"Given his jealousy toward his kin, your assessment is probably accurate. As far as I know, it's not possible to recreate nor attach the immortal scales of the progenitor dragons once detached. That is to say - once lost it cannot be regained."
"Seeing how he was Scaleless from the start, that revelation alone might have done it. It would also explain why he resorted to such a fragile means of sustenance as that Crystal of his."
"It isn't that it wasn't impossible. It simply means he could not find a way, or could not think of a way, and rather than keep trying, he simply gave into despair and believed that if he couldn't do it, no one could."
"This is, incidentally, the core conceit of many mages. They believe that if they have all that power, then no one else could ever possibly do something they couldn't. Some scientists fall prey to that, but fewer."
"A fair point. My experience with sorcery and its limitations is more that... you get as much lost in the ritual as you do the effect, if that makes sense? Much of it is built on the pretense of ornate approach, 'honor the practice' when in as much a person can learn say, Pyromancy back in my home world, and become a master by intuition over explicit knowledge."
"But another question - what would you regard someone who applies a more structured approach to magic? I believe you would call it the work of artiface? Enchantment as measured approaches to practical issues and the like."
