Sennadar Forums

ThisAndThat1 wrote: Why did the earth dragons hide the breath magic?

That's an easy one, so it will come as a nasty surprise to someone in the future.

ThisAndThat1 wrote: Why did the earth dragons hide the breath magic?

Because they're also hiding it from the other dragons as well.

[quote="SYED"]Every one thinks that this tail spike thing is a talisman, but would it not be a familiar issue instead. This spike is acting as a permanent link between kell and the first lady. We know earth dragons can use magical items, so what if this link grants earth dragons some kind of magic. Each human magician has a type of magic they are best suited for, what if the link allows the earth dragon access to it while the human gets access to magic in general. Earth dragons cant use normal magic as they are spreading magic themselves. But if he uses the tail spike is there a way around it.
My guess its more of a symbiotic relationship between the two now.[/quote]


I think so far your theory makes the most sense. My guest would be that talismans need more work/material in them, that and the fact that it is too obvious.

The reason the EDs are hiding the breath weapons is so that Kell can either lava cook, or sand pluck the council fluffy after using all his spikes on one of the council chromatic's idiotic servants. The question is plucked or cooked. Or does Fel pull a fast one on all of us and let the bastard live.

Spikes have killed dragons as well as injur them, so why havent the dragons noticed a link between two parties.

What if it is uniquely dragon human link? The spikes allows for long distance spells in the form of a scion. so posibility of working long distance.

China is attempting to invade their island so why dont they keep the ship for themselves. must be filled with valuable materials. Swim some ED under them, then claw the hull till it sinks.

China will force the CD to agree. Then make peace, or have to deal with an army of gun tottingg humans.

SYED wrote:Spikes have killed dragons as well as injur them, so why havent the dragons noticed a link between two parties.

Pardon me? What link, between which parties?

SYED wrote:What if it is uniquely dragon human link? The spikes allows for long distance spells in the form of a scion. so posibility of working long distance.

To what aim? To talk to the President or the First Lady? That's what phones are used for and if you're thinking of a transportation link there is no reason for Kel to want to go to Washington - remember he has to try to stay hidden underground as much as possible to be safe - as well as so magic won't be strengthened.

SYED wrote:China is attempting to invade their island so why dont they keep the ship for themselves. must be filled with valuable materials. Swim some ED under them, then claw the hull till it sinks.

And just what would they do with the Chinese Military personnel aboard the ships? It wouldn't be very 'diplomatic' to sink those ships kill all those aboard them - in fact that would create a major international incident. But, if the Dragons take the ships to the island, any Chinese who saw the Island would always be able to find their way back - even after the scions were working again. Far better to let the Water Dragons disable the propulsion and steerage of the Chinese ships, then let the U S Navy 'rescue' them. That turns the tables on the Chinese and puts the US in a good light ( just the sort of thing Fel would do - in fact the idea is in the story)

SYED wrote:China will force the CD to agree. Then make peace, or have to deal with an army of gun tottingg humans.

Why do you think the Chinese will get the upper hand so easily? Come to think of it, who are the CD? The Chromatics? Just why in the world would they kowtow to the threat of a few gun toting soldiers, after all the Chromatics are powerful magicians? Even if their scions have quit working, I'll bet they would still have enough strength to befuddle ordinary soldiers into shooting each other etc.

We know ED have used their tail spikes to kill or injure other dragons before, so if there was any unique reaction to the blood, someone would have noticed. We know that these spike allow for the scion to work, so what ever magic they produce, it could be equally long ranged.

OK, so the plan is just to cripple the naval vessels till they stop or magic returns. But my guess is that some ships will end up being sunk. If so, they should be quickly salvaged by the dragons for the raw materials.
WHy not hack the navigational tech? Use it to guide them to where the dragons want them. Have them invade the wrong island. If they see a bunch of dragons staying on an island, it must be the one they are after.

The CD must face reality. Humans are coming to try to take their home, while magic is slowly disappearing completly. They must know that if they do not submit, the other dragons will force them to. I wonder if the professor will tell the other CD that the books containing their names have been taken from the council CD. It could encourage a minor rebellion. THe council is elected, so if enough of the CD are swayed, they could simply get new representation.

Thanks, your second explanation made sense, your shorthand version didn't.

I don't agree with all you've said, because when the spikes are used to kill, they are not still attached /growing in the tail of the Earth Dragon. As a guess, I think the blood of the First Lady probably changed the composition of the spike so it was no longer compatible with an Earth Dragon's body chemistry, so it had to be rejected before it poisoned him, but remember that's only a guess on my part.

