Literature / Hic Sunt Dracones

Hic Sunt Dracones is a web novel created by Terry Zilla, one of the many tropers here in TV tropes, and is a work in progress. Hic Sunt Dracones (Latin for "Here There Be Dragons") is a work of fantasy that takes place in the steampunk fantasy world of Zanoth, a strange little planet with the usual races found in many other works of fantasy but with a darker twist on dragons. Instead of the usual Smaug or Shenlong fare, the dragons of Hic Sunt Dracones more easily fit into the Eldritch Abomination description, being alien monsters from another dimension who seek to devour all life on Zanoth.

The story revolves around a young halfling named Joshua Dominica. As a young boy, he had lost his village, family and friends to a powerful three-headed dragon in the Kingdom of Humanity. Vowing revenge, Joshua joins the Imperial Hunt, a military organization dedicated to hunting The Undead, demons and, of course, dragons. There he meets an elven princess named Erulia Taemwyn and a vampire village girl named Neshka Gerolov. Meanwhile, something sinister brews among the nations of the Farlands and the dragons, who many think are far away on the other side of the world, may be closer than they ever imagined.

For the trope on the appearance of dragons on maps, go here.

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Hic Sunt Dracones contains examples of:

• Action Girl: Erulia and Neshka. Really, any female of any race who joins the Imperial Hunt or the Citizens' Watch.
• Alien Sea:
  • The oceans around the Farlands are actually made from freshwater, which is why dragons find it difficult to invade.
  • The Maw of Damnation is a small ocean in the middle of the Farlands Supercontinent that's almost black in color and notably bitter. It has very unstable weather, with storms appearing and disappearing with no rhyme and reason and is inhabited by particularly nasty sea dragons and sea monsters.
• Aerith and Bob: Humans stick to normal naming standards but most non-humans get more exotic monikers. Take Kule Dood for example. Halflings, on the other hand, are forced to use human names as a form of cultural imperialism.
• All There in the Manual: Most of the background information can be found in the website and this very wiki.
• Always Chaotic Evil: Dragons and those who serve them.
• Animalistic Abomination: The dragons are, of course. Some of the time, at least. They're also a good example of Eldritch Abomination.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: The royal family and nobles of The Human Kingdom (with a few notable exceptions) are some of the worst examples of humanity, treating their people as expendable tools and any non-humans as barely tolerated savages.
• Body Horror: Mortals mutated by dragons and their favored servants. Some dragons also qualify.
• Call a Smeerp a "Rabbit":
  • Some dragons fit this category as there are those that look nothing like dragons of folklore.
  • Vampires are benevolent creatures that have no problem with the sun and are vegetarian by default. The only thing that they have in common with standard vampires is their allergy to garlic and Voluntary Shapeshifting abilities.
• Character Alignmentinvoked: Ties in with the setting's Crystal Dragon Jesus religious system. With the Builder being associated with Lawful Good, the Quiet Wind with Neutral Good and the Vagabond with Chaotic Good.
• Chess Motif: Dragons are divided into several types with each one having a different specialty.
  • Pawns, when controlled by smarter dragons (otherwise they're just dumb animals), prefer attacking in large numbers.
  • Rooks are slow but can easily overwhelm most enemies because of their heavy armor.
  • Horsemen are fast and are good at hit and run attacks.
  • Bishops can reanimate the dead, forcibly mutate living things and brainwash mortals.
  • Viziers are the most dangerous of dragons, being skilled with magic, extremely tough and blindingly fast.
  • Monarchs are the largest and most powerful of dragons. Thankfully, if you kill one, lesser dragons in the vicinity are likely to die from the psychic backlash.
• Commanding Coolness: Emperor Kule Dood of the Orkish Empire. Premier Ima of the Sylvan Commonwealth to a certain degree.
• The Corruption: "Wyrmblight" is this along with Unholy Nuke. It is for the most part invisible but can be felt as a malign presence. To vampires, it can be perceived as a foul odor they find difficult to describe. To elves, it will sound like the low groaning of someone being tortured. Halflings will see it as a bizarre psychedelic moss. When active, such as when animating zombies or mutating mortals, it will appear as a feverish light of shifting colors. Wyrmblight is emitted by dragons and is theoretically converted from the mana that dragons get from the victims they devour. The minions they create as well as the magic they use are dependent on it as a fuel source. Also note that dragons tend to be significantly weaker when not in Wyrmblight.
