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Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:34 am
by zedd
Hi,
I'll start the spoilers thread for the new story with my first question:
At the time of Auran first foray outside, it is said that he can hold is breath 20 minutes and so cannot stay "inside" stone more than that. But when going to Atlanta, he stays 3 days underground and can even make the wall trip underground.
What am I missing?

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:32 am
by nicolai
He did say he was going to cast some magic before he left ...

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 2:52 pm
by Fiferguy
zedd wrote:Hi,
I'll start the spoilers thread for the new story with my first question:
At the time of Auran first foray outside, it is said that he can hold is breath 20 minutes and so cannot stay "inside" stone more than that. But when going to Atlanta, he stays 3 days underground and can even make the wall trip underground.
What am I missing?
He also said he had a series of "gills" that he could breathe through, even inside rock. He could've been pulling oxygen out of the rock. Or like has already been said... magic. ;-)

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 3:28 pm
by zedd
Fiferguy wrote: He also said he had a series of "gills" that he could breathe through, even inside rock. He could've been pulling oxygen out of the rock. Or like has already been said... magic. ;-)
The idea I got when reading was that the "gills" allow high speed flying, high altitude and in water, but that it wasn't has efficient in rock, because rock isn't as rich in oxygen. But maybe I got it wrong.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 6:50 pm
by Fel
zedd wrote:
Fiferguy wrote: He also said he had a series of "gills" that he could breathe through, even inside rock. He could've been pulling oxygen out of the rock. Or like has already been said... magic. ;-)
The idea I got when reading was that the "gills" allow high speed flying, high altitude and in water, but that it wasn't has efficient in rock, because rock isn't as rich in oxygen. But maybe I got it wrong.
He used magic to go that long underground, and he basically got there after about half day and waited under the ground to survey the situation before he emerged.

And yes, his "gills" are used mainly for high altitude/high speed flying. That they allow him to effectively breathe underwater are something of an unforeseen bonus.

Despite his size, Auran can fly close to supersonic speed, and can reach an altitude of nearly 24,000 feet. Any higher and the air is too thin to support his wings, but the higher he goes, the faster he has to fly in order to maintain altitude. Thinner air = less lift, so he has to go faster to compensate.

Yes, this is physically impossible. But that's why he's a dragon. It's maaaaaaaaaaaaaaagic.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 7:07 pm
by zedd
Thank you for the info Fel. Very nice

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:12 pm
by ANTIcarrot
Oh dear oh dear. Everyone in this story is behaving far too sensibly. I fear Fel is going to make something nasty happen next chapter. :)

I did giggle a little at some of Auron's perceptions. (Sure silver is the only way to kill a warewolf*.) And shake my head in bemusement at others. Isn't it a little contradictory for Auron to insist that humans always react with fear to the unknown, even when the technology and knowledge that he is so amazed by is produced by the very oposite reaction? Oh well. He's only had a few weeks to adjust. At least he has a head on its shoulders.

Though I fear he may be dissapointed about what judgement falls on Those Wacky Catholics. Just because the Knights Templar has been reformed,doesn't mean the a church or even The Church was involved at any stage. Besides, if things were that simple, this woudl be a very short story!

ANTIcarrot.

*Only silver can kill a werewolf! And beheading. Only silver and behaving can kill a werewolf! And a claymore mines. Only... The only three things that can kill a werewolf are silver, beheadings, and claymore mines! And being run over by a tank. Among the... Among the ways that you can kill a werewolf... Oh sod it, shall I just come in again?

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:53 pm
by Fiferguy
ANTIcarrot wrote:Though I fear he may be dissapointed about what judgement falls on Those Wacky Catholics. Just because the Knights Templar has been reformed,doesn't mean the a church or even The Church was involved at any stage. Besides, if things were that simple, this woudl be a very short story!
Well, Fel did say that this would be a short one. :twisted:

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:09 am
by Fel
ANTIcarrot wrote:Oh dear oh dear. Everyone in this story is behaving far too sensibly. I fear Fel is going to make something nasty happen next chapter. :)

I did giggle a little at some of Auron's perceptions. (Sure silver is the only way to kill a warewolf*.) And shake my head in bemusement at others. Isn't it a little contradictory for Auron to insist that humans always react with fear to the unknown, even when the technology and knowledge that he is so amazed by is produced by the very oposite reaction? Oh well. He's only had a few weeks to adjust. At least he has a head on its shoulders.
Welcome to the perceptions of a Rennaisance dragon in the modern era.

He, like the werewolves, are pre-judging humanity based on old misconceptions. Gren and the old werewolves have too much prejudice built up to look kindly on humanity, so he's more than happy to reinforce Auran's old concepts.

Auran's opinion will change with time, mainly because he's accomplished his objective of introducing himself in a non-threatening manner.

