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Post by whipstache on Dec 23, 2015 19:12:01 GMT
So, one of my players in the Post-Post-Apocalyptic North America world (which has now been named Arazi) has decided to play a Dragonborn Paladin. I think this is great. I've never played either a Dragonborn or a Paladin, and I think it should be quite fun. However, I hadn't really gotten around to creating the lore for the Dragonborn in my world. I'm hoping y'all can help generate some ideas. One of the factors towards the beginning of the Dark Age was an explosion in the known population of dragons in Arazi. Their presence in the world was part of the reason so many people died right away, and also why humanity had such a hard time gaining a foothold to pull itself out of the darkness. And, many people (rightly) believe that some of the dragons' magic was used (whether by the dragons or by someone else isn't clear) to open the portals that allowed all manner of heinous creatures into this plane. The Dragonborn are, as the name indicates, "born" of the dragons. What that means isn't entirely clear. Did the dragons intentionally or unintentionally create them? Were they mutant offspring of dragons? Do they, in fact, grow to be full dragons? Bear in mind that in Arazi, the gods, if they exist, do not interact with the world. There are many religions to many gods, but as in our modern day, none has any more veracity than any other. Belief in god(s) is about faith, not responding logically to the physical evidence of the existence of gods. So, in creating the actual origin of the dragons, gods can't be involved. Gods can, however, be involved in how the Dragonborn believe they came to be. The last important point is that the players are playing in our world (Earth), a millennium or two in the future. So any origin story has to explain why you and i don't see dragonborn running around today. What do y'all think? Any ideas on how the Dragonborn came to be? |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 23, 2015 19:39:56 GMT
One idea that immediately springs to mind is that Dragonborn were kind of "Terminators."
Hostilities between dragons and humans led to many people hiding underground. The space was too cramped for dragons to enter in their normal forms, and too dangerous to enter shapechanged (assuming your dragons have that capability). They created the dragonborn as soldiers to enter human settlements and wipe them out. The process of making them was costly, but much more acceptable than risking their own lives.
Perhaps some (or many) of the dragonborn resented their role. It would be interesting if, in fact, the dragonborn were responsible for turning the tide against the dragons, and helping to usher humanity out of the dark age.
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Post by whipstache on Dec 29, 2015 1:33:02 GMT
One idea that immediately springs to mind is that Dragonborn were kind of "Terminators." Hostilities between dragons and humans led to many people hiding underground. The space was too cramped for dragons to enter in their normal forms, and too dangerous to enter shapechanged (assuming your dragons have that capability). They created the dragonborn as soldiers to enter human settlements and wipe them out. The process of making them was costly, but much more acceptable than risking their own lives. Perhaps some (or many) of the dragonborn resented their role. It would be interesting if, in fact, the dragonborn were responsible for turning the tide against the dragons, and helping to usher humanity out of the dark age. That's really interesting. Thanks for the idea. I'll kick that around a bit. |
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Post by joatmoniac on Dec 29, 2015 18:14:55 GMT
I have a couple clarifying questions. How far removed with the players be from the beginning of the Dark Age? How prevalent are dragons during the time that your players are in? Have you established generalized traits or ideas for the dragonborn yet? It could be very defining in terms of what they believe is their origin based on how they interact with the world. Granted that is a fairly chicken and egg question. Pretty cool that you are fleshing the world out this much around a character option.
