On War, Magic, Kruziik Golz and Other Things
((This is regarding a note that Lucid sent me asking my thoughts on certain aspects of the Flight Rising world.))
Oh, good thoughts! I'm gonna address the Arcanist vs Mage thing before I get into battle tactics. Personally, I feel that every dragon can do
some magic based on their birth nest. To go along with the clan lore, the magics imbued in a nest affect the hatchlings that develop there (reflected in eye color). This isn't to say a dragon from any flight couldn't be tutored to learn other elemental magics, but a dragon from the Earth Flight could use Earth powers to some small degree without any training. Of course, there'd be prodigies who would be naturally more advanced in magic. Clans might see this as their deity smiling upon them for being devout. Less religious dragons might see it as just a stroke of luck. Now, all that being said, I think there would be many art forms and practices of magic. A dragon that uses magic as their primary means of battling, healing and anything else, would be called a Mage (or if we want to come up with another term, that's fine too). There would be battle mages, healing mages etc. To be considered an Arcanist, a dragon would need to study the form of magic used by THE Arcanist. Being the scholar that he is, I'm sure he's put together quite a few tomes and curriculums to be used in mage schools that teach the "Way of the Arcanist." I'd think there would be different degrees of mage status in any field of magic, and to be called an Arcanist could either be a general term for that alignment, or a title reserved for a dragon that has...well, gotten their equivalent of a Doctorate in Magic. It would be a highly respected title, and perhaps dragons would even use it as a prefix like Arc. Smartybritches of the Egghead Clan. I guess this means we have to come up with the different titles for each school of magic xD;;; Sorry, not sorry.
On to battle things! I feel like wars would be potentially brutal, especially if, say, fire mages went against the forces of the Gladekeeper. But even the Nature dragons would have defenses such as incredibly thick timber as well as very green leaves which wouldn't burn as easily. I think it would also be common practice for most flights to prefer recruiting the bulkier breeds like Guardians, Ridgebacks and maybe even Snappers as "tanks" to haul war machines. Mirrors, Tundras, and perhaps Guardians and Ridgebacks on the smaller side would be reserved for ranging most likely, but they would also be useful on the front lines as the "first wave" in battle so to speak. The Pearlcatchers that could be convinced to even join the military could probably serve as both mages and field medics since they're robust enough to handle the battle field while still being skilled in magic. Sky dancers and Spirals (Coatls too?) would be air support for sure with their mad flying skills. WildClaws are fast on their feet, along with Mirrors. So I could see those breeds also being reserved for ranging, scouting and black ops missions. I would think faes, due to their size, would be couriers or mages because they couldn't handle hits in battle. I'd say they could be in air support too, but their too small to carry sky-based weapons. But perhaps, as mages, they could fly along with any division (sky or ground forces) and provide magic support.
Now Imperials are an odd sort because they can fly, their large enough to be formidable in a fight, and they also seem like they could be skilled at magic as well. Of course, any breed can rise above another with perseverance and training, but perhaps it is more common for Imperials to be in positions of authority simply because their base skills are higher than the "lower breeds." In the armed forces, Imperials would make good COs because they would be able to fit in to just about any division and use those specific magics or fighting styles. That being said, it could be quite disappointing to a high society Imperial family to get word that their son or daughter failed in military school or did not achieve the highest rank in their class. Almost like it's a superiority complex and it's expected for them to be at the top.
Ooo Kruziik Golz, yes! Ok well, before the chunk of earth (didn't we decide it would've happened when the Shade destroyed the protective shield?) broke, let's say it was a particularly large island located where the Starfall Isles are now. This isn't confirmed in the Book of Lore, but I like to imagine that that area is where that massive reactor was built (and where it self-destructed, of course). When is exploded and demolished all human life, an incredible amount of magic was left over. After all, it was enough magic to trigger the Arcanist into existence! That amount of magic would have adverse affects on the surrounding terrain. That's my explanation for why parts of the Starfall Isles float out of the water and gradually drift into the sky. Now perhaps Kruziik Golz wasn't anchored to the sea floor very well and the force of the magical explosion knocked it from its foundation. It began to float like the chunks of rock at the Focal Point, but being an island, it was much larger than any other rocks floating about. Perhaps, with the magic was still radiating everywhere, the island floated up past the clouds into the stratosphere. But the sheer weight of it eventually caused it to sink to a more stable level in the lower troposphere (this is if we're assuming that this dragon planet has the same levels of atmosphere as earth. But seeing as it supported human-like life, maybe it is).Totally thinking of Laputa right now:
It would be high enough to make it difficult to get to by normal means, but low enough that clouds could pass around it and create a stable ecosystem for plant life. And maybe even, like Laputa, could be a defensible fortress if some Storm mages were employed to create a whirlwind of storm clouds around the island.
