To quote a tumblr post I found a while back:
There are actually only two genres of high fantasy:
* Once there were more dragons and more magic in this land, but those days have passed; perhaps the dragons shall return some day and bring a new era.
* How the F*CK do we get rid of these f*cking dragons?!
My conclusion is such: there is no such thing as a correct amount of dragons in any world, so have as many as you want; if there’s no right number of dragons, then there’s also no wrong number of dragons either.
You overlooked the dragons of Pern who have a symbiotic relation with humans. There the question is more about many a community can sustain or dragons tolerate each other. So that is more a matter of the story people want to tell. Chinese dragon live more in harmony with others where Western Dragons tend to much more antagonistic in general.
Even with the Pern dragons, the first book fits the trope. “There used to be six times as many dragons as we have now, and we need to get back to that number as quickly as possible!”
There is no such thing as too many dragons. Unless you’re trying to make tolkien type dragons, in which case have at max like 2 of those, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have unlimited lesser dragons.
Nah, Smaug was considered the last of the great dragons. According to Gandalf while dragons would still exist, none would ever again hold power like Smaug did. I meant “tolkien dragons” as in ones which are central to the plot and themes of the story, which Smaug is, even if he’s no Ancalagon the Black, while I meant “Lesser Dragons” as just the ones who are of the same species, but aren’t really all that important to the story overall. You can have as many dragons as you want in a story, but making them central to the themes and the mechanics means its a bit hard to make that work with more than one or two.
Then I guess Tolkien himself put too many dragons in his world, as the Silmarillion features a battle called the War of Wrath that features the phrase “fleets of dragons.” Though,this is the battle that inks about half the continent and leaves us with the Middle Earth that looks like the one from Lord of the Rings (except Numenor, which sinks later for different reasons).
Yeah, if you an get through its writing style there is some wild nonsense in the Silmarillion…
Yeah, but most of those while dragon in species, aren’t proper dragons as Tolkien defined them. Still the fact there was a dragon that could crush a mountain fortress (depending on how you read that one line) is some pretty wild nonesense, but cool wild nonesense.
Glourung comes to mind and he was central to the plot/mechanisms of the narrative. Even though he was one of the first dragons and a precursor to the winged ones.
That really depends on what the dragons are and how you interact with them.
In Skyrim for example, the first time you fight a dragon, it’s epic, the second time it’s still quite great, the third time it starts to feel routine and by the 476th time you have to kill some randomly-spawned dragon, it has become so thoroughly boring that you promise yourself that next time, you’ll never bring the dragonstone to Faengar.
okay, my first thought was of the Obsidian ghouls that Dainix mentioned in his tragic backstoryTM, but then i looked back at the page and it doesn’t look like their claws where cauterizing any of the wounds they caused (or i could be wrong, Wyrm silk makes it hard to tell, ya know, since it don’t burn, but they’re made of Magma so I guess it’s plausible) my second thought was ‘Oh balls, could it have been a crucible?!’ either way something was running hot enough to melt metal around clawmarks whether intentionally or not, it’s too bad we don’t have some kind of Dragon Pathologist to figure out what the hell killed it and if it’s something we should be worried about…
(btw Red, thank you for the true gift that is low res Dainix’s face in panel 3, you are doing god’s work)
Underground dungeon, big round room, ominous dragon skeleton. Is anyone else getting vibes of the Stallord boss from Twilight Princess, or is it just me?
So is the wind coming from right above them in the ceiling, or from that possibly collapsed tunnel the dragon made. Either way, I’m not sure how viable either route is for them; they’ll need Alinua and Erin’s hole to get out.
Ok, panels 2-4 are pretty funny. Falst’s eyesight may be putting Dainix at ease, ensuring that he can see threats and report them. But it also opens opportunities for Falst to not mention certain non-dangerous things until it suits him.
Going by his face and narrow eye pupils, I’d say Falst is concerned about those scratch marks. Are they the wrong size for the wyrm to make? Are they too fresh to correspond to the skeleton? Or does it just remind Falst about his mother?
Same thought occurred to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up- no actually I would, what the hell would he be doing here of all places? And rhe enormous coincidence of running into his son? Though the resemblance between Falst’s hand and the claw marks really is suspicious.
Not to say that those claw marks aren’t worrying(ly large) (and worringly molten), but I’d be more worried if we hadn’t recently seen Falst break rocks with his bare hands while on the brink of passing out.
