For me, the intimidation factor for Antareans should be their numbers. Has anyone seen "Pitch Black"? I first saw it a number of months ago, and felt intellectually violated since their aliens reminded me a lot of Antareans (except larger and uglier). Though, a lone Antarean soldier is probably rather fearsome anyway, with lots of spikey natural weapons and thick armor. I don't think Delloran should look like a soldier; in fact, there are plot reasons why he should appear to be a very unique Antarean with trademark features. Perhaps he developed in a wonky sort of way, having grown up outside of the hive-like structure of his home peaks.

He's 12. I guess we're debating the application of the word "cradle". :P I just meant that Ko could be easily carried by one of the stronger PCs like Cade or Rush. And I do think that Ko would be a little larger than Dell.

What's the fun of copying someone else's system? :P

Does the system have to be so linear? Can't there be castes that are different but do not outrank each other?

(Hi Stix, nice to meet ya. This is off topic, but your drawings or music can go to the illustration or music section, by clicking on the "Submit File" button in the top right. It's great that you have a lot of music you're considering submitting, but keep in mind our submission guidelines, and also that media submitted without anything to do with the game probably won't earn any points (so at least find a spot in the story where it might fit).)

I agree with Temp; I don't think the Antareans would order themselves so strictly in that manner. In fact, except for their genetically-determined caste, Antareans aren't likely to order themselves in much of any manner (remember: this is a society of wind affinitives). The ruling caste should obviously hold power over the others, probably including leading armies and coordinating building projects and things like that. Kydran would be a member of the ruling caste.

Also, when I talk about Antarean society as hive-like, I certainly don't envision some sort of Borg-like collective mind driving their actions. Antareans respect individual differences just as much as other races (or perhaps moreso), and it's probably possible that a renowned member of the worker caste would be more respected than an unaccomplished soldier, and vice versa.

Last off-topic post here: I uploaded a song. I will henceforth post many dragons that I have drawn.

I liked Akio's drawings the best. The center one with the PPV ad was hilarious. I picture Dell walking on two legs looking very lizard/dragon like, but being at most 4-5 feet tall, but solid and somewhat squat in the way he sits. I picture Kydran being a bit smaller, and darker looking then Dell. Shifty eyes, and all.

just my thoughts

Here it is: the Delloran concept rant that I've put off for too long. It doesn't really directly address the two vs four legs issue, and like Temporal, I'd probably be fine seeing either (or both). But I've had (let's see...) about a year to reformulate exactly what Delloran specifically is like as a character, and here's what I've come up with.

Delloran is an animal, and while humans and the other races are technically animals as well, we don't tend to think of them that way. Even Antareans, despite their exotic social structures, appear to us as a fully sentient race--in other words, not beasts of nature. Delloran is different, though. He's grown up by himself, living a lazy life in the provincial grasslands. Think about what would happen to a human if he grew up in those circumstances. Would he speak normally? Would he have the sorts of manners a typical person might have? Would he be good with math and science? No, and neither should Dell.

In terms of character design, we should not be afraid to portray Delloran as a primitive being. I think the tendency in many stories that involve animal characters (be they "normal" animals or animal-humanoid hybrids) is to anthropomorphize them to the point where it wouldn't matter that they're an animal; you could tell the same story with a human. I don't want to do that with Dell. His natural wisdom and insight that he brings to the story (especially to Rheya) will be all the more surprising.

Those're my ideas anyway. :P

We'll have to formulate some reason he's not completely feral. I'm thinking that the cave he grew up in would have to have either a plethora of books (either has a storage area, or as the cellars of some decrepit library) or some other reason that he's not, you know, a beast of the field.