DC Lore AMA

[TJ09]

I haven't read this whole thread, so this might have been answered, but... How much of this world did you know of when you first began DragonCave? Did you even have the name Valkemare at that point, or know about mana and elements and all of that? Was the continent already named when you first started DC? I know we as users have seen so much more information come through in the last few years, but how much of it is stuff you've known all along in your head?

Absolutely zero of it. The vast majority of it is pretty recent.

 

I don't think I really started thinking heavily about the world until early 2013.

 

The element system I came up with in early 2014, partially in preparation for the Guardian of Nature update (though its development also heavily influenced the GoN update too; the idea of having Creation/Destruction/Change came about as part of making an element system rather than as an idea for GoNs that then was applied to the element system).

 

Mana came about somewhere around that time, though I don't recall the exact chronology right now. I believe I decided upon having a "different" way of introducing non-human humanoids (i.e. magic-transformed humans) first, which combined with the element system and the idea of there being a physical energy source for magic, laid the main pillars of what we have.

 

Valkemare and Galsreim were named shortly before the encyclopedia launch. We wanted to include information about things other than dragons, so I started writing things about the world itself. The first version of what's on site basically just had placeholders, and I pulled the name together based on parts of names suggested by the other people working on the encyclopedia (AKA many of the artists).

 

The first post of this thread (which is going on two years old now) mentions that most of the questions go into territory that I haven't even considered. That's, in fact, one of the best parts about this thread: everyone gets their questions answered, and I get opportunities to fill in the parts of this massive blank canvas that I probably wouldn't think to fill in.

[TJ09]

How does Valkemarian time magic and paradoxes work? - If a chrono-xenowyrm goes goes back in time to smash the eggs of his parents, say. Does time travel invariably end up proving to be what happened all along/leading to the events that caused the time traveler to go back in the first place? Are there parallel timelines?

Well, I think regardless, a given timeline would be immutable after it's written. That is, the past can't be changed, but the future still has possibilities (which is what the Aeon dragons specialize in).

 

So then the question more accurately phrased is: "Are there multiple timelines?"

 

The possible answers are the same. If there's a single timeline, then going back in time would either be impossible or could only result in events that have already happened (i.e. you would simply not be able to kill your own parents before you were born). If there's multiple timelines, then going back in time would "branch" into a new timeline that has a single forking point (unless, of course, the timeline you left from already included the events of you traveling to the past). I wouldn't call them "parallel", since they would diverge farther and farther away from each other.

 

The single-timeline version is way less satisfying, because no matter what you do you can't change history, and it defers the "paradox" onto a different layer of thinking (instead of "what happens if you do this impossible thing?" it's "what force causes you to always fail to change things no matter what?"). While it's fun to see stories resolve themselves in ways that make everything come together nicely (i.e. you go back in time to kill your parents, and end up being the reason they met, which is what had already happened), it's probably more fun to have the flexibility of many different timelines.

 

Though even with multiple timelines, I'd say "lateral" timeline movement (traveling to "alternate realities") is just not worth the effort of having; only into the past or future.

[SkyWolf25]

I think I remember reading somewhere(sorry if it's this thread x); that pygmies have similar intelligence to humans. Is this true, or are they closer to drakes in that aspect?

 

Are dragons with jobs in human settlements(like the Magi dragons in the holiday event) common?

[TJ09]

I think I remember reading somewhere(sorry if it's this thread x); that pygmies have similar intelligence to humans. Is this true, or are they closer to drakes in that aspect?

Yes, pygmies are intelligent, unlike drakes. That's what they're still called pygmy dragons; they share more with their larger cousins the dragons than the more-closely-sized drakes.

 

Are dragons with jobs in human settlements(like the Magi dragons in the holiday event) common?

I'd say it's very uncommon; people can do magic, too, so for everyday things you wouldn't need to seek out a dragon specifically (though certain breeds do have very specialized powers that are harder for anyone else--human or dragons--to do).

 

But magic as a whole is also something that'd only be really prevalent in larger cities. Even a city like Nulhora (the northern city from the game) is mostly a farming "village" with some trade business in the city center, and wouldn't really have much access to magic.

[Vrack]

For this event (and past ones) have you signed off on every single bit of information and lore in the dialogue or have you let the event coordinators come up with the details themselves?

Edited January 3, 2017 by Vrack

[TJ09]

For this event (and past ones) have you signed off on every single bit of information and lore in the dialogue or have you let the event coordinators come up with the details themselves?

I did not sign off on "every little detail." I did have discussions on high level things and what would/wouldn't be okay (e.g. most of the stuff around the temples or Thalassians, which I did come up with then name for based on some stuff I have from a few months ago and never shared).

