Brainstorming thing - a quest with dragons but not to destroy them? [updated]

All Things Writing
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I had this idea today about a quest story. It’ll be called the Dragon Quest but with a different thing to other quest stories. I have a few options:

Update Oct. 27: I’m going with Option 3 which is like the best of all worlds (has a humanoid dragon on a quest, and a quest person on a quest, and an adventure person on a quest, and then all of them on a quest). I really wanna lean super heavy on this quest business. Idk if it will be an epic fantasy or a slightly humorous fantasy with a bit of epic boss battles. We’ll see.

Option 1 & 2

Option 1:
It’s a story about a humanoid dragon going in search for certain people because he heard the new king would be coronated, but they are missing an important gem. The MC’s parent dragon died earlier and gave the gem to MC to return.

The MC has to travel to the land of humans to return the gem to the lead quest person because MC hears they are looking for the gem. Dragon Quest is a story about the humanoid dragon’s quest to find the lead person without getting captured by humans.

The MC will be in disguise. Maybe even meet the lead person while in disguise. Maybe humanoid dragons are hunted in this world in hopes to get rid of all dragons. Maybe MC can’t give the gem to the lead person as a human or as a humanoid dragon. MC ends up following the lead person to the dragon’s land to find the gem, but MC has it in their pocket.

Maybe they build trust or something. Maybe the gem turns out to be an evil, dangerous item that not even lead person knew about? Maybe the new king is evil?

Option 2:
It’s a story about a quest person going in search for a quest with dragons because the adventure groups are becoming lazy without their quests and the economy is going sour. The quest person searches for quests and gives them to the adventure groups. But there’s a shortage of dragons, so now the MC has their own quest–to find a dragon to make a quest out of. But the last dragon of the land is humanoid. The MC wants this humanoid dragon to be evil and hopes it would make a good enemy.

Turns out, the humanoid dragon is on their own quest–to free a dragon. The most popular, famous, rich, and successful adventure group has a dragon as a captive pet. They got it as part of their last quest. The quest person would be fired if they let the captive dragon go. But the humanoid dragon is so nice (saved MC’s life? healed a wound?) What to do?

Option 3:
Somehow combine Option 1 and 2.

Option 3 Updated Oct. 27

Humanoid dragon is on a quest to return a gem to the humans which their dragon parent took from humans a long time ago and wants their child to return it when they are older. The dragon dies.

Some years later, lead adventure person is on a quest to find the gem they know dragons took, but dragons are extinct, so the lead person goes only with a mage friend just in case. Not enjoying this because it is not a bound quest by quest person. It’s just a retrieval. No battles. Nothing.

The quest person from, who gives quests to people, is looking for a good group quest possibility. Was shunned for not having any available quests to bind adventurers to. If they can’t find a quest in the next month, they will be fired. They meet the humanoid dragon on their way to the human lands to return the gem. They are in the yeti mountains. That’s the only way cross from dragon land to human land.

Quest person thinks humanoid dragon is on their way to avenge the death of their parents. But the two end up with yetis who are feuding with a nearby gnome village and the yetis say they will let them go if they help. During this, the humanoid dragon is angry at quest person for destroying dragons. The quest person says this is their job to bind adventurers to quests. Through yeti task, they learn more about each other.

They both find out the evil nature of the gem by chance (ends up controlling the gnomes or yetis or both?) and have to figure out how to destroy it.

Once friends, adventure person shows up with mage friend to fight humanoid dragon for the gem. Humanoid dragon tries to explain the evil nature. No one listens. Quest person is praised by adventure person for the finding this quest. Orders quest person to bind adventure person to capture the humanoid dragon and retrieve the gem. Says they will tell king about this quest.

Humanoid dragon is betrayed and captured (in some kind of magical dragon case created by mage). Then new king begins to control the creatures with the gem. New king is evil. Quest person then frees humanoid dragon and tells the truth of what happened to the adventure person even at the cost of their job. Something makes adventure person believe quest person.

Now new king has evil gem. Lead person, mage friend, quest person, and humanoid dragon have to save the world. Quest person binds them all to the quest with their special spell. Now, it’s either save the world or die trying because they are bound to the quest.

