How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
As far as Dragonflight goes, I'm going to go with Magic, since it does exist in Skyrim. Either they have a 'feather light' enchantment in their basic physiology, Eat primarily foods that contain that affect... or have very hollow bones. Anyway, it does seem brittle enough to be hollow, since you can apparently slice through the skull (finishing move) with an axe. It doesn't seem that impressive, since you can see axes slicing through people's heads whenever. But even just an elephant's skull has nearly a foot of bone to go through. Hunters have Special bullets are made to punch through that. If we assume the bones are all super-low-density, the rest of the body must be fairly lightweight as well, to avoid breaking the bones while doing anything involving motion. So all the armor and scales must be of a similar lightweight but sturdy material. (So you can shoot an arrow and it will actually stick, instead of bouncing off like a rock wall) So the scales would be something like hardened chitin or ivory. Enough to defend one's soft bits, but not hard enough to deflect determined swords. Dragons also don't seem to be very adept at flying. They can flap up into the air, but it seems very tiresome and time-consuming. They tend to swoop by with minimal wing-beats to breath fire, or just land and bite at the person. Very rarely will a dragon pick up someone to fling them and kill them. (So aerial acrobatics are difficult) Their wings look more like bat wings, which requires a lot of flapping to keep aloft, but they tend to glide more than anything.
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#2
Old 20-11-2011
Nimos Nimos is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
In Daggerfall an dragon explain that’s dragons use their voice for levitation magic and dragon by self says that’s their physiology don't allow them fly well without magic. Too bad Dragon born can’t learn such shout.
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#3
Old 20-11-2011
Jung Jung is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Not everybody likes to brag about their computer specs and whine about bugs. There is more to the game than clicking your mouse to swing a sword. I think if you take in consideration the weight of their bones and whatnot, it isn't out of this world to see one of those big things gliding around without much problem. But, I don't know that their wings would have what it takes to get them off the ground. It's got to be the power of their voice! In Skyrim, anyway.
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#4
Old 20-11-2011
VazV VazV is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
i think the concept of dragons is so popular partially because the idea of a giant freaking lizard that can fly is so frighteningly outlandish. It’s basically a t-rex that you can never escape because it can follow you into the sky itself. As for Skyrim, i think it’s a shout or more likely considering the age of the dragons, the apparently lost levitation spell. do you know how extreme the mechanics would have to be for a giant lizard to fly? it would have to have the relative strength of an ant, wingspan of 500 ft, and bones so light they would break if it ever tried to land. Basically, magic. Dragons fly because they’re magic.
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#5
Old 20-11-2011
Orochimaru Orochimaru is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It’s because dragons aren't real and are honestly a dumb concept to begin with considering nothing that big can fly. Even the old school pterosaurs had less body mass and more wing span. But the dragons do probably have hollow bones and really powerful muscles. They also tend not to lap a lot which is something larger birds also do. Flying is about catching the currents not necessarily powering through the air. That’s how birds fly. Bats on the other hand have to keep beating and beating their wings. a dragon. Would probably prefer to flap few times.
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#6
Old 20-11-2011
Mollyi7 Mollyi7 is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It's not "wrong" to try to apply science to fantasy settings. You just have to take a look at the Argonians or Khajiit to see that biology is fantastical and crazy, but that doesn't mean that it isn't there. However, like with Khajiit (who are one of several different species depending on the phase of the moon when they're born) or Argonians (who are water-breathing, egg-laying, milk-producing lizards), some stuff is just fantastical. Do dragons use magic to fly? No, they just fly.
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#7
Old 20-11-2011
AlisaDsa AlisaDsa is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
It is quite good. It's actually extremely old too. When I was a kid (about 20 years ago) I checked out a book about dragons from my grade school library. It had the same theory about hydrochloric acid breaking down certain plants and limestone pebbles into hydrogen gas. By storing the gas and compressing it, "dragons" might have been able to adjust their relative buoyancy.
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#8
Old 20-11-2011
LotusN LotusN is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Dragons 'evolved' in a world where magic exists. They could have been intelligent lizards who learned levitation magic or even jump magic to help them get at prey. The wings are extra appendages - dragons came from a four-legged beast that kept all four legs and evolved two additional 'arms'. At any rate, stir in extra mutations possible through magic, and dragons could exist today. It is also quite possible that dragons also developed shield and resistance magic to counteract their weak, lightweight skeletons. You might think of magic as spells that are cast or powers used, but such magic that evolved into the creature is as automatic as breathing. They don't have to think about it - it's 'natural' in the world of magic. This explains why dragons are so tough while they are alive - their magic sustains them. Once they are dead and that spark of magic dies, they are just as vulnerable as any other lizard.
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#9
Old 21-11-2011
Wyl Wyl is offline
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Re: How Dragonflight works in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
They speak magic, and these are lesser dragons. Like lesser deodar. I mean it's a complete non-issue, it's very likely they don't conform to the laws we do. We know from the Dwarves that there are different levels of existence and rules to govern them. Dragons are Aedra, like Deidra and thus of a certain degree "higher" within the cosmology. Or so goes my theory. The rules are literally different for them.
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