How would dragons conceal their faces?

You have rejected every idea suggested to you. So at this point, I do not think they should disguise themselves in this story.

 

I haven't rejected every idea. There's the makings of something feasible here. Just not in the post you quoted.

 

Maybe they just can't. Maybe certain plot points will have to be adjusted accordingly?

Or you could hunt for a way to make masks plausible. If you think of them as being like hats, people tend to keep their hats on. Humans would take off masks because they'd be hot and sweaty, but these aren't humans, and I wouldn't expect them to perspire. If they take off a mask, then they have to store it somewhere or haul it around; it seems much easier to just keep it on.

 

This thread is giving me flashbacks of a certain elder who needed all his plot points thought out for him. I'll give it the benefit of the doubt though.

Ways to disguise or conceal a face, dragon or otherwise:
-Makeup
-Literal disguise (like those glasses with a nose connected)
-Fake injury with half the face wrapped up.
-Real injury with scars distorting the face

 

Or sending a representative, so that the dragon that wants to hide his/her identity is never seen at all.

 

That opens up a whole world of notes and other ways to communicate.

Also, you could dress another dragon up to look like your character, throw them left, and your character runs right.

 

That could work, but wouldn't this be based more on nobility? I doubt some commoner dragon would be able to afford such a representative.

 

I think I like the bandage idea...

 

I had that in the first chapter, actually. Daktarash thinks Zarakharn is using someone younger as his face because the dragon claiming to be Zarakharn looks younger than the emperor's age. But the reader knows it's really Zarakharn and not a standin. Wouldn't work for what I created this thread for but I do use it.

 

I have a character meeting with the emperor who THINKS that's what's going on, but it isn't. I might use it again for real at some point, but I don't know where or when.

 

You'd need to alter physical appearance to make that work, though.

 

The only other suggestion I could offer would be a variation on my previous one: What if masks were worn as a sort of uniform? Most people dragons wouldn't wear masks most of the time, but if one were a post-dragon, a police-dragon, or even a McDragon's dwarf-burger-flipper, it would perfectly normal to be wearing a mask as a symbol of the job. This could also be useful in that there are studies (no cite, sorry) that have shown that people tend to see the uniform, not the person wearing it, and have trouble even remembering the race of someone in a uniform after they're gone, while still remembering the affiliation that the clothes proclaimed.

 

That would work, but wouldn't seeing a cop in a seedy bar put people on edge?

 

He didn't say only cops. It might be normal for any number of professions or social groups. Remember, these aren't humans. It's not only ok, it's good, to divert from human behavior.

 

True. Okay, I need an occupation that travels a lot that would have some kind of uniform.

 

What if instead of hoods I had visored helmets? That might work. It'd be part of the flying debris guard idea suggested by @ChickenFreak.

 

It doesn't even need to be an occupation; it could be a group that identifies by a particular mode of dress. Like leathers on motorcyclists, goth on, well, goths, and so on. And you could, again, just treat masks like hats. Everybody flies. If everybody in our society rode motorcycles, then motorcycle helmets would be a fashion accessory, and if they weren't hot and annoying, they'd probably wear them when not riding, rather than store or carry them.

You can just have it as a thing from the beginning; in fact, you could make NOT wearing a helmet something to comment on.

Beyond the fruit-seller, Joe saw Jane in that awful brass helmet, accompanied by Wilbur with his head bare. "Hey!" he called to Wilbur, "Hail tonight! What, are you going to walk?"

 

In Japan, women who work in offices (office-ladies) are forced to wear uniforms, so you can pretty much assign a uniform to any job you want, since it's your world. Or, as @ChickenFreak says, make wearing a mask/hat the default.

Once you've made a world of entirely dragons, no one can come back at you saying "Didn't research enough mate, hat-wearing was restricted to Party members in 6th century B.Z. Qualzedratch..."

 

Sounding pretty good... yeah...

 

People could pause to have their helmets polished, like people get their shoes polished. Some people would have gorgeous helmets fitted to the millimeter, while others would have to settle for the helmet equivalent of "off the rack". Children would make fun of the children wearing hand-me-down helmets...

Edited to add: A fashion of young dragons flying around bareheaded, like kids with pants falling down around their hips.

 

I was thinking bareheadedness could be for low-flying excursions like hunting while helmets could be for long journeys where they would fly at higher altitudes for long periods of time.

Also, do they have to be metal? I wonder if I could make a variety of helmet materials, such as leather, in edition to more durable metal ones...

 

It's your world; they can be whatever you want. Maybe even quilted fabric.

 

Travels a lot = hunter or merchant? I imagine some hunters would look for the more exotic foods, like truffles or caviar in the real world. Those would certainly do more traveling. Do your dragons have refrigeration? If not it gives even more reason for specialized hunters and traveling merchants to provide fresh delicacies to places that don't have them. Fresh seafood would be quite a delicacy in a place nowhere near the ocean, whereas fresh buffalo might be a delicacy on the oceanfront.