#i need spirals snappers and most ancients

[tiredspirals]

Of world building Wednesday involves lore help honestly I'd love some direction for my new dragons

When they sit in the cannon fodder tab it means I haven't had an idea for them yet, I just picked up pretty dragon

[ink-of-a-thousand-currents]

Greenskeeper Skin Stats, pre 2024 fest

A bit different from my previous Skin Census posts, I think this one will be more helpful

The goal of this is to help people decide on what breeds/poses they could try making skins for, if you're unsure, based on what kind of coverage we already have for Greenskeeper skins

Below, we have 3 categories of priority (priority being an indicator of how much representation a pose has for this fest): Highest, High, and Lowest. Anything not listed here is considered mid to low priority

Highest priority

Poses with absolutely zero representation for Greenskeeper

Banescales

Auraboas

Dusthides

Ridgeback M

Sandsurges

Undertide F

High priority

Poses with only 1 or 2 skins/accents for this fest, making a note of if they have no Accents, no Skins, or one of each

Aberrations (2 each, no Skins)

Aethers (1 each, no Skins)

Bogsneak M (2, no Accents)

Gaolers (2 each, no Skins)

Guardian M (2, one of each)

Nocturne M (1, no Accents)

Obelisks (2F/1M, no Skins)

Pearlcatcher M (2, one of each)

Skydancer M (2, one of each)

Undertide M (1, no Accents)

Veilspuns (2 each, no Skins)

Lowest priority

Poses with at least 5 skins/accents for this fest, with the actual count listed

Coatl M (8)

Pearlcatcher F (6)

Snappers (6F, 5M)

Spiral M (5)

Wildclaws (12F, 10M)

In conclusion

Aside from the obvious 3 Ancient Breeds that came out after last Greenskeeper, we have a few poses with no representation. Ridgeback M I think is the most egregious outlier, so I'd love to see some skin options for our pointy boys! The lack of Banescale options is also making me sad.

Finally, if you only have one takeaway from this, let it be this: Please, for the love of god, don't do another Nature fest Wildclaw skin, we have progressed past the need for Greenskeeper Wilclaw skins, why are there OVER 20—

[dragon-grunkle]

interesting note about my lore: most dragons are not flighted.

i hadn't actually incorporated this until recently, when i realized that i already have quite a few dragons without wings or flight (alvar has no wings, jet can't use his at all, okeli can only glide, etc). and honestly - it makes perfect sense. a lot of my dragons are anthropomorphic, so wings are already kind of a pain to add on when drawing them (i love drawing wings, but they can lead to some messy silhouettes if you want them tucked...). plus i headcanon that there is an insane amount of morphological variety when it comes to dragons, mostly because of things like magic making rapid mutation and evolution leading to loss of flight possible.

older dragons - those in the several centuries range, like tyqin - make up the vast majority of dragons capable of true self-powered, ground takeoff flight - and dragons of this age are few and far between. then there are those who can more or less fly, but only if they have a tall place to take off from. a lot of dragons are like this, but the amount of flight ability in this category is also variable, and dwindling as time goes on. last, you have those with nonfunctional or nonexistent wings. a growing proportion of sornieth is like this. the trend tends to be that dragons in metropolitan areas are less flighted than those in rural or older areas. some breeds are more likely to be flight capable than others. snappers, for example, are basically entirely grounded, like in site lore. spirals and skydancers are more inclined to be flighted, but it's not a sure thing. 

everyone knows dragons SHOULD be able to fly, but for whatever reason, they've started to lose that ability, and no one's really sure why that is. all this is important when it comes to cliff and arclight in particular, because the city is really not designed for flight. there are buildings with launching points for those capable of gliding, so they can achieve good lift, but these are few and far between and are...really not that functional anyway. i mean, say you're trying to commute - you'd really have to hope that the building you're trying to reach is both a. within gliding distance and b. has a landing pad for you, so they're more like tourist attractions than anything, or a part of urban design that just never really took off. plus, arclight is built on an artificial island. space is VERY limited, and all the buildings are tightly packed as a result. there IS a system of hanging gondolas to link various skyscrapers, but again, this is not super conducive to free flight.

