Flight Rising Discussion

@Llealynarisia

THIS IS SO COOOOOOOL!!!

Sign me up for the art and writing pinglist?

EPICNESS

Whew. I haven't been around much on this thread (or until recently, on FR in general), so I wouldn't be surprised if people don't know me - but I kind of co-created this thing with Llealy, and I'm impressed by how far it's gotten. So, hi. Warning: Textwalls.

@Gibby Haven't looked through the backlog - no time and it's massive - but that's a nice crew roster. Llealy and I have a ship in the works we should really do that for...

@Kirmon64 And that? That is amazing. Both of us got all excited in Discord chat over it. We also figured it was awesome enough to basically be accepted in canon, so, er, *yes please make lots more*.

My one question is why courier dragons don't have foreclaws for gripping packages. Of all dragon types you'd think they'd have the best gripping and lifting abilities. (Crap, now I can't stop imagining them with beefy Trogdor arms. Thanks, brain. But really, do they even lift?)

As for the magic deal... I've been thinking of things like dragon cloning and other tech-augmented methods for a while now at the back of my mind (including this stray thought that goes "full-AI dragons? yes yes yes yes"). But I haven't really browsed other AUs, so that didn't come to mind until you mentioned it (and I kind of forgot the canon detail about non-elemental eggs) - when you did, though, I came up with a few ideas on the spot, just an hour or so ago.

Without heavy technological assistance, dragon eggs born outside of an elemental magic aura are still generally unable to hatch; even with the most advanced methods, they tend to be unable to use all but the simplest of magic. But the Sornien fleets have devised numerous ways of dealing with the problem over the many, many galactic cycles.

The first and most effective, but most limited, means is for the deity-AI of a Fleet to directly infuse new ships with elemental magic; this process of divine Investiture means that dragons born aboard ship are born even healthier and stronger than usual. It also means that said ships contain enough residual magic to infuse the ground of a new colony, if necessary. For obvious reasons, only ships built in the presence of the Eleven's avatars can benefit from this, although it often carries the added responsibility of being a god's emissary.

The second method is by keeping a piece of land from the crew's homeworld - or parts of the captain's home ship - next to the power core, where it can infuse the core's magic with elemental affinity and spread that affinity all throughout the ship. The most potent elemental source is material from the true Homeworld, Sornieth Prime, first creation of the gods; found almost exclusively on the oldest and most venerable ships in the Fleets, this is equivalent to Investiture in strength, but in this era, even rarer. Following that, first-generation colonies produce a slightly weaker but still potent elemental charge, giving dragons a smaller increase in strength at hatching. Also, even in the shipyards belonging to the Eleven's personal worlds, not all ships are directly Invested; still, the planets themselves are so rich in elemental magic, ships built in their orbit are as potently charged as those that carry material from a first-generation colony world.

The third method involves taking some part from an older elemental ship and making it a key component of a new ship; since salvaging ships is a common occurrence, this has become perhaps the most frequently used method. Rarely, parts from old Invested ships are used - equivalent to an elemental infusion from first-generation colony soil. An ordinary ship normally only grants elemental affinity of the weakest sort, not enough to empower new dragons - but sufficiently long-serving ships are an exception, having so much built-up elemental magic to give a slight taste of the gods' blessing to hatchlings.

If these had actual gameplay: Ground from Sornieth Prime, or Invested ships=+3 to base dragon level at hatching. Soil from first generation colonies, un-Invested ships from the godworlds, or parts from Invested ships =+2 to level. Ground from "second generation" colonies or parts from ordinary, but sufficiently long-serving ships=+1 to level. Parts from ordinary Fleet ships grant an element but no bonus.

Also, to explain some of the stuff above: As of now, the deities still exist outside the mortal plane... but their AI-constructs are actually effectively divine avatars, pun intended. They manifest through the AI networks to lend a little more... personal aid to their children, manifesting in the form of special elemental-specific talents. The AI reside on eleven Godworlds, elementally-infused planets in systems neighboring the Sornieth system - hub worlds for the eleven Fleets and the last bastions against the Shade. Smaller fragments of the god AI serve aboard the capital ships of each Fleet - the ships commanded by Admirals and High Admirals during their terms. There are twelve Great Shipyards, one for each Godworld and the original in Sornieth Prime's orbit.

