Elemental Dragon Project!

My name is Stormy and I'm creating a story involving elemental dragons! This is just a space for me to post works in progress and ideas for worldbuilding. I'm open to suggestions and ideas! I'm the heart and mind behind @your-bigender-big-brother. 💙💚

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Directory (mostly for my own convenience)

Dragon Elements The World of Astria Dragon Society Languages Cuisine Concept Art

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The Evolution of Language Groups

Proto-Draconic: The very first language spoken by dragons and was far more spoken than written. This language was written as a logographic script that slowly changed into a syllabary. Ancient ruins along some highways can be seen with this script carved into their walls.

Old Draconic: A rare but currently studied language that is spoken and written. The written language is a syllabary. Older generations can speak it but mostly as a second language. The Lost Ones (dragons lost to the Far Reach) are the only ones to speak it as a first language. It features far more nonverbal communication than other existing languages. Unique letters: X, Ž

Astertongue: An uncommon cousin to Old Draconic with a history few have studied. Spoken mostly amongst Starseekers (cosmic dragons.) It's said to have split from "Middle Draconic" with unique grammatical elements and newly introduced letters not seen in any other language. Includes a few nonverbal language elements. Many Steelbearers (tech dragons) also speak this language due to trade. Unique letters: Ĉ, Ĝ, Ŝ, TH, Y

Common Draconic: Split off from Old Draconic and typically only referred to as Draconic. Has an alphabet and a spoken language meant to be understood universally. It is present on signage and in official documents no matter the location and is understood by almost all traveling merchants. This language does not have nonverbal communication like other languages. Unique letters: Ĵ, Q

Valley Script: A modified version of Draconic to replace universal signage in Scrap Valley, though it hasn't caught on near the borders. Letters are blocky and simplified, adapted for carving into stone or soldering into metal. It is mostly a written language but Scrap Valley does come with its own spoken dialect unrelated to this script. This language's nonverbal elements are borrowed from Old Dragonic and Astertongue, but with hand gestures for supplementary intent and tone. The Ghosts of the Underbrush (rot dragons) have adopted the writing system for themselves.

Cryospeak: A rare offshoot of Draconic spoken by dragons in the far north, typically by Mountain Movers and Daybreakers (ice dragons and northern water dragons respectively.) Sometimes called "Polar Draconic". It has a writing system that is a syllabary combined into a logographic script.

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I've decided to take a page out of my current favorite spec bio artist's work and do away with male/female terminology for my dragons. While it does need to be specific language, I would prefer less human-centric terms to get the point across. Besides, physiological mating dynamics are a little more flexible in this universe.

Obviously, I will have a gestator sex and an inseminator sex. That seems to be a good baseline for any kind of sophontic fictional species. But I'm also considering one or two dragon species that is of both sexes that can act as both inseminator and gestator, and then a fourth sex that is functionally "sexless", filling the role of a brooder without being a gestator. I'll eventually have names for these sexes.

These sexes could fill specific hierarchal roles in society, but it's going to vary GREATLY between species of dragons. Some societies might favor a matriarch, but "matriarch" is a title for anyone of any gender or sex in some clans. Some societies may prefer a mating pair as leader, while others may do away with any structure like this.

I'm still trying to figure out how to approach sex as a social role and gender as a separate social role. It's tough. I don't want to mimic humanity too much.

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A polar cousin of the reefwalker, called a daybreaker. She is greeting someone with the typical local open-palmed greeting.

Daybreakers are still of the water element (not ice as one might assume) and live in a blisteringly frigid region far enough to the north that they experience a yearly period of no sunlight. During this time, a sacred bonfire is created and clan members gather together to ask the sunlight to come back. Thus, they are called "day breakers" because they are the ones who bring back the daylight.

Daybreaker bodies are stockier and covered in fur to help them withstand the cold winds and freezing arctic waters. They can dive deep into cold water to seek out food, their hands and feet more muscular to help power them through the water. Much like the reefwalkers, their wings are modified fins.

