Now, be cool, be cool @ChickenFreak. The man has a lot of things to digest. And more than one thread to juggle.
To be blunt, I think he has a bit of trouble taking the advice. It may be a desire to find a way to work around the issue and still keep the dragons and world as is. Sometimes we, as writers that put a lot of thought into something, have trouble letting go and scraping an idea. I've been guilty of it myself, but thankfully I've gotten past it at this point. I just chalk it up to experience and start over.
Sorry, sometimes I forget to publish my ponderings. I'm still currently trying to decide what to do with the advice I've been given. I'm trying to decide how my city settings are going to translate into more dragonlike environments. I'm thinking that they might build tiny houses that are basically just single rooms, that serve as lobbies or entryways or whatever you call the entrance hall at the front of a house, and then there's a tunnel with the rest of the home underground. It might be tricky to put such homes very close together, but then again, maybe they wouldn't be close together. And then wealthier dragons would have second stories and such, because dragons are air creatures as well as subterranean ones. For example, the imperial palace would be incredibly tall, and also have an expansive catacomb network.
OK. If you want responses, you really do need to publish your ponderings in some form. Typing posts at a blank wall tends to lead to no longer hearing that blank wall's questions.
By the way, here's a draft of my map. My main characters live in Khriza. So, at the moment, not a lot of mountains, which means I'm not sure there are that many caves around. I would think, assuming I didn't change my map, that they'd have to make their own. If they went the cave route at all.
One word: Zootopia. Have you seen it? I think that's the basic problem people are talking about here. In the movie, all the characters had very human personalities and a very human world, like your dragons. However, the movie also emphasized what made them not human: from the elephant ice cream parlor to the predator vs. prey politics to the different worlds and housing to meet the various animal sizes and types. If you can add that, it could help a lot. For example: Their clothing and fashion would definitely accommodate wings, tails, and horns. So would their games. Have you ever tried to keep a ball from hitting the ground? Add wings and a tail, and you have a crazy new sport to explore. I don't think the housing is as big an issue as everyone else seems to think. Caves are dark, damp places that can be dangerous because of cave-ins. These dragons have human imaginations and dexterity, so they might build their houses much like we do, but with, for example, a lot more outdoor space. They might have perches on top of their houses. Balconies would be commonplace and necessary, especially in city living when that's how you might exit and enter your apartment on a sunny day. Security cameras wouldn't just be aimed at the ground, but also at the sky. Being on the 25th floor wouldn't necessarily keep you safer, but might, instead, make you more vulnerable due to fewer eyes and ears spotting trouble. It'd be much more of a struggle to prevent eavesdropping, and what we consider upper class soundproofing might be like listening through a cardboard wall for them. Lighting rod towers would be placed in strategic locations in cities to protect flying dragons caught in thunder storms. There are other ways to show their dragon side than completely changing their housing. Another idea is to make their habits a little different. A dragon with the long snout in your avatar, for example, might eat their food directly off the plate rather than using a fork and knife (why would they need a knife when they have sharp teeth?). You can even make that a difference between the upper class and lower class: the upper class eat with forks and spoons while the lower class consider it a waste of time. Just try to keep in mind they are dragons, so they will have both strengths and weaknesses because of that. Try to emphasize those strengths and weaknesses, and I think you'll find a lot of your problem solved. Good luck! ETA: Don't forget wings can get broken, destroyed, or even just formed wrong straight out of the womb/egg. It wouldn't be practical for dragons to make it impossible to walk somewhere anymore than it would be for us, unless it was some high and mighty club. In the old days, a wingless dragon might've been a beggar, much like a lame human was years ago, but depending on how advanced these dragons' society is, those dragons would be mostly accommodated. Sorry if that didn't make sense--it's past my bedtime! Good night!
