Sometimes when writing, especially for a weird crew of characters like the drakoon, it's a good idea to do some shorter conceptual writings and short stories to really get the feel for them and their society, as well as that society's mood. If you don't know what drakoon are, read my epic Post for Drakoon which may not entirely tell you what they are but might at least tell you how obsessive I am about them. Well, here's another obsessive post, in the form of a sort of faux quote which may be used at the start of the next book in the Emperor's Blood trilogy, which is appropriately named Kill Copper. From the sheer nature that this post is about drakoon, it shall prove morbid contrast to my last posting on this blog! Keep in mind, this is mood writing. The drakoon are meant to sound mildly psychotic - they are actually cursed to warfare, unlike humans who have a choice to make peace or not. Be happy you're human and that drakoon aren't real. I am!
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“At first, it’s just an irrational weird feeling you get. You see another drakoon, maybe a young one or somebody you’ve quarrelled with once or twice and you have this really odd urge to do something nasty to them, like shake their neck in your teeth and feel ‘em between your jaws. You kind of wonder then what their blood would taste like and a moment later, ‘fore you know it, well, you do know what it tastes like, ‘cus you’re attacking them. You don’t altogether know why. They could even be a complete stranger, but see, you’ve got your teeth around ‘em and you’re not letting go so it doesn’t matter who they are. You don’t know why you‘re doing what you are. You just want to keep biting them. You don’t need a reason. You just do it. Then somebody clouts you over the head and you remember who you are, but hey, that nasty little feeling stays, just a little, a whisper in the back of your skull that wants you to kill some more, to bite some more heads. Eventually, you can’t deny it no more. Eventually, you start to like it. The only cure is elf’s blood but see, there’s the real problem - there aren’t elves around anymore, so unless somebody bloods you, you‘re just as dead as them you’ve been biting ‘cus the Imperialty‘ll kill you. It’s not nice or fair and no fault of yours, but well, that’s the curse of our species. We’re doomed to it. A blooded drakoon can still get like this, but at least he’s under control somewhat. Mostly.”
- Grand Commander Konara of the First Imperial Sloveniskan Army
to his son Momentaru of Sloveniska on the subject of Kill-Copper.
Kill-Copper. It’s the name given to the mother of all curses, the involuntary instinct made permanent by a very vengeful World Spirit in the brains and minds of all drakoon, an instinct which without the use of Blood Magic, would have seen the drakoon species go extinct within the first one hundred years of its conception. For Kill-Copper, drakoon of every age and bloodline often go insane with the absolutely undeniable urge to kill Rimer’s enemies, with a specific gearing towards Copper Elves. Since these are in short supply, drakoon turn instead of the closest thing to - each other. Only Blood Magic can bridle the instinct, but even that cannot completely control it. Sometimes, drakoon go awry regardless and in many cases, the only cure to that is euthanization. As a result, drakoon live their lives in tight proverbial chains, tied to an emperor through a concept of magic and ‘smells-like-me’ (referring to a drakoon’s ability to detect subtle individual differences in blood DNA which is mixed around via blooding).
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As you can probably guess, the book Kill Copper will indeed have something to do with this instinct... but then, it's about drakoon!
Not sayin' anymore!
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