A post I made for the (un) Death-Match.

Source: Free for all Pitch: Dragons | (un) Death-Match Presents: Free For All

Free for all Pitch: Dragons

How can werewolves battle dragons? Werewolves are very, highly flammable. They can't fly. They may have claws and teeth but they don't have a great, long tail to flick their foes out of their way. We dragons have long been held in esteem and for good reason. Dragons are magical, mystical and wise. Dragons are also covered in body armour.

Those werewolf teeth and claws can't penetrate dragon scales which are prized by wizards and warriors! Our dragon scales are excellent protection, tempered by our own fire, as armour it is undefeatable. Fire, so warm, so bright, so very dangerous to fur bearing animals. They cringe away from fire, even just a lit match makes them nervous. What hope do werewolves have against a dragon who can breathe fire? A quick blast of flame and the werewolves will be running for their very lives.  In battle, the smell of burnt dog is not appealing. Dragons are very clean (the rumours about sulfur are not true) creatures. Being clean is important for aerodynamics. Before the werewolves can regroup for an attack dragons will be gone, flying high above them. No matter how high a werewolf manages to jump it can't catch a dragon in flight. The battle would be over before it really began. Dragons can easily fly above the pack of werewolves just shooting fire down upon them. What hope do the poor furries have?

Even on the ground the dragon still has the surprise element, a tail that isn't just for wagging around, stirring up dust motes. A quick flick of the dragon's tail and the werewolves will be scattered, wounded and lost. Just think of how much damage a dragon's tail can really do to those bodies armoured in mere fur. Dragon wisdom is well known. While werewolves are out hunting for small forest creatures dragons are building hoards of treasure, including books of great knowledge. Yes, dragons hunt too. But, dragons don't settle for small animals which are only small meals. A dragon picks up something to make a real meal, like a werewolf, for instance. Saves time for more reading rather than all that time hunting for silly little rabbits, mice and such.

Dragons can be all sizes, massively Godzilla-like or cosy and petite, perfect for perching on shoulders and whispering advice into all the right ears. We do have a lot of knowledge. Unlike werewolves we spend our immortal time in the quest for knowledge, to gain intelligence and inspiration for ourselves and others. Dragons are very helpful, or at least as helpful as we want to be at any given time.

Don't think dragons are too egotistical. Dragons are proud but reasonable and well mannered too. Don't assume the werewolf thing has not been researched. The werewolves in Kelley Armstrong's books have done a lot to make them look good, clever even. Rachel Vincent's werecats have been a popular choice. Likely because dragons have more in common with cats than dogs. Dogs just aren't as clever, nimble and mysterious as dragons and cats.

Do werewolves have anything like DragonCon? A convention for dragon lovers/ fans. Dragons like reading the Dragon Septs series by Katie MacAlister.  Gena Showalter has the Atlantis series featuring dragon warriors. There are the Black Dragon Brotherhood books by J.R. Ward, though only one of the men turns into a dragon, during battle. Still, the books are an example of the impact dragons have on human culture, the admiration and esteem given to dragons.  It's one thing to be feared throughout history but quite another to be feared and admired! Don't forget the favourite of many, the Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey, not new but worth finding. Other notables include Tanith Lee, Mercedes Lackey,  Patricia C. Wrede, Robin McKinley and Stephanie Rowe (her Immortally Sexy series which sadly seems to be at an end).

Then there are paranormal writers (Michelle Rowen, Lynsay Sands and Kerrelyn Sparks) who should be writing about dragons, but have not yet. Why not?

Before I end this Undeath Match post I must admit I am biased to the side of the dragons. I was born in the Year of the Dragon. So many great and wonderful people were. Dragons are the only mystical animal in the Chinese zodiac. I think they gives us something extra to live up to!

-- Laura

Thank you for your contribution!

I like thinking about the possibilities without having to know or consider all the cold, hard facts. I like thinking about time travel, robots, aliens and my favourite… how civilization staggers upright after an end of the world catastrophe. It’s all creative ideas. True, it should grounded in facts somewhere along the way. But that doesn’t mean it has to be taken 100% seriously either. It should make your mind work, make you wonder.

If you could time travel where would you go, past or future? One of the things that bugs me most about eventually dying is not being here. Think of all the things I will be missing. It’s so unfair. That’s why I would go into the future. I want to see what gets invented. Like reading ahead to see how a really good book ends. Only, we assume, there really is no end to this story.

I want to believe in aliens too. It just seems silly to think that of all the stars and all those planets we are the only one capable of supporting life. Quite likely we are arrogant enough to assume all that life is very much like our own, breathing air, washing in water and walking around on land. What if life really was something that would fry our brain cells just trying to understand it.

