npc energy

Gosh, basically.... the whole wing shape is wrong for gliding

Firstly, a majority of the dragons' wings do not have any base to them. base being the membrane that should go down their side

By far the worst offender seems to be arrax here, but like. all of the dragons have NO membrane going from their arms down their sides, the only one who appears to have more normal wings is syrax

It's got more base to the wings so this gif looks slightly more natural to me but not by much

NOW,, my disclaimer. I am not an expert in aerodynamics. So I am just going off what I know personally

First off, the wing shape in most of these dragons is elliptical (like in sparrows) which is good for powered flight (flapping), and when they ARE flapping, it does look very good!! Very powerful strokes etc.

However, because they are missing that base at the wing, a lot of the energy of the downstroke would simply just escape. Wings in general work by "trapping" wind underneath them, by making the air on top roll by at a different speed than the air underneath and generate lift that way, but if there's nothing TO lift... then it won't work

Animals who actually glide all have very specialized wings for it.

Eagles, vultures, condors, etc: all of them have IMMENSE wings, and they almost cannot do powered flight (at least not on the same level that sparrows can), they rely a lot on updrafts

Their wings are all very wide, but very rectangular!! the base of their wings is basically the same width as the rest of the wing, generally

This is true as well for SEABIRDS which are all gliding experts. Seabirds have VERY not wide wings, but they make up for that in length, and this very specialized shape they have allows them to glide for literal WEEKS without needing to land

Basically, I suppose it's something of a tradeoff? Even in these birds the base is incredibly proportionate to the shape of their wings and body, and they depend on wind currents over the ocean specifically. They've evolved for that

alithographica has this VERY GOOD little chart of what different functions wings can perform depending on their shape

I personally think the got dragon's wings are incredibly disproportionate, looking at wings on any other animal it immediately stands out that a whole chunk of wing is simply... gone. For no good reason other than aesthetic I think

The extended membrane you're talking about them missing is indeed important, because the center of lift and the center of gravity are two different things and if they're not balanced in a certain way you cannot fly. I always think of this lil dragon diagram (found on pinterest but it's SammyTorres on deviantart)

The center of gravity is the point where an object's mass is centered, basically. In an airplane, if you could hang the plane from the center of gravity, it would hang perfectly level. Center of lift is where all the lifting forces (in a plane, wing lifting force and tail down force; in a dragon wing and additional lifting surfaces) are centered in comparison.

Both are movable and controllable with aerodynamics. When you change the angle of attack (angle at which a lifting surface meets relative wind), the center of lifting pressure moves fore or aft on the wing. A dragon can actually move its wings and change their entire shape so for them that's even more controllable (lucky bastards).

Center of gravity/CG is simply changeable by how much extra weight you take on and where you put it. The further a heavy object is from the center of gravity, the more it affects balance (it's basically leverage; two equal weights on a fulcrum will still be unbalanced if one is further out than the other)—this is what we call arm in our weight and balance charts. So on a dragon, that long tail is all full of heavy muscle and look how far back it extends that weight. That's going to have a massive effect (look at Vhagar here, whose entire tail and hips are behind where her wing membranes extend).

Aerodynamic engineers take all the factors of an airplane's design, including its default weights and aerodynamic shapes, into account and calculate how much that center of gravity can move outside a certain envelope before it's too far and gravity can pull it over freely (uncontrollable flight). For an example of what happens if CG is too far back, search up "Boeing 747 crash Bagram Airfield"; basically cargo became unsecured on takeoff and slid back, moving the CG too far aft (warning: this was a lethal accident. You can tell from the plane's movements that they tried but couldn't regain control) Weight and balance is not a fucking joke.

What a dragon can't do, compared to a plane, is change their own center of gravity. They can't offload cargo. They can't just look at their legs and decide "that's too heavy; I'll leave it at home." They're stuck with whatever weight and muscle mass nature decided to give them. So it's really, really important that they have the lifting force necessary to counter it.