Is it just me, or does that dragon skull look creepier than a human skull?
Visually, that machine reminds me of the ion cube fabricator from Subnautica. Now that might be influencing my train of thought here, but looking at the faded rainbow of lacrimas surrounding the center makes me wonder if this machine was used to create fused materials; people could’ve provided raw water and stone, the lacrimas could manipulate the surrounding wind and the energies of fire, lightning, and life, then the lacrimas could combine the elements into a specified combination, all the way up to adamant.
Not a bad idea. Also there are an awful lot of automatons about these ruins, active and inactive; maybe this was used to create the materials or whole parts for them to be assembled elsewhere. Makes me wonder how close the Ancients were to mass production of items before their downfall.
Just when they think they’re safe, the door shuts behind them and the dragon skeleton rises from the ground. A health bar appears and boss fight music starts playing as the undead skeleton dragon roars.
(Yes, I know we first SAW her in Windcrest, but the dragon fight was the first time she was talking and we realized she wasn’t just a really rad looking background character)
This is totally gonna be a bossfight isn’t it… This big empty suspicious room with the thingy of plot advancement and the skeleton and claw marks and the suspicious crack in the wall is like the TEXTBOOK boss arena, and this entire page just feels WAY too quiet in general (it’s vibes) -if this story was in a medium with background music, I’d imagine the BGM would change to an ominously quiet pre-boss ambient track or just stop entirely.
New theory: Dainix is an escapee from a D&D adventuring campaign. He carries around all sorts of supplies, has magic that doesn’t *quite* fit the setting and gives him plenty of angst, and his reaction to “giant dragon skeleton” is whether it’s moving
Actually, this entire story feels like a D&D campaign TBH, you can just imagine the characters rolling and the exasperated DM RPing NPCs and villains; on this page I can imagine the DM describing the room, Falst reminding the DM he has darkvision, and Dainix literally asking the DM if the skeleton is moving.
I keep forgetting that Falst has a tail and then getting very happy when I remember.
Two voices echo in the hall,
They’re looking very small.
Lion eyes see through the dark,
That creature stood so tall.
That massive skull with massive fangs
Makes their ones seem so small.
Hold out a hand–
With claws on end–
That have screamed “monster!” for so long,
Rock–splitting razors.
…but held along
These melted slices, solid metal,
They’re looking very cold and little.
For mobile readers.
Alt-text: it slices! it dices!
Image source: abandoned
Aurora Question #75: How many dragons is too many dragons
It’s fantasy. There is no such things as too many dragons <3
This is the correct answer.
Even in my dungeon core story, the dungeon has an affinity for dragons. And the god he worships is half dragon-god (the other half is kitsune-god)
To quote a tumblr post I found a while back:
There are actually only two genres of high fantasy:
* Once there were more dragons and more magic in this land, but those days have passed; perhaps the dragons shall return some day and bring a new era.
* How the F*CK do we get rid of these f*cking dragons?!
My conclusion is such: there is no such thing as a correct amount of dragons in any world, so have as many as you want; if there’s no right number of dragons, then there’s also no wrong number of dragons either.
You overlooked the dragons of Pern who have a symbiotic relation with humans. There the question is more about many a community can sustain or dragons tolerate each other. So that is more a matter of the story people want to tell. Chinese dragon live more in harmony with others where Western Dragons tend to much more antagonistic in general.
Even with the Pern dragons, the first book fits the trope. “There used to be six times as many dragons as we have now, and we need to get back to that number as quickly as possible!”
I have had it with these MFing dragons on this MFing plane (of existence)!
There is no such thing as too many dragons. Unless you’re trying to make tolkien type dragons, in which case have at max like 2 of those, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have unlimited lesser dragons.
Smaug is one of the lesser dragons, so he didn’t count towards the total.
Nah, Smaug was considered the last of the great dragons. According to Gandalf while dragons would still exist, none would ever again hold power like Smaug did. I meant “tolkien dragons” as in ones which are central to the plot and themes of the story, which Smaug is, even if he’s no Ancalagon the Black, while I meant “Lesser Dragons” as just the ones who are of the same species, but aren’t really all that important to the story overall. You can have as many dragons as you want in a story, but making them central to the themes and the mechanics means its a bit hard to make that work with more than one or two.
