms that existed on roughly-the-same-time-period Earth that definitely don't on Valkemare? Say, due to dragons occupying their niche. Can we assume everything is there unless explicitly mentioned otherwise?

 

Are breed descriptions written from an in-universe human's perspective? Whatever descriptions say is whatever the Valkemarian writer knows/assumes?

 

How do you pronounce "mutamore"?

Aliset and Nulhora are not currently on the list of locations I've named and started fleshing out, but there's still room for that to happen. It'd maybe be for the better to not do that, though; holiday events are considered somewhere between "non-canon" and "loose canon"--mostly because many of them were written before a lot of the actual canon elements (like mana) were published.

Keeping Aliset and Nulhora as locations that are non-canon but updating them to match what is canon may provide a good way to keep continuity with holiday events but without tying canon down.

 

Assuming most animals exist is a relatively safe claim to make. I haven't thought a lot about the ecological effects of the extra biodiversity, though. There are going to be a few completely new creatures that don't exist on the world, but a lot of the differences in flora and fauna will come from mana transformation (e.g. a wolf transformed via earth mana would still be a pretty fantastical creature, even though its basis is a real-world one).

 

Given that breed descriptions include references to human folklore, it's probably safe to assume that they're based on observation by humans (similar to the encyclopedia) and are therefore in-universe knowledge. That isn't to say

 

"`Myo͞ot-ə-môr" (MUTE-a-more, to define it in terms of english words) is my initial interpretation, though I think one of Infinis or Cyradis have said it's actually "Myo͞ot-ə-`môr-ā" (Mute-a-MOR-ay) because it's based on Latin.

[Nerei]

How would Time and Magi mana exposure affect a person physically? I have a good idea of what the other mana mutation types would look like, but I can't figure these two out.

[TJ09]

How would Time and Magi mana exposure affect a person physically? I have a good idea of what the other mana mutation types would look like, but I can't figure these two out.

I'm curious on what your thoughts are for the other types. I'd like to see if they match the types of things I've been thinking of for them.

 

So, with Time mana, I've had a few ideas, but my leading ones are:

A person's physical age would not match their actual age (e.g. a town would look like normal people, but no one would be their actual age).

A person would appear experience time non-linearly and would jump around their timeline erratically, even though the timeline itself remains contiguous (e.g. when you met them yesterday they were 35 and already knew you, today they're 26 and are meeting you for the first time).

 

I don't remember what Magi was, and I can't seem to find where I would've listed these out...

 

But one thing that the Time mana examples point out is that the changes don't necessarily have to have fantastical physical effects.

[Nerei]

Well, I had written out a few things for the other types, if you were interested in me sharing.

Air - Lightweight, possibly even hollow-boned people. Very birdlike with colorful feathery growths. Adept at forecasting weather. Excellent sense of smell. ("Sending out" air to retrieve scents, haha.)

Ice - Seemingly immune to cold. Hefty and thick-haired. Emit a frosty aura, and prolonged touch seems to chill anything they come in contact with.

Magi - ?

Time - ?

Light - "A glowing, slightly crystalline being." Very keen vision, seem to have an innate talent for manipulating/seeing light on all spectrums.

Life - Affinity for living creatures, definitely possess green thumbs or minor healing abilities. Resemble dryads or woodland sprites.

Water - Sleek, amphibious beings. Webbed fingers and toes, large lung capacity. (Or maybe gills… I took into account that no aquatic mammal has ever evolved gills, but it's likely different with magic.) Eyes adapted to seeing underwater.

Earth - Heavily built, thick skinned. Traditionally miners that have had experience with lots of earth mana. An affinity for soil and ores. Very durable.

Dark - Shadowy, secretive beings who appear enshrouded in arcane gloom. Nocturnal habits. Small and solitary.

Fire - Heat-proof bodies. Love high temperatures, exude heat. Can sear objects through touch.

Death - Frail and unpleasant in appearance. Leech life energy from nearby organisms.

Lightning - Small shocks from contact, permanently frizzed hair. Potential to withstand strong electrical currents.

This was all speculative, and under the assumption that mana alters appearances quite noticeably.

Edited June 26, 2016 by Niyaka

[TJ09]

Well, I had written out a few things for the other types, if you were interested in me sharing.

Air - Lightweight, possibly even hollow-boned people. Very birdlike with colorful feathery growths. Adept at forecasting weather. Excellent sense of smell. ("Sending out" air to retrieve scents, haha.)

Ice - Seemingly immune to cold. Hefty and thick-haired. Emit a frosty aura, and prolonged touch seems to chill anything they come in contact with.

Magi - ?

Time - ?

Light - "A glowing, slightly crystalline being." Very keen vision, seem to have an innate talent for manipulating/seeing light on all spectrums.

Life - Affinity for living creatures, definitely possess green thumbs or minor healing abilities. Resemble dryads or woodland sprites.

Water - Sleek, amphibious beings. Webbed fingers and toes, large lung capacity. (Or maybe gills… I took into account that no aquatic mammal has ever evolved gills, but it's likely different with magic.) Eyes adapted to seeing underwater.

Earth - Heavily built, thick skinned. Traditionally miners that have had experience with lots of earth mana. An affinity for soil and ores. Very durable.

Dark - Shadowy, secretive beings who appear enshrouded in arcane gloom. Nocturnal habits. Small and solitary.

Fire - Heat-proof bodies. Love high temperatures, exude heat. Can sear objects through touch.

Death - Frail and unpleasant in appearance. Leech life energy from nearby organisms.

Lightning - Small shocks from contact, permanently frizzed hair. Potential to withstand strong electrical currents.

This was all speculative, and under the assumption that mana alters appearances quite noticeably.

Surprisingly close for most of them. I've actually had some of them look a bit /more/ fantastical (e.g. certain earth-transformed warriors would have a rock-like skin that serves as armor).

 

I also have air mana causing the growth of an extra set of wings, and I do have water mana causing the presence of gills (I believe the result would be amphibious rather than completely water-borne).

[Pyrowings]

Would mana be able to mutate the mind and thoughts as well as bodies?

Edited July 7, 2016 by beiningtian

[TJ09]

Would mana be able to mutate the mind and thoughts as well as bodies?

If you have something specific in mind, I'd love to hear it, but baring that...

 

The answer to the general question is most likely. One way to look at it is "well, it's magic, so it can do whatever it want."

 

A slightly better way to look is to say that we already know that biochemistry can have a wide variety of mental effects, and so mana that manipulates the physical mind can thus manipulate a person's emotions, thoughts, etc. However, that's still not particularly satisfying; modern medicine doesn't quite have the chemistry of the brain mapped out, so expecting a much less technologically advanced society to have figured out exactly what to manipulate feels a bit bad—though the same could be said for many other magical effects, so...

 

Another possibility relates to an idea I tossed around earlier: the concept of a "soul-based" plane parallel to the material one. If souls exist on that plane in much the same way that physical matter exists, then magic that can manipulate the souls on that plane just as it can manipulate anything else.