[OOC] You Think You Know Humanity?

The Story

There was a time when dragons everywhere lived in peace.

  Yes, we are beginning with the most cliched plot of all.

  A time when dragons wandered free in the forests, the lands, the oceans, and the skies. A time where there was little controversy between creatures, except when one was hunting for food. No one likes to be eaten so, of course, the little bunnies and rodents tried to speak up for their rights but they did so in vain as dragons and predators simply snapped them up into their jaws. Indeed, it was a time of peace.

  Then humanity came along. Well, not exactly. They had been living in their own tiny villages in areas scattered over the world. Being the scared and confused people they were, they knew little of the great, death-defying dragons. What were these rumbling beasts that seemed to live forever? Mothers told their children stories of beings of fire and magic and the men armed themselves for any hostile activity - namely dragons - whenever they went out hunting.

  That is, until one fateful day. Humanity invaded the dragons' lands, defeating the mighty beasts with little to no effort. They wielded magic, powerful magic, a possibility that had once been considered inconceivable but now, no longer. With battered prides, the dragons retreated, allowing the humans to take over. And it was when they slunk back into the dark bellies of the mysterious forests, that they vowed that they shall, one day, reclaim what was rightfully theirs.

  Now, in the present, humanity lives in a modern society. You know the deal, handphones, iPods, tablets, the Internet. Except for one teensy weensy fact: they have powers! Or the majority do. There's still the 10% without any special abilities. Although, technically, they have magic but since they're human and blissfully ignorant, they call them powers. Dragons are nowhere to be seen in the modern age and are considered to be mythical creatures but that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, there are dragons who have mastered magic and hidden amongst human folk, posing as the homo sapiens themselves. Their intent is largely based on 'reclaiming what was once theirs' as they had vowed to do so long ago. However, some of them tend to be a bit...aggressive, shall we say, on the poor (not) humans, taking advantage of their disguised selves to give the humans a 'taste of their own medicine'.

  Our story follows two dragons, just in their adult stages, who will set out on an inexplicably random and incredible journey ahead. Whatever shall they get up to in the near future? We shall soon see.

The Updated Plot

  In the world of Valkemare, there was once a time, so very, very long ago, when everyone lived in peace. The world was a safe haven for mythical creatures and mortals alike. Where the humans tended to their kind's needs, the dragons and griffins hunted to sustain their own, and the mystical celestial beasts bothered no one, minding their own business and living out their long lives in their fortresses in the clouds.

  However, the peace between the humans and dragons was an agitated one, a peace that could not truly be called as such, so full of perturbation and unease as it was. Perhaps a better way to word it would be a disdainful tolerance between the two races. The griffins were unnecessarily aggressive animals but they were all bark and no bite, backing off as soon as they were shown hostility. Whereas the dragons were proud creatures, unafraid to pick fights with humans, who were thoroughly outmatched, or griffins, if need be. They hunted as they pleased and even deigned to loot the human villages that they came across. The more ruthless dragons burned down some of them as much as it amused themselves. To them, the humans were tiny, insignificant wastes of space and they had no qualms about stomping them out.

  All of this redundant bloodshed and looting enraged the humans but no matter how infuriated they were, the unfair reality of it all grounded them: they were helpless against the brute strength and the powerful magic the dragons wielded. So they fled, running to wherever they could find that was not infested with the bullying beasts that so oppressed them. The dragons became the monsters under the children's beds. They became the demons that haunted the shadows, the glowing eyes that would watch the men as they hunted in the night. Mothers told stories of horrifying beings of fire and magic to their children and the men were perpetually on guard with their pitiful spears and knives on the off-chance that a dragon would stumble across their villages. The humans were scared and confused and all they knew of the dragons were that they were great, demonic beasts with insatiable bloodlust and an everlasting thirst for gold. They had no leverage against the dragons, no allies that could best them - the griffins were abrasive cowards and the celestial creatures that resided in the clouds would never mingle with the puny mortals. 

