Sokral (Sok-Ral)
Summary
The sokral are the famous engineers of dragonkind, proverbial descendants of the long-dead lineage of Sok. Although the lineage had been wiped out in a terrible calamity, their works laid the foundations to which all future engineers lived by. They ascended past their forebearers eventually, but it is a time-honored tradition to bear the title of sokral in their stead. Those who do so without passing the necessary rites are reviled and ostracized in dragon society, if not corporeally punished. Adhering to principles of logic, rational conduct, and scholarly academia, the sokral approach life itself like an artist arrayed with tools. They seek to understand how things work, why they work that way, and what can be done with that understanding. Indeed, their ambitions could be said to achieve the power of goddesses. To shape reality itself and create newer, ever greater works is the timeless dream of their greatest mistresses. The universe is not so simple, though. For the quasi-immortal dragons, tackling it in its entirety has tried them again and again. Throughout the ages, great sokral have built incredible wonders, ever reaching higher into the Heavens. Those around them have either helped or torn down such works, for greed and envy are never in short supply. Even when they are knocked down, though, the sokral stand up again and start building once more. Throughout the eons, the idea of what a sokral was changed with the dragons. Practical concerns grounded their teachings, turning their gazes to more visceral matters. Although their dreams of obtaining the tools of reality shaped their 'ultimate purpose', less came to subscribe religiously to it. The changes were slow over the millennia, but eventually their more well-known form came about. The great engineers of dragonkind arrived, commanding Veltrona beneath their attention. From their workshops they built all sorts of things, be they mundane or magical. With time to spare, and endless power to acquire riches, the sokral could innovate incredible works. Many delved into particulars of their crafts, becoming the defining names that all others would follow behind. One could easily call their attention to details eccentric, at the least, for sokral do not spare any effort on what they make. If it is worth their attention, let alone their hands, they will push their creation to the limit. Given how much actual history has gone by, it's hard to say how much impact the sokral had on other species. Dragon historians consider the feats of engineering their purview, and so all others either learned or copied from them. Naturally, those who learned on their own or held their own pride would reject draconic narrative like that. It's undeniable that many eyes did land upon the works of the sokral. Whether or not others formed traditions of smithing or engineering on them, though, is another matter entirely. While the name of sokral wasn't taken directly–dragons grow legitimately angry with alarming quickness if done so–other words came about. Smith, enchanter, magical crafter, mana-smith, and so on became the words of many other species. Subdividing sokral's many, many everything it entailed was a necessary first step toward learning. Regardless of the hows, the works of the sokral invariably influenced the world. Any armorer trying to defend against a dragon-made sword must study it, after all. Pride has no place in such a business or a nation would easily be doomed to fall. An inexorable presence pulls at the creative minds of people as a result, something that must be acknowledged. People would come to covet the works of dragons, study, learn, and then innovate from or against them. Practical exercises did the rest, and so the cycle repeated. Perhaps, in an ironic way, while the sokral aimed for the heights of goddesses, people aimed for the heights of the sokral. Or, they too went for the goddesses. Sometimes inventiveness is a curse with the ambitions it brings with.Career
Qualifications
Traditional sokral qualifications come in the form of five distinct draconic trials: understanding, comprehension, adaptation, creation, and veneration. These five trials embody the capabilities of a sokral, from their ability to study and learn, to putting their knowledge to work in meaningful ways. The 'original' metrics are hilariously out of date by modern standards, and so usually exist as a ceremonial fixture. Modern dragon schools have their own versions built to their specific needs while maintaining the sanctity of what a sokral is.
As these trials are built by dragons for dragons, their demands are nothing to scoff at. The Trial of Understanding is a proverbial wall, as an aspirant must come to mistress the various fields of knowledge that already exist. Its requirements have only grown throughout the ages, and many dragons spend decades studying to pass this one trial. The less fortunate ones feasibly have to spend centuries before they're ready.
