Basically, I come up with an idea and tell you guys about it, and you give me feedback on it. (Also, feel free to make your own suggestions.) I currently don't have any ideas that come to mind right about now, so feel free to suggest something. I'm working on my dragons' firebreathing mechanics. Rundown of everything you need to know about my dragons: Khrizans -Twelve feet tall average height -Average lifespan just under 200 years -Anthropomorphic build (arms, legs, wings, tail, head, walks upright) -Build tools, live in cities (more on that later) -Green scales -Orange blood -Tail barbs can be spearhead shaped or arrowhead shaped (females don't have them) -Male horns are dark green with spiral ridges like antelope horns, female horns are ivory smooth -Claws on fingers instead of fingertips (four fingers and thumb) -Three toes in front, one in back (not flat footed) with talons -Eye colors in order of dominance: red, black, green -Omnivorous diet, mostly consists of meat, especially from large animals such as deer, cattle, sheep -Clothes only for practical or ceremonial purposes (usually carry satchel to hold currency or other small items; cloaks used for travelling are made of wool, silk or chain mail) -Cities usually flying distance apart -Must copulate before laying egg (egg spends 9 months in womb and 9 months before hatching) -Monogamous marriage system Khrizans are named after an emperor, Khriza. Khrizan Dragonese or Khrizan is the language he spoke, and is the precursor to modern Dragonese. The land of Khriza and its capital are named after him as well. Occupations unique to the dragon world: -Hunter-- dragons, or Khrizans at least) do not raise domestic animals, so they must hunt them. (They do have pets; one character has a cobra.) -Ichor producer-- a dragon who makes erotichor, a legal drug that nonetheless is heavily taboo. -Sky archer-- skilled dragons who can shoot arrows while flying. Division of police and military. -Horn polisher-- polishes phoenixes' horns to keep them smooth and shiny. Extinguishers-- firefighters. (Because even dragons can screw up.) Khrizans live in houses as mountain caves are few in Khriza. Low-class houses are little more than entrance halls for underground dugouts, while high-end dwellings have multiple stories as well as a basement. Some places are rural rather than urban. Shira is one example and resembles Hobbiton. (Sadly, it will only make a cameo appearance in the first book if at all. It does get more coverage in the second book and features heavily in the third book as the main setting.) Khrizan currency takes the form of coins that are extremely small so as to fly with easier. The emperor is known by his red cape the way a human king is known by his crown. Those are all the factoids that come to me at the moment. Again, I'm working on fleshing out the firebreathing mechanics. I heard an idea about producing a liquid that allows a dragon to increase their range (similar to what real-world fire eaters use to breathe fire.) Without this liquid, how far should dragons be able to spurt flames? And should there be an ability to shoot them flames in projectile form rather than flamethrower form?
This kinda uses gases expelled from the digestive tract along with the eating of flint stones for spark, as bits would be rubbed together in the teeth. Kinda like a long flaming belch. http://why-sci.com/dragons/ For a dragon to use a liquid fuel, it would have to produce a flammable liquid in its salvory glands maybe? But that would mean that it has to eat thing rich in flammable compounds to continually produce the flammable saliva. Bassically flaming loogies. If Dragons are like flame throwers, then a range of 15m or so. Fireballs would not be as useful, as they would dissipate the further they travel due to wind resistance. Fire is not a good ranged weapon, even for archers as they have the problem of their arrows going out in flight, or missing something that will catch fire.
What if they felt a need to swallow stones the way humans feel the need to drink water? What would the effect be if they were starved of them? Maybe they would get a freezing sensation in their fire organ. (What should I name their fire organ?)
I have know idea, but this has both western and eastern dragon Anatomy/Physiology so you can get an idea of what to name that particular organ. http://www.dragonsinn.net/anatomy-west.htm
Idea: some things are too big for a dragon the size of my characters to fly with. So, they pave dirt roads through the countryside. These roads aren't to stroll on. They're used for carting heavy objects. They don't use horses. They're too small and also delicious. Enter the Idrakagar, the Khrizans' neighbors just over the mountain range between their lands. The Idrakagar are powerfully built and large enough for a Khrizan to ride on if that wasn't redundant. (Then again, we ride horseback and we can walk and run ourselves.) Idrakagar immigrants make quite the living in Khriza because they can hire themselves out to pull carts with things too heavy for Khrizans to move on their own. They get paid to do so. They usually fly around looking for work, and the Idrakagar in Khriza set up dwellings they can live in while traveling around trying to find a job, like Idrakagar hotels. These dwellings take the form of tunnel dens dug discreetly near a Khrizan town. (They can't stay in the town because the buildings are too small.) Every so often they return home with their earnings from pulling carts or running Idrakagar hotspots (or any other jobs they're particularly well suited to.) There's little danger of the Khrizans' jobs being stolen because the Idrakagar only get hired for things Khrizans can't physically do themselves. I think this would be a great way to add some species diversity to the first book. What do think?