  However, it would be unfair, unrealistic even, to say that this cycle of oppression and destruction applied to all dragons and humans. There were dragons who were benevolent towards the humans, perhaps some going so far as to protect them from other dragons. They helped rebuild some of the humans’ villages. They introduced the humans to magic and taught them how to defend themselves. The whispers of these “forbidden friendships” began to spread and unrest prickled within the two races. Opinions clashed and the humans were confused, as were the dragons. Were the dragons not their enemy? Were the humans not their prey?

  “Ah,” you think, “this must be the part where they begin to understand each other a little more.” Well, you might be right if this story took place in Galsreim, where humans eventually integrated their society with dragons. Alas, this is not the case. This particular continent is known as Khorvaire.

  In Khorvaire, the restful peace between dragons and humans erupted into bitter hostility. They did not pause to stop, and think, and perhaps resolve the matters between themselves, no, no, they did not. For the humans would always be little more than meat sacks to the dragons and the dragons beasts to the hapless humans. The friendlier dragons were not appreciated by their kin for siding with humans and were promptly exiled from their individual clans. So were the humans who tried to understand the dragons; they were kicked out of their villages without abandon. Hate, bitterness, resentment – the continent was smothered with the stifling swaths of loathing that every creature was emitting towards each other.

  It was unclear when the vicious cycle broke but when it did, it marked humanity’s turning point in their history with the dragons. A single man, skilled with his magic and experienced in the way of the sword, calmly walked into a village in the middle of being looted and razed to the ground by a pack of dragons. He pulled out his sword and in the deliberate pause before he leaped into action, the light of the fires glinted off the slightly shimmery dragon scales of which the sword’s hilt was adorned with. Before anyone could comprehend what was about to happen, he beheaded the leading dragon, a Brute. The subsequent defeat of the rest of the dragons marked the first of the humans’ victories over the dragons and promptly began the war between dragons and humans. Spread all over the continent, there was no escape from this war and it lasted for well over a decade. It was only when the bravest of humanity’s warriors, the most ingenious of humanity’s mages, and the most innovative of their thinkers finally came up with the best solution that ended it all. 

  The dragons had no warning; this new tactic that humanity employed came upon them right in the middle of the battlefield, in the dark of night. The dragons that had prided their superiority over the meek humans for so many centuries were finally knocked off their high horses.

  The majority of the dragon population in the continent were wiped out by a spell known as Dragon Banishment Procedure, or DBP for short. A Banishment spell was normally harmless. It was only meant to push or lock someone out of a designated area. But after centuries of abuse, a decade of war, and a lifetime of mourned losses, the humans were not pulling their punches. Playing with Life, Death, and Earth mana and countless days of experimenting had resulted in the spell we now know as the unrelenting DBP, the only Banishing spell which serves to send its intended targets out of existence. Only a meagre number of dragons survived. The dragons who had the insight to cast a powerful Protective Barrier around the small dragon nests they had spread out all over the continent. There were, of course, the unfortunate few number of still proud dragons who had scoffed at the idea of humans invading their nests and had only conceded to place a weak Protective Barrier around their own nests. Those nests did not survive.

  The humans rejoiced at the defeat of the dragons. Time passed and they evolved with it as well as proudly stating their continent to be dragon-free. As for the dragons? They dared not move past the barriers placed around their nests and quietly rebuilt their lives hidden away from the humans, prides sore and silently contemplating the fact that perhaps the humans were not so meek after all. And so they grudgingly thought to themselves, “Let the humans have their victories for now.”

  It is now 2014. Centuries have passed since then. With each day that passes, the dragons get closer to reigniting the fire of despair and destruction that had once swallowed the continent whole. As the ignorant humans relive the same cycles they call “daily life”, the dragons have not been as stagnant.

  They will reclaim what was once and is rightfully theirs.