Then I guess Tolkien himself put too many dragons in his world, as the Silmarillion features a battle called the War of Wrath that features the phrase “fleets of dragons.” Though,this is the battle that inks about half the continent and leaves us with the Middle Earth that looks like the one from Lord of the Rings (except Numenor, which sinks later for different reasons).
Yeah, if you an get through its writing style there is some wild nonsense in the Silmarillion…
Yeah, but most of those while dragon in species, aren’t proper dragons as Tolkien defined them. Still the fact there was a dragon that could crush a mountain fortress (depending on how you read that one line) is some pretty wild nonesense, but cool wild nonesense.
Glourung comes to mind and he was central to the plot/mechanisms of the narrative. Even though he was one of the first dragons and a precursor to the winged ones.
I agree. If it’s fantasy I think that the only wrong number of dragons is just one. Either none or 2+
I could personally go for more dragons
When the party turns into a brawl?
Depends on the type of dragon. Eragon? There isn’t one. Tolkien? 3 or 4. D&D? Ummm 42? Again there are multiple types sooo…
That really depends on what the dragons are and how you interact with them.
In Skyrim for example, the first time you fight a dragon, it’s epic, the second time it’s still quite great, the third time it starts to feel routine and by the 476th time you have to kill some randomly-spawned dragon, it has become so thoroughly boring that you promise yourself that next time, you’ll never bring the dragonstone to Faengar.
Not enough
Foreboding- and Dainix’s face in panel 3 made me laugh
if it doesn’t at some point become a sticker in the discord, i’m going to cry
Ikr it’s so funny! When you’re the only one in the party without darkvision
Haha Dainix’s face really is hilarious. Pov you’re the only one in the party without darkvision
Why did that post twice but like slightly different what
okay, my first thought was of the Obsidian ghouls that Dainix mentioned in his tragic backstoryTM, but then i looked back at the page and it doesn’t look like their claws where cauterizing any of the wounds they caused (or i could be wrong, Wyrm silk makes it hard to tell, ya know, since it don’t burn, but they’re made of Magma so I guess it’s plausible) my second thought was ‘Oh balls, could it have been a crucible?!’ either way something was running hot enough to melt metal around clawmarks whether intentionally or not, it’s too bad we don’t have some kind of Dragon Pathologist to figure out what the hell killed it and if it’s something we should be worried about…
(btw Red, thank you for the true gift that is low res Dainix’s face in panel 3, you are doing god’s work)
Metal? i thought that was stone? either way your point is solid
pfffft nice
Panel 3. That is all.
Who thinks that Falst’s magic touch will activate this… lacrima thing?
“I can’t end EVERY arc with a dragon bossfight”
You can and you should.
Also, love the comic, You’re doin’ good!
Skeleton Dragon
Now as dead as a wagon
would be cool if it started flying
but alas it is not undying
Underground dungeon, big round room, ominous dragon skeleton. Is anyone else getting vibes of the Stallord boss from Twilight Princess, or is it just me?
So is the wind coming from right above them in the ceiling, or from that possibly collapsed tunnel the dragon made. Either way, I’m not sure how viable either route is for them; they’ll need Alinua and Erin’s hole to get out.
Ok, panels 2-4 are pretty funny. Falst’s eyesight may be putting Dainix at ease, ensuring that he can see threats and report them. But it also opens opportunities for Falst to not mention certain non-dangerous things until it suits him.
Going by his face and narrow eye pupils, I’d say Falst is concerned about those scratch marks. Are they the wrong size for the wyrm to make? Are they too fresh to correspond to the skeleton? Or does it just remind Falst about his mother?
I didn’t get Stallord vibes at first, but now that you mention it… “Only if it’s moving” indeed.
Falst: Dad?!
Same thought occurred to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if he showed up- no actually I would, what the hell would he be doing here of all places? And rhe enormous coincidence of running into his son? Though the resemblance between Falst’s hand and the claw marks really is suspicious.
Wait Dainix can’t see at all correct? Or maybe a little?
ooh, that thing has three claws not four. wonder if that’s important?
Nah, four claws. The fourth one melted the top right off that pillar. You can see the dribbles like candle wax.
Not to say that those claw marks aren’t worrying(ly large) (and worringly molten), but I’d be more worried if we hadn’t recently seen Falst break rocks with his bare hands while on the brink of passing out.
Big eye Dainix in panel four makes my day
Falst rolling his eyes next to him makes mine.
But does it make Julienne fries?