all in all, most dragons really just...don’t bother with flying anymore. society has progressed to the point where it’s not strictly necessary, and while many may wonder what it’s like or enjoy limited use of their gliding abilities, flying under your own power is generally seen as a thing of the past. but what if you do want to fly, but you don’t really have functional wings? well, there’s a few options out there for you.

some flights, like arcane and especially wind, have managed to manufacture magic-oriented ways of flying, like amplifying air currents or decreasing the effects of gravity on an individual. you do need to be a good enough mage to pull this off, though, and the decline in flight ability seems to be correlated with a decline in magical ability as well...then there's lightning, which has come up with powered flight in the form of aerocraft. they're more expensive than magic, but don’t require magic to make or operate, which makes them somewhat more accessible. they're not common by any means, though - they're mostly used for utilitarian purposes, like transporting people and supplies.

a small community of dragons fascinated by aerotechnology has sprung up, however, and within this group lies a subculture of stunt pilots and racers, those interested in flying faster than anyone has ever flown before, whether that be under their own power or not. this, of course, is where cliffseeker comes from. after a terrible crash leads to him getting laughed out of the goldensparc aviation community, cliff heads to arclight, having heard about the amazing technological advances happening there. he's really hoping to get on the leading edge of aviation. except...that's not really what happens. arclight is, again, an isolated artificial island. nobody builds any planes because there's no room to test them.

so he's out of luck - until he hears about a disgraced inventor who's been working on some sort of new era flying device. no one else is willing to take a chance on it, but cliff will do anything to fly. he tracks down this inventor and finds that what he's made is not actually a fixed wing aerocraft at all, but a personal flying device that you strap to your back. tesla referenced the works of an ancient light scholar who drew up fantastical flying devices. at the time, he was mocked for trying to solve a problem that didn't exist yet, and so his works were lost to history - until now, that is.

so cliff’s found his wings. only, there's a catch - tesla is embroiled in a scientific turf war with rival bioengineer stark, who plans to fuse dragons and familiars in an effort to restore flight capabilities to dragons. she's already mutated herself beyond recognition and seems to have lost herself in the process. terrified of what she may do to reach her goal, tesla enlists cliff to help him stop her...

[dikdikrising]

I thought of a lore explanation why ancient breeds can’t wear apparel

Apparel that is interchangeable between dragons of different species is magically imbued to allow it to fit the figure of its wearer. This explains why fae and imperials can swap clothing with no size issues or why, say, snappers and spirals can wear the same sweater with about the same ratio of neck to collar. It also explains why battle item drops like beastclan armor and weapons aren’t equippable.

But ancient breeds have a magical signature so old and far removed from modern dragon breeds that modern magic won’t work with them. Kind of like incompatible blood types. And with skincents, making clothing that does fit them would involve special tailoring without magical implements.

So tailors who are used to manipulating magic to solve individual fashion needs are now thrown for a loop and are forced to resort to analog methods like measuring tapes and needle and thread like some sort of stone age, non-magical dumbasses. Like having to use a god damned abacus because your calculator broke. All because a woolly mammoth showed up at your door and commissioned a three piece suit

This would also mean that tailors and fashion designers are some of the most disciplined, elaborate and intricate magic practitioners on the planet

[yasbxxgie]

Pirates Could Make a Comeback as Illegal Fishing Returns to Somalia's Coast

A war is quietly brewing off the coast of Somalia.

In full view of the world's most potent navies, foreign fishing ships are plundering Somali waters in flagrant breach of international maritime law and threatening local communities whose survival depends on the trade.