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This is a lushtender, also called a Behemoth of the Forest due to their large stature. They are flightless dragons with an ancient body plan that combines impressive muscle with plant-like qualities (such as antlers meant to blend in with trees.)

This is a female lushtender, which you can tell from the smaller tusks in the mouth and the smaller dewlap - these are much larger on males. Her antlers are shedding their leaf-like velvet because it's autumn - and because they are antlers, they do eventually fall off entirely. The "branches" will fall off for the winter and regrow in the spring. The velvet releases a pheromone present in all sexes of this species once it starts growing back.

The tail has large, rock-hard plates that were once used to ward off predators and are now a way to clear dead trees to make room for newly built structures (hence the "lush tender" name.)

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I hate this one but wanted to throw it together anyway.

This is an ashdweller, teaching a much younger would-be farmer how to handle farm equipment (He has no intention of doing any farming himself, hence the pipe full of reapwort.) He is from a temperate, volcanic region called the Crimson Coast where the soil is very fertile and farming is a successful profession. It's not without its dangers, however, as he had fallen from a cliff and injured himself just last year.

Ashdwellers have a wyvern-like body, with their wings being attached to their arms rather than being located on the shoulders. I didn't draw the wings very well here. They also have thin skin around the throat where you can see fire welling up within them before they unleash it.

A similar fire elemental clan lives in an arid region called The Sleeping Ash, where the environment is a lot harsher and more dangerous to live in.

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I'm going to attempt to show what the different dragon species look like in my simpler drawing style so I can at least have something to look at and edit as needed.

Here is a young, gender nonconforming reefwalker going for a swim. You can identify his gender nonconformity by his shell necklace, usually seen on betrothed female reefwalkers. A rare occurrence, but it's generally accepted within this society.

Reefwalkers are flightless, their "wings" having evolved to help them swim in choppy water. They are not as equipped for deep dives as their polar cousins, hence being named for walking among the coral reefs. Their many whiskers help them forage for food underwater.

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Mostly finalized location names with notes on prominent map features!

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I have a name dump where I'm listing tons of random names I can think of across the three existing dragon languages. Just getting a feel for sounds.

Astertongue is a bit soft sounding and can be recognized by the letter Y and by the more prominent TH, SH, and CH sounds. It didn't originally have Y in its alphabet but I like the way it looks. Astertongue borrows inspiration from Irish and Arabic in its sound.

Common Draconic doesn't have a character for TH/CH/SH but those sounds do occur every so often (Dragons are trying to phase them out, however, because the language is meant to be easily spoken across the globe.) It rarely has an A or E that just "hangs" (so names will use H at the end. Someone's name might be Marse in Astertongue but the Common Draconic version would be spelled Marseh.) It also uses the letter Q in the same way Old Draconic uses K, though the consonant is less throaty. There are also nonverbal cues. Baring the teeth with wings open denotes anger, but the same motion with wings close to the body indicates sarcasm. A short flap of the wings can place emphasis on a word - think of the ASL word for "stop", used as emphasis even in hearing communities. Common Draconic is inspired by Latin.

Old Draconic has the rare letters K and X. I'm thinking of having X make a 'ts' sound. They also love the apostrophe, like in the names G'nordu and S'daltus. Lots of harder sounds and names/words that end in consonants. Syllables are going to hiss, to sound guttural, to use throaty sounds. The language uses subtle non-spoken cues (similar to Common Draconic) to denote emotion and emphasis, but I haven't quite refined it.

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Finally, a profile pic (even though it may be temporary.) I have a million side blogs so I needed something to help differentiate this one from the others. I will always go with a round cropped icon against a solid background with a frame around it. Always.

Currently working on: the Astertongue language, country names (which I think are just about finalized), city names, roads, harbors, and small map details like bays, lakes, rivers, beaches, and forests. I have a lagoon and a rocky beach and a hot spring, and not one goddamn sandy beach or forest marked on the map. I love my brain.

