Post by Ribbons of Dusk on Feb 13, 2014 18:38:52 GMT -5
Since these are dragons, not humans, their ways are VERY different from our own. This is a post that will tell you anything and everything you could need to know. But just in case it isn't, I will leave it open for comments and questions.
The Dragon's Way of Life-
Religion:
There are 3 main religions in the dragon world, all of which are very complicated, but I will only explain the basics.
Paladinne- The Paladinnes believe in an underworld, divided in half. One side is happy, bright, and beautiful, where the other side is dark, ugly, and evil. They believe their two gods, Cianeo, the Male dragon who represents day(the good side), and Erota, the Female dragon who represents night(the evil side), battle every day, and when Cianeo is winning, it becomes daytime. When Erota is winning, it becomes night. The Paladinnes believe that those with good hearts go to the good side only if they believe that Cianeo will win the eternal battle, and those who feel anything but hatred for Erota will be forced to live in her grasp forever in the afterlife.
Beicio-The Beicioians believe life and death is a neverending cycle, that when they die, their energies join "The Circle" when they die. The Circle is a large group of dragon souls at the center of the earth, where souls lay in wait for their next life. They believe that they must wait time in between reincarnations, that those with the goodest hearts will wait only a year or so before having the death god, Oarel, take their memories as a sacrifice, and send them back to the mortal world as a dragon once again. The evilest of hearts must wait centuries before offering their memories and something else, eyesight, hearing, sometimes both, in exchange for their next life. That is why they believe some children are born blind or deaf, because they had evil in their hearts, and Oarel took their eyes or ears to take it away. Those who want their toll to be less offer sacrifices for Oarel, and are rewarded with good fortune.
Gietta- The Gietta believe that night represents goodness because the sky is clearer during the night, when you can see the stars. They believe day represents evil because the daytime sky turns blue, blocking out the stars and therefore blocking the way to clearness and truth. To them, day represents dishonesty and manipulativeness, and night represents honesty and kindness. The Gietta believe in no gods, but mortals paving the way for themselves. They believe that those who live at night have the best fortune, and those who live in the day are the unlucky ones. They live by the code of honesty and kindness, and stand by it at all costs, because they believe that those who don't will die sooner than those who do.
There are some background cults for the dragon religions, The main one worshipping the royals themselves as gods, for the legend said that Gwyn and Dos were practically immortal, living millenniawhile the dragons of their kingdom died and lived. Their children, since most are still living, are thought to be immortal as well, only being able to be slain by their siblings and their children. This cult varies in size, but is widely known to highly respect their leaders, above even the rest of the kingdom altogether.
Language:
Dragons are an ancient race who have never had any interaction with humans, therefore, they do not speak English or any of the languages we know in the human world(Though they speak English for purpose of the roleplay). They actually speak in an ancient tongue that originated in the early Old Kingdom.
Dragons, since they do not have music, television, radio, or any other electronics, send messages by couriers, which roam the kingdoms, delivering messages. The more gold a dragon pays, the faster the message will get to the other dragon. The message can be spoken in the language of the dragon, and it will take a form on paper, which will then be sent to the other dragon. When it is opened, the words will be said as if spoken to the other party. The only other way of sending a message is by telling the courier and having him repeat it manually, though it is not suggested, since the couriers cannot always be accurate.
Dragons Themselves:
Dragons are large, strong creatures who come from all over the world. They can come in forms such as a serpent-like scaly creature, to a short, 20-legged creature covered with fur. They also come in all colors, though some of the most popular include Black, White, Red, Bronze, Green, and Blue. As explained above, Dragons are mainly dominated by females, but all genders can birth children with no problem.
Dragon homes are usually wide, open spaces with no walls other than those outside. They have tall walls, and the homes of the poorer dragons don't have proper roofs, and instead have tarps on the top. The roofs of flying dragons open so that they are able to land to get inside, and the dragons who can't fly, have large doors in the side of their homes. The houses are usually made of hardened clay or some type of stone or metal. The normal houses are usually just big enough for a dragon to burrow inside, and often are stacked on top of each other to fit the maximum amount of dragons. The richer homes are massive, big enough for a room for sleep, an eating room, servants quarters, a treasury, and, for the very richest, a small library.