The easiest way to make humans non-relateable would be to have very little understanding of them at all with your Race of preference. Or have them know nothing at all about them. Of course since your entire audience is human, it will be a good suspension of disbelief and some impeccably written passages to pull it off. Granted if your MC(s) are likeable this becomes a little clearer. Empathy is great, but we tend to find our own kind more relate-able. So basically you have to create some sort of bias towards humans, that the dragons can use. Like they are weak, inept, smell bad, hell just about anything will work if played right. Simply making them bumbling idiots will not have a good effect, quite the opposite in fact. Seems you have a tall order to fill there sir.
I doubt the opinions would be so thoroughly uniform. While it might be a cultural faux-pax, use of alcohol would likely seep over from the other culture. Especially for younger dragons, who are still learning the world around them. They might not have teenage rebellious years, but all animals of any considerable intelligence tend to be curious, younger. A good many would likely feel like "woah, this is awesome!" and continue use. If nothing else, it would likely be used for medicinal properties. Seriously. Whiskey works wonders. (It's the only thing I could take while I had an eye abrasion that actually did anything to numb the pain - acetometophin wasn't strong enough and I was already maxed out for the day on ibuprofen) Evolution would dictate that dragons without sleep-control of firebreathing would die out. It would be something that would have to be quite controllable. Similar to many human functions, there would likely be a sleep-hormone that would prevent use of fire. Likely, they'd also find it hard to breathe fire while very tired or right after waking up. (This could possibly lead to a culture of crack-of-dawn assaults being very, very favorable for armies, therefore Sun-based culture/religion, including stories that the dragons are descended from the Sun, et cetera; myths that the sun grants them their use of fire (the myth might be considered old for your story, like an old wive's tail, or one of those silly things your grandma says, like don't swim within 30 minutes of eating)) EDIT: I get it if you don't want to do fire-breathing. Just brainstorming.
I'm still pondering. That's great advice, actually. I originally had it be illegal in urban areas to fly in or out. It would be considered rude, and a fugitive on the run would have a difficult time escaping a city if he can't fly out of it right off the bat. (Which is gun control logic, but then, gun control logic exists.) I could omit that. It served to force the characters to walk through and about cities. They would have to fly only outside the city limits, or in rural, spread-out places like Shira. I just realized I could add firebreathing if their fire breath is limited. I'm envisioning it being a six-inch spurt. That's enough fire to light several candles, but not enough to decimate a forest if you're chasing prey or set fire to a building if you're fighting an opponent indoors. Of course, it could still set things ablaze, but you'd have to be right next to a flammable source. And I would imagine the bigger the dragon, the more fire they could breathe. So Idrakagar could shoot about ten inches or so, while a Teradrak might be able to produce a candle's worth. I'm not sure if Frazavargs should have fire (it would be a good ability to keep them warm) or give them ice breath or something like that. Ice breath might make sense considering they already have thick scales to keep them warm, and enjoy very cold foods (although they like their drinks to be hot.) Maybe I could give them steam breath. That seems like the best option.
I would definitely omit the rule against flying. IMO, it doesn't make sense to eliminate one of the basic modes of locomotion.
That's actually very helpful. And the Khrizans don't abstain from alcohol for moral reasons. They just think it's gross. You wouldn't eat meat if you let it rot for a month, so why would you drink something you let sit for even longer? Granted, they can't be too picky, but they have standards. (I'm thinking of changing this aspect, based on feedback from this thread.) As for mythology, I've already cooked up some stuff. There's still plenty of room for a sun myth, though, which would make a lot of sense for dragons. Here's what I got: The Khrizans believe that a being called the Rishnaran (which means writer) creates and controls everything that happens. They have a book called the Khagra that teaches them about the Rishnaran, as well as their history. The Rishnaran has asked in the Khagra not to be worshipped or treated as a god, and for the dragons to live their lives as though they have free will when in fact they do not. The Vrakardians believe in a god called Quaru, who lives beneath the sea. They believe that the Vrakardians are his literal children and that if they are righteous they will be able to live in his kingdom. They have a creation myth similar to the one in Genesis. There are many different interpretations on Quaruvianism ranging from orthodox to extremely progressive. I have a mythology I'm not sure which culture to assign to. They believe that there is a male and female god for each of the six species of dragon, and they created the dragons in their images and preside over the lives of their creations. The relations between the dragons reflect the interactions of these gods with one another. The Dragans' mythology is less religion based and more legend-based. Aside from a belief in reincarnation and a quest to better oneself (the objective is different for everyone) they focus more on fanciful stories. In these stories, the dragons practice elemental magic and talk to animals, some of which are extinct and/or mythical. There is a zodiac-based calendar where each day represents an animal or creature, real or mythical.
