Obligatory disclaimer: real life sucks, even the weather, so here is another story idea; but first, a shout-out to the ‘Knight’: HBO’s Westeros underdog is coming into its’ own at last.
Why? Because it is finally moving past the bloody
tourney and into the greater Westeros: in the penultimate S1 episode, we have
to see a bit of a Blackfire rebellion, and, um, we have an active Targaryen
killing Targaryen action once more. This time it is Baelor who is dead and
Daeron (the Waffle) who did the deed – unintentionally, unlike how it went down
in HoD…
What does it mean for Westeros? Strife and war, of
course, because those are the only things Mr. Martin makes there; there’s also
scheming, of course, but as a rule it leads only to violence and little more.
At the beginning of D&E S1, the Targaryens are at peace with each other,
Westeros is peaceful, inasmuch as it can be, but now peace is ending again –
the heir to the throne is dead, and his siblings, children, and so on will soon
be jousting for the Iron Throne because, hey, it’s Westeros. I am no so
desperate to research in depth just how many Targaryens there are in Westeros
at this point In Westeros’ history, but since we know that the throne will go
to Egg in the end game of ‘Knight’, it doesn’t matter anyhow.
…I do not know if Mr. Martin intended it or not, but
a lot of Westeros action ends up being rather pointless, as the throne is kept
by the Targaryens no matter what. In the novels, in particular, it is becoming clear
that Jon and Dany will eventually occupy the Iron Throne, (i.e., the Targaryens
will recover their rightful kingdom and domain), and in the TV series… well,
HoD has Targaryens fighting each other while everyone else plays a supporting
role, and ‘Knight’ until now it was almost a Medieval RPG, with Dunk trying to
find his place in the Westeros society now that his father figure, mentor, and
master, is dead and he is anchorless… So now, the choice is the familiar, by
now, Targaryen vs. Targaryen violence, or more of the lukewarm and rather
shallow Medieval RPG that we had before. Maybe HBO will throw in another
CGI-looking robin in for a good measure…. Where were we?
My latest story idea, seeing how real life sucks,
thanks to the Donald and his late friend Jeff – but also thanks to the Donald’s
opposition, and how they’re handling the situation; spoilers – they don’t. Let
us get back to fiction, shall we?
…A world populated primarily by the ‘goblinoid’
races (trolls, orcs and ogres are not a part of them, they are separate). To
wit, they are, as follows.
The bugbears. They are the physically biggest of the
goblinoids, but also the least numerous. In a big part because they are also
anti-social loners – they hate most other sentient beings, including their
cousins, as well as each other. A bugbear is quite happy dominating hobgoblins
and goblins and never meeting another bugbear in their lifetime – hence the low
population numbers. Only now, with more powerful beings, such as evil dragons
and the mind flayers being also around, this lifestyle is no longer working,
and bugbears need to re-think it, or else they just might go extinct.
The hobgoblins. If the goblins are smaller than the humans
are, and the bugbears are bigger, (and stronger, and more formidable and
imposing), then the hobgoblins are human-sized and are rather humane in their
lifestyles, etc.
Enter the dragons. They are blue dragons, meaning
that they exhale lightning (electricity) rather than fire, and are immune to
electricity, not fire; they’re also lawful, as in tyrants, and have enslaved
the hobgoblins, (not that they resisted much, because hobgoblins themselves are
lawful evil). As a result, the hobgoblins became racially diverse, (among other
effects).
There are now four races of hobgoblins. There are the
‘ordinary’ hobgoblins, (the ancestral race), the half-dragon hobgoblins
(obvious), the draconic hobgoblins, and the ‘sunscorch’ ones. The draconic
hobgoblins look like scalier, more feral versions of ordinary hobgoblins, while
the sunscorch are really just ordinary hobgoblins, but smarter, and with blue eyes
or blue-tinged hair. The hobgoblin society is acutely hierarchical, of course, and
plenty of them are trying to rebel – well, trying to figure out how to rebel,
not just because they are afraid of dragons, but also because they are not good
at rebelling in the first place. (Scope aside, the hobgoblins aren’t that
better than the blue dragons are).
The goblins. They are the smallest and the most
numerous of the original goblinoids… and are dominated by the mind flayers.
(Some of whom are liches, or alhoons, in the mind flayers’ tongue). Therefore,
some of the goblins become Dekanter goblins – a mix of goblin and
anthropomorphic rhino – and they are more formidable, given their relatively
small size…
The Dekanter goblins serve the mind flayers loyally,
(moreso than the ancestral goblins), but the mind flayers meddling had
unexpected side effects. First, some of the goblins are born with blue skin color,
eyes…, and psionic powers of their own; they are smarter than the ancestral goblins
are, and are slowly forming their own councils, trying to counteract the mind
flayers.
Second, some of the goblins are born as worghests
instead – those are the goblin analogues of tieflings, but rather than from demons
or devils, they are descended from barghests instead. (The barghests themselves
may still be around, but they are not making themselves known in the immediate
moment). Those worghests are anarchists instead, spreading chaos, (not that
that goblins themselves are bad at it but their worghest kin are even better).
…The blue dragons and the mind flayers are aware of
each other, of course, but neither side is ready to be actively hostile – not yet.
In addition, their goblinoid pawns are slowly discovering their own free will
and initiative as well.
This already heterogeneous mix of related races and
conflicted interests develops on the background of a greater conflict – the
orcs are going to war against humans, elves, and dwarves. How will the
goblinoids (and their puppeteer masters) affect the conflict is an open
question…
Therefore, this is my new story idea. I hope that you
will like it, too. See you all soon!
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