And while the Catholic Church might not have anything to do with this modern incarnation of the Knights Templar, unfortunately for them, it won't matter. The strictures of the oath forced on Pope Innocent in exchange for Auran not razing Rome to the ground will be enforced on them, because whoever that group is, they're using the symbology of the original Knights. That MAKES them the Knights Templar, and as such, now the Church is on the hook for their actions. The only way the Church can save the Basilica is to beseech Auran to declare them not responsible for the attack.

Or kill Queen Xyllis, who is the binder of the oath...which they can't do until the gates open. Kinda catch-22, isn't it?

the Church won't be the problem, though. There's certainly a "lunatic fringe" in the church like the priest caught on video accusing Auran of being Satan, but the majority of the church doesn't see the dragons the same way their ancestors did. Science has even managed to infiltrate the opinions of the church. This is a bit of a spoiler, but it's not the church that comes after Auran, it's the government. Cymric Hugh knows what they intend to do, because they know all about Auran...he should know, he told them about the Elder Dragon. They want Auran, because the Elder Dragon rules the other dragons, and they want that power securely in their hands.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:53 am
by Mac The Knife
With all the web surfing Auran is doing, I'm waiting for him to stumble onto this website. Kind of a cameo appearance for Fel.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:37 am
by ANTIcarrot
Fel wrote:And while the Catholic Church might not have anything to do with this modern incarnation of the Knights Templar, unfortunately for them, it won't matter.
Hmm. That could actually backfire for him. The public might not see a difference between him personally destroying something, and 'taking advantage of a legal loop hole' to get someone else to do it for him. If the rest of the world finds out that he could save the 'innocent' RCC by merely forgiving them, and he deliberately choses not to, live, on camera, then that could turn into a very ugly news cycle.
Or kill Queen Xyllis,
I take it this she is going to represent a somewhat more traditional intrepretation of the Faey than we got last time round? :roll:
This is a bit of a spoiler, but it's not the church that comes after Auran, it's the government.
<gasp> The Canadian government? </gasp> who'd have thought...
On a more serious note... Why? He has about the same size, weight, and durability as a 747, and ultimately probably can't do that much more damage to a given target than a B52 can. The earth-swimming trick is not that much more 'unstopable' than an ICBM. Given his size he's hardly suited to black ops stealth. I can understand why they'd want to jump up and down on magic, but isn't going after a dragon pretty much one of the dumbest possible ways of studying/stealing that information?

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Sat Oct 03, 2009 3:04 pm
by Fel
Xyllis is more like Sarraya than a Faey. She's an elf, a relative of the Sidhe, who are beings utterly ruled by their emotions, and absolutely unable to tell a lie.

Now just ponder that combination a minute.

You may shudder now.

It's the bad luck of the Arcadians that the elves are the magically sealed rulers of Arcadia.

The government wants Auran not for his size, but for his command of the dragons and for his magic. The dragons are far more powerful than you think. What trepidation you see is from the mindset of a creature that has traditionally been all but invincible suddenly realizing they're not quite so invincible anymore.

If the government has control of Auran, then they'll command all the dragons, all the magic they can bring to bear, and through Auran they'll have the ability to directly manipulate every Arcadian and magiclly active human on Earth to suit their own goals. Auran is every bit a ruler in that sense. Where Xyllis has command of everyone in Arcadia, subject to her flighty whim, every dragon, Arcadian, and Eldritch on Earth answers to Auran, the Elder Dragon.

That is the power the government wants. Utter control of magic on Earth.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:45 am
by medico69
Fel wrote:The government wants Auran not for his size, but for his command of the dragons and for his magic. The dragons are far more powerful than you think. What trepidation you see is from the mindset of a creature that has traditionally been all but invincible suddenly realizing they're not quite so invincible anymore.

If the government has control of Auran, then they'll command all the dragons, all the magic they can bring to bear, and through Auran they'll have the ability to directly manipulate every Arcadian and magiclly active human on Earth to suit their own goals. Auran is every bit a ruler in that sense. Where Xyllis has command of everyone in Arcadia, subject to her flighty whim, every dragon, Arcadian, and Eldritch on Earth answers to Auran, the Elder Dragon.

That is the power the government wants. Utter control of magic on Earth.
Typical of the US government, I knew they shouldn't have elected Obama-rama-ding-dong :roll:

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 10:31 pm
by Fiferguy
medico69 wrote:Typical of the US government, I knew they shouldn't have elected Obama-rama-ding-dong :roll:
He's a heck of a lot better than Duh-Duh-Duh-Dubya.

Re: Draconian Measures, chapter 1 - Spoilers

Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:42 am
by Fel
Keep the politics to yourself.

If you do not, I will destroy your every childish illusion about politics, political figures, and every hero you've ever had.

And I'll enjoy it.

I'm mean that way.