DC Lore AMA

[TJ09]

4 hours ago, Kakaru_of_DOOM said:

I recall that somewhere, you mentioned a tribe/culture of humans that used resurrection magic on a regular basis to revive those that hadn't earned the right to die (though I can't find the post to quote it). Now, given that the average white is much more powerful than the average human at life magic - combined with bodies' tendencies to turn into dust and/or zombies when the spell is attempted - one would not assume humans to be skilled enough to reliably do something that a white cannot.

 

I have some theories and an explanation/caveat for each:

1) Moral. It might go against a white dragon's sensitive morals to force the dead back to life. In this situation, desipis mind-control and extortion could easily force whites to go against this behaviour.

2) Elemental. Resurrection requires the target to be dead, and therefore it could be believable that at least some amount of death mana to perform the spell. Again, this could easily be solved if a death/darkness (or lightning?) aligned individual was willing to help. Plus, death is 'destruction' so as much as I love messing with things, Valkemare does not seem like the place to do it.

3) Out-dated. Whites are an ancient breed, and Valkemare has changed a lot since their breed description was written. Perhaps in modern Valkemare, the whites can pull off resurrections, though it is uncommon - perhaps for at least one of the reasons above?

4) Other? These are just what I've thought up. None of these reasons are mutually exclusive, of course, so it could be all and more.

 

I've actually recently re-read this thread to start compiling the various answers into something more holistic. The answer I gave earlier was the first one. It is indeed a moral objection (I think I said "it's less that they can't and more that they won't"); which means a little of 3 as well. There are certainly better ways to going about resurrecting something than mind-control, though.

[Kakaru_of_DOOM]

On 7/27/2017 at 8:44 PM, TJ09 said:

I've actually recently re-read this thread to start compiling the various answers into something more holistic. The answer I gave earlier was the first one. It is indeed a moral objection (I think I said "it's less that they can't and more that they won't"); which means a little of 3 as well.

I didn't realize this had been asked before. Does that mean a white could be coerced by a less-than-moral individual? (I'm envisioning a black dragon, "resurrect my friend or I'll torture these innocent wyrmlings to death!") What about those raised among other breeds (plated colossus: "be tough or I'll bonk you on the head" (possibly causing brain damage))? I know there are always some individuals with looser morals than others: would it be conceivable that an individual would see death as wrong so much that he/she would do anything to prevent or undo it; or alternatively one whose love of wealth overpowers her objection to performing revivals?

 

Just wondering. I have a seven year-old white that I would like to expand the description of, but if she won't fly by modern standards I don't want to lose her old description. I can envision a number of potentially-interesting descriptions that push the edge of a white's morality.

 

On 7/27/2017 at 8:44 PM, TJ09 said:

I've actually recently re-read this thread to start compiling the various answers into something more holistic.

 

I'm glad you're compiling things. There's a few other things I remember reading here that I'd love to revisit. I appreciate it.

[TJ09]

On 8/8/2017 at 5:00 PM, Kakaru_of_DOOM said:

I didn't realize this had been asked before. Does that mean a white could be coerced by a less-than-moral individual? (I'm envisioning a black dragon, "resurrect my friend or I'll torture these innocent wyrmlings to death!") What about those raised among other breeds (plated colossus: "be tough or I'll bonk you on the head" (possibly causing brain damage))? I know there are always some individuals with looser morals than others: would it be conceivable that an individual would see death as wrong so much that he/she would do anything to prevent or undo it; or alternatively one whose love of wealth overpowers her objection to performing revivals?

 

Just wondering. I have a seven year-old white that I would like to expand the description of, but if she won't fly by modern standards I don't want to lose her old description. I can envision a number of potentially-interesting descriptions that push the edge of a white's morality.

I imagine them as pretty staunch in their beliefs, so it'd be pretty hard to coerce, but naturally still possible via e.g. mind control. But at that point, you're probably expending more effort than it's worth. They're certainly pretty potent healers, but they're not the only beings capable of resurrecting the dead.

 

I wouldn't use any of this as justification for "well it's possible that my dragon is special and different because the thread says that not all dragons do this thing." Because it's likely everyone would do the same; you're better off sticking to the described behavior (this thread isn't a valid reason for ignoring what's written on-site anyways).

 

On 8/8/2017 at 5:00 PM, Kakaru_of_DOOM said:

I'm glad you're compiling things. There's a few other things I remember reading here that I'd love to revisit. I appreciate it.

