Mar-24-2013, 01:16 PM (UTC)
(This post was last modified: Mar-24-2013, 01:24 PM (UTC) by Wolfang.)
I did not read all the posts in this thread, but did read the gist of it.
Why do I believe it was possible for dragons and elderlings to perish so fast?
First off, they lived in symbiosis. Without one, the other cannot survive. I believe one of the dragons even said as much in CoD. When the volcanoe erupted, all the dragons were forced to leave the region. Many would probably have died during the explosion itself and the rest would have left the elderling-kingdoms behind.
We know that half the elderling kingdoms are under the sea, another part was completely covered by a massive wave of mud, as theorized by the golden dragon in RotE (Trehaug and Cassarick). There is quite a lot of evidence for this. The other part of the Elderling realms, like Kelsingra, which we can assume was some sort of capital, was most likely covered under a deep layer of ash.
It's possible there were many surviving elderlings at the time. In fact it is quite likely. But the dragons would probably have left the entire region for a very long time, we can assume that none of the regions would be capable of sustaining even one dragon. We know that dragons are instrumental to the creation and survival of Elderlings. From what I read in CoD, it seems almost standard practice for an Elderling to require a dragon to give birth to a child. So we can theorize that new generations of Elderlings were almost impossible to create. The few remaining survivors in Kelsingra would have starved, unable to use the land for planting for several years, or left the region using skill pillars (possibly founding the lineage of the farseer throne, they came from the Islands, which is where we know there is an important skill-pillar hub.) I believe these Elderlings would eventually have mingled and eventually died out amongst the local population, infrequently passing on their skill traits.
Dragons measure time differently, it is noted several times, that even an Elderling's life seems extremely brief to a dragon. It's possible the surviving dragons didn't even consider the possibility that the Elderlings would die out without them by the time any of the dragons returned to Elderling realms. Even if Elderlings had stayed in the region, it would have been practically impossible to survive longer than a generation due to the extremely heavy touched-level their infants would have had, not to mention the fact that it seems like most Elderling cities only function when both dragon and elderling alike are inside.
Also, we notice that when a dragon is hurt, the elderling connected to it feels the hurt as well. A lot like the wit works. It's possible that many dragons simply perished when their elderlings died and many elderlings died when the dragons died.
That's my two cents for now, I know it's written in quite a disorganized fashion :O
*bear in mind I have not yet read BoD!
Why do I believe it was possible for dragons and elderlings to perish so fast?
First off, they lived in symbiosis. Without one, the other cannot survive. I believe one of the dragons even said as much in CoD. When the volcanoe erupted, all the dragons were forced to leave the region. Many would probably have died during the explosion itself and the rest would have left the elderling-kingdoms behind.
We know that half the elderling kingdoms are under the sea, another part was completely covered by a massive wave of mud, as theorized by the golden dragon in RotE (Trehaug and Cassarick). There is quite a lot of evidence for this. The other part of the Elderling realms, like Kelsingra, which we can assume was some sort of capital, was most likely covered under a deep layer of ash.
It's possible there were many surviving elderlings at the time. In fact it is quite likely. But the dragons would probably have left the entire region for a very long time, we can assume that none of the regions would be capable of sustaining even one dragon. We know that dragons are instrumental to the creation and survival of Elderlings. From what I read in CoD, it seems almost standard practice for an Elderling to require a dragon to give birth to a child. So we can theorize that new generations of Elderlings were almost impossible to create. The few remaining survivors in Kelsingra would have starved, unable to use the land for planting for several years, or left the region using skill pillars (possibly founding the lineage of the farseer throne, they came from the Islands, which is where we know there is an important skill-pillar hub.) I believe these Elderlings would eventually have mingled and eventually died out amongst the local population, infrequently passing on their skill traits.
Dragons measure time differently, it is noted several times, that even an Elderling's life seems extremely brief to a dragon. It's possible the surviving dragons didn't even consider the possibility that the Elderlings would die out without them by the time any of the dragons returned to Elderling realms. Even if Elderlings had stayed in the region, it would have been practically impossible to survive longer than a generation due to the extremely heavy touched-level their infants would have had, not to mention the fact that it seems like most Elderling cities only function when both dragon and elderling alike are inside.
Also, we notice that when a dragon is hurt, the elderling connected to it feels the hurt as well. A lot like the wit works. It's possible that many dragons simply perished when their elderlings died and many elderlings died when the dragons died.
That's my two cents for now, I know it's written in quite a disorganized fashion :O
*bear in mind I have not yet read BoD!