The Dragon Delusion Project

I have begun the lengthy process of researching for the upcoming web-comic, Dragon Delusion.

I've already constructed a world of dragon cultures in my book 'The Dragons of Dragon Delusion'  which I created for an assignment, along with the original 13 page comic a year ago.

So I WAS going to make this concept a traditional, digitally created comic that could probably be published in print later... but... knowing what I do now, about the possibilities of the web, I could probably take this much further than a simple paneled digital comic.

 You see with the web, you have pretty much all digital formats available to tell the story; animation, audio, interactivity, and the ability to create games from all of these.

 I've seen examples of webcomics that already take advantages of these such as Homestuck, and also my favourite, Prequel, but I have no intention of making this in MS Paint! 

But I could even have 3d settings, panoramas of a scene, endless scrolling, things that animate as you scroll down, interactive elements scattered throughout the scenes... 

It would mean lots more work for me, of course, but it would be way more memorable to the people that discover the story, and I guess at the end of the day, I want it to have an impact and be all about the experience for the readers.

So far I know the new revised series is to be set at about 200BC, or the middle Iron Ages, somewhere in Europe, and that I may start it from the POV of Ninurta, a Eurasian dragon youngling whom is held captive by humans, rather than with Seraphinus's wrathful beginnings in 'Seraphinus's Retribution'.

Things I need to know to portray this setting right is the sort of cultures, societies, architecture styles, technology etc that were present in that area at the time, this map I found in my searches shall be my best starting point:

I should probably introduce these two main characters-that I've planned to be main characters so far, I don't have much of an idea about the direction the plot will take yet, so who knows what the final outcome will be?

Ninurta

Ninurta (pronounced nee-nuhr-tah)

Originally named after a Sumerian god for the 'lord earth' version, this god is most commonly known as a war god, and sometimes portrayed as a solar deity. (Ninurta a.k.a Ningirsu, Ninip/Ninib)
"On the one hand he is a farmer and a healing god who releases humans from sickness and the power of demons; on the other he is the god of the South Wind..." - Wikipedia

Character profile

Species: Russian or Eurasian Dragon

Gender: currently male.(see species concept for more on this- but all are born male because they are carried inside their 'mother' as eggs until it is time to hatch, higher temp = male in reptilian species.)

Age: pre-adolescent

Abilities/powers: forest dragon, the most common type. Catalyse the growth of plant-life to rebuild and heal damaged environments. Think of Fern Gully, or even that one scene in Fantasia which I can't remember what it was called, but that lady that swoops and everything suddenly grows and stuff. In a nutshell.

Personality: carefree as the youth come, energetic, playful, joker/wise-guy, can be a thrill seeker - he has startling moments of wisdom/insightfulness, and some darker personality changes occur as a result of captivity.

Species Facts

Russian/Eurasian Dragon

It is undecided whether this species is a hybrid between Eastern and Western Dragons or if they are still an existing ancestor that gave rise to them. Russian Dragons share traits of both species, large wings and long legs like the Western Dragons, but slender, flexible bodies, stag-like horns and manes like Eastern Dragons. They are however the smallest of the three species.
The most perplexing trait of this species is their androgynous nature, they change sex every 100-200 years and so are neither completely male or female.
These dragons are nomadic; they migrate around Russia and its neighbouring countries in turn with the seasons in small clans. They have a close connection with the natural environment and some have been known to guard rich ecosystems against the encroachment of human civilization. Russian Dragons inhabit any area that is rich in prey and relish the act of hunting prey that challenges them both mentally and physically.

Seraphinus

Seraphinus (pronounced seh-rah-fee-nus)

My original research that lead to me choosing Seraphinus said it was a Hebrew name meaning 'fire serpent'. Other sources say it's Roman...

Character Profile

Species: Western Dragon

Gender: male.

Age: Middle aged, about 500 yrs

Abilities/powers: fire dragon, just the typical fire breathing ability

Personality: hotheaded and brash, a bit macho-ish at times but it's mostly to compensate for/mask his sensitive side-thatyounevernoticebecauseyou'retoobusycoweringinacorner-*ahem*

Species Facts

Western Dragon

Western Dragons are a large, powerfully built species. Even the females are impressively muscular. They are generally quite temperamental and unfriendly towards strangers but are protective of close friends and family. Western Dragons value strength, size and power and constantly like to demonstrate this, thus their culture is heavily influenced by and based upon battle. Western Dragons have large territories to meet their needs for prey and often make their nests in caves, where they tend to live for most of their life. Their powers are destructive element-based breath abilities.

I think that's all I have to say for today, you can look forward to future posts documenting the Dragon Delusion Project.