Unregulated overfishing by foreign fleets provoked a rash of Somali pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean a decade ago, when local fishermen who were being driven to financial ruin took up arms to defend territorial waters against intruders. They quickly expanded into lucrative and indiscriminate hostage-taking, attracting international attention as pirate gangs plagued the global shipping industry with assaults and ransom demands.

A veritable armada of warships from NATO, the European Union, and elsewhere has since pacified the region while ironically making it safe for illegal fishing fleets from countries like Yemen, Iran, and South Korea to return. If the issue is not addressed, desperate Somali fishermen could soon launch a second pirate war that officials fear will be much deadlier than the first.

Musa Mahamoud is a sprightly 55-year-old fisherman who works from the sweeping beach at Eyl, an ancient coastal town perched above the Indian Ocean whose name was once synonymous with piracy. He runs an intimidating gauntlet of illegal fishing boats every time he goes out to sea to put down his nets. A few weeks ago, he returned to find his nets slashed beyond repair. Mahamoud is one of the lucky ones. Some of his fellow fishermen have had their boats rammed by unregulated rivals. Others have been shot dead.

He doesn't feel lucky, though. Squeezed close to shore by the illegal vessels, his catch has dwindled by as much as 80 percent since their return to Somali waters.

Mahamoud says that he was never a pirate, but freely admits that he was a facilitator who provided weapons and equipment to the seafaring bandits. When asked whether he would again support such an effort, he said that he might not have a choice.

"If this illegal fishing doesn't stop, I will go back to it," the father of eight said, with no hesitation in his voice. "If a thief invades your house, are you going to stand by and watch? This is our livelihood!"

Five years ago, Eyl was Somalia's most notorious pirate hideout. The area's kingpins and their henchmen would roar through town in tinted 4x4s, secure deals in coffee dens, and collect ransom payments from the ocean that were dropped by light aircraft.

This criminal enterprise was very different to the one that began as a kind of vigilante coastguard, with armed fishermen extorting cash from unlicensed fishing boats. Then they started detaining the crews and taking their boats, larger sailing vessels that allowed them to seek out bigger and more lucrative targets further out at sea.

As the gangs grew richer and their operations more sophisticated, so did their ambitions.

"They found that attacking fishing vessels was pretty easy," said John Steed of Oceans Beyond Piracy, a project that seeks to promote long-term solutions to maritime banditry. "Then, why not coastal vessels?"

The series of successes and the promise of big payouts led them to bigger targets farther out to sea, he added, to the point where the effort against illegal fishing had spiraled into the routine attacking and holding captive of cargo ships and oil tankers.

When this crisis was at its height in early 2011, Somali pirates were holding more than 30 ships and more than 700 hostages. When payday came, it could change lives. In 2010, a ransom of $9.5 million was paid to the hijackers of the South Korean tanker Samho Dream.

Driving through the ramshackle streets of Eyl, one sees little indication of its inglorious past.

Yet beneath the surface, said Faisal Wa'is, a local government official, tensions are at a "boiling point." A few weeks earlier, he raced to the shore to discourage a group of angry fishermen who were preparing to attack a foreign vessel that had been menacing locals.

"Unless something is done, I am afraid that piracy may come back," Wa'is said.

Wracked by a civil war and two decades of fighting, Somalia remains one of the poorest and most lawless countries in the world. In a nation with so little economic opportunity, fishing can be the only lifeline that coastal communities have.

With its 1,880 mile-long coastline, the longest on the African mainland, the country boasts one of the richest fishing grounds in the world, the waters teeming with shark, swordfish, tuna, sardines, snapper, and lobster.

Lured by Somalia's anarchy, foreigners operate under the radar, flying flags of convenience and painting over their boats' names to escape detection. Their captains all too easily exploit the country's chaotic and corrupt licensing regime, either by paying off certain officials for a license of sorts or by fishing without a license at all.

Able to act with impunity, they use highly destructive fishing methods, such as the bottom trawling that razes fish habitats, and gillnetting and purse-seining that ensnare large quantities of unwanted by-catch.

