Continued from discussion here:<br/><br/>Original idea:<br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">A Captain and His Dragon (1x1 idea)</div><div class="spoiler_body">This idea is inspired by this video that I watched on Youtube!<br/><br/><div align="center">"Eye of the Storm" - by Lovett (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1mX8ptsmBM#ws) </div><br/>I am looking to play a steampunk captain, a man who is abandoning the world he knows in favor of parts unknown. I would very much like to play this in an alternate universe—a steampunk Victorian parallel. The captain will be a man disgraced for some reason—perhaps he has failed some important mission for his crew, and now he's leaving. <br/><br/>I'd like to play the captain! Alas, I will only play the captain as a male character.<br/><br/>This is an unusual idea—I would like someone to  play the dragon (who can be sentient and capable of speech or telepathy) returning to the captain when the captain leaves his world behind and flies through the portal in the sky, and we could catalog their adventures in strange mystical lands—perhaps the cloudy portal they pass through will take them to alternate worlds—post-apocalyptic ones, horror ones, fey and mystical ones, or even the modern world.<br/><br/>If the dragon seems a bit too challenging, I would also accept someone who would create a character tied to the box the captain dropped! Perhaps someone he dearly loved will follow him and try to find him? Or maybe even the box will smack some poor soul on the head, and this person will be determined to find the inconsiderate ingrate who dropped something heavy from the sky!<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Conversation so far</div><div class="spoiler_body"><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8580965#msg8580965">Quote from: Oniya on July 15, 2013, 11:38:54 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">The dragon one intrigues me.  Mr. Oniya has been reading the Tremiare series by Naomi Novic (not quite steampunk, but dragons in Napoleonic times), and I have a solid preconception of a dragon race that I could happily play in a platonic manner.  I will make a gallant effort to keep up the posting pace, but should I slack, I will be sure to communicate what's going on.  I think the potential of planar travel will also keep things fresh and inspiring.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8581234#msg8581234">Quote from: Blythe on July 16, 2013, 12:30:04 am</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">I've never read the Tremiare series, although I just might have to look into it now. <br/><br/>What sort of concept do you have for your dragon race? Platonic is good--it's what I'm shooting for here in the Non-Adult area. As for my character, I will likely make him a normal human, although the video inspired me to show some abilities as a chemist or an alchemist (depending on if I want a focus on a non-magical ability like chemistry or one that relies on magical theory like alchemy) in the mix, too. <br/><br/>Planar travel is a good way for me to keep things fresh--I like the shock of exposing characters from one type of genre to another very different genre (which planar travel gives me a chance to do). <br/><br/>I don't mind a slightly slower posting pace, so long as we keep in touch, which shouldn't be a problem!  ;D<br/><br/>I'd love to come up with a way that the dragon and the captain met, too! Depending on the size of the dragon race you want to use, I wouldn't mind using some inspiration from the video I showed--perhaps the captain might have managed to capture a dragon, a worthy foe, and the two became friends over time, with the captain finally releasing the dragon at the beginning of the story...only to find his longtime prisoner/companion follows him anyway.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583324#msg8583324">Quote from: Oniya on July 16, 2013, 12:22:29 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">There's a full description of them in my O/Os, which tells how they evolved to fit in among humans, but I was also thinking of playing it in a pre-evolved version.  The shifting ability wouldn't have come about, and it would be large enough to be ridden.  If you'd want it to be able to land on the airship, I'd say an upper-bound of draft-horse sized, pre-evolved, with corresponding wing span and neck length.  (I actually have pictures for this one, woo!  My original inspiration for the race (http://www.twdesignworks.com/Designs/story_l.html) - yes, they have feathers, no spine-ridge, though.)  Post-evolution, the body mass is such that a human-sized transformation is possible, so riding would likely be impossible (and it would probably match the size in the video).<br/><br/>I'm somewhat intrigued by the glowing green bottle that he threw in the furnace.  It looked like he was getting rid of a few (sentimental?) objects at the same time, so I don't think it was supposed to be fuel.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583537#msg8583537">Quote from: Blythe on July 16, 2013, 01:18:11 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Oooh, I read about them. How would you feel about this story being almost like a prologue detailing the adventures of the captain and this dragon...that shows the "why" of how this dragon race evolved as a large part of the plot? Since they are a sparse race from the way you describe them, the captain could work to finding ways to increase their numbers via science or magic. I'd be okay with the larger size pre-evolution (riding a dragon around sounds pretty awesome in my book)--I want a game based on the music video I watched, but not stuck to every little detail, y'know? Draft-horse size would be just about perfect--just big enough to ride or land on the ship, just large enough for the Captain to complain about space, but small enough to always get where it needs to be going. ;D<br/><br/>Perhaps the planar travel they go through exposes the dragon to a myriad of strange effects, or maybe the Captain experiments so often with alchemy and the art of transformation that he provokes their ability to change form?