“Proof of Concept” is a blog series where I take a lore or narrative idea and elaborate on how it could be implemented, sometimes in the real world but typically in a fantastical setting. These posts are designed to spark creativity in readers and writers. Any proper nouns I personally create in these series are my intellectual property but the overall concepts are completely free for others to use. And I am more than happy to discuss transferring ownership of anything I don’t already have used in a formal storyline.

A Modern Fantasy Necessity

The setting is modern-day but with the twist of traditional medieval fantasy elements being commonplace. Instead of just humans with varying head shapes and skin pigments, you have elves, goblins, kobolds, and dwarves. Alongside electric, nuclear, and other traditional power sources, dozens of magical forces power technology. Religions are no longer a fight for singular dominance. Now they’re a hierarchy: with liches and lingering spirits making up lesser cults while ancient beasts and beings hold higher ranks of spiritual authority. And alongside the millions of animal species we know today, domesticated and wild beasts of legend–mimics, griffins, golems, unicorns–are commonplace.

After multiple millennia of living among such a variety of creatures and powers, modern society has cracked how to safely navigate entire cities without fearing some vengeful witch will eat you, or an ill-constructed spell might teleport you into the sky. Pixies are as mild of an annoyance as mosquitos. Werewolves are easily-cured and trainable.

But for the purpose of this post… there are the DRAGONS.

The Big Lizard in the Big City

Full credit to Christopher Cant for the species details and reference artwork. Check out his page and book here.

The four traditional variants of the big lizard we call “Dragon” are the following:

• The Drake
  A lesser-giant lizard with four legs but no wings. Typically, they can still breathe fire.
• The Wyvern
  A lesser-giant lizard with four legs, with its front legs being its wings. They typically breathe fire or acid.
• The Wyrm
  A giant lizard with no limbs, more akin to a massive snake. They are too can breathe fire but are more known to hypnotize prey.
• The Dragon (or True Dragon)
  The four-legged, giant, winged beast, largest of the four and capable of breathing fire.

In this scenario, I like to think that the size of these four goes in the following order: True Dragon, Wyrm, Wyvern, and then Drake. By modern types, all four have been domesticated by some degree.

The most common to keep as a pet is the Drake. Ranging between the size of a golden retriever and a typical horse, the Drake is a predatory creature which imprints on its owners early on. Generations of breeding and training has taught the Drake to act submissive to most people. It is not a cuddly creature but it has a disposition comparable to a German Shepherd mixed with a cattle dog. It is dedicated to protecting its family and requires frequent exercise. Drake are often used as work animals, demonstrating restraint with other animals and actively protecting them against a perceived threat.

Less common as a pet–but by far the most affectionate–is the Wyvern. While they can be hostile, Wyverns are incredibly social creatures. Ranging between the size of a Great Dane and an Elephant, the Wyvern is a mount animal. They are hyperactive, cuddly, and attention hogs. They have to be trained often to show restraint, sometimes getting into fights with other animals, but are instinctively friendly around people. They’re harder to make space for and are typically work animals: acting as transportation. Unfortunately, Wyverns also have the most health issues, particularly via growing multiple heads. Some two-headed Wyverns are considered safe but it is quite possible for one head to bite off the other in a dispute and leave an infected neck stump. Thankfully, as long as this is dealt with early in their lifespan, it seldom becomes an issue later.

The Wyrm is the most hostile of the four by far. They can be as small as a common snake or as large as mammoth, with bodies ranging up to 100 yards at most. They can grow very quickly and have a distinct appetite. Once a Wyrm gets to be a certain size, it is illegal to own it as a pet. They aren’t legal to own in every state and require special chipping to track and discipline them. If it weren’t for proper training and population control, the Wyrm would be quite the threat. They’re barely useful as work animals but as long as you have other Dragons around to discipline them, they do as they’re told. The Wyrm can be affectionate to its owners but it is typically too volatile.

The True Dragon is a proud and dominant creature. Even more than the Wyvern, they cherish their work capabilities and will work tirelessly as long as they’re properly cared for. They’re not as loving as the Wyvern but incredibly patient. They are the most intelligent of the four, having the most instinctive empathy. Young True Dragons seldom settle for simple labor, preferring to seek challenges as mounts for the armed forces. Lazier or older True Dragons are more welcoming of farm life or other such slower work. They bond for life, imprinting on their owners/riders, and shown great comradery with other creatures and people they work alongside. True Dragons have the largest size variety, though most range between the size of a cow and a three-story house. Dwarf Dragons (or COIN Dragons as they’ve been nicknamed) range between the size of a mouse and a Border Collie. Occasionally, a Coin Dragon will go through a growth spurt and become a True Dragon. These smaller versions are a lot more playful.