 

But that's why events aren't technically considered "canon." It's not for lack of trying, but without having to micromanage the content of the event, it's easier to let people have creative freedom and not worry about possibly contradicting it in the future.

 

Plus, if they come up with something I like that I wouldn't have thought of, then maybe I'll adopt it into the world.

[Robot Chimera]

I'm actually a bit curious about Neglected dragons and was wondering why they change their appearance completely after changing. My theory was that being so close to death gave them a weak immune system which caused them to become diseased.

[TJ09]

I'm actually a bit curious about Neglected dragons and was wondering why they change their appearance completely after changing. My theory was that being so close to death gave them a weak immune system which caused them to become diseased.

That sounds pretty much correct. Some sort of disease or parasite affects the egg (or particularly vulnerable hatchlings) and cause such dramatic changes (though the body plan change is more a side effect of game logic, like old zombies).

[SkyWolf25]

Can human mages become as powerful as dragons with strong magic(Avatars and GoN excluded, holidays included), or is there a certain limit, given that their magic is not innate? Which group is more powerful on average, human mages or dragon species that use magic?

[TJ09]

Can human mages become as powerful as dragons with strong magic(Avatars and GoN excluded, holidays included), or is there a certain limit, given that their magic is not innate? Which group is more powerful on average, human mages or dragon species that use magic?

Innate magic isn't inherently more powerful than conscious magic, though on average it will be.

 

Under the current idea that there's some "soul-ar plane" in which magic is the act of using mana to transfer energy from that plane and create some effect on our plane, beings with more powerful souls would be able to do that more effectively, I guess. And dragons would probably have stronger souls, so they would indeed have a higher theoretical cap on their abilities.

 

That's as a generalization, though. Is the most powerful human more capable at magic than the weakest dragon? Almost definitely.

[house4hippo]

I haven't read through the entire thread, so I don't know if this has been answered already, but... What's the healthcare like in Valkemare?

[TJ09]

I haven't read through the entire thread, so I don't know if this has been answered already, but... What's the healthcare like in Valkemare?

Well the word healthcare apparently wasn't a thing until sometime during the 20th century, so no one in Valkemare would know what that is.

 

But yeah, medicine would exist for sure, probably in the form of individual practitioners scattered throughout society (apothecaries, herbalists, clerics in churches, etc). I'd like to imagine Valkemarians have avoided the downsides of traditional medieval medicine (that is, a pretty much complete lack of hygiene pervasive throughout society), but I'd bet people/places are still as dirty and grimy as they were, which they compensate for with the ability to actually recover from ailments/diseases/injuries (via magic).

 

I actually think you're the first to ask.

[Robot Chimera]

Do Undead dragons mindlessly consume parts of other dragons after attacking them (like the braaaiins) or do they just not really care once it stops moving?

[TJ09]

Do Undead dragons mindlessly consume parts of other dragons after attacking them (like the braaaiins) or do they just not really care once it stops moving?

I'm sure they do indeed feed. It's possible they don't necessarily need it (if they're magically sustained), but maybe they survive by feeding on the mana/energy of living beings or something. That doesn't sound too far out there.

[Kakaru_of_DOOM]

You mentioned the Valkemarian year is longer than Earth's. Do Valkemarian humans mature at the same rate as their Earth counterparts, and therefore reach equivalent levels of maturity after less (local) years? And/or do they grow slower? I mean, I figure one or two hours a day + a few days per year would add up to some significant numbers given a reasonable lifespan.

 

Does the longer growing season have significant effects on plants - particularly annual domestic/food crops? Are there types of plants that take advantage of the long year that wouldn't be viable with Earth's?

 

...How much longer of a year are you thinking - days? Weeks?

[sh20000sh]

What kind of calendar used in Valkemare? Same as Gregorian calendar as modern Earth does?

[Sazandora]

So... what's up with the Thalassians in the 2016 Christmas minigame? Those vaguely reptilian/amphibian humanoids or something. I don't remember hearing absolutely anything about them.

Are they related to humans? Or are they like the dragonspawn/drakonids in World of Warcraft, humans who are servants of dragons and eventually became draconic themselves?

[TJ09]

So... what's up with the Thalassians in the 2016 Christmas minigame? Those vaguely reptilian/amphibian humanoids or something. I don't remember hearing absolutely anything about them.

Are they related to humans? Or are they like the dragonspawn/drakonids in World of Warcraft, humans who are servants of dragons and eventually became draconic themselves?

This thread talks a lot about "mana-transformed" humans (and the encyclopedia also mentions raw mana's mutative effects). Thalassians are one type of those, mutated by water mana, specifically. They're named after the primal spirit of water (of which there is one for each element).

 

So, they're still humans, in a sense. Definitely closer to humans than most other beings.