That dragon diagram basically represents that delicate balance between where weight is centered and where lift is centered. That last dragon would have his CG too far aft—he'd be stuck in a constant tail-low attitude, if he can gain flight at all.

Inspiration for every country

Map, or basic understanding of the layout. I recommend Inkarnate for making maps!

Major historical events, think about how wars have sparked new political philosophies and how they’ve shaped cultures today (think about how Liberalism stems from a response to oppressive monarchies)

What’s the culture of the different countries in your world? What kind of arts do they practice, if the arts are widespread? What’s available for entertainment, does the average person have enough downtime to participate in leisure? What’s the architecture like? What are the major exports of each country?

Are there any major historical figures in your countries? Any influential works of literature that have been studied?

What does daily life look like for people in different socioeconomic classes?

Is the culture of country side villages and towns similar to urban areas? How does it differ?

What is the religion? Does each country follow something different, or is everyone the same? Is it mono or polytheistic? Who are the religious leaders? Do people attend church, or is worship practiced in private? Are there any rituals?

Building off of religion, is there any religious conflict?

What does the government look like? Is it an absolute monarchy? Constitutional monarchy? Or some form of democracy or republic? Who’s the leader and what other positions hold power?

Does each country have a government, or is your world ruled under one government?

What do the different classes look like in your country? Do the higher social classes look down on those beneath them? Is there a general sense of class consciousness, and class conflicts?

Climate of each country, territory, or state

Typical jobs of every country, territory, or state

What kind of transportation is available?

What does the military look like? Is there one? Do any militias operate in the rural areas?

Does your world have any myths or legends? What were they influenced by, and how do they influence the culture? Are there any superstitions around these myths?

Typical foods, what do most people eat? Is the food bland, or flavorful? How does access to food differ for different people, and does the type of food eaten change with social status?

Type of laws, do the people have any protected rights? What might get someone thrown in a cell for a night? Do your countries have an organized prison system, or do they operate by throwing everyone in the castle’s dungeons?

What kind of economy do the different countries have? Is it regulated by the government? What’s the major currency?

What’s the social life like? Are there certain customs to follow? What’s considered polite or impolite?

How are foreigners seen? Is there any hostility towards them, or are the citizens of your countries more accepting of other cultures?

What are the relationships like between countries?

What weapons are used in war?

What’s the general attitude towards war and other conflicts? Do any of your countries use a pacifist approach? Do any countries protect their neighbors from a common enemy?

Sanitary system, do they have sewage? Think about how disease was common in cities before proper sewage was invented.

Educational System for the poor, is there any sort of public education? Is there any sort of access to higher education, if it exists in your countries?

Educational system for the rich, do nobles typically hire tutors or is there a system of private schooling?

How is education viewed? Is it valued?

How do the people communicate, between cities or even countries? Is there any form of published communication, or is everything passed through spoken word?

Morality, what is considered moral or immoral?

What are the beauty standards of your country? How are different physical appearances viewed?

What’s the clothing like? What does the average peasant wear, what does the average noble wear?

What language is spoken? Do different countries speak different languages? Is there a common tongue?

Are good hygiene practices common? How often does the average person bathe?

Is marriage viewed as a religious or legal institution? What’s the general attitude towards marriage? Is it common? What does the courting process look like?

Are water and other resources readily available? Do they have to be outsourced to other countries?

Science, is it accepted? Do people actively research new things in your countries?

Going back to the prison question, what is the legal system like? Do people get trials? What sort of crimes result in different penalties? Who makes the final decision of punishment, a judge? The lord ruling over the territory the crime took place?

How is death treated? Are funerals held? Do they bury their dead, or use funeral pyres? Are funerals viewed as a celebration of the person’s life, or a time to mourn?

What kind of diseases are common? What do the symptoms look like?

What are your countries’ attitudes towards alcohol and other substances? Is drinking a common practice, or widely frowned upon?