  Our story follows two dragons, just in their adult stages, who will set out on an inexplicably random and incredible journey ahead. Whatever shall they get up to in the near future? We shall soon see.

The Setting

I'll be honest, I'm not too good at describing or making out layouts so here's some stuff to form a vague shape in your mind. Let's see, there are forests annnd...there's a city. Not sure what it's called, really.

  Okay, you know what, forget this. Here's a nice, detailed map.

  Hey, looking much better already! It's from something called Eragon. So, uh, just ignore all the strange words and pretend that there's a nice modern city between the Hardarac Desert and Farthen Dur, okay? With sky-high skyscrapers and wonderful technology. I'm sure we'll get more details as we progress along. All good? Yes? Great!

  So now where do the dragons live? How have they managed to maintain their status as "mythical beings"? Well, throw in an ancient illusion spell and a strong magic barrier and I think the dragons are all set. They are now scattered in small clans all over the world, hidden in dark forests, inaccessible mountains, and the such.

The Updated Setting

  Now, in the present, humanity lives in a modern society. You know the deal; handphones, iPods, tablets, the Internet. The only difference it has from the world we live in is the fact that magic has become an integral part of society. The magic that the humans once masterfully wielded are still there and generation after generation of messing with magic, the humans have become one with magic themselves, in a way. The modern generation has certain types of magic literally running through their veins. There's always the 5% that end up without these traits but they're rare and are usually looked down by the rest of society, as wonderfully unique people often are. There are magic affinities (yet another method humanity uses to segregate themselves and form groups of varying levels of inferiority and superiority), magic schools, magic universities, even jobs that are tied in with certain magical abilities. 

  Mana is a resource that Khorvaire is quickly running out of, but it's not stopping them from mining more. Besides, they always have international trading. As it is, mana is a fairly uncommon item and there are few educational institutions who are able to offer educational services on how to utilise mana.

  The dragons have done a good job taking refuge from the humans over the centuries. Small (relatively speaking) dragon nests are spread out all over Khorvaire. Thanks to the dragons’ complicated magic, not one of them have been discovered by the humans. These nests consist of a variety of individual dragon breed communities; they have long allied together even before the war had been abruptly put to a halt. For over half a century, the most wisest and experienced amongst the dragon leaders, known as the Elders, have managed to execute an ongoing undercover operation. They pick the most worthy amongst the dragons and they undergo a perfected transformative disguise spell. The spell is extremely intricate - it shifts a dragon's very being into a human's in almost every aspect, with the exception of their magical frequency.

  Here's a map of Khorvaire we'll be using. En's and Rhys' dragon nest is in the thick of the Whisper Woods.

So basically yeah, that's the story. Whew, finally got that down. So @Sharyxe and I are gonna have ourselves a nice little role play, y'know, get some writing practice and all that, and while we do have a vague plot (still working out the kinks, heh), it's sorta more like a sandbox world. Kind of. Yes.  

  Nice little form here:
Username:
Name:
Species:
Age:
Personality:
Appearance:
Abilities/Powers:
Other:

Not sure if I'm missing out on anything. Probably am. Oh well. 

  All in all, it doesn't look too bad, considering it's the first time I've ever made an actual thread (other than my introductory ones :P).  Alright, now to wait for my dear friend.

  Ah yes, and did I mention that we'll use DC dragons?

UPDATE AS OF 14TH FEBRUARY 2017

  Guess who're still alive and kicking? We are! At least, I am. Not sure how @Sharyxe is doing.  Anyway, it's been over a year and much like the dragons, we haven't been idling around. We finally ironed out the bugs and put together a solid plot! Didn't think it'd take so long but eh. It's done so we're rolling on forward! Of course, we might be tweaking some stuff later on but we can worry about that later.
  
  Not sure why I'm talking as if anyone's gonna read this since this RP's just between us two but whatever.  (wow that dance pretty much sums up myself)
[OOC] You Think You Know Humanity?

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Sharyxe An Abstruse Conundrum

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