I've come to a problem in my plotline that I'm not sure how to deal with, and I thought someone on here might have an idea that'd work that I'd take to.
Here's a shallow background of the story's world so you can understand the problem:
So basically, my main character is a goblin named Gan, and goblins in this world have a problem where they all smell really bad and often fart when they walk. One of their better features is that goblins have a sharp sense of hearing. Also in this world there are a bunch of dragons, and the dragons are at war with humans. Dragons have a sharp sense of smell, and so try to stay far away from goblins whenever possible. In short, a knight comes along on a quest to find a pack of dragons he's heard word about in the mountains semi-nearby. On his way through the forest, he stumbles across a dragon, and being unprepared for such an encounter, is unable to protect himself as the dragons prepares to eat him. As Gan walks through the forest, he hears the dragon talking to the knight.
Here's my problem:
I need to have Gan somehow save the knight. The way in which he saves the knight has to somehow utilize Gan's horrible smell. Only problem is, with dragons having such a keen sense of smell, the dragon would smell Gan approaching long before Gan arrived.
Any solutions would be greatly appreciated.
-Noah
Posted by Foust (Member # 3043) on :
Could you change your dragons slightly? Have their sense of smell briefly dulled when they breathe flames?
Can Gan fight in anyway?
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
Does it have to be the goblin that saves him, or can he just facilitate the save? Could some knights come and save the dude. They were able to sneak up on the dragon because he couldn't smell them through the stink.
Or another idea, does it have to be because of the stink that the goblin saves him? Could it be unrelated? Could it be in spite of his stink?
[ July 19, 2004, 11:07 PM: Message edited by: mr_porteiro_head ]
Posted by Olivetta (Member # 6456) on :
Have him be downwind, and have the wind change when he farts really big. Dragon gets put off his feed, as it were.
*wraps head in duct tape*
Posted by CalvinMaker (Member # 2032) on :
The dragon would have to be breathing flames for an awfully long time for it to work...though I do like the idea of something dulling his sense of smell for a bit.
It has to be Gan who saves him though. There's only one knight in this story.
*thinking* You know, thinking about the dulling of smell-sense, it would make a lot of sense if the knights in this world carried an item of some sort with them that dulled dragons' sense of smell without them noticing. And then, if the knight noticed Gan in the bushes, he could destroy it and Gan would be so close that the dragon would be overpowered by Gan's smell.
Posted by Lupus (Member # 6516) on :
Use his gas to kill the dragon, lol, the dragon blows up when he breaths fire.
Maybe dragons stink to...so he does not notice the smell
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
Or simply have the dragon so engrossed in the fight with the knight that he doesn't notive Gan until he is right on top of him.
Or have the weather bed bad, with a storm approching, and the wind blowing in the opposite direction.
The goblins smell only distracts him for a sec, but the knight gets onw free blow in and it's a doosy.
Kwea
Posted by CalvinMaker (Member # 2032) on :
The dragon can't die (i'm using him as a character in a story later), but I like the storm idea a lot too. It's simpler, but more effective.
Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
have him get knocked out, but fall on the Knight, pinning him. Later, when he wakes up he is dazed, and leaves the slightly squished Knight in the mud....
Gan saved him accidentally, without even knowing it, but the knight still gets squashed.... Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Have him roll around in dragon dung, the one thing that smells worse than a goblin.
Posted by TMedina (Member # 6649) on :
Do dragons eat goblins?
If the dragon was somehow interested (offended?) by the smell of a scared goblin breaking wind, that might distract him long enough for the knight to escape.
-Trevor
Posted by zgator (Member # 3833) on :
Have Gan carrying something with a strong enough scent to mask his odor.
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
Gan, a bit of a bumbler, falls into a stream earlier, washing away his smell. He is washed down stream right next to the Dragon/Knight fight.
He steps out of the cursed clean water, now full of dead fish, and turns around to see the Dragon baring its teeth.
Scared, perhaps out of a self-preserving reflex, or just common loss of bowel control, Gan rips a good one.
It is a loud one, and earth trembling, life altering gaseous explosion, reverberating over the stream and echoing back.
It almost sounds like a warriors defiant roar.
And it happens just as the dragon inhales to breathe fire on the knight.
The Dragon inhales the noxious fumes, and turns an interesting and pleasant color of green, with yellow tinges. Gasping for air, the Dragon takes flight.
But Sir Knight had just turned around to see this brave hero, an his valiant battle cry. His smashed nose (smashed in the previous fight) leaves him immune to the lethal cloud surrounding him. He sees a brave Goblin who stood up to the dragon with a defiant roar.
And the Dragon ran off.
Goblin saves knight.
[ July 20, 2004, 11:18 AM: Message edited by: Dan_raven ]
Posted by skillery (Member # 6209) on :
quote:...often fart when they walk
goblins have a sharp sense of hearing
These two qualities together suggest that goblins have taken some measures to muffle the sound of their wind:
Goblin breeches feature a single large pocket in the seat into which an acoustic tile may be inserted. Flame-retardant and activated charcoal tiles are also available.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
I second zgator. Have Gan convienetly locate something stinky that dragons can't stand the smell of and go out of their way to avoid. (He could even hear the dragons talking about this stinky substance) The reason why it isn't commonly used as dragon repellent is because it causes humans to pass out too. But in this case, the goblin has no smell. He carries it in repels dragons, and drags the passed out human away to safer confines thus effectively rescuing him from the dragons.
AJ
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Oh sure, everyone give zgator all the credit. He didn't even give a specific example, and mine met all of AJ's criteria before she even posted them.
Posted by BannaOj (Member # 3206) on :
Sorry dag I missed your dragon dung point. But does dragon dung actually repel dragons to the point they'd leave a victim?
AJ
Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
It would make Dragon Lavoratories difficult to clean.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
It covers Gan's smell, so he can reach the dragon unnoticed (criteria one).
It, combined with the Goblin smell, is too much for the dragon.
Or, the goblin farts on the knight, making him unappetizing, and the dragon won't touch goblin, of course.
Plus, this makes the knight smell bad, which has great humorous potential.
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