As for Exaltation? That's the process of digitizing dragons and uploading them into the Godworld networks, to add their consciousness - and thus processing power - toward the Eleven's "Grand Designs": Great, universe-spanning projects designed to defeat the Shade's influence.

I'll get a proper list of the elemental gifts up someday, I swear. And the Grand Designs story. And Fleet social mechanics, including the new meaning of Dominance. And more.

THIS IS THE BEST IDEA

@NightTerr0rs pinging myself cuz this is super cool and demands art. maybe if i have time.

@StrykeSlammerII @After @Vistron @roscolinecat @SaturdayLemon @CosmicCoelacanth @tigressRising @AquaCoral @DarkDragonfly @AviatorPi @BlueTrillium @Aquaborealis @firewyrm2018 @Wookiara @Oranitha @KittenFromHell @Nanosaur @Houndstooth @BonnieBug @LivingTheory @Solarstar @Macaw @Pasafatu @StellarBlitz @Druddigon8 @Nryenth @stripedfrisk @FourtyTwo @Depths @NoraValkyrie @KitalphaHart @windsway @bcrush @Unazaki @BossLeader @Rowlets @willowminnow @Chasay @Steex @Elaendorlien @raktajino @Deeproar @koobish @GhostPaladin @TrickMurk @HellionHydra @TheProfessor @Karaeir @SuperMachina @FeatherAsh @SkyyeofEmber @logicalDiviner @QuickSilvr @Dovalore @Leopardmask @thecatsred @HallowDarkfrost @Almaren @Frauzis @pyr0 @Pyra @InkZylorn @Inahetalian @dreamtime @AyalaAtreides @Stanari @Ninjacatblue @FIowey @QuantumReality @shanncrafter @AtomiKamikaze @TigerWind @KathiraNarae @Baroness @Pandacow @Percifrax @Amaranth41 @Cadomarie @merrymercutio @EurasianLynx @Grit @Virtualhel @Grillbz @Aluna @captainscarlet @8BitFey @Ponythekidrs @Stanzascale @Cyberstrike @seraphemme @ysabol @Starlight18 @GhostQueen13 @Calciferr @MischiefSword @ClockworkEclipse @Dryger5T @TheGodOfStories @sheepm8tr @Songweaver @LCice @Kavryn @TheMaskedHunter
@SaturdayLemon @tigressRising @AquaCoral @DarkDragonfly @BlueTrillium @Wookiara @Vistron @After @Nanosaur @CosmicCoelacanth @LivingTheory @Solarstar @Macaw @stripedfrisk @FourtyTwo @NoraValkyrie @bcrush @Unazaki @Rowlets @Chasay @Steex @Elaendorlien @raktajino @Deeproar @koobish @GhostPaladinn @TrickMurk @Karaeir @SuperMachina @FeatherAsh @SkyyeofEmber @logicalDiviner @QuickSilvr @Dovalore @Leopardmask @KitalphaHart @thecatsred @HallowDarkfrost @Almaren @Pyra @InkZylorn @ElectricLeech @Stanari @Ninjacatblue @shanncrafter @AtomiKamikaze @TigerWind @KathiraNarae @Percifrax @Amaranth41 @Cadomarie @merrymercutio @EurasianLynx @Grit @Ponythekidrs @Stanzascale @BloodGem @ysabol @GhostQueen13 @Eaglefairy @Calciferr @MischiefSword @ClockworkEclipse @Songweaver @TheGodOfStories @Kavryn @TheMaskedHunter @Silverfrost
(Apologies in advance for any double pings)

Hey guys! We've got a big lore update from my co-creator, which you can find here! If any of the information in this post seems to contradict what's in the original post, that will be due to us refining the lore; as such, the information in the linked post is the actual canon, and the first post will be changed to reflect that later.

@FelisImpurrator Hey welcome back!!! And thank you!

@Llealynarisia and thank you too! (I didn't see your comment on the Chantings crew lineup before for some reason lol?)

Wha T I need this right now

yooooo this is awesome

@FelisImpurrator Thank you <3

I figured Couriers don't really end up needing forelimbs because the Indexer's ships/designs are so technologically-oriented - the ships aren't designed to fit the Couriers, the Couriers are designed to fit the ships. Normally they'll be decked out in a ton of tech, like a lifter exoskeleton kinda thing? Which they use to help them lift heavy things. That's if the manipulator arms within the ships aren't just doing it themselves of course. I also imagine they can carry smaller things with their wing-arms, or even in their mouths.
If they need to type or do any other fiddly work they use their feet - they're very dexterous, like a monkey's, and can easily grip and manipulate small objects. And then their tail is like a kangaroo's, able to partly support their weight with ease, so they can type standing up by using one foot and then having their tail as a third leg.
From an out of universe perspective though it was mostly to mark them as NPC dragons, and also to incorporate the wyvern design found in the empty spots of one's lair.