• Creature-Hunter Organization: The Hunt, the Watch and the Knighthood are meant to be this to dragons. Unfortunately, the Knighthood has become an Army of Thieves and Whores with at least one Sociopathic Soldier in each squad.
• Crystal Dragon Jesus: The Threefold God is reminiscent of the Holy Trinity with The Builder (God), the Quiet Wind (The Holy Spirit) and the Vagabond (Jesus).
• Cutesy Dwarf: Dwarves resemble early teen elves or humans while halflings look like kids who are furry.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: The halflings are forced to live in secluded areas by The Kingdom and are often surrounded by barbed wire and guards, their people forced to work beyond the limits of their endurance, beaten regularly by guards, hunted and killed like animals when they try to escape, are more or less treated like livestock and are generally hated by the Kingdom's nobles.

• Eldritch Abomination: The dragons of this setting are closer to this than the fire-breathing lizards we all know and love. They have more in common with Xenomorphs and deep sea creatures than the dragons of folklore. Even worse with Monarch type dragons.
• Elemental Powers: Nearly all races and their respective mana come in five flavors according to the traditional Chinese elements. There's metal (also includes lightning), wood (also includes wind), earth (includes crystals), fire (includes lava) and water (includes ice). The only exceptions to this rule are humans who can only have Earth, Orks who only have Fire and Sylvans who only have Water. Dragons, who can absorb the memories and mana of the victims they devour, have void powers.
• The Empire: Averted with the Orkish Empire but played straight with The Kingdom.
• Expy: A lot of the characters physically resemble characters from other works. Here are a few examples:
  • Joshua Dominica is a mix of Bilbo Baggins and Eren Yaeger. Appearance-wise though, he looks more like a young Haku with mouse ears and tail.
  • Erulia Taemwyn is Lili Rochefort with pointy ears.
  • Neshka Gerolov is Nagi Kirishima with Sasha Browse's personality.
• Fantastic Racism: The humans of the Kingdom of Humanity look down on all the other mortal races as savages to be brought to heel at best and vermin to be exterminated at worst.
• Fantasy Character Classes: The Imperial Hunt divides its members into 36 distinct "professions" vaguely reminiscent of RPG classes. They include Combatant, Crusader, Blackguard, Berserker, Blademaster, Fighter, Slayer, Ranger, Enforcer, Ninja, Assassin, Sneakthief, Corsair, Marshal, Mage, Shaman, Warlock, Oracle, Mentalist, Wizard, Pariah, Healer, Druid, Necromancer, Monastic, Sage, Numerologist, Paladin, Bard, Dancer, Tamer, Smith, Tinker, Alchemist, Illusionist and Knave.
• Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Here's a good breakdown:
  • The Orkish Empire has an undeniably American feel to them and their territories are reminiscent of The Wild West complete with Settling the Frontier.
  • The Sylvan Commonwealth can be reminiscent of the British although they do have a wild side and their cobbled streets and gaslamps are a lot like Victorian Britain.
  • The Kingdom of Humanity is mostly a Take That! against the corruption, mediocrity and stagnation found in the Philippines, the author's home country.
  • Elbador, a continent being settled by the Orkish Empire, can be similar to South America, complete with an Amazon River and rainforest, while Panadyssia, a colony of the Sylvan Commonwealth, has a lot in common with Australia, including an Outback, Uluru and hostile wildlife.
• Flat World: Zanoth is essentially a homage to the Discworld, being circular in shape, with the Farlands on one side and the Dragonlands on the other.
• The Good Kingdom:
  • This is what the Kingdom wants you to think they are. They are actually The Empire.
  • The Halfling Protectorate before the Blasted War was actually a better example.
• Great Offscreen War: The Blasted War. The Flight From the Dragonlands may also qualify.
• The Great Wall: The Bulwark which separates the Grimlands from Elbador and is regularly patrolled by the Imperial Hunt.