<br/><br/>As for the captain, I'm contemplating his story being that he went in debt gambling and drinking, and as time passed, he tried so many ways to pay back what he owed. He even delved, in his desperation, into alchemy, to try to turn lead (or anything really) into gold...but it never worked. He discovered so many other alchemical marvels, but never what he needed, until he could no longer pay his airship crew. He only had a few personal items, his rickety one-man ship, and the dragon from so long ago. I was thinking that the green bottle might have contained one of his "failed" alchemy experiments--maybe even a mixture that affected living things-maybe something your dragon character got into (on purpose or accident) that he needed to get rid of.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583678#msg8583678">Quote from: Oniya on July 16, 2013, 01:51:45 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Not sure if I want to fit it into the entire race's canon history, but perhaps this <em>particular</em> dragon got nudged along the evolution faster due to the events he became involved in.  As in, it would have happened anyways, many generations down the line.  This could also be while the original population was on the wane (possibly due to poachers in airships?  Not our captain, but far more disreputable folks.) so that the chance of encountering a dragon is uncommon but not unheard-of?<br/><br/>Also - looked up draft-horses.  Might want to go with a quarter-horse size instead.  56" at the shoulder instead of 64".<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583756#msg8583756">Quote from: Blythe on July 16, 2013, 02:03:33 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">*nod* Understandable--kind of a lot to affect a whole race. I could see just htis dragon being nudged along faster, although if you prefer not to include that,  I'd understand. <br/><br/>Quarter-horse would be better. Then there wouldn't be quite as much struggling to fit the dragon on the ship.<br/><br/>As for the airship poachers, this does give me an interesting reason the dragon and captain could have met. What do you think of your dragon being pursued by other airship poachers, and this captain, when he was a more successful man, saving your dragon's life, and in return the dragon came with him and his crew, and witnessed over time the Captain's decline. It might make for good motivation for the dragon to follow him through that portal in the clouds seen in the vid.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583950#msg8583950">Quote from: Oniya on July 16, 2013, 02:25:38 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">That could work - I also had the idea that the dragon had been given to him as the result of a wager (with accompanying 'What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with this?!') somewhere [early?] in his gambling period.  Either way works as far as getting them together, and in either case, the dragon has been with him for at least several years before the portal incident, and has had time to get to know the captain's nature.<br/><br/>I'm also thinking that the locking mechanism he releases before the dragon flies off might be more of a 'seat belt' to keep the dragon from falling off the ship during storms or complicated maneuvers (or when he's asleep), rather than a surety against escape by that point.<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div><br/><div class="quoteheader"><div class="topslice_quote"><a href="https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8590892#msg8590892">Quote from: Blythe on July 17, 2013, 03:21:21 pm</a></div></div><blockquote class="bbc_standard_quote">Could kind of combine idea one and two a bit here--the dragon was captured by airship pirates, and perhaps my Captain character gambles for the dragon and wins him free? Could definitely fall into the early gambling period for my character--I mean, what's more excessive to win when one is gambling than a dragon, of all things?  ;D<br/><br/>Also, good idea on the seat belt concept that held the dragon in the video. Hadn't even thought of that. <br/><br/>It occurred to me that if I created a character sheet for the Captain, it might be easier to plan for this and get my thoughts organized. Let me work on that and post it here in a day or two!  :-)<br/></blockquote><div class="quotefooter"><div class="botslice_quote"></div></div></div></div><br/><br/>Also, here is what I have so far for a character sheet for the Captain. It's sort of a work in progress. I'll expand on this later, especially the history section.<br/><br/><div class="floatleft">(http://www.planetdamage.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/eye_of_the_storm.png)</div><strong>Name:</strong>Captain Tesla<br/><strong>Age:</strong>Unknown, presumably 30+ years<br/><strong>Appearance:</strong>A tall man, lean and hungry looking. He is rarely seen without his signature coat and helmet on, but supposedly without them, he has eyes the color of concrete on a rainy day and hair that looks like a black haystack.<br/><strong>Personality:</strong>Tesla is an adventurer, first and foremost. He styles himself a captain, a heroic vagabond in a steampunk Victorian-esque world, but most people would lump him in with the airship pirates he despises. He is a quiet man, whose actions often speak louder than words, but when he does speak, he has an intensity to him that's hard to ignore. Unfortunately, he also lives hard and fast, and that leads him to make impulsive choices...like fighting, gambling, and drinking. However, under that mysterious exterior, which very few can see through, there is a man who is made of loyalty, the type of person who, if befriended, would follow someone he cared for into the jaws of Hell itself.<br/><strong>History:</strong>WIP, but the last paragraph of this post (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=179751.msg8583537#msg8583537) details what little I've thought of so far.