really ultra indulgent thing

not too long ago I found this actually fairly well-made mod called Isle of Berk. on minecraft. avid httyd fan i was back in the day until the third movie made me emotionally constipated with the franchise (and then dead by time nine realms came out) i decided to play around and had a lot of fun admiring how nice the models looked and behaved

fast forward . i indulge and join the discord, download a few more fun tweaks and with awesome coding skills (copy and pasting files) i had fun splorin a very modded minecraft world 

over the course of my gameplay i made a home for myself in the autumnal skylands making a lil farm and lil ranch and everything and was very happy once more

now as i play i like to think up a little story in my head as i go on. like im a little traveller in this one taking pictures of anything i find interesting or noteworthy (camera mod) while ambushing pillager towers and towns on my awsome flying dragon steed

another note . a longer while back i played minecraft comes alive because i recalled from ye distant days of childhood danTDM had a gameplay series of him with that mod

while playing and moving from town to town i stumbled upon the prairie town called Rosesheath and immediately set my sights on a certain npc called João who was this alchemist in this dainty town because i found the way he got irritated after every two hello messages funny

in any case i abandoned the world as i got bored and school was coming up similarly with the isle of berk modded world i had (also because of school)

but by time my infatuation with the block game ran dry i had the faintest of a plot strewn out in my mind . what if i combined this dragon-riding traveller character i brewed up and this grumpy blonde joão guy's worlds into one cohesive storyline and made it a super self indulgent romance story

I always really liked the way people interpreted stuff like SMP worlds and minecraft in general w their own hc but never found much interest in doing the same (other than my long gone days of my mcsm au) but then i realize as i am thinking this up

minecraft is a sandbox that can and has been modded to hell and back

i can treat this like a heavily modded minecraft world

great success

even GREATER success

two week trip to turkey. i get plenty of time to microwave this in my head

recently the idea i had gotten to was that joão is part of this race descended from these fancy long dragons (no powers no immortality they became normal people thousand years later save for a few features like horns/tails etc etc) (think of the dragon characteristics like that dragon guy from spirited away)

joão's mother passed a little over 6 years ago when he freshly became 19, saddling him with the responsibility of being the town's only healer. During a particularly foggy evening, the villagers all stir about in a panic over the call of a distant creature (thought to be either a migrating dragon or nagracull which are like. the evil chimpanzees of the dragon world) so they all gather around to hide in the town's bunker

("why are they scared of dragons if they're descended from dragons" if a chimp bigger than you started running at you would you think it would reason that you are its evolution ? no . you are yumy food source)

however joão is forbidden from enjoying the safety of the bunker as one of the villager's daughter had been bitten by a zombie and theres ample hours for the healer to haul ass and get the needed ingredients and potions to prevent the turning process

as he braves the fog-obscured town (narrowly avoiding a few interactions with the dragon prowling about in question; finding what remained of the zombie culrpit after it got turned into a pile of mulch by the reptile's fangs)

he manages to sneak his way back to his house/store area only to find that there is in fact some stranger currently taking from his stock

as he attempts to confront the stranger and then gets promptly shut up by the sight of a well polished axe that's seen plenty of use at his neck he begrudgingly steps back but cant resist questioning the stranger anyway

the stranger and joão share a small interaction, w the healer discovering that the dragon in question had belonged to the raider, but ultimately lets the other make away with a fair portion of his medicinal supply

a few weeks later as he's closing up his shop however, he hears a creak of his window come from his storage . instantly assuming the worst and grabbing a healer's staff as an improvised weapon, he walks down there and finds that instead of another thievery incident or a raccoon breaking in for the umpteenth time there is instead . a pouch laying on the floor, and out the slightly ajar window the distant shadow of something fading into the clouds

he finds that the pouch had been full of all the herbs that the raider took that night, but increased twice as much . a good amount that'd probably last a good while

 joão is left with very mixed feelings as he retires to bed that night

so yeah thats basically what i had in mind and im still workshopping later interactions between the two . but yeah . im very hjappy and ive thought of some added detail to the healer's whole dragonfolk culture

their horns and tails are often decorated with tassels or fabric or jewelry. capped horns are symbols of warriors while a gold/silver/brass band with a unique inscryption tends to mean you're married

hair is often grown out as a symbol of good luck, fertility, youth, and other good things.
when hair is cut it is out of necessity or a sign of rebellion. at times even exile whereas the hair is either cut by the exiled or cut by others forcefully, seen as losing life and dignity

while most people and races speak the same common-tongue, all writing styles are different and varied. dragonfolk (im workshopping the name im definetly not keeping them as dragonfolk its too on the nose) have one based on willowscript (as its very flowy and elegant and reminiscent of nature)

they tend to be very unwilling to leave the land they consider home . distant journeys arent taken unless absolutely necessary and typically dont last long

most tend to be rather weak physically, and their natural instinct tends to be to run. people who are born with fight instincts are usually the leaders, chiefs, guards + so on . its viewed as an admirable thing

they're very close-knit communities, so most crimes or disrespect are taken very seriously (joão wasnt able to gain feelings like these as he was being taught by his mother for most of his life; there wasnt enough time to go out and socialize with the others as mapping out routes of the forest and areas to find herbs took priority . his mother was a bit overbearing in this sense, and he was too shy as a child to speak up to others of the town about this)

upon being buried, trees reminiscent of the shape of their horns tend to sprout afterwards . many of the trees making up their territory come from their generations, and they're highly protective of the environment in question . what many lack in brute force make up in intelligence (traps, special weaponry, etc)

but overall they remain nonviolent and follow their traditional ways

im still considering many of the factors for the traveler in question as well, and i reaallllyyyy want to base their hometown off of berk.... its like dragon viking society.... so much dragon..... they coexist with many species and they have competitions with rival clans via dragon racing or shows of skill,,.,.,, so on so vorth

once i finish up joão's design i'll get started on brainstorming the traveler and all the stuff about them (like a name for one, lol, i've been calling them Sage but it doesnt really stick,, i was thinking of more viking/norse adjacent equivalents)

but yes that is it for now

i am having much fun

we cringe on