Dragons are unfamiliar with most electronics, such as television, radio, computers, and other things like music. They entertain themselves in other ways, though. Most common ways include: Attending Plays, reading books, battle training, medical training, religious worship, and many other activities.
Books, to dragons, are quite precious. Since they lack any types of electronics, they read quite a bit, but, due to the Ancient War of the Children of Du and Gwyn, most books have been destroyed. The ancient ones that survived the war are worth fortunes, enough to set a dragon for life. The newer ones are worth a lot, but not nearly as much as the Ancient ones. Dragons usually read by copies, papers with the words whispered on them, rather than actual books.
The Dragons use a simple system for money; trade and gold. They trade for everything they cannot buy in gold. They work to make gold, and the system works well for some of the Kingdoms. For others, it fails, and many live in very poor conditions.
The money system in the Dragon worlds if pretty much 1 American Dollar for every Dragon Piece. The Dragon Pieces are small golden coins, roughly made by workers and worn from being used for many, many years. In order to keep track of all of their pieces, most of the richer dragons have Treasuries in their homes. All of the pieces are the same for all the kingdoms.
Dragons' Eating systems, like many things, are different from humans. Dragons are large, so they eat roughly from 20-200 pounds of meat in 1 day, and that holds them off for a few weeks. The richer of dragons eat once a day, small meals, but of high class and quality. Most meetings with royals occur with such meals.
In terms of rank, there are several classes in the dragon world. In order from most powerful to least, they are as follows: Royal, Noble, Merchant, Commoner, Unemployed, Slave. Each rank is very different from the others. Most are self explanatory, but I will go into some details for nobles, unemployed, and slaves.
Nobles are the war heroes of the dragon world. War heroes, high-class merchants, and just about any dragon who is rich beyond rich, or defendants of the rich beyond rich. These dragons have much influence over their clans and kingdoms, and will never go hungry, The richest of them own castles, and have body guards of their own.
The unemployed are some of those with the least influence. They are the poorest of dragons, and live in the shadows of the rich, usually homeless and surviving on scraps. These dragons exist in every kingdom, some more than others. They outrank only slaves, and sometimes turn to slavery for the resources to survive.
Slaves in the dragon world are much like those in Ancient Rome. Children, elders, dragons of all ages who live in sheds or basements, or the lucky ones, in their master's floors. They are given the food and water to survive, and usually only that. They work and attend to their master's every whim and need. They are not taught anything that they don't need to attend to their masters, so unless they signed the contract of slavery themselves, they don't know much. Once they agree to slavery, there is no going back. The only way out is to have the master release the slave himself. The master, once the slave is secure, is allowed to do anything to the slave they please, so long as they leave it's basic dragon rights in check. If there is any severe violation, the authorities of the clan will usually arrest the master. Slaves are only owned by Nobles and Royalty, and some of the more wealthy or lucky Merchants and Commoners.
Most dragons of a high ranking take on multiple mates. Since the dragon population dwindles quickly, it's always top priority to care for the young. Since High Ranking dragons, the royals especially, need their family names to live on, they take on multiple mates to create multiple heirs. In the case of the royals, they accept mates in terms of ranking. The highest ranking mate's young would be the next heir to their throne, after them. The lowest ranking's would most likely never become a ruler.
Family and Genetics:
Dragons usually take the name of their mother after birth from one of the parents. For name, I mean a prefix. The Royal family use the prefix Ra', for example, Ra'Dydd. In this case, A' is the family name, and R is status. Ra' is only used by the royal family. Only the larger and more powerful dragon families have the apostrophe. Most dragon families have only the prefix and then their names, such as: Du Saarthall, Hn Arrthes, Bey Forrathhal, and others. Most family marks have 2-4 letters, though that number varies sometimes. Dragon names are considered powerful, so only those closest to them generally call them by their base name, without the apostraphe, such as Dydd instead of Ra'Dydd. For most, the prefix serves as not only a title, but as a family mark. Family marks are generally 1 or 2 letters, and status is 1-2 letters more, which is always added in front of the family letters.