A long, long time has passed since the deities awoke to combat the Shade. and the residual magic from the Reactor explosion most likely weakened except for around the epicenter. Dragons were probably already using the floating island, but maybe it was warred over and not neutral ground. But perhaps at one time, Kruziik Golz was under threat of falling out of the Sky. Maybe that's when the different Flights realized that this unique land mass could be used for peace, not war, and they banded together to make it a stable floating island, using all kinds of magic. Earth Dragons would use their knowledge of rock forces and magnets to help the base of the island push against the ground below to keep it in the air. Water dragons could've applied their knowledge of buoyancy to help keep the island from tilting. And so on and so forth with all the Flights. But most of all, it was probably crucial that Arcane aligned dragons poured more magic into the island itself so that it would retain its mystical properties and stay aloft.
And yes, you're correct, it would've been incredibly useful as transportation over long distances. But I imagine that it moves fairly slowly, as dragons with Wind magic might be responsible for propelling the whole island. But they couldn't do it too quickly or they'd risk damaging the structures built upon it. Moreover, it was established as Neutral ground and it would reflect negatively on the government if they allowed certain armies to travel on it. The exception there would be the allowance of dragons from one territory traveling to another territory to draw up peace treaties or cease-fire arrangements (hah...cease fire. Cause they're dragons and..fire...yeah -coughs).
I often wonder about this planet though. Is the flat map a representation of just one small section, or do these land masses stretch all the way around the globe? If so, that means that the only territory that is cut off from the others is the Southern Ice Fields. Perhaps the Viridian Labyrinth could be considered somewhat cut off since it's an island. But it seems like its Western edge is close enough to Dragonhome that the narrow strait wouldn't be too difficult to make it across to the mainland. As far as getting to the Ice Fields, there seems to be a convenient path of ice bergs connecting the Southern Icefields to the Starfall Isle. Of course, I take this map to be an exaggerated representation and the territories would be quite expansive. Enough so that say, within the Ashfall Wastes, you'd get areas that look more like Yellowstone with mineral-rich hot springs and boiling mud pits. No doubt the enormous volcano towards the Southern half of the island would dominate the country, but a volcanic ecosystem is quite diverse. I mean, look at Hawaii! I believe we've established that there are seasons where volcanic activity in the Flamecaller's Territory fluctuates. Maybe this volcano, due to its size, even dictates the seasons of this whole continent. In months of high eruption from the main mountain and its smaller, sister peaks, the lands nearest the volcanoes would experience ash storms and extreme heat. But with volcano eruptions come clouds or ash and dust which block out the sun. While it could be considered "summer" in the Ashfall Wastes due to the heat, other territories would experience cold because the ash would block out the sun. Now here's where it could get complicated...
Wind patterns would have huge pull as far as affecting climate change. If the Twisting Crescendo (an area in the Wind province I simply like to think of as Tornado Alley on steroids), is sending violent gusts of wind North, East or West, then provinces in that line of wind stream would be under threat of the ash clouds while the volcanos were erupting. But while ash can be fatal, it also creates very fertile soil. So it could be both a blessing and a curse to have the wind blow the ash your way. Now, this whole eruption event affects the Southern Icefield differently than all the other territories. If the ash and heat is being blown away from the ice territory, then they get the benefit of a cooled climate while ash chokes out the sun and perhaps their land even expands, creating ice bridges that connect the ice floes. But if the ash and heat are blown south, then the Ice dragons experience what is mentioned in the World Map, the shrinking of their landmass. So the climate is all dependent on these different aspects from the elemental territories. This must also mean that we need to come up with the affects other Flights have on the climate as well xD Again, sorry, not sorry!
Finally, to your point on making it across the sea to get to the Southern Icefields, yes, there should be platforms built for resting. And perhaps there would be platforms like these in all of the territories. After all, if relations between two flights are sour, it would be dangerous for dragons from the opposing Flight to land in the territory of their enemy. Let's say there are Flight embassies in each Capitol, and those embassies sponsor resting platforms throughout each territory so that their allies may rest. Almost like inns, but for fliers that need to rest their wings. But in regards to reaching the Southern Icefields from the mainland, there would be frequent routes used. One being by ship (dragon ships would have to be very large and element retardant, wouldn't they o_o), by traveling over the ice bridges in seasons when the ice is solid and finally, by flying. Of the three, I think flying would be the last option. Of course...there is swimming, but that would be reserved for the strongest Water dragons.
As a final side note, Kruziik Golz could be raised a bit in the even that it is in the way of an approaching ash storm. But that would only be in rare cases since the conditions would need to line up perfectly for the Island to be in the path of the cloud. And even then, the ash cloud would have to be too thick for Wind dragons to dispel it with magic. But it
could happen, and probably has a handful of times, and those instances are talked about in history books.
So did I ramble enough? I could go on xD
