Flight Rising Discussion

[font=american gothic][size=4]So, with two Wave One Ancients left (not counting a Neutral Ancient), let's talk about things that probably won't happen. I really want the Light Ancient to have nothing to do with Emperors or Imperials. Don't get me wrong, Emperors are fun, but I'm going to be in the minority and say I'd be very disappointed if the Light Ancient's lore centered on it being a response to Imperials/Emperors. Imagine if Veilspun lore centered on Nocturnes. [s]Though I guess you could say Undertide lore's impacted by Guardians.[/s] I also hope that the Light ancient goes for some less traditional East Asian dragons. This is a dragon made by ukiyo-e style artist Utagawa Kuniyoshi (1798-1861), which depicts a dragon more like a gigantic fish-bird. [img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Kuniyoshi_Utagawa%2C_Dragon_2.jpg[/img] Imagine if something like this was the new Ancient. Or, alternatively, imagine if something like the Chinese [url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/72/Minzu-zhengqi-haoran-changcun-Bixi-3565.jpg]Bixi[/url], who is short and stout and has a turtle's shell, was the Light Ancient! Meanwhile, on the Wind end, I am hoping for a.... fish. There's a long history of treating the sky/space as a Weird Ocean. Something like a bumblebee with the fins of a whale and the face of a pterosaur. Or a manta ray. I love manta rays. In Death Stranding, for example, this terrifying, but elegant thing floats through the air as if it were the sea currents. [img]https://samurai-gamers.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Death-Stranding-Order-No.-68-Walkthrough.jpg[/img] And, since the Auraboas have surprisingly taken the current space for a multiwinged amphithere, and Spirals and Skydancers are already small and lithe, why not let Wind blow to the other side (haha) and be a surprisingly graceful meat tank that levitates through the air?

I do really hope for a traditional Chinese dragon for Light that stands out from the other breeds, big fierce face, no wings, scaled like a fish, the whole 9 yards, but if it just couldn't be that, I would LOVE a Qilin! An equine, hooved inspired, could even be pegasus-like with wings! [img]https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Qilin-of-Chinese-mythology.jpg[/img] I feel like these last two flights don't lend well to the bulky and stout dragon body types, but we are getting a neutral ancient at some point, so I'm hoping for a stout dragon for neutral! And no specific hopes for Wind! My image of the perfect Wind ancient was something like an Amphiptere, which I think would look too similar to Auraboas ^^ so no hopes there, just excited to see what it could be!

I now adore the idea of a giant wind fish

As for a Light ancient, there's a lot of ways it could go, so I would be excited to see what it turns out to be!

oh I love that print, it reminds me of the Peng—or eh, this guy, whatever names they do or dont go by. honestly I think FR could benefit from some of the more chimeric depictions of dragons in east asian art (peng is not a dragon just in general), like a lot of folklore writes dragons as inherently chimeric. im not saying we need to go full camel-face-tiger-paws, but leaning more into that general idea would be fun. I’d LOVE if they could go as wild as some of the nine sons of the dragon, I THINK Bixi is one? is that the one whose strength is sitting ? dont quote me on that (my favorite is pu lao who loves to yell) BUT anyway theyre all folkloric dragons that look all interesting and distinct so I would love if FR did that but I understand the impracticality so I dont consider it very likely

I’d also prefer if the light ancient wasnt related to emperors…at least not in a, scary way. like ik emperor killers is a popular theory but personally I dont want that bc it would just be kind of Icky to me to imagine housing imperials in my lair right along with “breed that exists to kill imperials gone bad” yknow? theyve had it hard enough what with their godmom disowning them

HOWEVER I would really, really, REALLY love if the light ancient was inspired by Fenghuang. imperials are supposed to be the first children, so if we had an ancient it would be around the same time so it would make sense for the dragons to be twins and BOOM the Dragon is a symbol of the Emperor, so its Imperial, and the Fenghuang is the symbol of the Empress!! perfect twins. I think fenghuang and dragon twins is also a term in chinese for fraternal twins? (again dont quote me on that) like!! fraternal twin dragons!!! please I am begging so hard

honestly I think we are missing some Avian dragons in our lineup. like a lot of dragons have feathers but dont read as particularly birdlike (auraboas, coatls). we dont have a super Aves looking face in there (skydancers ALMOST have a beak but its like no. more), so be it wind or light im really hoping one of the ancients scratches that itch. I’ll include pterosaur based in this since they have beaky faces

