Got to say, I had real trouble with this week's prompt. In the end I did the write-ups from a human standpoint, but I feel that was a bit of a cop-out. Law-chaos axis is easy to interpret with the 'plays by the rules - does not play by the rules' think, but good and evil are... oh boy.
In my mind, the dragons don't have human morals. Draconic hubris and clan-centric thinking are very much out in force. My clan leader's obvious rawr-rawr dragon superiority thing is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of my dragons pretty much don't consider non-dragon creatures as things morals apply into. They judge a dragon's actions based on how they affect other dragons.
And yeah, this applies even to things like familiars. If you crump a familiar, you are destroying the clan's servant or maybe someone's pet, and that is making life harder for another dragon. The judgement comes from the waste of resource and possibly making another dragon sad, not from killing the familiar itself. A pet cat would be important because its purring makes the dragon owning it happy, not because the cat itself is a worthy creature.
Element, species, and clan culture play into the morality too. Wildclaws warring for dominance or stealing eggs from other clans would be shrugged off as a Wildclaw thing (though if the stolen eggs were yours, retaliation would be called for), and a Plague clan dumping bodies in the reservoir would be met with a 'Plague's gotta Plague' rather than abject revulsion simply for committing the act itself (and once again, if it was your watering hole that now has a blooming new ecosystem, you'd gather your warriors and go have a chat with the other guys, and that would be perfectly moral by everyone's standards too).
There are of course exceptions to every rule, and some dragons can indeed be 'hyper-empathetic' and share concerns for the wellbeing of other species too. Nerina, the mate of my clan leader, is toeing the line with her concern for the thoughts and feelings of familiars. Most dragons in the clan do not see this as 'Good.' Instead they think of her as having a weird hobby of coddling the pets, and she avoids being labeled a bleeding heart purely because her comforting the new meat gets it calmed down and integrated into productive positions in the clan faster than other methods. Nerina is considered as being Good because she cares for and is altruistic towards her fellow dragons, her extending consideration beyond that is irrelevant.
Now, if violence, warfare and lack of care for other lifeforms are normal, what would be an evil act? For the purpose of my clan, I have thought of a few guidelines. These are things my clan considers as evil in their members. They might be part of the norm in some other clans, but the Dragons of the Shatterclaw Mesa are expected to not commit any of these
- Gross cruelty towards dragonkind (e.g. Cannibalism, intentionally targeting a Pearlcatcher's pearl, eggs or hatchlings for attacks)
- Acts in gross perversion of one's species or element (e.g. a Guardian harming its Charge)
- Harm to one's clan (Includes awakened familiars. They are seen as having become parts of the clan and so they share its worth. Attacking an awakened creature is an immoral act)
- Colluding with beastclans against dragonkind without the intent to double-cross them
- Actively aiding the Shade, allowing Shade-tainted creatures, powers or objects to exist if discovered, not lending aid to another dragon in battle against the Shade
- Acting against the Stormcatcher's orders
Examples of acts considered Good among my clan might be:
- Fighting in defense of one's self, clan, territory, property, or craft
- Defending a helpless dragon
- Offering aid to other clans in battle against beastclans or the Shade
- Applying oneself to one's craft
- Respecting one's clan
etc.
.......yeaah, maybe that's enough text. I have a lot of thoughts on dragon morality okay.
In my mind, the dragons don't have human morals. Draconic hubris and clan-centric thinking are very much out in force. My clan leader's obvious rawr-rawr dragon superiority thing is only the tip of the iceberg. Most of my dragons pretty much don't consider non-dragon creatures as things morals apply into. They judge a dragon's actions based on how they affect other dragons.
And yeah, this applies even to things like familiars. If you crump a familiar, you are destroying the clan's servant or maybe someone's pet, and that is making life harder for another dragon. The judgement comes from the waste of resource and possibly making another dragon sad, not from killing the familiar itself. A pet cat would be important because its purring makes the dragon owning it happy, not because the cat itself is a worthy creature.
Element, species, and clan culture play into the morality too. Wildclaws warring for dominance or stealing eggs from other clans would be shrugged off as a Wildclaw thing (though if the stolen eggs were yours, retaliation would be called for), and a Plague clan dumping bodies in the reservoir would be met with a 'Plague's gotta Plague' rather than abject revulsion simply for committing the act itself (and once again, if it was your watering hole that now has a blooming new ecosystem, you'd gather your warriors and go have a chat with the other guys, and that would be perfectly moral by everyone's standards too).
There are of course exceptions to every rule, and some dragons can indeed be 'hyper-empathetic' and share concerns for the wellbeing of other species too. Nerina, the mate of my clan leader, is toeing the line with her concern for the thoughts and feelings of familiars. Most dragons in the clan do not see this as 'Good.' Instead they think of her as having a weird hobby of coddling the pets, and she avoids being labeled a bleeding heart purely because her comforting the new meat gets it calmed down and integrated into productive positions in the clan faster than other methods. Nerina is considered as being Good because she cares for and is altruistic towards her fellow dragons, her extending consideration beyond that is irrelevant.
Now, if violence, warfare and lack of care for other lifeforms are normal, what would be an evil act? For the purpose of my clan, I have thought of a few guidelines. These are things my clan considers as evil in their members. They might be part of the norm in some other clans, but the Dragons of the Shatterclaw Mesa are expected to not commit any of these
- Gross cruelty towards dragonkind (e.g. Cannibalism, intentionally targeting a Pearlcatcher's pearl, eggs or hatchlings for attacks)
- Acts in gross perversion of one's species or element (e.g. a Guardian harming its Charge)
- Harm to one's clan (Includes awakened familiars. They are seen as having become parts of the clan and so they share its worth. Attacking an awakened creature is an immoral act)
- Colluding with beastclans against dragonkind without the intent to double-cross them
- Actively aiding the Shade, allowing Shade-tainted creatures, powers or objects to exist if discovered, not lending aid to another dragon in battle against the Shade
- Acting against the Stormcatcher's orders
Examples of acts considered Good among my clan might be:
- Fighting in defense of one's self, clan, territory, property, or craft
- Defending a helpless dragon
- Offering aid to other clans in battle against beastclans or the Shade
- Applying oneself to one's craft
- Respecting one's clan
etc.
.......yeaah, maybe that's enough text. I have a lot of thoughts on dragon morality okay.
