Are burricks supposed to be an analogue to dragons in the Thiefverse ? - by Petike the Taffer
nicked on 3/6/2009 at 07:44
No, you are correct. There's a letter in Ramirez' mansion saying how he'll need to reinforce his basement or something due to the burricks. I'm sure jtr7 will have the exact reference soon enough! :thumb:
jtr7 on 3/6/2009 at 07:51
Heh heh. Zis one?
M5WALLS.str: "Lord Ramirez -
The reinforced walls and steel door have been duly installed about your counting room, but I must warn you that we cannot guarantee them against burrick tunnelling. If you do not move the creatures out of the basement into a more distant area, we cannot be held responsible for the potential damages.
Tol Camrick & Sons"
The fact that they can get through all that metal plating shows that rock would be even less of a challenge.
Jah on 3/6/2009 at 11:29
If a burrick's breath is powerful enough to dissolve rock and metal plating, one would think it would have a more dramatic effect on living beings - like melting off your face instead of just causing a few points of damage.
nicked on 3/6/2009 at 12:47
Oh, so that letter is more ambiguous than I thought. It doesn't actually mention whether the burricks are tunneling with their breath, or some other means. However, the size of a burrick's arms indicate to me that they are never used. They could use their back legs - burrick footsteps sound like claws clicking on the ground. However, I think it is very likely that the intended method of tunneling is breathing gas.
As for the gas not melting people, one could certainly argue that the gas could be more corrosive to minerals than organic matter - an anti-rust-gas! Maybe that's why the Mechanists hated them so much! :laff:
Jilly The Taffer on 3/6/2009 at 13:41
Quote Posted by nicked
However, the size of a burrick's arms indicate to me that they are never used. They could use their back legs - burrick footsteps sound like claws clicking on the ground. However, I think it is very likely that the intended method of tunneling is breathing gas.
As for the gas not melting people, one could certainly argue that the gas could be more corrosive to minerals than organic matter - an anti-rust-gas! Maybe that's why the Mechanists hated them so much! :laff:
Ooo, I think your getting somewhere with that. Very good, makes perfect sense. :thumb:
Meisterdieb on 5/6/2009 at 20:03
I think our ideas of dragons have been very much influenced by the "modern" depictions of dragons, as for example in D&D and movies.
If you take a look at how dragons are described in medieval or earlier times you'll see that they come in lots and lots of varieties - many of which we wouldn't actually name dragon.
Just as an example, take the Questing Beast from the Arthurian saga. While it certainly doesn't look like a Burrick I always connect the two because of the sounds the Burricks make and the other name of the Beast - Beast Glatisant (Barking Beast).
Petike the Taffer on 20/6/2009 at 11:07
Meisterdieb : Yes, I agree.
