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welp, dragon you done Fucked Up.

Ehh, I’d say Wosret eff’d up. Dragons attacking sphinxes on the mainland? True and can go about it all day. Making a direct accusation against this dragon herself? He clearly doesn’t know anything about her. From what she’s said, we can deduct that she sympathizes with the motivations behind those attacks, but that doesn’t mean she agrees with the method. She’s come peacefully, and basically got slapped in the face by a racist sphinx man lumping her in with the dragons that are killing sphinxes.

Not to say the dragon is right to be all DO THIS OR ELSE RAWR– but well, two wrongs don’t make a right. Good diplomacy is not testing the opposition’s patience, not about expecting infinite patience.

I feel like with how she jumped to “You will do this or else!” She probably doesn’t have any problems with killing Sphinxes, or at least destroying their shops/medallion mints. Wosret already pointed out why Sphinxes haven’t made medallions for Dragons, and she jumped to threatening them anyway.

Humbleness is not a trait commonly found in dragons :/

Jocasta is reasonable to the point where you make it clear that you are simply another arse that she deals with during the day. Then all her diplomatic skills flit off faster than a teenager who walks in on their parents “wrestling”.

‘Simply another arse’ implies there isn’t some valid justification behind it. Yes, the dragoness is being any number of bad words, not disagreeing with that, but it can be justified considering how dragons are treated. I imagine the mythical community treat dragons almost as badly as humans do, similar to how they tend to treat harpies, manticores and gorgons.

If Jocasta had kept her cool -just- a moment longer, maybe this situation could’ve been saved.

It is perfectly good description. Everyone has motives, and what they claim can differ from their genuine beliefs. I’m not saying that discrimination is correct, by any means, but that lack of humbleness when asking for a favor is what determines whether someone is an arse.

“Or else they will die. Humans have this habit of, you know, invading our homes and killing us. They are too picky about destroying eggs or killing children, either. And we can’t exactly travel discreetly. Not helping us means the blood of innocent dragonlings who have done no wrong is on your paws. I’ll beg if I have to; you’re my last hopes.”

…well, Bloodcarver can’t be the only decent dragon ever, can he?

Yeeeaaaahhh, unless that sentence ends “OR ELSE i will cry because all my family will surely perish without them” I don’t think you’re gonna win Jocasta over to your side. Though it does make me curious why the sphinxes are denying the dragons medallions, for sure. (I’m certain the sphinx leaders have something to do with it, but when has that stopped Jocasta before? Also makes me curious as to what idea the dragons had that they were so opposed to…)

I’ve always figured that the decision on what species gets medallions hinged on whether or not the species had a habit of harming or killing other sentient species. Manticores, harpies, gorgons, and dragons in most stories are mankillers, while satyrs and bugbears are just mischief makers and gryphons and sphinxes more likely to be guardian creatures. Basically, the sphinx leaders wouldn’t want to give killers a new way to lure in prey.
Obviously, this is painting species with a broad brush and ignores the possibility that people can be reasoned into a more peaceful lifestyle if the gains are big enough, but it’s not wholly unreasonable.

Diplomacy fail. Saying something stupid is known as “putting your foot in your mouth.” Doing something something stupid is called “shooting yourself in the foot.” I think draggy just put her foot in her mouth then shot herself in the foot.

Anyway, attacking sphinxes and destroying mints is no way of securing medallions. Suicide by stupidity.

heh – just saw something today calling that “the CNN Two Step”. For the first step, you put your foot in your mouth. For the second step, you shoot yourself in the foot. “The results are bloody but hilarious”, or somesuch.

Someone doesn’t like it when a conversation s/he intended to control goes off-script.

If this weren’t a flashback with a foregone conclusion, I’d suggest that Jocasta demand some time put in defending medallion forges from other dragons. If the dragon objects, call it an idiot tax for threatening her.

It’s not an entirely foregone conclusion. We know the broad outlines of this historic period, but not the fine details. Just as the centauress didn’t know the detail that sphinxes weren’t quite wiped out, there’s still room for a few more surprises.

This is the trap I was talking about earlier. Here’s how it went for all the ones on the mainland ” innocent looking dragon asks for medallion, sphinxes refuse said dragon a medallion because think that dragons are monsters, dragon gets riled up and threatens sphinxes, sphinxes threatens back, and bada Bing bada boom, we have the start of the great war.” Did no body else see this coming? I mean come on it is like the white men refusing to give the black men their freedom, and guess where that lead, WAR!!!

Now I wonder what is going to happen next.

” I mean come on it is like the white men refusing to give the black men their freedom, and guess where that lead, WAR!!! ”

Sure, that’s how it went. How many battalions did the “black men” have? Oh right, it was almost exclusively white men dying FOR the freedom of the black men (or trying to prevent it, on the other side). So no, it’s not like that at all.

As she said, they are being chased and killed.. but then, perhaps the sphinxes predicted something bad happening in a possible future if they could get medallions?

Like, on a very bad scenario, dragons with a human guise (and all their powers) with killed relatives and much grudge could well plan retalliation to cull or eventually eliminate humanity?

The dragons actually do have something of a point here. On one hand, the sphinxes invented the medallions and have a right to decide who to sell them to. On the other hand, if the humans have developed the sort of crusader mentality that various characters are alluding to here, then the medallions are the only defense available against a threat that cares nothing for individual guilt or innocence, and categorically withholding them (from a particularly easy-to-find group, at that) is hard to justify.

Imagine that you’re drowning forty feet from shore, and a man is standing on the shore with a fifty foot rope. In theory, it’s his rope and he can do as he likes with it. In practice, if he refuses to throw it out to you, and you know he would throw it if it was someone else, you’ve got pretty just cause to mark him as your enemy.

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