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Post by whipstache on Dec 29, 2015 22:22:50 GMT
I have a couple clarifying questions. How far removed with the players be from the beginning of the Dark Age? How prevalent are dragons during the time that your players are in? Have you established generalized traits or ideas for the dragonborn yet? It could be very defining in terms of what they believe is their origin based on how they interact with the world. Granted that is a fairly chicken and egg question. Pretty cool that you are fleshing the world out this much around a character option. The Dark Age began somewhere between 1500-2100 years ago. The emergence from the Dark Age happened gradually over a 200 year span beginning 1000 years ago (thus, the Dark Age lasted for 700-1100 years, depending on which historian you ask). Dragons exist, but are uncommon. Probably 1 person in a town of 1000 had seen one, so they're still common enough that only the most unreasonable of people deny their existence. We've talked some about how the dragonborn culture is presently, and I think it's pretty close to how they're presented in the book. Clan-based with a high loyalty and high value on self-improvement. The different dragonborn clans differ on their beliefs about dragonborn origins. The more religious believe some nonsense about a war between the dragon-gods Bahamut and Tiamut, and a long lost dragonborn civilization spanning the entire continent. But there's not really any evidence of that.  It should be noted that the PC will be a part of a religion that's focused on mercy and the belief that all people are equally valuable that has no political ties, but it's a human-led religion to which he converted later in life. |
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Post by joatmoniac on Dec 30, 2015 9:03:33 GMT
I think it would be interesting to have the dragonborn just spring up from areas that were torn apart by dragons. There magics remain latent in the area, and the children born after the dragons have torn up the world are instead dragonborn children. It would only take a few generations before entire villages would be replaced with a dragonborn population that was initially raised by humans. I assume that it would make very insular communities that would grow and innovate on their own, and with that they would likely look to a divine purpose for their existence. That some deity saw fit to bless the people of the world to become stronger than the humans before them. Some could see other races as inferior, and others could see themselves as the ones to help usher in a new way and bring about change to the world. Can't wait to hear about how your players interact with this world!
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Post by whipstache on Dec 30, 2015 17:18:24 GMT
I think it would be interesting to have the dragonborn just spring up from areas that were torn apart by dragons. There magics remain latent in the area, and the children born after the dragons have torn up the world are instead dragonborn children. It would only take a few generations before entire villages would be replaced with a dragonborn population that was initially raised by humans. I assume that it would make very insular communities that would grow and innovate on their own, and with that they would likely look to a divine purpose for their existence. That some deity saw fit to bless the people of the world to become stronger than the humans before them. Some could see other races as inferior, and others could see themselves as the ones to help usher in a new way and bring about change to the world. Can't wait to hear about how your players interact with this world! That's cool! Or even if the dragons magically (either forcibly or with permission) impregnated human woman. This is interesting. |
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Post by DM Kiado on Dec 30, 2015 17:27:01 GMT
That's cool! Or even if the dragons magically (either forcibly or with permission) impregnated human woman. This is interesting. See I would like to think that Human DNA and Dragon DNA (if that is the basis for life in your world, that standard model) would not mix. That a Dragon would be more likely to fill a human woman with magic then his seed. Now, a lot of people, myself included, like their dragons to be able to shapeshift to human form, so perhaps when they are in this form it is possible to impregnate a human, as you could say their DNA is being changed to facilitate the change in form. That way you don't need "rapist" dragons, but more of the suave, sophisticated dragon looking for carnal pleasures in human form. Like a Vampire in a way, but not for feeding hunger. That's me blending realistic ideas with fantasy, feel free to ignore me.  |
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Post by whipstache on Dec 30, 2015 22:04:44 GMT
That's cool! Or even if the dragons magically (either forcibly or with permission) impregnated human woman. This is interesting. See I would like to think that Human DNA and Dragon DNA (if that is the basis for life in your world, that standard model) would not mix. That a Dragon would be more likely to fill a human woman with magic then his seed. Now, a lot of people, myself included, like their dragons to be able to shapeshift to human form, so perhaps when they are in this form it is possible to impregnate a human, as you could say their DNA is being changed to facilitate the change in form. That way you don't need "rapist" dragons, but more of the suave, sophisticated dragon looking for carnal pleasures in human form. Like a Vampire in a way, but not for feeding hunger. That's me blending realistic ideas with fantasy, feel free to ignore me. No, that's good. I should have been more clear. I wasn't thinking actual impregnation, but more "using the human women as incubators." It wouldn't need to be asexual reproduction. Just that the dragons are putting already fertilized dragonborn embryos into human women to grow and birth them. But, I like the thought. My details can definitely take human form, so that's another thing to think about. Keep the ideas coming! |
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