The country of Dracos

So I came 'round to making a dark fantasy type of work, something I'm not too familiar with I will admit. So the setting is based on a 1400's era country and the main ongoing conflict is split between two. On one hand you have the king and his paranoia fueled iron fisted rule, on the other we have the church whos grip on the countries society is further reinforced because of said kings paranoia.

The country, here named Dracos, was once populated by entirely non-malicious dragons. Because of the kings fear of his people and kingdom falling to them he had his knights hunt them down untill they were extinct. Lastly, magic as a force is seen as a stigma worthy of turning those who use it into Pariah. In one part due to the kings fear and in other because magic can drive its users mad though this can be resisted.

Lastly, there are monsters a plenty roaming the countryside doing what monsters do best. Now do you guys think it needs some kinks ironed out or does it need improvement?

First question, How did the knights kill the dragon? For that matter, if a dragon could be killed by a knight, why would they cause so much fear?

Additionally, how quickly does magic drive a mage mad? Can they do enough work to contribute to society or are they just time bombs?

It's less out of fear of what they can do but rather what they could do.

As for the mages, so long as they have the will to supress it they can resist the madness. They can contribute but the church and the king making them out to be Pariah means they won't get a word in edgewise.

Edited by sifsand on Aug 8th 2019 at 6:51:46 AM

Before the King Pariahs them mages should have been able to amass some wealth. Many would end up using mages "off the books" simply because they could do things mundanes couldn't. This would encourage criminality as mages would spend what coin they could get on disreputable vendors.

Essentially, you're turning mages into criminals.

That could work potentially as a source of conflict and a moment for the mages to be the monsters they are made out to be.

Or honorable Yakuza. Or a mix of the two. Lots of opportunity here.

Also, it was the church mostly who spread the stigma. Good thing for them the king was a trigger-happy psycho.

Has the church gone full Inquisition yet or are they just badmouthing the mages?

They're going full inquisition, mages are executed once caught by either the kings knights or the churches crusaders. The stigma is so bad that even normal peasants are so afraid of being caught with a mage they will often rat them out.