This post's authors have general content warnings that might apply to the current post.
Accept our Terms of Service
Our Terms of Service have recently changed! Please read and agree to the Terms of Service and the Privacy Policy
A dragon explores space, finds Amenta.
Permalink

The secrets of Delver technology could not resist decryption forever. While the tools they wielded are deeply weird, jealously guarded, and immensely complicated, living beings built the tools that brought aliens to the dragons' first world. The great calamity left ruins aplenty behind, and once grown the Seeker gathered these old tools as their very favorite sort of treasure. Dragons are not intelligent in quite the same way as a No-Tail, but they are far from stupid. They live forever and can be very determined if they set their mind to it.

The Seeker brought all its tools and treasure along with it when the world was evacuated ahead of the Tailless's relentless growth and hunger for resources. It studied under the great elder Darktooth on the new world, studied together with Darktooth (an arrangement not very common with dragons, as they are not particularly social), for a very long time. And eventually, by application of the hard claws of experiment and calculation and theorizing, the universe revealed its workings, cold and precise and mathematical. Creating more and more tools of the highest sophistication, and teaching others of its kind in exchange for wealth, and even spawning offspring and guiding them to adulthood, was all satisfying for a long while, but eventually... He got bored.

And so, the Seeker wondered if the long sleep for the journey between stars was really necessary, and got to work seeing about making it not. He managed it eventually, and built a starship, and went exploring. Stars come in a beautiful variety of kinds, and the worlds around them do too, but very, very few bear any sign of life. They are mostly barren and empty.

...Oh, this one is emitting curious amounts of low-frequency light. Worth investigating. Pushing a starship faster than light requires a touch of magic (at least for now), which he provides.

In the outer solar system of a certain star, well above the plane of the ecliptic, a black sphere the size of a city block appears and has a look around with powerful telescopes.

Total: 2031
Posts Per Page:
Permalink

Okay, wow. That's a lot of interesting ideas.

 

He could do the fighting-Oahk thing but muses that planes are really loud and unpleasant and if that really happened he'd probably have gone to the equator and hidden instead? Maybe he could fight Oahk with more digging and sneakiness than flying tricks? He's kind of cool on the whole concept, though.

He would totally fight a bunch of monsters alongside Amenta, that sounds awesome. If the monsters were evil and not just desperately confused or something, that is. Sounds like a simple and straightforward way to get maximum awesome on screen.

Protecting a terraforming project sounds like a nice theme, especially if they're trying to keep the bad aliens from burning plant nurseries or something, not just giant science machines. Why only one Amentan with him?

Pretending to be an Amentan pretending to be a Draak sounds interestingly twisty, and 'survive the highly dangerous place while carefully extracting valuable things' is a neat concept too! He's not sure he knows how to act out Amentan-controlling-a-Draak-shaped-body, though.

He is not really sure he understands what the appeal of the buddy cop thing is supposed to be?

This last one hits closest to Draak-favorite aesthetics and saving people from darkness with the power of fire is a powerful idea/theme/arc that he likes a whole lot! It reminds him of some Draak folklore, actually. Should he tell that story real quick?

Permalink

The monsters could absolutely be evil.

The idea is the planet's not healthy to be on yet so they aren't really supposed to be there; more strandings are more implausible.

It's possible that the Amentan-piloting-a-Draak-body idea should wait till he has more acting experience.

They could show him a buddy cop movie but if he isn't into it that's fine.

Sure, they can hear the story!

Permalink

Evil monsters is on the list of maybes, from his perspective. So is the terraforming project thing. And the fantasy one. He should probably watch a buddy cop movie, maybe later, but it seems like something else he would have trouble acting out. He knows how to be a big scary fire-breathing lizard, not how to be an Amentan or a cop!

The story goes that in ancient times, the Sun's light was stolen away - who stole it is forgotten, and gets filled in depending on the storyteller: The Others, the Moon, a Draak, the Spirit of Greed - and everything was slowly freezing, and plants were dying in the eternal night. The Draak at the time refused to go fix it, fearing death. Then a tribe of birds agreed that something had to be done and if nobody else would fix things, they would. They flew to where Sun's light was being kept and cleverly stole it back. Then they clutched Sun's fire in their beaks and flew it back to the sky, continuing to fly despite being burned both inside and out. Their bodies, their minds, even their souls were permanently damaged, and they became the Blackburns. Birds with too much wisdom for their tiny minds, who crossed the line from 'wise' to 'insane'. Even now, the Draak remember their sacrifice.

Permalink

...wouldn't the Draak have starved or frozen eventually with no sun?

Permalink

Rubies and Sapphires might have been fine, using the Earth's inner heat and the bottom of the ocean. And Elders. Elders can do some absurd things. But yes. It's a very old story, and probably not complete or even very accurate, even if it's said the Blackburns would tell it to you if you asked why they are what they are.

Permalink

"Is this a real species?"

Permalink

On Oldhome. 

He sends out a slightly-indistinct image of some corvids.

I've never seen one personally, but they did exist.

Permalink

Well, lacking any wannabe-actor birds they aren't going to adapt this but they can take some beats as inspiration.

Permalink

If you don't think it'll make a good movie, then don't bother. The age of darkness idea just reminded me of it. I'm not sure if the evil monsters, terraforming project, or fantasy one sounds best to me. I'm guessing it's not all up to me anyway, right?

Permalink

It indeed is not; the meeting must also cover considerations of budget, available talent in relevant sub-industries such as music and (Amentan) acting and set design, and the zeitgeist of preferred tropes and styles. By the end of the meeting they're leaning pretty strongly toward the terraforming project idea; it's hopeful in the right way.

Permalink

Most of this goes waaaay over his head, but he attempts to follow along.

Permalink

They run out of time on the meeting before completely scuttling the evil moon monster idea but the terraforming one is the favorite and both proposers are supposed to submit followups with more detail for final approval by the producer.

Permalink

Okay, so the story's not definitely set but close to it. 

Am I supposed to do anything else in particular now? He asks Meksi.

Permalink

"While they work on that you've got a block of free time by us, so you're scheduled to head over to the other studio for a few days. I think they're planning to pay for me to accompany you rather than assign somebody on their end, so you have continuity."

Permalink

I hoped the rigger was ready with a flight harness. Oh well. I want to fly there - you'll take a train? Now?

Permalink

"Yeah, I'll take a train. You'll probably beat me there."

Permalink

Probably. I'll circle for a while over some farms. Stretch my wings. Show me a map?

Permalink

She'll go over the map and landmarks with him till he's comfortable with the route.

Permalink

And then he's off, embracing the wind.

And after an hour and a half he lands near the last landmark, looking around at the new studio.

Permalink

It's smaller, and has more outdoor spaces; he's met by a yellow.

Permalink

Hello! I'm here for the short movie. I see Meksi isn't here yet.

Permalink

"She's not, I can help you with what you need till she arrives. How was your flight?"

Permalink

...I probably should stop telling people I don't like cities and farms and railroads and things. It was as expected, how's that? I'm excited to make a movie, anyway.

Permalink

"Great! We think it's going to turn out awesome. I'm supposed to double check that you think you can get some involvement from other Draak for short segments?"

Permalink

For one day. Sunrise to sunset. I'll need to pay them a bit, they're not sufficiently interested in the novelty unless I promise them some shiny things. If you could take over that, that'd be nice.

Total: 2031
Posts Per Page: