From the article archive
Walking With Dragons (Part Six
Interlude Thirteen
The compound is quiet now. The wards are up, the guards are set. She walks out into the darkened courtyard and makes the change.
Where once a woman stood now stands a shen lung. With a thought she rises into the air, her serpentine body twisting as it climbs. It is a clear, moonless night. She is a shadow in the stars. A whisper in silence.
High above the city she looks out over the world. A dark, quiet world. Far to the west she can see a band of day, but that soon fades away.
She floats upon the night for an hour or soon, then glides softly to the ground. Landing in the courtyard she changes back to human again and goes inside.
She looks down upon her husband's face. Sighs. People are starting to talk about her perpetual youth, hinting that she is taking his youth to sustain her own. The time is coming for her to die. And as her husband mourns his dead wife, she will return to the life she'd know before meeting him.
But first to find the appropriate standin. Someone close to death who's willing to take her place. That will take a few weeks. A few weeks to find the substitute, train her, and cast the spells that will give the standin her semblance and seeming.
She keeps promising she won't fall in love with a human, but it never works. Ten, twenty years from now she will meet another human, and fall in love with him. It's been this way for over 200 years now, and may go on for hundreds of years longer. With a sigh she lays down beside the man she loves and falls asleep.
Location, Location, Location
Once on his own the dragon must find a place to sleep, a safe place where he can store his treasure. Depending on the dragon's size, this could be as plain as a hole in a river bank, or somewhat more impressive.
Often the dragon will take over an abandoned burrow, or drive out the original inhabitant. On rare occasions the dragon will dig a lair of his own. With a place to stay he can now start decorating it.
Most often the decorating starts with bones of dead animals. Skulls are popular. While some dragons will use bones they find lying about, most prefer to use the bones of animals they've killed. Especially popular are the skulls of dangerous beasts. A young adult copper with an auroch skull decorating his lair is saying he's a mighty hunter, and others should be wary.
But even with the finest bone collection in the world the dragon's fondest dream is to accumulate a treasure. This starts when the dragon overcomes an hominid or similar opponent who has gems, jewelry, and/or coins of some sort. Right from the start the dragon sleeps on his treasure, quite unwilling to let it out of his sight.
Over time both treasure and dragon grow. Soon enough both have outgrown the first lair and it's time to find or make another. Depending on how well the dragon has done, he may have to find another, larger abandoned lair; dig a new one, enlarge his old lair, or hire somebody to construct a lair for him. It's a rare dragon, even among the metallics, who use the last option.
Once a new lair has been found, stolen, or built comes the job of moving things from the old domicle. Some dragons will hire people for the job, but most prefer to do it themselves. The rule of thumb is, the larger the dragon and his horde, the more likely he is to hire a moving company. Indeed, there are moving companies that specialize in moving dragons.
Interlude Fourteen
For a creature so large he looked so small on the pallet. It took a heavy lifter to carry the body home, the news choppers following from a respectful distance. His body had shrunk, his scales had fallen off. One reporter observed that Michael looked like some mighty beast brought low.
The crowd was huge by the time they reached the dead dragon's lair. Michael had lived there for over 300 years, and had become a part of the landscape. A neighbor to many for miles around. Not the best of neighbors at times, but always a part of their lives for generations.
His treasure would be divided among the people. Some would go to pay for his medical care, some for the cost of bringing him home. A portion would go to pay claims against him and his legal bills. The rest belonged to those who lived near him, according to time honored tradition.
It took a few hours to carve him up. A ton of meat was cooked up right there and served to everybody who wished some. The rest of his flesh was divided among those who wanted some for later, and a goodly proportion alloted to local food banks and charities. His hide would be tanned and made into winter clothes. The attending dragons -six in all- accepted his entrails and sweetmeats as their portion. The bones would be cleaned and mounted for display in the Anchorage, Alaska natural history museum. Then the red dragon incinerated what remained.
An adult gold dragon from Kentucky moved into Michael's old lair a month later. The neighbors all say he's easier to get along with than Michael ever was, but he doesn't know half the stories Michael did.
More on Location
Where a dragon lairs depends in part on his species. There are occasions when a dragon will lair someplace atypical for his kind, sometimes because he feels like it, sometimes because he really has no choice. As a result it is possible for a white to lair in the mountains, a red in the forest, and a green in the swamp. No matter where the beast lairs, he will remake his new home so it more closely resembles his preferred habitat.
Once the lair is established an older dragon will make it secure. Magic, servants, and the occasional trap go into making the lair safe for the owner. On rare occasions the dragon will hire a security firm for the task. But woe the security man who stints on service, or leaves a "backdoor", for the dragon will learn of it and take a measure of revenge.
In Closing
I know this is incomplete, and that there is much more to be said about dragons. But this series has gone on long enough. Now I will take what I have written and revise and expand on it. Most certainly rearrange things. After which Walking With Dragons 2nd Edition will be submitted to GO and (I do hope) posted for your reading pleasure.
It's been fun, and I hope it's given you ideas on how to present dragons in your game. By the way, I started the series determined to keep it setting free, but quickly realized that presenting dragons without a world would not work. Since the BBC/Discovery Channel Walking With ... series starts with the conceit that the animals they're talking about are living in the here and now, I decided to use that idea, with the addition of magic. Think of it as modern day Dungeons and Dragons®.
My thanks for taking some time to read my efforts, and I look forward to hearing your comments on the series.
Alan Kellogg, December 13th 2001
The compound is quiet now. The wards are up, the guards are set. She walks out into the darkened courtyard and makes the change.
