The Worth of the Soul

It is often said that when two dragons engage in battle, rending each other’s flesh and the world around them through their powerful Thu’ums, that this is more than just a simple physical conflict but a complex metaphysical debate. This can be bewildering to one unfamiliar with the intricacies of the dragon language and world view, a novice of these subjects seeing only the surface level of these conflicts, the waves of flame, frost, and pure entropy spilling forth from the dragon’s maw. As knowledge of the mechanism behind these powers increases, realizing each one of these great powers is linked to specific words of power and fueled by the deepest essence of the dragon itself, the literal label of debate seems wholly fitting.

Though, as with most things, when an individual’s comprehension of dragon language surpasses a certain level they are thrown back into the realm of confusion and more questions arise than before they understood the subject at all. Chief among these questions being, how are the clashes between dragons to be considered true debates when the vocabulary of power words in each individual contention rarely reaches more than the same few words repeated again and again? Which brings about another consideration, if these debates so often play out in the same way with similar wording, what is the subject being argued?

To address these concerns, it is important to transcend a purely anthropocentric world view, and consider how there are many ways in which the value system of dragons diverges entirely from that of mortals. When scholarly mortals present their arguments it is thought important that they be fact based, supported by evidence, and appealing towards the subjects intellect. Here it is the objective content of the words that is the barometer for truth, and many words are delicately chosen and arranged to try to make them fit the context of the discussion. To a dragon, such context and subtlety is irrelevant. Individual words are known to have power in of themselves, they need not be prettied up through long drawn out sentences, they merely are paired with the few other words most fitting and said with true conviction.

Indeed, there is what is valued in a dragon’s debate, conviction. The passion behind the words, the power found in understanding the real meaning of even the simplest concept, these are what each side is presenting. While Men and Mer seek to convince through building elaborate structures of words, concepts upon concepts interwoven together impressively, the dragons’ discourse reaches towards something profoundly baser. The appeal to emotions is not only encouraged, it is the only important aspect of the dispute, the shouter is attempting to show their adversary how deeply they feel the words they speak and through their Thu’um they make the other dragon feel it too. Still, these words and their meanings are just the mechanism of showing depth of a dragon’s emotion, they are but the filters through which the dragon conveys what is actually being discussed, the superiority of their soul.

A dragon’s soul is immortal, but though it cannot truly be extinguished it can be forced to change form. If a dragon is bested by a fellow dovah, the soul of the vanquished actually transfers into the victor. This is what is at stake in a debate of dragons; this is the subject of their shouts. By channeling the power of their emotion and understanding through their words these dragons are attempting to demonstrate the strength of soul, with the end goal of convincing their opponent that they are more worthy of possessing their soul. When the soul travels from one dragon to another, it does so willingly, it has not been trapped but has been shown this is the best thing for it to do, it is better to be a part of this greater soul than to exist on its own as an inferior. This has to do with the dragon’s inbred need to dominate; their willingness to become an aspect of another soul is within character as long that soul has demonstrated it has the ability to control. So the debate of the dovah is not some petty squabble of what trivial facts are true or false, but it is a measuring of each other’s spirit and attempting to determine who possesses a soul worthy to envelope the others.