Do your dragons breathe fire or issue other noxious substances? If yes then there would have to be some mechanism within them to produce it. If there's some mechanism within them to produce it, maybe they would be aware of it, like you're aware of the sphincter at the top of your stomach when you get heartburn or reflux, or when you run too fast and you get that stabby-crampy pain just under the edge of your ribcage over to one side, or when you're a guy and it's really warm and your sack becomes kinda stretchy and pliable, etc, etc, etc. Something internal and unique to them. ETA: I just noticed that Cave Troll already kinda mentioned this, but rather than just describe it as a feature they possess, I'm talking about having a character acknowledge possession of said feature in a way that is organic to the character. Maybe her fire-gland is irritated or she's got a flame-duct that's swollen or some other reference that would be natural to her.
Why did you assume this hypothetical dragon was a she? Haha, kidding. Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Maybe you could do some research into reptiles? Watch a few nature documentaries or read about them? See what traits any of the creatures you watch could have in common with your dragons. I assume dragons would be cold-blooded, etc. If you want to make a trilogy out of these, I think decent reptile knowledge would come in handy. It would help you develop their mannerisms and attributes and habitats and all kinds of crap. You don't have to apply it all of course because these are humanoid reptiles, so things will naturally differ from our own natural world, but I think the knowledge would come in useful.
Trilogy? Pfft. Way too short. I actually considered making them warmblooded, since evidence shows most dinosaurs were actually warmblooded. But if they can produce fire, that could help regulate their body temperature, so they could be coldblooded.
Five. It's just how the story played out. The first book is the setup. The second book takes them back to square one, but takes the story a whole different direction. The third one, they hide from the villains until they find them (more exciting than it sounds, but there's quite a bit of cabin fever.) The fourth one, they head off to the mountain where the climax will take place, and the villain gets the upper hand. The fifth one, the villain is weakened but still manages to keep the upper hand until the climax where he is defeated. Then years later I'll bring back all the classic characters when they're older and it will have the exact same plot as the first book with cosmetic changes and the original protagonist will be missing. (That last one was a joke.)
I love the world you're building! It sounds unique and interesting and it's one of my favorite parts about reading fantasy (though I hate info dumping and too much exposition). The dragons in my story can breathe both fireballs and streams of fire. The stream of fire is hotter but doesn't go as far and it uses more energy. The fireball uses less energy and isn't as hot, but it goes farther (it cools more the farther it goes until it fizzles out). The phoenix can only blast "small" fireballs, but they're super duper hot and if it flaps its wings at them, they increase in size a hundred fold (and are still super duper hot!). I don't worry about realism, though. I've read a few books where dragons had to eat rock to breathe fire (Dragonriders of Pern are one series), and it always brings to mind one very important question: So what happens when they eat all the rocks? Unlike plants and animals, rocks don't regenerate. Once a rock is gone, it's gone. Eventually, the dragons will run out of rock to eat, and then what? One book I read had the dragons eat a special plant that gave them the ability to breathe fire, and IMO that made it much more realistic. Not that I need much realism in fantasy, but the whole eating rock thing always bugs me . . . I think that's a great idea! Of course, you shouldn't go out of your way to introduce these elements of your storyworld, but even just adding tidbits of things like this can add a lot to it, even if they're only in the background.
I think one of my major problems may have been that I did go out of my way in the first draft. I'll be sure to rectify that in the new draft I'm writing.
Firebreathing idea: different species have different abilities. Khrizans-- a stream of fire Idrakagar-- a width of blaze Vrakardians-- fireballs Teradraks-- big sparks (they're a smaller species) Frazavians-- steam Dragans-- wind
