Since some people here may be interested in commenting to this, I'll re-post my musings to the more appropriate forum of GD:
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On Sun, 9 May 2004, Light Castle wrote:
> Well, I suppose the whole "don't stay dead" thing has to do with their
> essential uber-ness. :) If I understand correctly, it's not like you
> are actually fighting the physical reality of the dragon anyway.
I write:
I think so as well. The "reality" of True Dragons is an interesting
question. Their draconic-souls (essenses? spirits?) are as strong as
those of the gods, so they appear gigantic like gods striding in the
inner world must have done when that happened before the Dawn (and
occasionally even later, like when Orlanth fought with Zistor).
The mountainous true-dragon is not entirely real, at lest not in the same way as a hill or a bronze-sword is real. It's snapping jaws and searing breath and gaze are real enough for those destroyed by them, but it's a case of draconic reality imposed on the normal mundane reality.
The accounts in KoS about the heroes that fight dragons are very illuminating. What happens is that either the human becomes as large as a dragon, or the dragon becomes small like the human.
I propose that this change in perception is at the heart of fighting (or understanding) a True Dragon. When the hero can make the shift in perception he/she is able to fight the dragon. Parhaps the hero identifies with Orlanth, and fights the dragon as a towering, mile high apparition of himself (what a sight!).
Parhaps the hero manages the mystic insight that size is subjective to dragons, and the dragon shrinks (and becomes more real) to fight the hero.
Either way, I plan to run a dragon-fight (for the hero) pretty much like the hero was fighting a dream-dragon. A dream-dragon is big, but one can fight one with sword and spear. The hero fighting a hill-range sized dragon in hand-to-hand just doesn't work for me. Of course getting to this stage requires relevant magic (worhipping alakoring is a good start), and the resistances are high.
Whatever the perception of the hero, people viewing the fight (hopefullly from a distance) will no doubt see gigantinc forms struggling against the sky.
In the same logic the gigantic true-dragon can actually be hurt or driven off by the archers and magicians of an army. It's not a simple case of elephant vs. a handful of ants (meaning that if the dragon was as large and invulnerable as it seems, there would never be any contest).
That's my take on the subject, at the moment. Input and comments are highly welcome,
-Adept
I think I think... Therefore I think I am.
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