Is it just me, or does that dragon skull look creepier than a human skull?
Visually, that machine reminds me of the ion cube fabricator from Subnautica. Now that might be influencing my train of thought here, but looking at the faded rainbow of lacrimas surrounding the center makes me wonder if this machine was used to create fused materials; people could’ve provided raw water and stone, the lacrimas could manipulate the surrounding wind and the energies of fire, lightning, and life, then the lacrimas could combine the elements into a specified combination, all the way up to adamant.
Not a bad idea. Also there are an awful lot of automatons about these ruins, active and inactive; maybe this was used to create the materials or whole parts for them to be assembled elsewhere. Makes me wonder how close the Ancients were to mass production of items before their downfall.
Probably the extra 2 eyesockets, too many holes were there usually shouldn’t be
*where*
I think those might be sinus cavities?
Burrower wyrms have four eyes.
OMG! I giggled myself sick at panel 3! SO funny!
That said? Oh man, this is a spooky page.
I love the design for the dragon skeleton– creatures with more than two eyes are my favorite lol
Well this elemental looking shrine looks suspicious.
“Just kidding, THIS is the part I mentally nicknamed ‘The Kaiju Fight’.”
There once was a dragonbone lair
Which gave Dainix quite a scare,
But the bones were still,
And boded no ill,
They were just…sort of there.
Just when they think they’re safe, the door shuts behind them and the dragon skeleton rises from the ground. A health bar appears and boss fight music starts playing as the undead skeleton dragon roars.
I don’t know what Falst is thinking but I believe this place was abandoned because GLaDOS killed everyone, and then Chell killed her.
melty claw marks, that’s always a good sign
Looks like we finally have a name for the dragon Tess was fighting when we met her (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-6-25/)
(Yes, I know we first SAW her in Windcrest, but the dragon fight was the first time she was talking and we realized she wasn’t just a really rad looking background character)
Oh my bad, I was thinking of the other dragon Tess punched in the face (https://comicaurora.com/aurora/1-11-25/)
Well they found the boss arena, there’s usually a shortcut out behind that
dragon ghost: DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY WAYS MY DEAD BODY COULD POSSIBLY KILL YOU VCAUSE THERE ARE FAR TO MANY
This is totally gonna be a bossfight isn’t it… This big empty suspicious room with the thingy of plot advancement and the skeleton and claw marks and the suspicious crack in the wall is like the TEXTBOOK boss arena, and this entire page just feels WAY too quiet in general (it’s vibes) -if this story was in a medium with background music, I’d imagine the BGM would change to an ominously quiet pre-boss ambient track or just stop entirely.
New theory: Dainix is an escapee from a D&D adventuring campaign. He carries around all sorts of supplies, has magic that doesn’t *quite* fit the setting and gives him plenty of angst, and his reaction to “giant dragon skeleton” is whether it’s moving
Actually, this entire story feels like a D&D campaign TBH, you can just imagine the characters rolling and the exasperated DM RPing NPCs and villains; on this page I can imagine the DM describing the room, Falst reminding the DM he has darkvision, and Dainix literally asking the DM if the skeleton is moving.
I’ve always felt like this was resembling a DND type campaign…just a demigod level campaign.
“Start at first level? Oh no, you will all start at level 20 and work your way up from there.”
Maybe be less worried about the dragon skeleton and more worried about whatever killed it?
“What could make claw marks in solid stone?”
It slices, it dices, it CIRCUMCISES!
(obligatory)
TL;DR: Not ominous, not ominous at all. Just… Ignore the bones and claw marks and all that.
Why is Falst, specifically, hot
I did the painful thing where I reach the most recent update and the next button stops existing.
I mean, you could
I keep forgetting that Falst has a tail and then getting very happy when I remember.
Two voices echo in the hall,
They’re looking very small.
Lion eyes see through the dark,
That creature stood so tall.
That massive skull with massive fangs
Makes their ones seem so small.
Hold out a hand–
With claws on end–
That have screamed “monster!” for so long,
Rock–splitting razors.
…but held along
These melted slices, solid metal,
They’re looking very cold and little.
Dainix; 0_0
The hall of all forgotten things
Where but a dead wyrm’s tunnel strings
Well, THAT’S a chilling one! Nice going, Couplet! (am very late oops)
Alright theory time. I think this room was where the giant cage that the collector keeps vash in was found. The size and location fits.