Now, this can get confusing, the Royal Prefix is a perfect example. In the titles for dragons, 'A' means 'Female'. 'A' is also the family name for the Royal Family. So, by that standard, we would be saying ALL members of the Royal Family were Female. This is not true, for, four of the royal Kings are male, Air, Du, Nos, and Water, yet they still hold the prefix Ra'. Now, they'd make it well known that they were male, and the A, in this case did not mean Female, but they still could be ridiculed for it. So what would they do about it? Well, since there is ALWAYS going to be a family name if there's a prefix, and the family name comes last, you can assume that the 'A' is either the family name, or part of the family name. It's as simple as that.
Status for dragon names are below:
R:Royalty. Queen/King/Prince/Princess (Advisors for the Queen or King, only if they've been in service for 1,000 years.)
S:In a position of power (Usually combined with either H or E)
H:Healer
E: Warrior
J: Gatherer
G: Worker
L: Unworking
N: Elder (Combined with Gender if used)
V: Mature Adult (Combined with either work status or Gender if used)
F: Child (Combined with Gender if used
A: Female
T: Male
Family Marks are usually the same as the base name. The family name will usually have something to do with the founding dragons. If two dragons, one by the name of Faartha and the other of Yathiica, the family name could be any of the following; Fy, Fa, Yf, Ya, A, Y, F. The same goes for any other dragon family. These letters come from the first and last letters of the both dragons names, and they can be used together, or separately. Combine whichever family name you choose with your titles(s) and you will have a full prefix to the dragon's name.
The said mates could do what they wanted, as for taking names. Should they both want to keep their current family names, they could. If they wanted to take one of the names of the other, usually the more powerful family(or dragon, in some cases) would have their name taken. Sometimes, the one who births the children will have their name taken by the one who does not.
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As for dragon genetics, Dragons usually take after either their mother or father. taking almost an identical appearance to them. In rare cases, a dragon can take after both parents, but it is extremely rate. Albino dragons are only born when they are born as crossbreeds between clans, and even then it's rare.
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Because of constant clan debates, unless it is agreed otherwise by both clans, travel in between two clans is very very hard, and is considered impossible. Of course, there are ways to visit other clans. On certain days, festivals, and events, dragons from other clans are allowed in. If they have permission from a Noble or Royal from the clan they're entering, and the clan they belong to, they're allowed in. There is also a way to get in, but it's a very expensive fee, different for all clans. Entry is also allowed upon changing clans, but this process can take years.
The Dragon's Way of Life-
Religion:
There are 3 main religions in the dragon world, all of which are very complicated, but I will only explain the basics.
Paladinne- The Paladinnes believe in an underworld, divided in half. One side is happy, bright, and beautiful, where the other side is dark, ugly, and evil. They believe their two gods, Cianeo, the Male dragon who represents day(the good side), and Erota, the Female dragon who represents night(the evil side), battle every day, and when Cianeo is winning, it becomes daytime. When Erota is winning, it becomes night. The Paladinnes believe that those with good hearts go to the good side only if they believe that Cianeo will win the eternal battle, and those who feel anything but hatred for Erota will be forced to live in her grasp forever in the afterlife.
Beicio-The Beicioians believe life and death is a neverending cycle, that when they die, their energies join "The Circle" when they die. The Circle is a large group of dragon souls at the center of the earth, where souls lay in wait for their next life. They believe that they must wait time in between reincarnations, that those with the goodest hearts will wait only a year or so before having the death god, Oarel, take their memories as a sacrifice, and send them back to the mortal world as a dragon once again. The evilest of hearts must wait centuries before offering their memories and something else, eyesight, hearing, sometimes both, in exchange for their next life. That is why they believe some children are born blind or deaf, because they had evil in their hearts, and Oarel took their eyes or ears to take it away. Those who want their toll to be less offer sacrifices for Oarel, and are rewarded with good fortune.
Gietta- The Gietta believe that night represents goodness because the sky is clearer during the night, when you can see the stars. They believe day represents evil because the daytime sky turns blue, blocking out the stars and therefore blocking the way to clearness and truth. To them, day represents dishonesty and manipulativeness, and night represents honesty and kindness. The Gietta believe in no gods, but mortals paving the way for themselves. They believe that those who live at night have the best fortune, and those who live in the day are the unlucky ones. They live by the code of honesty and kindness, and stand by it at all costs, because they believe that those who don't will die sooner than those who do.
