Flight Rising Discussion

One day, while dully walking along with headphones in, I had a thought. It grew way farther than I imagined. Then I completely forgot about it, until I saw this thread. So now I'm typing it down...somewhat. I forgot a good chunk of what I was thinking of, but here it is regardless.

Some flights I had a lot of thoughts on (particularly those who focus heavily on the past) and others I had absolutely nothing on. Feel free to add what you feel like would happen, or even what your own clan does. This is by no means a guideline.

I'm mostly spitting out thoughts as they occur, so if overlap or incoherency occurs just try to ignore it or throw me a ping (which would be preferred).

WIND: Every story, tale, ballad and drunken remembrance is never the same. Each retelling changes just a little bit. Maybe this dragon was green, maybe his arch-nemesis was purple, but maybe they both were black. It's never about the facts anyways. Who cares about a lifeless story about an uninteresting scholar staring at equally uninteresting facts and figures, when there is an epic saga to be told over a roaring bonfire where knights rise and fall, spies sneak and skulk, and every new chapter has a new feeling of excitement? Conversely, perhaps it's instead a heartbreaking poem over two lovers separated by war, where lies and treachery keep each apart despite the longing of their hearts.

Regardless of the details, so long as the spirit and the emotion is shared, it doesn't matter whether the powerful sonnet is changed into an enthusiastic song by bards or whether one dragon might have been a male but the years have gone on so long that no one knows anymore.

LIGHT: Clinical and thorough, Light dragons studiously record and peruse every inch of every story, linking each and creating a web of history that spans the centuries stretching to, allegedly, the time when the first imperials still watched their creator with shining eyes. Every story is carefully dissected and examined for it's lessons and theme, each used as a warning for future generations, as a guideline for new hatchlings. No secret is kept from the light. Each retelling is carefully exact, preserved in scrolls and stored in massive libraries where the originals are old enough to be crumbling apart at the ends. Copies are made and sold by scribes, carefully scribbling away beneath the sun.

But in every web that is woven that large, there are holes. Whole sagas spinning stories of huge clans that mobilized for war in the very beginning of inter-Flight interactions gone wrong are based on clans that, as far as scholars can tell, might never existed. But they were Light clans, yes? There's no way the past scribes would have given false reports. Truth is very heavily valued. Any scribe caught altering past records have been executed before. So the mystery continues. What happened to those ancient clans? Many dragon feel unease over this; if the information was purged, there might have been a good reason for it. But scholars research on. The truth must be uncovered.

EARTH: Earth dragons parrot histories with a power, emotion, and gravity that very few Wind dragons match, though the Wind dragons call it fun-suckingly dull (though the sentiment behind the words changes per dragon). They also cling to their rigid storytelling, each the same as the last. Unlike Light, however, they do not focus on the details as much and instead prefer to point out pivotal moments and use them to teach wisdom to hatchlings. Also, a Light dragon will seek missing knowledge regardless of risk, believing the pursuit of truth the most important over personal safety. The dragon of Earth will instead let the absences speak for themselves, the dusty catacombs where once thriving Earth clans lived a lesson for each Earth dragon to interpret and understand on their own.

SHADOW: Shadow has the unique position of hiding the past, often to the chagrin of their Light neighbors. Otherwise? The past is used to tally scores and determine the next target. The better concealed the information, the more interesting or coveted it is. Whole clans have been known to get into violent altercations that have destroyed swathes of land over an obscure tidbit of questionable value, and walk out either cheerful and laughing, or smarting and vengeful. Whatever the fallout, there's a new objective and a prank to be outdone.

WATER: For Water dragons, the past is only as important as the future it affects. A dire prophecy might be contrasted against past ones to determine the threat-to-be. The huge skeletons within the Fishspine Reef are studied in order to protect and forewarn divers of the Leviathan Trench, who will carefully retrieve artifacts from the depths and bring them to the surface to sell to Light scholars. Massive, ancient caverns have been used to determine how once currents would have flowed, some littered with relics once thought only to be found in the Trench. These are often discovered, and sometimes even activated by prospecting clans or the occasional hatchling that wandered to far. In any case, the old magic imbued objects seems to have warped and twisted over the ages, and who knows what they do know...

LIGHTNING: If asked, most Lightning dragon would scoff at the idea of preserving, remembering, and focusing on the past. They would cite professionalism in the office, and spout paragraph after paragraph of corporate for We are workers in an equal environment and holding grudges over a practical promotion or holding sentiment for that ancient scrap heap is ridiculous. In reality, however, Lightning dragons will absolutely hold grudges over promotions that favor one dragon over the other, regardless of qualifications and experience, and has led to conflict in the workforce more times than most dragons have been struck by lightning (an all too common occurrence). Prototypes that may have taken months to slave over are melted into scrap heaps and recycled as soon as functional models are produced, as well, which is a well hidden but common regret. All for the sake of profit, right?

In the long term, large, prestigious clans have dug in and made huge corporations over the years, making many despair of ever making it Big when those who already occupy the position of Big cling tightly to their throne. Promotions into the high ranks are rare and heavily coveted, and ancient clans have can nearly grantee never getting promoted without already being part of the inner circle. It's been going on for so long that rumors are beginning to crop up about conflicts between some of the oldest powers. Some are adamant about staying loyal to Stormcatcher, and work avidly to expand and reinforce Lightning territory and control. Conversely, break room mutterings have revealed that some are arrogant enough to begin consolidating power for themselves, accumulating riches and power that normally would be used by the Exalted.