Anything in particular?

 

[Dirtytabs]

Is the name "Sinomorph" derived from anything?

 

Speaking of names, do Galsreim dragons* know what humans call them? For instance, if you spot some waterhorses and say, "Hey! Waterhorse Dragons!", would they go, "Where?" or "Yes, that's us"? With friendlier breeds, do human scholars ask what they call themselves and translate that to writing?

 

*generally speaking, assuming they understand that particular language

[HeatherMarie]

1 hour ago, Dirtytabs said:

Speaking of names, do Galsreim dragons* know what humans call them? For instance, if you spot some waterhorses and say, "Hey! Waterhorse Dragons!", would they go, "Where?" or "Yes, that's us"?

 

Ooohhh good question!

[TJ09]

2 hours ago, Dirtytabs said:

Is the name "Sinomorph" derived from anything?

IIRC, I proposed "synomorph" (using the prefix "syn-" for the dragon i.e. "together") and that's what @PieMaster counter-proposed.

 

2 hours ago, Dirtytabs said:

Speaking of names, do Galsreim dragons* know what humans call them? For instance, if you spot some waterhorses and say, "Hey! Waterhorse Dragons!", would they go, "Where?" or "Yes, that's us"? With friendlier breeds, do human scholars ask what they call themselves and translate that to writing?

 

*generally speaking, assuming they understand that particular language

I forget if I've decided whether or not telepathy "transcends" language, in that dragons don't actually know human languages, and thus instead the concepts just kind of naturally map between the two cultures.

 

Assuming that that's not the case, and dragons do indeed need to learn human languages in order to communicate, then it'd need to be learned like anything else. In much the same way that someone who speaks a language that uses a non-Roman alphabet may not recognize their name when Romanized if they haven't learned that sort of thing.

 

I'm sure people have "heard" what dragons choose to call themselves, but it's not the easiest to pronounce...One thing I have specifically mentioned elsewhere is that the sets of phonemes dragons can vocalize and those humans can vocalize are very likely disjoint.

[Nerei]

Since dragons are sentient, how do most of them react to the cannibal breeds? Especially the ones that aren't traditionally "evil," like falconiforms.

[Pixxelation]

On 9/6/2017 at 6:18 PM, TJ09 said:

IIRC, I proposed "synomorph" (using the prefix "syn-" for the dragon i.e. "together") and that's what @PieMaster counter-proposed.

Nah, @birdzgoboom sent me the name and said that that was what you had named it, since the rest of us hadn't thought of anything yet. I think it was all you =O

[TJ09]

8 hours ago, Niyaka said:

Since dragons are sentient, how do most of them react to the cannibal breeds? Especially the ones that aren't traditionally "evil," like falconiforms.

Cultural taboos are, well, cultural. Most of them probably aren't a fan of the thought of being eaten, and the ones high up in the food/power chain are unlikely to feel threatened, but I'm sure a big chunk of breeds are indifferent as it doesn't impact them. Beings evolve to eat whatever they can in order to survive; the cannibal breeds would likely go for easier food sources if they existed.

 

44 minutes ago, PieMaster said:

Nah, @birdzgoboom sent me the name and said that that was what you had named it, since the rest of us hadn't thought of anything yet. I think it was all you =O

I found the original message, and I proposed Synomorph. Later that day descriptions appeared with the Y changed to I. I don't know what happened behind the scenes.

[Pixxelation]

YAY TYPOS GG PIE

[blockEdragon]

A few dragons have traits used to avoid predators (ridgewings, Spinels, ect), but what do dragons have to be afraid of?

I can't think of many mythical creatures that could kill a dragon, let alone hunt them. And while other dragons might be the answer then why do so many bring up camoflauge? Dragons normally have sharp eyesight and other senses that would make camouflage of little help.

 

So what unstoppable mega-beast of sheer bad***ery HUNTS dragons?

Edited October 7, 2017 by blockEdragon

[TJ09]

On 10/5/2017 at 9:10 PM, blockEdragon said:

A few dragons have traits used to avoid predators (ridgewings, Spinels, ect), but what do dragons have to be afraid of?

I can't think of many mythical creatures that could kill a dragon, let alone hunt them. And while other dragons might be the answer then why do so many bring up camoflauge? Dragons normally have sharp eyesight and other senses that would make camouflage of little help.