It would have to be in some fashion useful, or have been useful in their evolutionary chain. A pathetic jet doesn't make sense unless it's evolutionarily regressing due to lack of use, at which point civilization would have been around for a while. It doesn't have to be able to shoot far, but far enough and wide-enough to intimidate enemies or for use in fighting. You don't tailor physical traits of your creatures to their present problems, you tailor them to their far, far, far past problems. Because alcohol. Not to sound like a drunken sailor, but... I mean, come on. Also because it doesn't rot, exactly. Not like meat. Not saying you have to have them love alcohol, just that there are reasons to like it. As for the rest: I would presume the Vrakardians would perform burials-at-sea?
Yup. Even though they have settlements far inland, it is a religious requirement in most Quaruvian sects that bodies be buried at sea. The Restorationist movement believes Quaru accepts a proxy burial in the form of consecrated effigies if a Vrakardian did not have the opportunity to be buried at sea. To them it's like a second baptism and it's a requirement to prepare their bodies for rebirth when judgement day arrives.
But all sorts of things are fermented. I'm pretty sure that if they have even medieval-level cuisine or technology, they'll be familiar with fermentation. Re the fire breath, you could assume that their buildings and possessions are mostly stone, metal, glass, and other materials that are reasonably resistant to fire. Fabric might not be a thing.
Doing research yields wool and silk to be slow to burn and possibly even extinguish on their own. If they do have fabric, which I envision would be for ceremony, or keeping one's face hidden under a hood (specially made to account for horns and an elongated face and regard to eye placement, of course), it should be made from these materials. Although, if wild animals eat wool when they devour a sheep, they might not be something they could make clothes from. On the other hand, I don't think wolves eat the wool for any other reason than the fact that it's in the way of the meat, so the Khrizans might not deem it edible and may even skin at least sheep and other thick-haired animals before consuming them, leaving it to be used for clothing (for the few reasons they would even use clothing.) I concede the point on alcohol. I will keep the aspect where coffee is poisonous to Khrizans, though. Not that that's important to the plot, but they way my book evolves, it could be.
The hoods could be metal? And ornamentation/clothing that should flow like fabric could be chain mail-like: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/0f/42/b4/0f42b43b6f2d7f55a8c0d7a34a7e6b33.jpg
Now there's an idea. Now, how do I make hoods not appear incredibly suspicious? Maybe it's customary to wear them when traveling away from home? (In that case, they would be cloakless to avoid interference when flying.)
Yeah, it was just an excuse to let them have a hood. I assume that you need the hood for some plot reason?
This illustration seems like a good--well, a good illustration, actually--of where I think you may be running into trouble with your story. You've done SO MUCH planning, but instead of starting macro and then building down to micro sort of across-the-board, you've gotten really detailed and specific in certain situations and done hardly anything for other aspects, and now you're trying to bring them all to the same level but you've already got this really detailed stuff in some areas and you don't want to let go of it, even if it would make the whole picture more compelling. I mean--this is not a map of a real place. If your story demands that there be mountains in Khriza, then change the damn map and put in some mountains. I understand, it's a lovely map and it would be a shame to change it now, but the map should serve the story, and right now it sounds more like the story is serving the map. This same observation can be applied, obviously, to other areas where you're running into obstacles. You may be looking at a "kill your darlings" situation. Or at least change your darlings...