So About That Coffee…

Dragon-roasted drinks in general are quite popular–as is dragon-roasted chocolate–but coffee is by far the biggest commodity. Typically only True Dragons are used for it roasting coffee beans due to having the most potent and good-tasting fire residue. Even if you safely get a Wyrm to roast your beans, their fire isn’t impressive and leaves barely any taste. Drakes leave no taste but are fine to use if you want normal-tasting coffee. While Wyvern are more than willing to help, it’s not recommended, as the acidic nature of their breath can make the coffee disgusting if not cause illness.

True Dragons have the best digestive systems and depending on their diet, you’ll get a different kind of flavor and sensation.

This clip from the 1982 film–Flight of the Dragons–provides an interesting explanation of how dragons produce fire in the first place.

Generalized, the dragons chew on gemstones, mixing with their natural body liquids, and creating chemicals and gas. Then that gas is ignited by a natural electricity in the mouths of the dragons: thus creating dragon fire.

I quite like this explanation. Take that and customize it. Different minerals fed to dragons will cause their fire to have different effects on coffee beans. You don’t have to stop at minerals though. Dragons need to eat meat and other food groups so depending on what they consume, that also affects the roast.

But then you can get into more exotic meals. For instance, if you feed your dragon a magical/radioactive rock type–like a stone enchanted by a wizard–it can add a secondary trait to the roast. Instead of just taste, it could make your mouth tingle, or fill your body with warmth. And if you feed your dragon some exotic meat, like a unicorn’s, your coffee could change your mood.

There’d be this catalogue of different roast types which detail all the effects of how each roast is affected. That’s hundreds of minerals being combined with hundreds of meat and vegetable types, combined further by traditional coffee ingredients (caramel, heavy cream, alcohol, ice, vanilla, sugar, alternative sweeteners, and so on).

An ethics sheet would be available. There could be a higher price for certain mineral roasts due to only stronger dragons being able to digest that kind of rock. Or it could be outright illegal to drink coffee that came from unicorn meat digestion as a protected species.

Size Matters

My personal favorite part is what kind of True Dragons are used for this. While True Dragons are disciplined creatures, most are far too proud to be used to roast coffee except on occasions for people they like. So it’s not worth the hassle of trying to break their spirits and put them into a workhouse. Not to mention, their size and food intake is far more than a typical business can keep up with.

Coin Dragons on the other hand are a lot easier to manage. They don’t have to eat nearly as much and are far less bothered by the idea of roasting coffees. So the Starbucks and Dunkin Doughnuts of this world would have the cheaper coffee types: their shops lined with little Coin Dragon rooms as the creatures work while the larger factories have rows and rows of the chambers. The shops double as little zoos of a sort where you can watch the small dragons in their work rooms, going on breaks, playing with other dragons, and occasionally coming out to the shop to say hello. Shops would have signs with specific symbols to indicate if one of their Coin Dragons is for sale or not.

And while the Coin Dragon Coffee is nothing to stick your nose up at, the legendary stuff comes straight from a full-sized True Dragon. These are the equivalent of Ferraris, producing little but carefully designed. Not many True Dragons are worth the price, it being a rarity to get an agreeable one to mass-roast coffee beans. The solution is veteran True Dragons.

These elderly dragons are not only well-mannered but not nearly as proud as younger lizards. They’re much more content to just lie back and passively breathe fire on a rotating furnace as their pastime. They’re treated akin to a retired police dog. And while it’s much easier to hide ethical violations with Coin Dragons in factories, veteran Dragons are strictly protected and require frequent inspection by law to ensure they’re treated well. Because of how long dragons live, a veteran dragon in such a submissive state is quite rare. Dragons in general are treated with reverence, and any company discovered to be abusing anything that isn’t a Wyrm loses their credibility overnight (and even with Wyrms, it can happen).

Roast Examples?

I’d love to make a gradual catalogue of different dragon coffee combinations, complete with reference art of the canisters and bags they’d be kept in. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Maybe I’ll come back to this and edit in ideas as they come to me: perhaps even drawing up some of the roasts alongside them.