There are some background cults for the dragon religions, The main one worshipping the royals themselves as gods, for the legend said that Gwyn and Dos were practically immortal, living millenniawhile the dragons of their kingdom died and lived. Their children, since most are still living, are thought to be immortal as well, only being able to be slain by their siblings and their children. This cult varies in size, but is widely known to highly respect their leaders, above even the rest of the kingdom altogether.
Language:
Dragons are an ancient race who have never had any interaction with humans, therefore, they do not speak English or any of the languages we know in the human world(Though they speak English for purpose of the roleplay). They actually speak in an ancient tongue that originated in the early Old Kingdom.
Dragons, since they do not have music, television, radio, or any other electronics, send messages by couriers, which roam the kingdoms, delivering messages. The more gold a dragon pays, the faster the message will get to the other dragon. The message can be spoken in the language of the dragon, and it will take a form on paper, which will then be sent to the other dragon. When it is opened, the words will be said as if spoken to the other party. The only other way of sending a message is by telling the courier and having him repeat it manually, though it is not suggested, since the couriers cannot always be accurate.
Dragons Themselves:
Dragons are large, strong creatures who come from all over the world. They can come in forms such as a serpent-like scaly creature, to a short, 20-legged creature covered with fur. They also come in all colors, though some of the most popular include Black, White, Red, Bronze, Green, and Blue. As explained above, Dragons are mainly dominated by females, but all genders can birth children with no problem.
Dragon homes are usually wide, open spaces with no walls other than those outside. They have tall walls, and the homes of the poorer dragons don't have proper roofs, and instead have tarps on the top. The roofs of flying dragons open so that they are able to land to get inside, and the dragons who can't fly, have large doors in the side of their homes. The houses are usually made of hardened clay or some type of stone or metal. The normal houses are usually just big enough for a dragon to burrow inside, and often are stacked on top of each other to fit the maximum amount of dragons. The richer homes are massive, big enough for a room for sleep, an eating room, servants quarters, a treasury, and, for the very richest, a small library.
Dragons are unfamiliar with most electronics, such as television, radio, computers, and other things like music. They entertain themselves in other ways, though. Most common ways include: Attending Plays, reading books, battle training, medical training, religious worship, and many other activities.
Books, to dragons, are quite precious. Since they lack any types of electronics, they read quite a bit, but, due to the Ancient War of the Children of Du and Gwyn, most books have been destroyed. The ancient ones that survived the war are worth fortunes, enough to set a dragon for life. The newer ones are worth a lot, but not nearly as much as the Ancient ones. Dragons usually read by copies, papers with the words whispered on them, rather than actual books.
The Dragons use a simple system for money; trade and gold. They trade for everything they cannot buy in gold. They work to make gold, and the system works well for some of the Kingdoms. For others, it fails, and many live in very poor conditions.
The money system in the Dragon worlds if pretty much 1 American Dollar for every Dragon Piece. The Dragon Pieces are small golden coins, roughly made by workers and worn from being used for many, many years. In order to keep track of all of their pieces, most of the richer dragons have Treasuries in their homes. All of the pieces are the same for all the kingdoms.
Dragons' Eating systems, like many things, are different from humans. Dragons are large, so they eat roughly from 20-200 pounds of meat in 1 day, and that holds them off for a few weeks. The richer of dragons eat once a day, small meals, but of high class and quality. Most meetings with royals occur with such meals.
In terms of rank, there are several classes in the dragon world. In order from most powerful to least, they are as follows: Royal, Noble, Merchant, Commoner, Unemployed, Slave. Each rank is very different from the others. Most are self explanatory, but I will go into some details for nobles, unemployed, and slaves.
Nobles are the war heroes of the dragon world. War heroes, high-class merchants, and just about any dragon who is rich beyond rich, or defendants of the rich beyond rich. These dragons have much influence over their clans and kingdoms, and will never go hungry, The richest of them own castles, and have body guards of their own.
The unemployed are some of those with the least influence. They are the poorest of dragons, and live in the shadows of the rich, usually homeless and surviving on scraps. These dragons exist in every kingdom, some more than others. They outrank only slaves, and sometimes turn to slavery for the resources to survive.