ARCANE: The Arcane Flight is always moving, always fluctuating in what's valued and what's not. History is...generally not, but maybe you'll find a nostalgic dragon here or there. In Arcane, while still heavily progress oriented, each dragon works well in their own way and at their own pace, which almost never if at all is heavily regimented. This allows for preservation and records of many spells and observations that have been made over the decades. Conversely, every record is done personally and is rarely regulated; this can and has led to fantastical boasts that have never been proven nor disproven.

Perhaps the only thing strictly documented is the celestial knowledge gleaned from the stars and preserved by the Arcanist himself. Very few of these books are ever released to the general population; many that claim to be are false. Within the collection, which is rumored to date back to the very first century of dragonkind, each book is designated a number and shelves according to, firstly, section of space, and secondly, order of discovery, though some require special bindings or other maintenance. There are things, sentient and volatile, that don't appreciate being trapped in tomes and volumes after spending an eternity drifting in the undefinable fathoms of space. If only they could break free...

ICE: Many Flights focus on the past and it's preservation. Any Ice dragon will instead give those Flights a look and shake their head. The foolish dreamers should know to appreciate what they have now; they won't have it forever. In the same vein, very few will keep stringent records who has come and gone throughout the decades. Most Ice dragons will live in the same place for their whole lives, and see the same dragons their whole lives as well. Why write the same thing down over and over again when you've memorized their orders after the first fifty times?

Tourism for the frigid beauty and fluffy fauna of the Icefeild to the northern ends of the Clouscape is healthy and was also a popular destination for drifting Wind dragons who got swept up in the Twisting Crescendo. After BotE, that number has gone down quite a bit, though now there is the occasional windblown and bewildered Arcanite showing up. All of these visitors are curious about the land, which has driven many dragons to show off the wonders of their homeland, though most see the harsh land as a trap that snapped shut around their necks decades ago. They're too stubborn to leave though. (this gets a little off topic. hmm...might need to get rid of it)

NATURE , PLAGUE , FIRE: *Stares blankly at the wall* Uh-- say, what do you guys think?

@Nyllei this is amazing! Could you ping me when you add the next parts?

@Nyllei I love it! Can you please ping me if you add more?

@GrimmReader @AlbinoWerewolf

Friendly ping to let you know I did the rest that I can remember.

Hmm. Well, of course I can't speak for my entire flight, but here's my thoughts for Nature-

In the Viridian Labyrinth, nothing lasts forever. Such is the nature of Nature- life will always recycle, reclaim, return. Life from the past is just that- in the past. Trying to preserve that life as if it were still there is like trying to stop the natural cycle. As such, the preservation of historical artifacts or sites is neither prevalent nor particularly important to dragons of Nature. What do dry ink, dead paper, and dusty artifacts contribute to the cycle of life, after all? However, that's not to say that history isn't important- far from it. Instead, history is kept alive in the minds of living dragons and passed down through the ages.

Usually, every clan that has been around for more than a few generations has at least one historian. But unlike many clans, historians usually don't put a feather to parchment to document history. Instead, that knowledge is stored in their heads- through song, through dance, through poetry, through tales. And many clans will gather around this lorekeeper when night falls, and the lorekeeper will entertain their clan with epic sagas of the clan's storied history. Not only does this lorekeeper keep their clan entertained, they are also bringing the history back to life, as it should be, painting it in fresh, vivid colors in the minds of their peers. No one tells stories like a Nature lorekeeper for this reason, since they are schooled in how to bring stories truly to life. Lorekeeper are important for this reason, and highly respected. Most will take on at least one apprentice, to ensure that the living history they bear will not die with them. (However, this is an old tradition, and more modern Nature clans may create and carefully preserve true libraries, with scrolls and books and artifacts.)

Visitors will often be regaled with these tales, too, and a Nature clan will eagerly listen to any historical tales the traveler may tell, perhaps even incorporating it into their own living collection of history, should the clan feel the tale worthy of keeping alive.

Often, the most highly honored dragons will be given a more tangible mark on their flight, however. The most common method is to plant a tree in the dragon's honor, and to carve out the name of the dragon on it once it has grown, perhaps with their lifespan and a brief description. Of course, trees do not last forever, and neither will that dragon's memory- but this way, even if the whole clan should perish and the story of the dragon should die, their memory can live on for perhaps hundreds more years.

"The Past is Imprinted" - Like the traces of antibodies still in the bloodlines after an illnesses or infection, the past honors the present and can be both necessary to survival and cause unfortunate ramifications to the present.

The past is imprinted. It is not discussed, but they all know it. The land is marked in ways plague dragons have been passively taught by experience: and the dragons of the land continue to mark it. Rocks with marks or set up in a particular way, old vines twisted to grow in a certain way, scorch marks created by fire or magical reserves--- the occasional monument by a very industrious (and probably immobilized) dragon. The land is marked by its inhabitants to tell of what happened in a forthcoming place. It might be as helpful as to share hunting grounds. It might be as dire as to warn of a new strand of disease. It might be testament to some great battle that occurred, and thus a warning of beast clan members or the fierce and cruel dragons that roam every land.

The details? Like an old disease had so long ago, there might be traces in the land or traces of gossip even among the typically silent mirrors. But the edge of the history is taken off. An illness doesn't hurt forever. There's no reason to hash out the fine details. There's no reason to really even preserve a landmark, supposing nothing more has happened. History is only worthwhile in so far as it is useful. On occasion, diseases (and histories, as well as the present) mutates. Previous solutions are no longer useful. Thus it is with history.

Old scars and memories fade. Time heals all wounds, and survival depends on pressing onward. Not dwelling on what happened before.

ping me for when the plague past is released