• Healing Factor: All dragons have it which is what makes them so dangerous. Unless their hearts are somehow destroyed, dragons can continue to persist as Meat Moss and can eventually reconstitute themselves.
• The Horde: Dragons and their minions.
• Horde of Alien Locusts: Dragons, again. Especially the Pawn Types.
• Kill It with Water: Dragons are weak to freshwater so fighting them in the rain or submerging them in a lake or river puts them at a disadvantage.
• Kraken and Leviathan: Sea dragons and their aquatic minions could qualify.
• Legions of Hell: Here they are the servants of dragons and are actually chunks of their bodies given temporary life.
• Legion of Lost Souls: The Imperial Hunt is an example of this, accepting people of all races, genders and creed. The Royal Knighthood is essentially a darker take on this despite being homogenous, being composed of thugs, criminals and madmen.
• Loads and Loads of Races: So far we have:
  • Bee People: The Changelings are human-looking Big Creepy-Crawlies with a dash of Our Fairies Are Different. Their Earth forms being associated with beetles, Wood with butterflies, Metal with wasps, Fire with fireflies and Water with dragonflies.
  • Golem: Golems in Zanoth are a race of sentient Living Statues.
  • Gorgeous Gorgon: Gorgons of the setting tend to be quite attractive although they have shades of being Snake People with legs and Lizard Folk (having scales here and there and possessing forked tongues). What makes them different from the norm is that they have snakes in their hair rather than for hair.
  • Hobbits: Halflings of this setting look like young children around 11 or 12. They tend to be a Little Bit Beastly with Fire Halflings having fox features, Water Halflings being lizard-like, Wood Halflings possess monkey traits, Metal Halflings resemble Fauns and Satyrs and Earth Halflings are rather like rodents. They are also the setting's resident Woobie Species.
  • Succubi and Incubi: Ifrits sort of fit this bill what with their horns, wings and tails and their regards to sexual practices certainly doesn't help matters. However, they are very critical towards any form of tyranny and oppression. They fought valiantly during the Blasted War and are none too fond of the Kingdom's blatant disregard of their history. Also, ifrits take offense to being called demons.
  • Our Angels Are Different: While the Sylphs are really more like Our Fairies Are Different in terms of their lore, they are known for their uptight and often Holier Than Thou attitude. They tend to take laws very seriously and can even seem similar to The Fundamentalist from time to time. Most of all though, they have the typical angelic wings and an aura around their heads that resemble a halo.
  • Our Dwarves Are All the Same: Nope. Dwarves in Zanoth look like elves in their early teens.
  • Our Elves Are Different: Metal Elves are actually high elves, Fire Elves are dark elves, Water Elves are Christmas Elves, Wood Elves are Exactly What It Says on the Tin and Earth Elves are similar to the depiction of half-elves. Elves are also related to Goblins through their common ancestor the purple-skinned Sylvans. The elves of Zanoth are almost always healthy but they too are mortal and die just as easily as any other denizen of the Farlands.
  • Our Fairies Are Different: The Sylvans play this role as a kind of [[Main/Precursors progenitor]] race to the elves, goblins and dwarves of the setting. Appearance-wise, they are like a combination of night elves and asari, being exotic but gorgeous women. They're also a One-Gender Race to boot, being all-female and a good Distaff Counterpart to the orks of the setting.
  • Our Ghouls Are Creepier: Ghouls of Zanoth are related to the setting's vampires and rely on the same nutrients found in the bizarre bloodfruits. However, instead of the vampire's Voluntary Shapeshifting abilities, the ghouls use the bloodfruits to power their Psychic Powers. Ghouls appear similar to vampires but instead of fangs, they tend to have heavy claws. Culture-wise, ghouls are often viewed to be quite morbid as their culture dictates that every household should have its own mausoleum in its basement.
  • Our Goblins Are Different: Goblins of Zanoth are more like the dark elves of the setting, being oddly-colored elves and similar to the dark elves of Lineage 2 with Earth Goblins having gold skin, Metal Goblins having silver skin, Fire Goblins having red skin, Water Goblins having blue skin and Wood Goblins having green skin. They are related to elves through Sylvans. However, Goblins of this setting retain some of their love for explosives and high technology from other settings like World of Warcraft and Age of Wonders.
