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Thinky-thoughts.
Two vague ideas that could be intertwined someday, in my eternally vague D&D setting in the back of my head-
One, that the elves we meet every day are not true fey, but exiles thrown out from Underhill, without power and without true immortality (fifty years, three hundred- it's all the same and all too short from the perspective of someone who should live to see the stars fall down and the sun die). Also, without memories- thus, the elves live in a sort of cobbled-together approximation of their own culture, living as entertainers and playing on the fascination humans have with them in order to make a living. 'Elven king' has roughly the same meaning and amount of pull as 'gypsy king'.
Underhill is a much-fabled- and much feared- place, from which the ancient incursions of the Wild Hunts came. The Elves were as gods to frightened mortals, and rarely kind or loving ones. I kinda want to keep them mysterious- beautiful, dangerous, mad by human standards but then- they're not human.
Two- That dragons are not as intelligent as often in this world, as they are in standard worlds. The dragons you would most often encounter are big, powerful, and magical- but they don't get into lazy schemer mode until they are ancient, ancient wyrms, and there's only a couple of those in the whole of the world, way the hell far and gone in the Northern mountains, past the point where humans can live. Those fellows are the smart ones, but you'd never meet a dragon who would talk to you- in fact, the nobles in some kingdoms will organize hunts for the smaller ones that ravage the countryside or live in the lower mountain ranges, precisely because they are a dangerous pest. Heck, just the effect they have on the livestock is unpleasant- playing on the game-system truth that the halfdragon template can be added to any corporeal creature, there are places in the Alucian heartland where the bulls breathe fire and the sheep roam in carnivorous packs. There's a reason Alucian farmers are tough.
My thinking was that perhaps the reason that the dragons exist, that they are so powerful and so good at reproducing themselves (but only the very greatest have enough brains to talk back), is that they were once war-constructs in some ancient war, when humanity was trembling in caves and the world was the playground of other, weirder factions.
So- ancient epic fae warriors, ancient epic made-creatures to help out the war-effort. Were dragons the playthings of the elves? Or did they belong to some other faction, and if so, who? Who made the dragons, and what wars did they fight with them? Why aren't they still here now- or how did this whole thing get moved to another plane, where the battle has reached ancient stalemate, and only rarely starts to rumble again? (And good thing, too, otherwise there would be all sorts of unpleasantness over on the mortal side).
One, that the elves we meet every day are not true fey, but exiles thrown out from Underhill, without power and without true immortality (fifty years, three hundred- it's all the same and all too short from the perspective of someone who should live to see the stars fall down and the sun die). Also, without memories- thus, the elves live in a sort of cobbled-together approximation of their own culture, living as entertainers and playing on the fascination humans have with them in order to make a living. 'Elven king' has roughly the same meaning and amount of pull as 'gypsy king'.
Underhill is a much-fabled- and much feared- place, from which the ancient incursions of the Wild Hunts came. The Elves were as gods to frightened mortals, and rarely kind or loving ones. I kinda want to keep them mysterious- beautiful, dangerous, mad by human standards but then- they're not human.
Two- That dragons are not as intelligent as often in this world, as they are in standard worlds. The dragons you would most often encounter are big, powerful, and magical- but they don't get into lazy schemer mode until they are ancient, ancient wyrms, and there's only a couple of those in the whole of the world, way the hell far and gone in the Northern mountains, past the point where humans can live. Those fellows are the smart ones, but you'd never meet a dragon who would talk to you- in fact, the nobles in some kingdoms will organize hunts for the smaller ones that ravage the countryside or live in the lower mountain ranges, precisely because they are a dangerous pest. Heck, just the effect they have on the livestock is unpleasant- playing on the game-system truth that the halfdragon template can be added to any corporeal creature, there are places in the Alucian heartland where the bulls breathe fire and the sheep roam in carnivorous packs. There's a reason Alucian farmers are tough.
My thinking was that perhaps the reason that the dragons exist, that they are so powerful and so good at reproducing themselves (but only the very greatest have enough brains to talk back), is that they were once war-constructs in some ancient war, when humanity was trembling in caves and the world was the playground of other, weirder factions.
So- ancient epic fae warriors, ancient epic made-creatures to help out the war-effort. Were dragons the playthings of the elves? Or did they belong to some other faction, and if so, who? Who made the dragons, and what wars did they fight with them? Why aren't they still here now- or how did this whole thing get moved to another plane, where the battle has reached ancient stalemate, and only rarely starts to rumble again? (And good thing, too, otherwise there would be all sorts of unpleasantness over on the mortal side).
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After playing Dragon Age: Origins, I'm basically yoinking the whole elves and dwarves dynamic from there- the elves are a thin remnant of what they once were, trying to keep safe among humanity while striving to recapture their past glory, and the dwarves, well- any dwarf you see on the surface is roughly equivalent to a penal colonist. Proper dwarves never see the sun, and if you do, you lose your place in society. You can try for a new start there, but you're not welcome back as anything but casteless scum. At best, you get to bring your merchant wares to the entrances of the great halls.
Which makes it interesting when a sort of Henry VIII dwarven king uproots his entire kingdom, brings it to the surface, and establishes a surface colony in order to break with tradition and marry his new, favored wife. And what's more, he does it in turf that technically isn't part of the Empire, but was left to the orcs for their mercenary services.
The empire wants the dwarven trade, but doesn't have to grant them land. Unfortunately, that pisses off their staunch allies- the hardcore traditionalist tribal orcs are telling their cousins in the cities and the legions that their turf is being infringed on, and that's leading to mounting tensions and torn loyalties.
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Also, warfare in which the orcs are really the good guys? Or at least have a justified reason for attacking? That would be REALLY interesting...
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Orcs aren't necessarily *dumb*, they just sometimes have to designate someone calmer to do their thinking for them. That's what priestesses and officers are for^^ Their philosophy tends to be about the only true peace is death, life is competition, be willing to take a stand and defend it.
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