Other stuff, like the paranormal interests me too. I’d like to think dragons are out there. I don’t believe it but I prefer to keep the possibility open. Why close that door completely if I don’t have to? Ghosts spook me, I do believe I have seen something, had some contacts in that direction. I don’t want to further those kind of contacts. I believe there is a lot we still have to learn about our own human brains and it’s very likely psychic powers are up there floating around in your very own grey matter. We just don’t know how to work it, no one has the instruction manual. Would you actually read it, if you had one?

I wouldn’t. It would kind of spoil it, to know everything and have all the answers too soon. Someday people (or whatever we become) will know the things we only wish we knew. But, we won’t be here. I wonder if there was a woman living a thousand years ago who was sitting doing her laundry one day and thinking, wishing she could take a peek into life a thousand years ahead. I wish she could be here for coffee and chat. It would be quite the conversation.

The Ultimate Dragon Quiz

Your Inner Dragon is the embodiment of Nature and the Earth. Greens spend almost all of their time below the canopy or just above the treetops in tropical rain forests. Not a bad life considering every other creature in the forest looks up to you, figuratively and literally. You speak the language of every animal and plant in your domain and know most of them by first name. If people mess with your forests, you're more than happy to wail on their puny butts. Because of your protector/caretaker role, you are the Earth Elemental dragon.

Naturally your whole life pretty much revolves around the other couple million species you keep an eye on, but that's not your whole dragon. You also like to impose your steadfast will on others, commune with Nature, and lobby governments for alternative fuels and conservation. Your favorable attributes are Midnight, Winter, gemstones, mountains, caves, soil, respect, endurance, responsibility, prosperity, and purpose in life. Folks shouldn't get the idea you're a hippy pushover though, because your breath weapon is a nasty Fire/Acid combination. Maybe you should invest in a hemp shirt reading "Don't knock my smock, or I'll clean your clock." wink

Kingdomality

Try the Kingdomality test. Who would you be if you were back in the Medieval times?

In the past when I have tried this I was the Bard, the Discoverer and the Ruler. This time I'm the Benevolent Ruler again:

Your distinct personality, The Benevolent Ruler might be found in most of the thriving kingdoms of the time. You are the idealistic social dreamer. Your overriding goal is to solve the people problems of your world. You are a social reformer who wants everyone to be happy in a world that you can visualize. You are exceptionally perceptive about the woes and needs of humankind. You often have the understanding and skill to readily conceive and implement the solutions to your perceptions. On the positive side, you are creatively persuasive, charismatic and ideologically concerned. On the negative side, you may be unrealistically sentimental, scattered and impulsive, as well as deviously manipulative. Interestingly, your preference is just as applicable in today's corporate kingdoms.

Taken from a placemat from our favourite Chinese buffet in town.

Chinese Zodiac

According to traditional Chinese legend, ages ago Buddha summoned all of the animals and honored those who came by naming a year for them; each animal in turn gave its characteristics to people born in this year.

Note: I'm not typing all of the animal signs. My sign is the dragon, the only mythical animal among them and I think the most powerful, mystical and wise. But, of course, I'm biased. ;)

Dragon: 1904, 1916, 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 Passionate and soft-hearted, but somewhat stubborn, very healthy and energetic. You are well-suited to the rat, serpent, and monkey, but ill-suited to the dog.

I've always thought I would do well with a rat sign. My almost ex-husband is a serpent sign. My Mother is a monkey sign and my sister, the one I clash with the most, is a dog. My little sister is a rat sign and my only brother is a horse sign. Oddly, my Dad is both a monkey sign and a Sagittarius (also my sign in western astrology) and we never get along, he has always been emotionally abusive.

It's interesting how the fortune cookie crumbles.

Would you want to be an animal? Sometimes I would like to be a whale. I could dive into the deepest parts of the ocean where no people have been. Down there I would find sunken pirate ships and chests of treasure. I'd find their maps to secret buried treasure too. When I had all I wanted I would turn into a person again so I could spend all my loot.

Sometimes I would like to be a wolf. I'd run with the pack, howl at the moon and scout around the wilderness until I couldn't walk another step. The wolf can smell and hear things better than people too. I would enjoy experiencing that. What things would I hear that I've never heard before.

Sometimes I'd like to be a seagull. Soaring over the ocean waves, the beaches and the cities, watching everything fly by beneath me. I would perch somewhere high up, on the head of a gargoyle or steeple of a church. The wind would be blowing on my feathers. Soon I'd smell some french fries dropped in a parking lot and I'd swoop down to grab them up before all the other gulls could get them.

It would be great to be a dragon. They can do all of those things. But, a big dragon would have trouble sitting on a small branch or church steeple. True dragons like to hoard treasure but I'd like to spend some of it. I don't think a lot of stores would calmly accept a dragon coming in to buy the latest bestseller. Being a person is all right too, its who I am. But now and then I think about all the fun of being an animal and the special things I could do.