When looking at these different aspects of your world, it’s also important to remember that the histories of our world don’t have to dictate what happens in yours. For example, public education wasn’t really common in the United States until the 1800s. On the other end of that, one of the earliest formal schools was founded in Egypt in 2061-2010 BC and many Middle Eastern cultures have pushed for education since then as the ability to read religious scripture was important.

Been throwing around the idea for a chronomancer class for a while now, and so here we are. I've seen chronomancer classes done a lot, but none have really done it for me. So I finally made my own, and will be adding a few more subclasses in the future. Hope you enjoy!

Basically, between the fall of Rome and early modern times, in Europe* most political organization wasn't actually kingdoms ruled by One True King like it's usual in fantasy, but something like this:

Feudalism: here, the center of power was not the nation (there was little concept of such thing) or the state, and not even the King, but the landowners (from kings to dukes to counts...) and their network of vassalages to each other. There were no "countries" but rather hereditary titles, and the people who held them. There was little of a true state besides what individual rulers did; they didn't even have formal armies as such, but rather the vassals who provided them, they and could have multiple allegiances. Examples are of course the Holy Roman Empire (neither holy, etc. etc.) France (note that the 100 Years War was a dispute about titles rather than France vs. England), Spain (actually a bunch of kingdoms and crowns rather than a country), etc...

"Empires": A state where a central goverment exerts power over other territories and peoples. These are rather familiar to us, because a formal state exists here, and the ruler is more powerful and often does have a standing arming and administration instead of relying on vassals. Here, there is a bureacracy and a claim to rule a territory, and while they might have vassals and prominent artistocratic families (everyone did) their administration was state-based, not allegiance based. The Roman Empire is the most imperial empire, as well as its cringefail successor the Byzantine Empire, but note that the great Islamic empires also had this kind of administration, with governors appointed and confirmed by the imperial court.

City-States: Basically a powerful city (though they were often the size of small towns, still, very rich) ruled by a local aristocracy, sometimes hereditary, sometimes elected from a few families or guilds, or a mix of both, and in some cases ruled by religious authorities. These could be independent or organized in alliances, but were often vassals of more powerful goverments such as above. Cities are in many way the building brick of larger states; of note, in the Ancient Mediterranean before Rome conquered it all, leagues of city-states were the main powers. Medieval and Early Modern independent city states were the Italian city states of course, and a famous league was the Hansa (many of its members themselves vassals of other powers)

Tribes and Clans: Every culture is different with this, but basically here the centre of power is the relationships between families and kinship. If this sounds familiar to Feudalism, you've been paying attention; Feudalism is what happened when the Roman empire and administration fell, and it was replaced by landowners and their ties of vassalage and allegiances.

Now, besides the history lesson, why is this important? Because there are reasons why rulers had their power, and you should know that.

A king never ruled alone. He was only the head of nobles tied by vassallage (feudalism), or the head of a inherited state bureaucracy and army ("empire"). If you killed the king, another one would rise from the prominent families. Often by bloody civil wars or conquest yes, but the system overall would stay. A king did not reign by its own power or virtue, but because the system itself supported him, and of course, he maintained the system.

A new king who wants to replace the bad old king (a common fantasy storyline) needs to also deal with the allegiances of all its vassals (who would probably rather kill him and take the throne themselves) or build a bureaucracy and an army, supremely expensive endeavors in those times, which took decades if not centuries to build. In fact, the Byzantines and the Arabs inherited most of their state aparatus, in one way or the other, from the Romans.

This is also why these systems lasted so long, too. The appearance of modern republics and other systems of goverment needed the coordination of people and revolutions that did not just kill the king, but also replace it with something else, and for that you need literacy, economic changes, an empowered populace... But that's for another time.

I hope this is fucking helpful because I don't want to spell allegiance ever again.

sean glatch pomegranate \ georgy nikolsky for pytor manteufel’s tales of a naturalist \ sean glatch pomegranate \ ursula le guin tales from earthsea: “dragonfly”