Roads will probably happen first, so I can see how dragons might travel from town to town over the various types of terrain, and then I'll come up with realistic locations of capitol cities. I know I want a highway that goes into the canyon where it turns into a toll road guarded by Earth dragons. That's the only idea I have for the roads right now.

I want weird stuff along the roads. Ancient ruins. Forbidden areas. Secret paths. Monuments. Nomadic communities. Tiny villages. Everything!

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Started working on country names and some new continent placement, trying to make sense of climate and where things like rivers, lakes, wetlands, and mountains would be.

Countries named so far:

Cosmic: unnamed (considered "Eclipsia" because there is a lunar and a solar variant of these dragons living here.)

Water: The Sapphire Chain (tropical), Daybreak Islands (polar)

Fire: Sleeping Ash West, Sleeping Ash East, Crimson Coast

Ice: The Frozen North

Nature: The Highlands (highland), The Verdant Expanse (lowland)

Air: The Singing Peaks

Earth: Striata Canyon

Tech: Scrap Valley

Rot: The Undergrowth

Light: unnamed

Time: The Far Reach

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An incomplete list of inspirations for cuisine:

Cosmic: none

Water: The cuisine of the coral reef water dragons is based on Jamaican cuisine, with lots of seafood, tropical fruit, and complex spices. The polar water dragons' food is based on Faroese cuisine, including a lot of salted and cured meats. A particularly unique food is fermented lamb. A lot of meat is air-cured (because the air is so cold in this region.)

Fire: Nothing yet, but volcanic regions are very fertile and I'd like to come up with something interesting based on that.

Ice: Based on indigenous Canadian cuisine, which includes a lot of hearty stews, cured meats, seafood, and large game animals. They also have their own version of what we would call pemmican.

Nature: none

Air: none

Earth: none

Tech: These dragons live in a semi-arid region, so they have cuisine inspired by Diné culture. Corn is a huge staple food used in a lot of dishes, but they're also known for their fried breads and fire-roasted meats.

Rot: I didn't go with a specific culture, but a theme (though I'm tempted to go Chinese for this one.) Rot dragons built a culture around death and decay, so they experiment a lot with fermented and aged foods. Most dishes use soy sauce, cheese, wine, vinegar, and other similar ingredients. Mushrooms are a big food item but some dragons can't eat the mushrooms that are present in these dishes. Rice and tofu are other staples.

Light: none

"Time" is never included in these because they went missing a very long time ago and do not have an established society.

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World Creation Myth:

In the beginning, there was nothing but silence and darkness. The Creator appeared in a burst of light and reached in all directions with wings that stretched for eons to give Her light to the universe. She sent planets in every direction. Some planets were cast in light and warmth while others remained in the dark and cold. The Creator allowed Her heart to become the planet of Astria and Her breath to become the air. Her horns formed the continents and Her claws and teeth were used to forge the moons. Her body then burst into countless stars. Some say you can see her flowing mane in the Northern Aurora but others see it on the breeze or in water ripples.

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My favorite part of the creation myth is that many dragon clans debate what really happened. They all have their own stories and mythology.

Light dragons think they were the first dragons to be created, because they believe nothing can exist without light. They believe they came from stars.

Most believe that the planet formed first and then the mountains and valleys (namely the Air, Fire, Ice, and Earth dragons believe this bit) before anything else was created. The general belief is that the valleys had to form first, then the water came to fill them, and then that's when the forests appeared (and thus the Nature dragons were created.)

Nature and Rot dragons believe that Astria (the creator that the world is named after) takes the form of a doe that hides deep within the forests of the mainland. But most believe She exists in many interconnected parts all over the world, being present in every aspect of nature. Ice dragons say that Her flowing mane exists in the Northern Lights.

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A new map of Astria in the works. I moved some things around and added a few details. It feels so weird that there's THAT much open ocean, but apparently that can be pretty normal.