Yooo I love all the stuff about the magic of the deity-AIs?? It makes so much sense, tbh I figured something like that was going on but it's really nice to see it all actually written down <3
...Also, wow, now that I think about it? The Indexer can and probably does hatch/grow elemental dragons. If pieces of land and/or ships are sufficient when they carry enough magical charge. Considering the Mobius Array is a whole bunch of artificial worlds, I could definitely see one of them holding pieces charged or numerous enough to allow the hatching of dragons, even if they don't end up magically powerful.
This probably also affects how magically-attuned any given Courier is? They're grown, not born, but if they were grown in the presence of enough of the Elevens' magic they might end up more like regular dragons.

(also, full-AI dragons are extremely relevant to the Indexer ;D Considering it is the representation of the technology behind the site it seemed quite reasonable...)

@Kirmon64 Actually, my thought regarding arms was mainly because I kind of figured they'd originate from the original Flight Rising Couriers - SFR isn't just an AU, it's a future-extension of existing canon. And pre-spaceflight couriers would definitely need arms. The wyvern design IS really awesome, though, I'll grant. Maybe they relied on external grips for packages in the old days?

Oh man, there's so much more about the deities and magic. And world-types - the Godworlds are actually tamed versions of a certain ultra-dangerous planet type, the elemental planet; they're basically saturated with a specific element to the point of being poisonous to all other elementals without serious shielding. Even matched dragons kind of struggle unless they're powerful mages or Elders due to the sheer overwhelming power. But so much of it is in rough notes that haven't been compiled. Including one very special elemental affinity.

Also, makes sense! But you know what, on second thought, I'm starting to have ideas about a potential 'non-elemental magic' affinity. Think Contuse, Regen, etc. Now that I really think about it, the lore pertaining to "soil from the homeworld" means that engine cores necessarily have to have no element. Interchangeability is crucial for parts like engines, otherwise - say - a broken Light ship would be utterly screwed traveling through an Earth zone.

The explanation for why dragons can't be born null-element by default? Well... simple. Raw magic is formless, directionless, and wild - it's too uncontrolled to sustain the process of hatching a dragon egg by itself. Now, if you have an AI like the Indexer, a powerful construct made OF null magic, that changes. You get dragons that are infinitely more versatile - but entire orders of magnitude less focused. Their magic can't be good for any one thing, but it is passably good at everything, and very stable; perfect for relatively menial tasks like delivery and maintenance. But yes, I'd imagine the Indexer would have uses for all the other elements at times, too.

(Note: This is my personal headcanon for general FR, but I feel like the Coli battlestones don't adequately represent the nuances of magic. There's far more use-value for non-elemental than elemental, which is strange. But I like to think that the reverse should be true - elemental magic should be deeper, more potent by far, with a greater number of focused and advanced variations. Neutral magic is mostly small, simple utility stuff, but covers a wide range. Unlike now where the optimal mage kit is something like 3/4 generic spells.)

Oh, full-AI and cyberdragons are a huge deal. Fun fact: A splinter faction of the Lightning Fleet - free spirits not suited to the interstellar corporate life - set out on their own and created a cybernetic underground society, with its own technoformed hubworlds; basically, we have dragon cyberpunks. Those places are ones where no one cares what your fleet or lineage or even *species* is; spacefaring beastclans tend to hide out there and rub shoulder-to-scale with dragons, with no one giving a damn either way.

Basically, enhancement culture is pretty unrestrained on those worlds - it's weirder to see a purist, most everyone's got some form of implant or bioneering work. Some of the more daring aug-heads even trade DNA across species - the biohackers, mostly Nature and Plague runaways, splicing cultivated beastclan features into their genome, and vice versa with beasts who express dragon genes and the like. Ever seen a Serthis with Smoke, or a metalloy Hainu? How about a dragon with floracat ears? Yes, really. Magitek is a strange and fantastic thing. Personally, I welcome all the Shadowrun expies.

(I'll have to ask Llealy what she thinks of the null elements, though, but I think she'd agree, so stay tuned for her response!)