[TJ09]

You mentioned the Valkemarian year is longer than Earth's. Do Valkemarian humans mature at the same rate as their Earth counterparts, and therefore reach equivalent levels of maturity after less (local) years? And/or do they grow slower? I mean, I figure one or two hours a day + a few days per year would add up to some significant numbers given a reasonable lifespan.

 

Does the longer growing season have significant effects on plants - particularly annual domestic/food crops? Are there types of plants that take advantage of the long year that wouldn't be viable with Earth's?

 

...How much longer of a year are you thinking - days? Weeks?

I don't think having a longer year would meaningfully affect humans. Measuring time is, as far as I'm aware, a uniquely human phenomenon; there is no natural significance to it otherwise. Longer seasons would affect the climate more than anything, but seasons already vary quite a bit from area to area, and IIRC trees use temperature fluctuations to tell when seasons are shifting, so the same tree species would probably survive just fine. But yes, ages as measured in longer years would be lower.

 

The year is probably around 400 days (to pull a number out of thin air). Combined with a 25-hour day, that makes the overall year about 15% longer than an Earth year. That doesn't feel like enough to really change things too drastically.

[TJ09]

What kind of calendar used in Valkemare? Same as Gregorian calendar as modern Earth does?

Definitely not. I haven't really put any thought into what it would be though.

 

To think out loud here, I can come up with a few possibilities:

 

400 day year, 8 day weeks, 4 week months = 12.5 months. I kind of like the idea of having a two week period that doesn't belong to any month that would have some cultural significance to humans. I don't quite know what that importance would be, though.

 

384 day year, 8 day weeks, 4 week months = 12 months. But that's all too neat and orderly to be interesting.

 

397 day year, 8 day weeks, 12 months = 32 days per month with 13 days left over. That's a little less orderly; some of the months can have 30-31 days, some can have 32-34. Leaving 13 days outside of that is intentional and gets back to the first option—it leaves one day for each element, which helps set the direction for how exactly the extra time could be used (i.e. some sort of end-of-year celebration to the primal spirits).

 

396 day year, 8 day weeks, 12 months = ~33 days per month (probably: 32,33,34,33,32,33,34,33,32,33,34,33). Pretty much the previous option with the extra days distributed into the months) It doesn't divide evenly into a round number of weeks, but neither does 365/7.

[AppleMango]

400 day year, 8 day weeks, 4 week months = 12.5 months. I kind of like the idea of having a two week period that doesn't belong to any month that would have some cultural significance to humans. I don't quite know what that importance would be, though.

What about a leap month every second year? Hahaha

[Zeditha]

What events are celebrated on Valkemare? We've seen that otherwise rare dragons appear exclusively around certain periods of the year, and I'd imagine that Valkemarians celebrate events around then, but are there others? Would a summer event be something that fits in the lore?

(Yes, I'm only really asking because I thought of a cool suggestion centered around a summer event It's in the Bring Back CB Prizes thread (page 25) if anyone wants to look.)

 

Also, I don't remember any name being given to the events within the Valentine text adventures or the Christmas events; do they have names?

[sh20000sh]

Definitely not. I haven't really put any thought into what it would be though.

 

To think out loud here, I can come up with a few possibilities:

 

400 day year, 8 day weeks, 4 week months = 12.5 months. I kind of like the idea of having a two week period that doesn't belong to any month that would have some cultural significance to humans. I don't quite know what that importance would be, though.

 

384 day year, 8 day weeks, 4 week months = 12 months. But that's all too neat and orderly to be interesting.

 

397 day year, 8 day weeks, 12 months = 32 days per month with 13 days left over. That's a little less orderly; some of the months can have 30-31 days, some can have 32-34. Leaving 13 days outside of that is intentional and gets back to the first option—it leaves one day for each element, which helps set the direction for how exactly the extra time could be used (i.e. some sort of end-of-year celebration to the primal spirits).

 

396 day year, 8 day weeks, 12 months = ~33 days per month (probably: 32,33,34,33,32,33,34,33,32,33,34,33). Pretty much the previous option with the extra days distributed into the months) It doesn't divide evenly into a round number of weeks, but neither does 365/7.

Option 3 and 4 are looks good for me. 3rd one reminds me lunar calendar and 4 reminds me modern calendar.

[kreepers_killer]

might have already been answered, but is there any religions on valkemar? Is it like a "human" religion with a god, or one with dragons (for example, the GoN)?

[Obscure_Trash]

might have already been answered, but is there any religions on valkemar? Is it like a "human" religion with a god, or one with dragons (for example, the GoN)?

Here's a past answer on religion, if you're interested: https://forums.dragcave.net/index.php?showt...0entry8707227