There's no color coding yet but generally everything is in the same place. The volcanic regions on the mainland are now closer to the eastern coast, since volcanoes usually form along tectonic plates. I changed the ring of islands to the east to be a water dragon region. I realized that this area used to be a volcano (given its shape), but it isn't anymore, so I didn't need to designate it to fire dragons. Rot dragons are on the west coast rather than in random pockets dotted all over the forested areas. I may shrink their region. Not sure. The Far Reach (upper left lone island) might get shrunk down as well.

I don't know how rivers and lakes work, but I sort of added some to see what it would look like. I wish I were better at understanding geography lol.

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I need to decide on how the languages of this story are going to work. I'm currently developing a language called Astertongue, which will have its own spoken language as well as an alphabet. Astertongue is from the region of the Cosmic element.

The common draconic language (where names of the elements and names of countries come from) is going to be logographic in the way that Chinese is. I want to write the characters to have one contextual component and one pronunciation component, somehow. I'll figure it out somehow.

It would make more sense for there to be at least a dozen languages, but that would be a LOT for me to come up with. Obviously some languages can just be introduced incompletely, with a few words here and there being included in the story. I need to remember not to overthink things or worry about so many details.

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Updated map of Astria for now. I hate my cartoony art style sometimes.

Too many land masses got moved so I'll need to redo the map and fill in some of that frighteningly sparse open ocean.

There definitely needs to be a wide open ocean around The Far Reach, which is the grayish continent in the farthest northwest corner. It's an island lost to time, where there's no weather or aging or dying. There's a vast ocean surrounding this area for miles around up until you get a bit close to it, and then the seas get eerily still and nothing swims there.

I need more realistic volcano placement.

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Just some edits to my map of Astria. Nations are getting moved around or yeeted altogether. Some territory is shared. And the Lunar/Solar element has been combined into one, with Lunar and Solar being the variants. Below are the nations so far.

The Solar Starseekers (Cosmic)

The Lunar Starseekers (Cosmic)

The Reefwalkers (Water)

Unnamed polar Water dragons

Unnamed western Fire dragons

Unnamed eastern Fire dragons

The Mountain Movers (Ice)

The Cloudchasers (Air)

Unnamed Earth dragons

Unnamed lowland Nature dragons

Unnamed highland Nature dragons

The Ghosts of the Undergrowth (Rot)

Unnamed coastal Rot dragons (which may not be kept as a variant)

The Steelbearers (Tech; this includes the island chain of them for now.)

The mainland Suneaters (Light)

The island Suneaters (Light)

The Far Reach (technically the forgotten "Time" element, split off from the Cosmic dragons)

There is a teeny-tiny Fire clan living up in the Frozen North where the Ice dragons are. These dragons are employed for their fiery powers and work on the railways, clearing snow and ice from the tracks. The employed Fire dragons eventually made a settlement in this region, creating generations of railway workers that are better equipped to handle the cold environment.

Anything with colored diagonal lines represent a shared region. The island south of the Tech dragons' region (The Scrapyard) is shared with the Light dragons and you can see how the Rot dragons share territory with the Nature dragons in some areas (The Nature dragons stay in the treetops and the Rot dragons live in the Undergrowth.)

The three regions completely crossed out of existence are the amphibious Water dragons to the northwest, the deep-sea Water dragons to the east, and some random Light settlement near the island chain (Never knew why this was put there in the first place.) I liked the different Water regions but for balancing purposes, I decided they didn't really need so many variations.

The big scribbly blue island that has a note saying "Change?" will probably be more polar Water dragons but that's undecided, hence the scribble and the question mark.

I also realized that there's a random Rot clan bordering the eastern Fire clan without a name. Volcanic regions are surprisingly fertile and great for farming, especially near a reliable water source, so I thought the Rot dragons (with their love of specifically fermented and aged foods) would love to have access to a nation to trade ingredients and spices with.