I think the evil gem can control all the elemental creatures when the king hits them with a spell. The icy yeti, the ground gnome, the wind bird?, the lake creature?, and the humanoid dragon. But the humanoid dragon is the last one not controlled because the mage protects them. The evil king chases them for the dragon.

Epic boss battle between the heroes and the evil king over the gem and humanoid dragon.

Any ideas? Thoughts? Comments?

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Finally! A story about dragonborns!

There are not enough stories about dragons that treat them as real animals and not supernatural monsters.

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I like 2.

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@NotARussianBot @J.L.O

The story idea itself isn’t solid or anything. Do you guys have any suggestions for fun fantasy races to add into the mix? I’m thinking I won’t be making up my own like I did for Elgana.

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Can you make elves that are like gorillas?

Steampuk robots and shapeshifting animals are also good to add in.

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I haven’t decided on the era of inspiration, but probably not steampunk given that I tried to write one once and seem to have absolutely no idea what makes steampunk other than cogs and wheels and goggles and airships :stuck_out_tongue:

What do you mean elves like gorillas? Are those different from orcs?

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Gorillas live in the green mountains far away from humas and are strong and wise. They even live in trees!

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Personally I would reccomend catching up on the Oz lore for inspiration. The Tin Woodman and Tik Tok are full of personality.

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I have an entire world inspired by Oz already :grin:

Gorilla gave me an idea, maybe there could be a Yeti…

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A race of Yeti who are wise beyond most, a kind hearted race living within a cold domain that can assist your quest sounds nice, and I believe would enrich this tale.

I have a Drake Quest of sorts within my tale, but it is in many thousands of years off passing that it will come to pass to fruition…

But Yeti’s, they be great to adapt and create upon.

SD

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Quick and easy without having to define by names or types is elemental creatures. They just take on the nature of their element. Treat them a bit like Pokémon.

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Wise race of kind-hearted Yeti sounds awesome :open_mouth:

I’ll have to figure out how to send my characters to a snowy place…

Maybe the human lands and the dragon lands are separated by a snowy mountain pass guarded by yetis?

That would make it impossible for my characters to avoid meeting a yeti. Maybe they even HAVE to go there for some reason.

What could a wise yeti give them? Knowledge to humans about dragons, knowledge to dragons about humans? Or something more life-saving?

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Elemental creatures would fit perfectly with the now running idea of having Yetis.

Yeti would be the ice.

Fire is dragon.

Water is… what would be a water creature in mythology that isn’t in the ocean? Lochness Monster? Anything else?

Ground or dirt or rock could be…a giant ant? Mole? What could live underground?

There’s wind and that could be fairies or some kind of bird, maybe, and would I have energy? Like lightning? Shadow and darkness? Or maybe I should keep the elements really simple :thinking:

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Nixies, Undines, or Krakens

Gnomes!

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Could the dragons have taken someone, someone vital to the human lands?

A Quest to retrieve that person would indeed send them trough many differing ways, and the choice of the mountain passes are to be the swifter, and right through the Yeti Realm…

But yeah, why not have kind hearted Yeti, why must they always get a bad rep of being wild carnivorous beasts to be hunted or killed on sight?
SD

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I have a God that has chosen to be a water creature during his exile while Essingvaux is lost to the world, and The Endurlon awaits.
His looks are that of a Shrimp-like face and frothing mandibles when he speaks, with a multi limbed torso, and hard shell like platelets adorn his body (armour like). The rest of his skin is leathery and toad like in nature. Jet are his eyes and lifeless to gaze upon, but within the wisdom wells…

If you cannot choose a real creature to represent water, create one from one or two like I did, both shrimp, and toad…

SD

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Nixies?

And could krakens be in a lake? :stuck_out_tongue:

That’s a good one. Are gnomes always human-like?

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Yeah there is a giant octopus in Oklahoma!

Mostly always humanoid, sometime goblinoid.

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I’m thinking he could have taken a crown jewel or something which the new king needs for coronation, but it turns out the jewel has evil powers. So, when it’s returned, the new king uses the evil powers. I decided the humanoid dragon will end up saving the day or something like that.

There was a Yeti in a Bugs Bunny episode that loved to hug the “bunny rabbit”. It was an episode called The Abominable Snowman, I think.

lol, I found it XD

I probably won’t write a yeti like this though :stuck_out_tongue:

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I’ve never heard of that :open_mouth: Is it called anything?

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