The Masque of the Dragon || Fantasy Dragons hiding among Humans

[Martian]

BASIC PREMISE

The world once was full of magic. Many mystical creatures wandered the land, a peace pervasive all over the world. Then came the time of Humans. This new race rapidly spread across the land, destroying anything in their path. After a few centuries of this, the Fae, the most powerful of mystical creatures, decided to depart this world. Many other races of mystical creatures decided to depart with them. For those who chose to remain in this world, the Fae granted them a gift. A powerful magic called the Glamour of Man, which allowed all remaining mystical creatures to assume the guise of a human.

After the Fae and other races departed, those who remained, led by the Dragons, formed the Masque, a council to rule over the mystical creatures and to keep the Glamour of Man a secret. For many generations the mystical creatures have been living among the Humans in secret, as Humans claim more and more of the world. But recent wars have led to the Masque almost being exposed. The province of Kaelis is being vied over by three powers, the fanatical Kingdom of Nihn to the north, the collapsing Empire of Huldern to the west, and the prosperous United Clans of Azai to the east.

DRAGON LORE

Dragons are inherently magical creatures, with every member having at least some skill at spell casting. Dragons have evolved to have many forms, including wingless variants who manage to fly by focusing their magic. Most Dragons can breath fire, however some breath some other element, or in rare cases nothing at all. Dragons can live to be almost four hundred years old.

Thanks to the Glamour of Man, Dragons can assume the form of a Human. The appearance of this Human form always remains the same, regardless of the Dragon’s actual age. While in Human form all Dragons can cast magic. Dragons can assume Human form indefinitely, with their being stories of Dragons who remained Human for all of their life.

PLAYER ROLE

Players will be Dragons working to maintain the Masque. For one reason or another they headed to the village of Whistle Hill in Kaelis province. Whistle Hill is a small village that is secretly run by Dragons, and is a common gathering place for Dragons in this region of the world. However, the players will arive to find a destroyed village and a force trying to wipe out the Dragons and other mystical beings.

So this is inspired by my vague memories of one of the first roleplays I participated in many years backs. While this setting is my own, the idea of playing Dragons masquerading as Humans is one I played and am nostalgic for it. So is anyone else interested in this setting?

[Dead Cruiser]

Sounds cute and fun, I am interested.

[XxFellsingxX]

I too find this an interesting premise.

[Nakushita]

I like the premise, I wouldn't mind giving it a shot. Sounds like it could have a lot of potential.

[Martian]

Thanks for the interest you three. I'm going to give it another day or two to see if anyone else is interested. In the meantime I'll start working on a OOC thread, mainly expanding upon the lore to help with character creation.

[Kidgoat]

I'm pretty interested, How often do you want us to post?

[Martian]

@Kidgoat
Thanks for the interest. I would like to aim for one post a week.

As for everyone else, I'm still working on an OOC thread. It might be up tomorrow, maybe.

[PrankFox]

Seems fun, I've been looking for new RPs and I'm always a fan of dragons

[ZxyxZemon]

could be fun

[Martian]

@Dead Cruiser@XxFellsingxX@Nakushita@Kidgoat@PrankFox@ZxyxZemon
Sorry about the delay, I was a bit ill. But anyways, the OOC is up! Feel free to head over, read some of the lore and start working on a character.

[Kidgoat]

Yes! A few quick questions before I settle on a concept:

- Since dragons are magical creatures, can they have a few traits drifting away from reptilians like their body structure or areas of hair/feathers? And could there be signs of magic in their dragon forms such as patches of ice jolting from the skin, steam from underneath their scales, or maybe a bio-luminescent glow?

- How far does the range of magic go in humans? Is it closer to the usual elemental magics or can we get a bit creative with it and go for something like controlling sound or pressure, spreading or healing illness, creating illusions or anything else that doesn’t border on godmodding?

- When it comes to wingless dragons, can they only fly in a manner similar to Chinese dragons or can their magic help them move in the air by other means?

Editing in a couple more questions in case you didn't read the others yet, more might come along as time passes:

- How long can a dragon live without realizing they have the glamour of man? I imagine they'd have to find out at some point but if no one ever taught them would they still learn around the same age as other dragons or could it take decades longer?

- Not knowing about the glamour of man and probably rarely seeing them in their true form, what do humans actually think of dragons? Do they just see them as animals or to they recognize that dragons have intellect similar to humans?

[QuinnWolfe]

Would you be willing to take on one more player? This sounds really cool

[Martian]

@Kidgoat
Always ready to answer questions!

1) While I listed them as reptilian creatures, that is more of a baseline. If you want to add feathers or unique body structures, that is fine. Latent magic, such as ice or glowing, being visible is also fine. I want to be inclusive in what constitutes a Dragon.

2) While elemental magic is probably a more common magic among humans, it is not the only kind. Dragons in human form quite often possess more exotic powers. For example, I’m intending for King Bahamut of the Dragons to have gravity manipulation magic. So anything that is reasonable, without god modding or taking away character’s agency (so no mind control), will probably be OK.

3) I am basically leaving it up to the players of wingless dragons to explain how they move through the air. It could be a slither, a swimming motion, or just straight flight. It is up to the players to explain how magic interacts with their dragon so that they may fly.

4) As far as first using the glamour of man, most dragons are taught at a very young age. If for some extreme circumstances there is no one to teach them, they could potentially go their entire life without using it. But the more probable incident would be accidentally activating the glamour by accident, either when practising other magic or in a very stressful situation. But a dragon can potentially be taught the use of the glamour at any age.

5) Humans consider all magical creatures as clever animals, as magical creatures naturally speak a universal language that doesn’t sound like a language to humans. Most humans hunt magical creatures, whether to use their bodies for medicine, for other exotic materials, or just to mount on a wall. One of the rules of the Masque is that magical creatures must never seem intelligent to a human.

Hope that answers all your questions.

@QuinnWolfe
Definitely room for you. Just head over the OOC thread (link above), read some of the lore, and start working on a character.

[Kidgoat]

It did, thank you! I'll have my character in by tonight or tomorrow.

[mito]

Boy im in!

[WindsOfFate]

Are you still accepting characters? I love what I've read so far.