Slaves in the dragon world are much like those in Ancient Rome. Children, elders, dragons of all ages who live in sheds or basements, or the lucky ones, in their master's floors. They are given the food and water to survive, and usually only that. They work and attend to their master's every whim and need. They are not taught anything that they don't need to attend to their masters, so unless they signed the contract of slavery themselves, they don't know much. Once they agree to slavery, there is no going back. The only way out is to have the master release the slave himself. The master, once the slave is secure, is allowed to do anything to the slave they please, so long as they leave it's basic dragon rights in check. If there is any severe violation, the authorities of the clan will usually arrest the master. Slaves are only owned by Nobles and Royalty, and some of the more wealthy or lucky Merchants and Commoners.
Most dragons of a high ranking take on multiple mates. Since the dragon population dwindles quickly, it's always top priority to care for the young. Since High Ranking dragons, the royals especially, need their family names to live on, they take on multiple mates to create multiple heirs. In the case of the royals, they accept mates in terms of ranking. The highest ranking mate's young would be the next heir to their throne, after them. The lowest ranking's would most likely never become a ruler.
Family and Genetics:
Dragons usually take the name of their mother after birth from one of the parents. For name, I mean a prefix. The Royal family use the prefix Ra', for example, Ra'Dydd. In this case, A' is the family name, and R is status. Ra' is only used by the royal family. Only the larger and more powerful dragon families have the apostrophe. Most dragon families have only the prefix and then their names, such as: Du Saarthall, Hn Arrthes, Bey Forrathhal, and others. Most family marks have 2-4 letters, though that number varies sometimes. Dragon names are considered powerful, so only those closest to them generally call them by their base name, without the apostraphe, such as Dydd instead of Ra'Dydd. For most, the prefix serves as not only a title, but as a family mark. Family marks are generally 1 or 2 letters, and status is 1-2 letters more, which is always added in front of the family letters.
Now, this can get confusing, the Royal Prefix is a perfect example. In the titles for dragons, 'A' means 'Female'. 'A' is also the family name for the Royal Family. So, by that standard, we would be saying ALL members of the Royal Family were Female. This is not true, for, four of the royal Kings are male, Air, Du, Nos, and Water, yet they still hold the prefix Ra'. Now, they'd make it well known that they were male, and the A, in this case did not mean Female, but they still could be ridiculed for it. So what would they do about it? Well, since there is ALWAYS going to be a family name if there's a prefix, and the family name comes last, you can assume that the 'A' is either the family name, or part of the family name. It's as simple as that.
Status for dragon names are below:
R:Royalty. Queen/King/Prince/Princess (Advisors for the Queen or King, only if they've been in service for 1,000 years.)
S:In a position of power (Usually combined with either H or E)
H:Healer
E: Warrior
J: Gatherer
G: Worker
L: Unworking
N: Elder (Combined with Gender if used)
V: Mature Adult (Combined with either work status or Gender if used)
F: Child (Combined with Gender if used
A: Female
T: Male
Family Marks are usually the same as the base name. The family name will usually have something to do with the founding dragons. If two dragons, one by the name of Faartha and the other of Yathiica, the family name could be any of the following; Fy, Fa, Yf, Ya, A, Y, F. The same goes for any other dragon family. These letters come from the first and last letters of the both dragons names, and they can be used together, or separately. Combine whichever family name you choose with your titles(s) and you will have a full prefix to the dragon's name.
The said mates could do what they wanted, as for taking names. Should they both want to keep their current family names, they could. If they wanted to take one of the names of the other, usually the more powerful family(or dragon, in some cases) would have their name taken. Sometimes, the one who births the children will have their name taken by the one who does not.
-----
As for dragon genetics, Dragons usually take after either their mother or father. taking almost an identical appearance to them. In rare cases, a dragon can take after both parents, but it is extremely rate. Albino dragons are only born when they are born as crossbreeds between clans, and even then it's rare.
-----
Because of constant clan debates, unless it is agreed otherwise by both clans, travel in between two clans is very very hard, and is considered impossible. Of course, there are ways to visit other clans. On certain days, festivals, and events, dragons from other clans are allowed in. If they have permission from a Noble or Royal from the clan they're entering, and the clan they belong to, they're allowed in. There is also a way to get in, but it's a very expensive fee, different for all clans. Entry is also allowed upon changing clans, but this process can take years.
