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Reptillian Zoology


89157Z

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Which zoology subskill applies to reptiles? It looks like the answer is almost 'amphibian', but that doesn't seem quite right...

This question occurred to me because there are quite a few reptillian familiars scurrying about the school, so it seemed like there'd be an interest among at least some of the students.

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I'm reasonably sure that hexapodal, flying, firebreathing, hot-blooded, sentient, magic using beings do not qualify as 'reptiles' even if they do have scales.

 

Although I could see the average shmoe on the street not knowing any better. Heh. That could actually be a funny event encounter with a travelling carnival or exotic animal show that is displayng a captive "dragon". Which of course is nothing more than a small alligator or the like. Chaos ensues which your student can correct or contribute to as his whims and those of the dice decide.

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I'm reasonably sure that hexapodal, flying, firebreathing, hot-blooded, sentient, magic using beings do not qualify as 'reptiles' even if they do have scales.

Now I want a steam-powered robot as my familiar...if that is canon with the system.

 

Maybe a soul powered robot. ;)

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So that's where the engineering skill is for in this magical world, and hopefully the later year of the school will include advance enchantment classes that teach magical clockwork device. ;)

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Ooooh! In that case, I want a magically animated bicycle!

 

If you're in the era of steam the correct term is 'velocipede'. Which is much cooler anyway, if more of a mouthful.

 

I ride motorcycles btw, I don't even own a car at present. But I've always thought the man who rode this had to be a certifiable lunatic:

774px-1884_Copeland_Steam_Cycle_(replica)_The_Art_of_the_Motorcycle_-_Memphis.jpg

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We don't know if dragons are hot-blooded, at least I can't remember any reference in History or other class. It would be nice to hear how they breath fire at all without burning themselves. Maybe they are some sort of methane producing beings capable to ignite their bad breath? Btw, crocodiles (and presumably some dinosaurs) can (could) control body temperature to certain limit. Even sharks can do it ;)

 

Personally I love idea of sentient carnivorous plant familiar much better than of mechanical automaton. How often you saw sentient flowers before? I can count such instances from fantasy literature using fingers on one hand :)

 

Hm, I wonder when year 2 is available? Looks like it's already being implemented...

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Perhaps the firebreathing is just a special case of instinct-level incantation. Perhaps it isn't instinct-level at all and they have to be taught to do it. Perhaps it's not even innate magic and you'll find that dragons have phemes etched across their cheeks and/or necks to make them able to use that old trick! Of course, that last one would imply that you could 'teach' reptillian familiars to 'breathe fire' if you knew the trick...

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We don't know if dragons are hot-blooded, at least I can't remember any reference in History or other class. It would be nice to hear how they breath fire at all without burning themselves.

There used to be a cool episode call Dragons: A Fantasy Made Real on animal planet where the expert try to explain scientifically how the dragon works and their habitat in full 3D animation.

 

The fire breathing part explain that the dragon have grinding teeth to eat platinum ore to create high amount of hydrogen in their lung then some anti-fire organ block their lung when they breath fire.

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I would tend to assume that dragon fire-breath uses liquid aromatic hydrocarbons like man-made flamethrowers; that would be more likely to develop from a poison-spitting defense system or something similar than hydrogen sacs, I suspect.

 

In any case, I'm really quite surprised that we have access to the "big two" forbidden areas of study, Gates and Mastery, while smaller things like studying Reptiles are so forbidden that they can't be learned at all.

 

Yes, this is a call to add even more stuff to our kitchen-sink of skills.

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Well, we don't actually 'have' access to those studies (Gates, Mastery) either - not openly anyway - and really, what would you rather study if you were likely to get into trouble for it, reptiles or how to magically get your classmates to do silly tricks in the lunchbreak? :D

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Reptiles! But that's just me personally speaking. Now if you'd said 'reptiles, or how to magically travel between dimensions', I'd totally have said 'how to magically travel between dimensions.

 

Besides, reptillian zoology is something that can be studied in later years, which takes off some of the pressure to find and search. Gates magic is something that is never likely to open up with formal classes!

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Reptiles! But that's just me personally speaking. Now if you'd said 'reptiles, or how to magically travel between dimensions', I'd totally have said 'how to magically travel between dimensions.

 

Besides, reptillian zoology is something that can be studied in later years, which takes off some of the pressure to find and search. Gates magic is something that is never likely to open up with formal classes!

 

Oh there are formal classes for Gates magic! You see there is this secret university devoted to it's study and all you have to do is ... Did you hear something? I could have sworn ... No! Stay back! ... :)

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