 

So what unstoppable mega-beast of sheer bad***ery HUNTS dragons?

 

Dragons definitely hunt other dragons; the ones that need protections such as camouflage are likely those on the smaller and weaker end of the spectrum. That said, dragons aren't the only enemy of dragons. There are likely a number of smaller animals that will go after dragons in packs—humans would actually fall into that category, but I'm sure there are also other, more feral creatures that do the same (and if you think you have a cool idea for one, there's a whole thread for it over in suggestions).

 

I believe I've also mentioned here (maybe?) that there are indeed beings larger than dragons. Though few and far between, they probably need a lot of energy (and/or mana) to sustain themselves.

[Dirtytabs]

Is there a most commonly used, "main" language of humans in Galsreim? I think you mentioned something like a normal language, but it might've been an out-of-story thing. If so, can it be called Galsrim, Reimish, etc. Anything but Common.

Since Galsreim looks pretty large, I suppose a "yes" answer would have some history behind it. The humans have a habit of extensive travel/migration? Conquest? Some entity enforcing its use? People just like it?

[TJ09]

On 11/1/2017 at 10:18 AM, Dirtytabs said:

Is there a most commonly used, "main" language of humans in Galsreim? I think you mentioned something like a normal language, but it might've been an out-of-story thing. If so, can it be called Galsrim, Reimish, etc. Anything but Common.

Since Galsreim looks pretty large, I suppose a "yes" answer would have some history behind it. The humans have a habit of extensive travel/migration? Conquest? Some entity enforcing its use? People just like it?

 

I'd think there is, due to a lot of travel and trade between cities. Given that teleportation magic exists (even if not generally available to everyone) some small amounts of "globalization" can occur. I'd expect that the southeastern cities (near the basin) and the western ones would have slightly different dialects but be able to understand each other.

 

Galsreim doesn't have a centralized government; mostly city-states comprised of a few large cities and the surrounding area (though different states control different amounts of area)

 

As for a name, I don't even have the adjective form of Galsreim, so I don't know what to call things in that regard

[SkyWolf25]

17 hours ago, TJ09 said:

As for a name, I don't even have the adjective form of Galsreim, so I don't know what to call things in that regard

Galsreimic? That's the first word that popped to mind.

 

What happens when the heads of the two-headed dragons disagree on what they want their body to do? For example, if the left head wants the arms to go up and the right head wants them to go down, do the arms just not move at all until the heads come to an agreement? Or is there a dominant head who gets first say?

[TJ09]

On 11/4/2017 at 3:10 AM, SkyWolf25 said:

Galsreimic? That's the first word that popped to mind.

Yeah, that's the first thing I thought of too, but it feels a bit unwieldy to say

 

On 11/4/2017 at 3:10 AM, SkyWolf25 said:

What happens when the heads of the two-headed dragons disagree on what they want their body to do? For example, if the left head wants the arms to go up and the right head wants them to go down, do the arms just not move at all until the heads come to an agreement? Or is there a dominant head who gets first say?

It may depend on the species; some will have dominant heads for sure.

 

The (simplified) way muscles work is that they contract when they receive impulses from the brain. So if there's two brains that can send impulses, then it becomes an "or gate" (either head can activate a muscle, but both have to stop sending impulses for it to stop contracting). In that regard, there's no "negative" signal that can turn off the muscle. Also: individual muscles can only contract; movement in two directions is generally achieved by pairs of muscles (agonists and antagonists)—e.g. the biceps contract to contract your elbow, pulling your forearm up, and the triceps contract to extend your elbow. If one head tries to contract the agonist while the other head tries to contract the antagonist, the result will be conflict (and probably bad for the joints). This isn't necessarily a full, biologically correct answer, but I think it's at least kinda close.

[Dirtytabs]

I think "Galsreimic" is catchy. If players could vote for a name, I'd choose that.

 

By the way, assuming you coined "Galsreim", did you have any in-story etymology in mind? I've been pretending it's a compound word:
Gals + reim
[something] + realm/land

 

What's a spirit? We've heard about primal spirits that may have been around since the beginning of the world. How about "regular" spirits like the undines and the ones spirit wards supposedly ward? Are they like ghostly elemental things? Physical entities? Living?