Where once a woman stood now stands a shen lung. With a thought she rises into the air, her serpentine body twisting as it climbs. It is a clear, moonless night. She is a shadow in the stars. A whisper in silence.
High above the city she looks out over the world. A dark, quiet world. Far to the west she can see a band of day, but that soon fades away.
She floats upon the night for an hour or soon, then glides softly to the ground. Landing in the courtyard she changes back to human again and goes inside.
She looks down upon her husband's face. Sighs. People are starting to talk about her perpetual youth, hinting that she is taking his youth to sustain her own. The time is coming for her to die. And as her husband mourns his dead wife, she will return to the life she'd know before meeting him.
But first to find the appropriate standin. Someone close to death who's willing to take her place. That will take a few weeks. A few weeks to find the substitute, train her, and cast the spells that will give the standin her semblance and seeming.
She keeps promising she won't fall in love with a human, but it never works. Ten, twenty years from now she will meet another human, and fall in love with him. It's been this way for over 200 years now, and may go on for hundreds of years longer. With a sigh she lays down beside the man she loves and falls asleep.
Location, Location, Location
Once on his own the dragon must find a place to sleep, a safe place where he can store his treasure. Depending on the dragon's size, this could be as plain as a hole in a river bank, or somewhat more impressive.
Often the dragon will take over an abandoned burrow, or drive out the original inhabitant. On rare occasions the dragon will dig a lair of his own. With a place to stay he can now start decorating it.
Most often the decorating starts with bones of dead animals. Skulls are popular. While some dragons will use bones they find lying about, most prefer to use the bones of animals they've killed. Especially popular are the skulls of dangerous beasts. A young adult copper with an auroch skull decorating his lair is saying he's a mighty hunter, and others should be wary.
But even with the finest bone collection in the world the dragon's fondest dream is to accumulate a treasure. This starts when the dragon overcomes an hominid or similar opponent who has gems, jewelry, and/or coins of some sort. Right from the start the dragon sleeps on his treasure, quite unwilling to let it out of his sight.
Over time both treasure and dragon grow. Soon enough both have outgrown the first lair and it's time to find or make another. Depending on how well the dragon has done, he may have to find another, larger abandoned lair; dig a new one, enlarge his old lair, or hire somebody to construct a lair for him. It's a rare dragon, even among the metallics, who use the last option.
Once a new lair has been found, stolen, or built comes the job of moving things from the old domicle. Some dragons will hire people for the job, but most prefer to do it themselves. The rule of thumb is, the larger the dragon and his horde, the more likely he is to hire a moving company. Indeed, there are moving companies that specialize in moving dragons.
Interlude Fourteen
For a creature so large he looked so small on the pallet. It took a heavy lifter to carry the body home, the news choppers following from a respectful distance. His body had shrunk, his scales had fallen off. One reporter observed that Michael looked like some mighty beast brought low.
The crowd was huge by the time they reached the dead dragon's lair. Michael had lived there for over 300 years, and had become a part of the landscape. A neighbor to many for miles around. Not the best of neighbors at times, but always a part of their lives for generations.
His treasure would be divided among the people. Some would go to pay for his medical care, some for the cost of bringing him home. A portion would go to pay claims against him and his legal bills. The rest belonged to those who lived near him, according to time honored tradition.
It took a few hours to carve him up. A ton of meat was cooked up right there and served to everybody who wished some. The rest of his flesh was divided among those who wanted some for later, and a goodly proportion alloted to local food banks and charities. His hide would be tanned and made into winter clothes. The attending dragons -six in all- accepted his entrails and sweetmeats as their portion. The bones would be cleaned and mounted for display in the Anchorage, Alaska natural history museum. Then the red dragon incinerated what remained.
An adult gold dragon from Kentucky moved into Michael's old lair a month later. The neighbors all say he's easier to get along with than Michael ever was, but he doesn't know half the stories Michael did.
More on Location
Where a dragon lairs depends in part on his species. There are occasions when a dragon will lair someplace atypical for his kind, sometimes because he feels like it, sometimes because he really has no choice. As a result it is possible for a white to lair in the mountains, a red in the forest, and a green in the swamp. No matter where the beast lairs, he will remake his new home so it more closely resembles his preferred habitat.
Once the lair is established an older dragon will make it secure. Magic, servants, and the occasional trap go into making the lair safe for the owner. On rare occasions the dragon will hire a security firm for the task. But woe the security man who stints on service, or leaves a "backdoor", for the dragon will learn of it and take a measure of revenge.
In Closing
I know this is incomplete, and that there is much more to be said about dragons. But this series has gone on long enough. Now I will take what I have written and revise and expand on it. Most certainly rearrange things. After which Walking With Dragons 2nd Edition will be submitted to GO and (I do hope) posted for your reading pleasure.
It's been fun, and I hope it's given you ideas on how to present dragons in your game. By the way, I started the series determined to keep it setting free, but quickly realized that presenting dragons without a world would not work. Since the BBC/Discovery Channel Walking With ... series starts with the conceit that the animals they're talking about are living in the here and now, I decided to use that idea, with the addition of magic. Think of it as modern day Dungeons and Dragons®.
My thanks for taking some time to read my efforts, and I look forward to hearing your comments on the series.
Alan Kellogg, December 13th 2001
Recovered from the Gaming Outpost database backup. Original wording is preserved; damaged punctuation and presentation markup have been repaired. Historical links without a local match point to the Internet Archive.