In doing so, they deprive fishermen of their means of support and the country's government of valuable revenue. A six-month survey into the rise of illegal fishing undertaken last year by Adeso, an African nonprofit working with coastal communities in Somalia, found that nearly 90 percent of the Somali fishermen it questioned had spotted foreign fishing boats close to shore.

"Illegal fishing is gouging from the nascent Somali economy a source of revenue that, if harnessed, could help build much needed infrastructure, provide healthcare and education to those who go without, and restore arid lands to grazing pastures," said Degan Ali, executive director of Adeso, which warns that a failure to combat the illegal fishing vessels could motivate a resurgence in piracy.

There is some indication that it already has. In March, pirates from central Somalia captured two Iranian fishing vessels — one of which managed to escape in August — in the first successful hijackings in over two years. A UN report released last month pointed to Mohamed Osman Mohamed "Gafanje," a notorious pirate kingpin who was arrested by Somali forces in August last year and later released.

Secure Fisheries, a project that aims to help Somalia manage its fishing resources, estimates that foreign fishermen catch three times as much fish as Somalis — 132,000 metric tons compared to 40,000 caught by locals.

Many in Somalia would like to see the Western warships patrolling the ocean confront the illegal fishing boats despite not having a mandate to do so. Officials accuse the West of focusing on one narrow element of the crisis while neglecting the grievances that gave rise to piracy in the first place.

"NATO came because of the piracy, but the cause of piracy is the illegal fishing," Wa'is said. "If NATO can chase away the pirates, then why not the illegal fishermen?"

While officials in the once pirate-heavy state of Puntland suggest that their efforts to paint piracy as un-Islamic have received wide support, many Somalis still feel broadly sympathetic to the pirates because of the disadvantages they face, and are inclined to believe that the international community was too harsh in combating piracy. Foreign navies detained hundreds of suspected pirates at sea, shunting them to neutral locations such as the Seychelles to be put on trial. Many of them received lengthy prison terms.

Mohammed Mahamoud, a portly 37-year-old convicted of piracy in the Seychelles, will probably spend the next two decades of his life in a squalid and overcrowded prison the northern Somali port town of Bosaso.

Spitting angrily on the ground as he recounted his arrest, he claims that he was simply a fisherman chasing off an Iranian fishing vessel that had strayed into Somali waters when he and his five crew members — armed, he said, with pistols — were picked up by foreign navies and plunged into a bewildering judicial process. Denied an interpreter, he claimed, he and his crew only learned of their sentence from fellow inmates.

"We were like toys," he said. "We knew there was no government to defend us."

Adding to his sense of injustice, he noted that two fellow defendants who received similar sentences but declined to move to a Somali jail were later released on appeal in the Seychelles.

It's hard to shake the impression that many of those in prison are foot soldiers, while the pirate masterminds remain at large. According to various United Nations reports on Somalia, some of the leaders of these gangs poured their ill-gotten gains into other businesses, such as arms trafficking and aviation.

Alan Cole, the East Africa head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, warns that these networks could be activated at a moment's notice. He believes Somalia is enjoying an "artificial" calm, thanks largely to the Western navies but also because commercial shipping lines have taken on private security firms to protect their vessels.

"Young Somalis will go back to this if the conditions are ripe," he added.

While Western warships have deterred would-be pirates, many fear what will happen when they leave. Although Puntland has its own small counter-piracy force, the Gulf-funded Puntland Maritime Police Unit, it has only 15 light speedboats — far too small a resource to patrol such a vast stretch of water.

With NATO and European Union mandates up for review at the end of 2016, Cole said that there is mounting pressure from member states to redeploy warships to places such as the Mediterranean, a move that could plunge this region into a new round of insecurity.

John Steed of Oceans Beyond Piracy agrees.

"If commercial vessels decide it's no longer expedient to employ armed guards," he said, "these guys will just surge."

Photograph:

Catrina Stewart

Image:

Wikimedia Commons