[TJ09]

54 minutes ago, Dirtytabs said:

By the way, assuming you coined "Galsreim", did you have any in-story etymology in mind? I've been pretending it's a compound word:

Gals + reim
[something] + realm/land

 

Well Galsreim is based on a suggestion from @JOTB that was reportedly derived from Lithuanian for "fire" and "land." So I guess you're not too far off.

 

Though there's not much "fire" about the continent. Maybe "magic?" I haven't actually put thought into that specifically.

 

54 minutes ago, Dirtytabs said:

What's a spirit? We've heard about primal spirits that may have been around since the beginning of the world. How about "regular" spirits like the undines and the ones spirit wards supposedly ward? Are they like ghostly elemental things? Physical entities? Living?

 

A spirit is (to come up with a definition off the top of my head) a type of incorporeal entity that (and here's where things are tentative) consists entirely of energy but which nonetheless has a manifestation on the "physical" plane. There's definitely no reason why there wouldn't be more spirits than just the super-powerful primal spirits (whose existence is either real or believed to be real, but not necessarily proven, not that that matters in human culture).

They are questionably "alive" (in the biological sense; they're constructs so there's nothing organic about them), definitely alive and conscious, and whether or not they're people depends on how you interpreted the conundrums in Talos Principle (to reference a game that popped up a bunch in this year's ToT).

[Ruby Eyes]

So maybe JOTB (or someone who knows Lithuanian) could come up with a word for "language of the fireland" or "firelandic" or "magilandic", "firelandian" ...

[Confused Cat]

May I suggest "Galsrian" as the name of the language?

While my first thought was also that Galsreim is "Gals" + "reim" (as @Dirtytabs wrote), I think it could just as well be something a little more unusual such as "Galsr" + "eim". (We can also imagine an etymological history, e.g. that the parts were originally "Galsyr" and "hweim"...)

[Vrack]

I’d like to submit Galsreic as my idea. It follows the concept of Galsrian but is a bit more similar to Galsreim. 

Edited November 7, 2017 by Vrack

[LibbyLishly]

1 hour ago, Vrack said:

I’d like to submit Galsreic as my idea. It follows the concept of Galsrian but is a bit more similar to Galsreim. 

Even just Galsric. That was my first thought.

[TJ09]

8 hours ago, Confused Cat said:

May I suggest "Galsrian" as the name of the language?

While my first thought was also that Galsreim is "Gals" + "reim" (as @Dirtytabs wrote), I think it could just as well be something a little more unusual such as "Galsr" + "eim". (We can also imagine an etymological history, e.g. that the parts were originally "Galsyr" and "hweim"...)

 

Galsrian seems to place the emphasis in an awkward spot relative to how Galsreim is pronounced. Technically it's the same syllable ("Gals") being emphasized, but it feels quite different to say.

 

I generally think of it as "Gals" and "reim" as well; it works with other fantasy names (e.g. "Nifl + heim").

 

6 hours ago, Vrack said:

I’d like to submit Galsreic as my idea. It follows the concept of Galsrian but is a bit more similar to Galsreim. 

 

Interestingly, despite the stress being in a different point here as well, I agree that Galsreic (gals-RAY-ick vs GALS-rime), it feels like it flows better? I dunno, describing the "feel" of sounds is one of those cases where the normal set of adjectives doesn't seem to properly apply.

 

Maybe bringing the same sort of sound to "Galsrian" (Galsrein? gals-RAY-in) helps as well.

 

5 hours ago, LibbyLishly said:

Even just Galsric. That was my first thought.

 

I definitely like that it has two syllables for some reason. Part of what makes "Galsreimic" is that it's a lot of mouth movement across its 3 syllables.

[Ruby Eyes]

In light of seeing "Gals" and "reim" being the parts that make up the name of the world, I don't feel like the "r" needs to be included in the word for the language.

So maybe "Galsic", "Galseic", "Galsish", "Galsian", "Galsing", "Galsei" or "Galsh" even?

[TJ09]

On 11/8/2017 at 6:21 AM, Ruby Eyes said:

In light of seeing "Gals" and "reim" being the parts that make up the name of the world, I don't feel like the "r" needs to be included in the word for the language.

So maybe "Galsic", "Galseic", "Galsish", "Galsian", "Galsing", "Galsei" or "Galsh" even?

It doesn't need to, but I think the ones that have the extra R help tie it together better. Especially since, for example, "Galsreim" and "Galsreic" share almost all of their letters.