anyway for pie in the sky hopes for wind…wingless/flightless ancient! it would be weird and wild for wind—oh and not an offense to its playerbase, I hope, I think they shpuld still be able to fly with magic or just levitate, but I think something that looks super-un-aerodynamic would be such a fun and interesting wind dragon. maybe some big lumbering bearlike guy to live in all those bamboo forests? but like the ability to fly DESPITE that size and perhaps winglessness would be whats really cool to me, like wind being freedom and travel and all that, in that they could soar the sky freely they dont even NEED wings. windsinger doesnt have em after all! I think any type of eagle ray based dragon would be cute also, I have a soft spot for cownoses and spotted eagle rays but like inflatable balloon kite dragon…tho I suppose I consider that much more Likely than Big Giant Flying Cow Dragon which is my hearts one true wish

edit: oh also I’d love if wind got an amphisbaena (creature with a head at both ends of its body, either pushmi-pullyu style or like having a head at the end of its tail a la chimera snake tail) since I think thats a bodyplan we dont have yet, gives a SUPER unique eye/element color distribution, and since amphisbaena iirc means “to go both ways” its like, a tie in to the Wind story about the crescendo going the other direction. honestly I’d love if they straight up stole xuanwu/genbu, like big turtle with a snake for a tail, that would hit on so many sweet spots and I think it would also fit wind’s general deal? and like omg they could give em the cute little freshwater turtle trunk. absolutely precious

Here I was thinking you meant an elemental combo Ancient- my mind went to the whole "koi jumps over the waterfall to become a dragon" thing. That said, that idea is a bit more Water than Wind/Light, isn't it... I agree that having a proper Chinese dragon (Imperials are close, but not quite there, and it does make sense from a "copyright the design" standpoint but, there's still something missing... the OG wingless variant would be neat to have touched up as an Ancient at some point)

[quote name="@Renaiwom" date="2024-06-27 23:01:17" ] Here I was thinking you meant an elemental combo Ancient- my mind went to the whole "koi jumps over the waterfall to become a dragon" thing. That said, that idea is a bit more Water than Wind/Light, isn't it... I agree that having a proper Chinese dragon (Imperials are close, but not quite there, and it does make sense from a "copyright the design" standpoint but, there's still something missing... the OG wingless variant would be neat to have touched up as an Ancient at some point) [/quote] [font=american gothic][size=4]What can I say, as I marine biologist, my mind's always on the water [emoji=undertide winking size=1]

i just want a fat ancient soon please???

all of the ancients are thin - most of them follow the 1 head/2 wings/4 legs/1 tail schema - which i do understand was a decision by the staff to be like "we don't want the super different ones coming out on the first round", okay but why are they all noodles??? make a fat breed. and don't save it for the neutral breed because then neutral will have 2 fat breeds and that's gonna be weird if they save it just for the flightless breeds.

[quote name="LastShip" date="2024-06-28 01:55:11" ] [quote name="LittleParade" date="2024-06-27 19:28:46" ] I do really hope for a traditional Chinese dragon for Light that stands out from the other breeds, big fierce face, no wings, scaled like a fish, the whole 9 yards, but if it just couldn't be that, I would LOVE a Qilin! An equine, hooved inspired, could even be pegasus-like with wings! [img]https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/field/image/Qilin-of-Chinese-mythology.jpg[/img] [/quote] I also do wish to see a Qilin! IMO it would fit better with Wind ancients than Light, just the vibe I get from the respective flights, Light is more airy and angelic while Wind gives me more traditional Chinese vibes, which I dig so much!! [/quote] Same, this is my highest hope for Wind Ancient, solely because this will be the closest we will get for unicorns in FR. But I get the feeling that Wind Ancient will be a gem breed, and somewhere during Veilspun development, a dev said that gem breeds won't break the mold, and Qilin has a rather unique body type so...

Yep I want a Kirin for Light too... it would fit right in with Imps and PCs. Pleeeease.

That being said, for wind, I'm really hoping for a pterosaur inspired dragon or, for more inconventional, a balloon-like dragon! A balloon seems like it would fit right in, and it doesn't need wings; it could fly without them.