Three green dragons, all brothers, who have built a treasure house together. Each needs to be different. Each also needs to be a rival of the others.
The tonal palette of The Brothers Squamous is, as I decided in yesterday's post, North-West European. Giving the dragons Latinate names is an easy way, then, to make them distinctive. But their names have to stem from their nature. What is each dragon associated with?
Since one of the "trifectas" of golem types in the dungeon is morning, noon and evening light, I think that having each brother associated with either the dawn, noon or dusk makes sense, and also sets sparks of ideas off in my head. Maybe all of them emerged from their eggs on the same day, with one in the morning, one at noon, and one in the evening, and each has associated with that time of day ever since. (Perhaps their unacknowledged sister is the night?)
I think, then, I will call these dragons Oriens, for the dawn, Meridies, for noon, and Vespera, for the evening.
Oriens is interested in new beginnings, in births, in youth, in novelty, in the future, in the East, in openness, in revelation.
Meridies is interested in heat, in light, in the present, in action, in energy, in the sun.
Vespera is interested in endings, in deaths, in the past, in slowness, in closure, in concealment.
Their respective regions of the dungeon will reflect those characteristics - with the caveat that the brothers have all been sleeping for a very long time and the dungeon they created is no longer as they remember it.
I also did some thinking today about geography, and decided I didn't want to over-egg the importance of the number "three". Hence, the dungeon is just on an island in a lake which is itself on an island in a lake. There are, the internet tells me, a few of these in the world - here is a picture of one on the Philippines:
It would make sense, I'm sure you will agree, if the outer island had something WEIRD about it. More on that tomorrow.
Adding to my idea from yesterday, suppose that there is always a possibility (or a certainty) that the players will have to face a final-final boss if they get to the very center of things.
ReplyDeletePerhaps the final-final is the lost Squamous Sister, or perhaps it's the Squamous Mother. There may be clues you could find along the way that might tip you off about this.
If the fail to collect the rings, they will have to fight (or negotiate) with all three brothers before facing the final-final. If they collect the three rings and marry the three brothers, then they only have to fight (or negotiate) with the final-final, and the brothers join them as allies in the confrontation. (Or, you know, if you get one of three rings, you get one ally and still have to fight/negotiate with the other two.)
The outer lake is situated on a continent that is surrounded by the ocean. (The continent has plenty of other lakes besides, but still.) So the island-on-a-lake in an island-on-a-lake still has an implicit third ring, just not one that gets discussed.
Yes, I think the lost Squamous Sister might be at the very bottom somewhere - or in a side dungeon.
DeleteSomebody on G+ said that the final island-on-a-lake could actually be somewhere inside the dungeon, which I liked.
Oh, I like that, too.
DeleteMmmmm this idea is 10/10 and I want to steal it
ReplyDeleteGo right ahead!
DeleteI like the idea of the middle island being a 'ring of normality' with the deadly ruin built by the brothers within, and a weird world without.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I'll have a think about that. It has potential.
DeleteThat looks like Taal. Been right by there.
ReplyDelete