I really don't see why any of the Chinese warships would need to be sunk - a boat with no drive is just an over-sized bobber floating in the water. I've owned boats and was part owner of a local boat-works, so I know that a prop or a rudder are easy enough to disable, so are 'tractor' drives, jet drives and even bow/stern thruster units. I've seen what a mass of kelp, a long length of mono-filament fish line, or even a small hardwood branch can do to a modern drive unit on a cruiser. If the prop of a boat is suddenly stopped and the sheer-bolt/pin/key fastening the prop to the shaft doesn't break, the drive shaft will twist, bend or even sheer and that will halt the boat. If that bolt/pin/key does sheer, the engine will often be damaged by suddenly surging to RPMs that are to great for the engine to take. (Not a pretty sight)
{Edit: I just had a thought, if the Water Dragons caught up to the Chinese Naval Vessels steaming at high speed and formed an air bubble around the props, the engines of the ships would over-rev and bingo - blown engines- all sorts of damage in the engine rooms - ships dead in the water! Engineer to Captain "Gee, captain I can't understand what happened! It just sudden ran too fast and blew up."}
{PS: just think what they could do with an "aural current."}

The idea of a different island isn't bad, but I don't think there are a plethora of them in the near vicinity and it would be far easier to just stop the ships at some distance from the island.

I don't think the head Chromatic is capable of changing his mind, so I think he must be removed from his present position as head of the council and since I don't think he is sane . . . well, I can't see anything else but one unhappy choice - he's gotta go!

One thing we forget is that the ail spike thing is NOT deliberate. Even Kell is mystified by what happened. One wonders if perhaps the whole accident was caused by Gaia herself who with the earth dragons having returned to the embrace has perhaps decided to take notice of what is happening in dragon society and take a direct hand by shaping events here and there..

Secondly, there is still a lot that the earth dragons don't know about their history and what they can and can't do. I suspect that people like Jennifer with a modern scientific mindset are going to challenge a lot of previously held "facts" and "limitations" of magic as they come up with clever ways to get around the limitations or even a better understanding of why certain things are the way they are. One has to keep in mind that though the Chromatics have been studying magic for centuries, they have totally ignored the humans and the outside world thus they have missed all the knowledge that has come from scientific advancement over the years that could perhaps have caused them to revise some of their theories on why certain thing work in a certain way in magic.

SYED wrote: OK, so the plan is just to cripple the naval vessels till they stop or magic returns. But my guess is that some ships will end up being sunk. If so, they should be quickly salvaged by the dragons for the raw materials.

That's exactly what they're planning to do. So, that's a cookie for SYED.

The average cruiser has steel, wires, pipes, data fiber cable, recoverable electronics (at least after it's dried out), you name it. It's a treasure trove of raw materials for a material-starved society like the dragons.

Sink the ship, salvage it via water dragons...though they'll pass over the nuclear powered ships and go for the ones that still use diesel, to avoid having to deal with the nuclear fuel. And the Chinese have both, as does the American Navy. Not every Naval vessel is nuclear.

If they sink the ships with valuable or classified tech, they would be forced to assign ships to either stay and watch over the sight or do salvage/destruction duties to ensure that their secrets and advantages stay hidden.

Water dragons can hide their sonar signiture, so can the spoof the ships sonar, make them think there are subs and torpedoes everywhere. Enough to force them into reacting and trying to protect themselves.

Get the ED to make some explosives that the WD can plant, dont have to be ship killers, just make them scared. Give them tiny holes in their hulls they need to continually seal, force them to always be on red alert.

SYED wrote:If they sink the ships with valuable or classified tech, they would be forced to assign ships to either stay and watch over the sight or do salvage/destruction duties to ensure that their secrets and advantages stay hidden.

Water dragons can hide their sonar signiture, so can the[y] spoof the ships sonar, make them think there are subs and torpedoes everywhere. Enough to force them into reacting and trying to protect themselves.

Get the ED to make some explosives that the WD can plant, dont have to be ship killers, just make them scared. Give them tiny holes in their hulls they need to continually seal, force them to always be on red alert.

I like that, and I think between the WD and the ED, the thought may arise, after all, even a dragon will become careless if forced into CONSTANT VIGILANCE for days or weeks on end without rest or respite (at least according to how Prisma reacted to sleep deprivation).

How much effort would it be to still the waters, or make it really rocky? WIth really hard waves, ships often stop for a while so another delay tactic.

Keep on seperating the ships, so they have to gather again and again. No navy would allow task force to seperate themselves when conducting operations, its not protocul or secure.

Sinking a ship would be easy for a water dragon, a breath weapon at close range, could probably cut a whole right through the hull. As for sinking a ship slowly, it would depend on how fine scale a water dragons magic could work. Creating a very narrow jet of high velocity water next to a ship would drill a whole through it. and give a slow leak. I don't remember hearing if there is that fine of control or not, but just a breath weapon alone could punch wholes in the ships to sink them.

silly question.
If your not a recognized nation or entity and you start sinking ships or disabling them , isn't that piracy or terrorism ? I am looking at it from a legal , not moral stand point.Hence the rules of engagement might be different ,but what do I know.