  • Our Mermaids Are Different: The Marids are the merfolk of the setting, possessing feet but have webbed ears, fingers and toes as well as fins on their arms and legs. While they are good swimmers, they are specialized for freshwater and have difficulty breathing saltwater.
    • Then there is the setting's actual mermaids that are a form of dragonspawn and are actually giant anglerfish with the upper torso of a human or any other mortal at the tip of its lure. These are almost always hostile and are included in the Imperial Hunt's to kill list.
  • Our Ogres Are Hungrier: The Ogres of the setting are more like the oni of Japanese folklore but also share quite a few similarities with trolls and giants of European folklore. They tend to be quite intelligent and are rather attractive. Like the Goblins above, they have strange skin colors but also have horns and spikes on their shoulders and back.
  • Our Orcs Are Different: Called "Orks" in this setting. They are an all male race that can interbreed with other races. Due to their over-the-top masculinity, they are often considered a counterpart race to Sylvans.
  • Our Vampires Are Different: Very different. Vampires of the setting aren't particularly weak to sunlight and are vegetarian by default, making nearly all of them a Friendly Neighborhood Vampire. Instead of blood, vampires rely on the nutrients they get from bloodfruits which are off-putting to other races. Vampires can and have used the blood of other mortals as a substitute for the nutrients of bloodfruits but this tends to be a rare occurrence as mortal blood is addictive to vampires and can weaken their immune system, making them vulnerable to sunlight and creating vampires closer to traditional folklore (weak to sunlight, become predatory monsters). Vampires who are addicted to blood are often viewed by other vampires as "blood junkies" and are ostracized. Vampires aren't all that special compared to other races and are in fact mortals themselves, although they tend to be as as attractive as elves. Vampires of Zanoth are, however, allergic to garlic and can leave them paralyzed and are capable of Voluntary Shapeshifting with Metal Vampires turning into wolves, Wood Vampires turning into cats, Fire Vampires turning into bats, Water Vampires turning into lampreys and Earth Vampires turning into spiders.
    • However, vampires who have been mutated by Wyrmblight tend to resemble more traditional vampires.
  • Our Zombies Are Different: Shamblers are somewhere between Type A and V. These zombies are radioactive and animated by Wyrmblight.
• Lovecraft Lite: The Imperial Hunt and the Citizen's Watch have wiped out most of the sentient dragons in the Farlands even after the devastating Blasted War.
• Mordor: The Grimlands. Up to eleven with the Dragonlands.
• Multiple Head Case: The more heads a dragon has, the older and stronger it's likely to be in much the same way that kitsune's powers are usually denoted by their number of tails.
• Our Demons Are Different: Demons or Fiends are sentient pieces of Dragonflesh, given temporary life and sapience by the dragon that created them.
  • Ifrits of the setting also appear similar to the traditional depiction of succubi demons, having horns, bat wings and a barbed tail. They also have strange traditions that give most other mortals ideas. However, never make the mistake of calling them demons to their face.
• Our Dragons Are Different: The dragons of this setting would probably make the skilled dragonslayers of any other setting very uncomfortable at the very least due to their eldritch nature.
• Our Monsters Are Weird: Generally apply to dragons. Chimeras also qualify but are more like Mon being the favored mount of Imperial Hunters.
• Who You Gonna Call?: The Imperial Hunt and Citizens' Watch in a nutshell. Not so much for the Royal Knighthood.
• Weaksauce Weakness: Freshwater can severely weaken dragons and outright kill some of their minions. For reasons that cannot be explained, freshwater dampens Wyrmblight and there have been cases during the Blasted War when dragons were simply chained to heavy rocks and submerged into rivers or lakes to be killed. The oceans around the Farlands are also made from freshwater and is why dragons find it so difficult to invade.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Another major distinction in this setting is that vampires in Zanoth are vegetarians by default and instead rely on nutrients from a bizarre fruit called a bloodfruit. While blood can be used as a substitute for the nutrients found in bloodfruits, most vampires regard those of their own kind who rely solely on blood somewhat similar to the way we would regard a junkie.
• Zerg Rush: A favored tactic of Pawn Dragons and Shamblers.