Speculation on where baby dragons come from...

[Shian]

*cough* Yeah yeah.

Lately I've been looking for a reason as to why there are so many adopted/abandonded dragons here that could perhaps be intergrated with the lore to make it more immersive and to have a reason for all the adoptions and few naturally born with parents.

So far I've come up with the following scenario:

Small dragon settlements on the outskirst of Istaria have hatchlings. Elders examine the newly hatched and if they do not meet the standards set by the settlement: a runt, horns/teeth not long enough etc. they are condemned to be taken away. I do not know if the major cities like Chic of Dralk practice such acts.

The heatbroken parents take thier child to leave them the one place where they might have a chance at surviving on thier own- Skalkaar Island.

As in Amecha's story, most of the settlements are invaded and destroyed by the Ageis, the land turned into blight. Such hatchlings will never know thier parents.

The other residents of Istaria happily scoop up the hatchlings from NT as adopted hatchlings are not succumbed to the inspections of they newly-born.

Thoughts? Different ideas? Dumb idea?

[Vaz]

All the hatchlings that go to Skalkaar are presumably Gifted. To've died as hatchlings, their deaths were probably violent. So it would make sense that many Gifted hatchlings lost their parents in the same incident that killed them for the first time.

[Tcei]

That's what I've always thought the Lore said. Save for those few who rp as having living parents, virtualy all hatchlings that end up on Skalkar are there because they are Gifted and had just died for the first time - most likely from the WA, and as Xoshara said their parents most likely died too. That or the hatchling died very shortly after hatching and never really had a chance to know their parents.

You're idea is interesting too Shian, and I think it's plausible that there may have been/are communities of dragons that did this, tho by this point most of those communities are likely wiped out due to WA, or re-assimilated into the two major factions.

[LaughingOtter]

Tcei is correct. You don't know you're Gifted until the first time you die. Since your soul isn't bound anywhere yet, you reappear at Skalkaar or the Spirit Isle - right after character creation.

[Shian]

Thanks for the info. I remember reading that somewhere but I wasn't sure if that was "official" lore or not, but TBH that kind of explination seems kinda boring to me... must be just me.

[Vaz]

At least it's neatly supportive of the natural tendency to have this:
http://thenoobcomic.com/daily/strip248.html
xD

[RuneDragoon]

At least it's neatly supportive of the natural tendency to have this:
http://thenoobcomic.com/daily/strip248.html
xD

lol... I love that comic too. Gianna does a great job.

[Kaerisk]

Actually, the story of why there are so many adoptions is already there if we put the lore together..

First, the massacre at Draak (about 145 years ago) killed off as many as two generations of hatchlings and several of the most prominent elders. Those who survived the massacre were generally lunus (accounting for a generally higher number of Lunus today) as they believed Draak had begun to take a Pro-Helian slant.

Second, at the Battle of Tazoon (13 years ago), almost every adult and the few remaining ancients were wiped out. Maekrux's father, for instance, died in this battle. The Gift must not have affected adult or ancient dragons at the time of its creation to any great extent, unless the remaining trainers are somehow significant of this. Either way, between the loss of two generations and several elders, and then the near-fatal blow the dragon race experienced at Tazoon, the dragon's family structure was completely obliterated. Whatever it may have been like is entirely speculation now, but for the most part, almost all dragons in Istaria today, player wise, were born after the fact, either as eggs abandoned or left behind after the battle, born to frisky adults today, or whatever it may be otherwise. Add to this the fact that all Gifted (players) may end up with significant memory loss upon First Death, and family is only as close as the kyn we hold onto.



Maekrux also has believed in a tradition whereby dragon eggs were left out in the wilds of Char, either to ensure strength or to deny pregnancy in the past. Dragons are generally considered to be able to fend from themselves out of the egg (as many giant lizard predecessors were 65 million years ago). Those who survived and reached Dralk were strong enough to be taught and those hatchlings were then raised by a community of elders, a tradition which Maekrux tends to emulate for new players until hatchlings get adopted. In the old days when the game began, this was much easier to believe: all racial towns were surrounded by no greater than level 15 mobs ;p Mae grew up playing with fire pygmies who were about that level.


Ultimately, there are a lot of ways to describe in character why dragon family lines fly in circles. ::coughs:: It's how you want to play it, really, that matters most.