The Trial of Comprehension then drills them on their understandings, but not in a simple way of rote memorization. They're uniquely pushed to flex, exercise, and demonstrate the depth of their knowledge and how it could be applied. The goal here is not necessarily inventiveness, but ascertaining a dragon has good control of their mind's tools. Inflexibility, fixation, ignorance, and anything else that could affect application are how many fail at this stage.
The Trial of Adaptation, and Creation, deal with actual practical works. In Adaptation, a dragon is charged with improving existing designs, be they mundane or magical. The difficulty of the improvement affects their score rating. Wide-sweeping changes are easy to, but moving a 0.1% change in an already 'completely solved' item can be veltron-shaking. Doubly so in fields of magic, where things like more efficient mana consumption are hotly desired. One of the key distinctions of Adaptation is, since it involves changing others' works, making good social bonds with those people.
Creation involves putting all of the aspirant's abilities to the test in making their own works. They can be reinventions of existing ideas or groundbreaking innovations in entirely new fields. All that matters is: practical usability, artistic decoration, difficulty of creation, durability, and costs of production. The average spirant gets by the most in this trial by helping to further foundational ideas. Generally, improving very commonly used things: gears, pistons, switches, enchantment formula, and the like. Those trying for high degrees of success are what create truly ridiculous artistic works. The relationships forged here can last a lifetime and be one's first foot in the proverbial door.
Veneration is, comparably, not a difficult trial but it is one that emphasizes crushing tedium. The aspirants are meant to write, by hand and without magic, literary works honoring their forebearers and the legacy of the sokral. At this point one is usually guaranteed their position among the sokral. Only a truly obstinate child or someone with a serious ego problem would decry the necessity of venerating. It is a way for an aspirant to demonstrate to their peers their respects, manners, and honor they will uphold.
It's worth stating the importance of this is not an expression of typical dragon arrogance. Some of the original founders of the sokral are still alive today. Many more are yet alive from throughout the ages, and so it is a living piece of legacy in itself. Those trying to join their ranks will, as well, remain throughout the ages with them. The dragons are very keen on making sure they don't have to work or live with an undesirable problem throughout the near-endlessness of their lives. No one is perfect and problems, of course, do arise, but they try to head off the obvious ones at least.
Upon completion of the trials, one is awarded the title of sokral, and so another dragon engineer is born.
The trials themselves are actually well-known outside the realms of dragons. Not only to emphasize their own achievements, but to protect the sokral name, they spread the trials' details far and wide. Many civilizations used them to draw comparisons of their own abilities against those of dragons. Of course, many don't have the lifetime to spend a century or more studying. Very necessary changes are made for their own 'versions' of the trials, and these things adapted overtime themselves. Still, intellectual people love their competitive natures, so as the dragons work, so too do others.
Career Progression
Reputation is the sole defining currency a sokral really commands. How that reputation is gained is usually through social connections, and then hopefully one's own incredible skill. Of course, obtaining incredible skill among a profession of incredible people is, as they say, absurdly difficult. Newer sokral usually make a name for themselves by specializing in certain fields. Others innovate new ideas and so attach themselves to those works, though few become big names doing so. That and, the skills of a sokral are ever in demand, so at least work is constantly available.
For many, it's a matter of realizing their own projects, that of their friends/family, or of some greater body they participate within. It's a tricky arrangement, and the sokral as a whole are surprisingly interconnected. Relationships that are countless centuries and decades old mean even two separated across Veltrona would yet know each other. It can be quite troublesome when some keystone invention needs attention, but its creator is missing. Some dragon slapstick comedies focus on the sokral and how they adventure across Veltrona to find a missing inventor.
A few sokral do make business by catering to the other peoples instead. Such a choice is derided as 'taking the easy way out' or 'exploiting ignorant people' by some, but there are those who uphold it nonetheless. It forces all sorts of unique and specific concerns that the sokral otherwise don't engage with. Short-lived clientele, for example, mean their works must be completed on much faster time scales. Trying to translate what their design is to people with different ideas of education helps to recontextualize what the sokral themselves know.
These differing circumstances end up being attractive prospects, especially for engineers looking for new ways to work. Some dragons live for 'short stays' in some civilizations, letting a few decades or centuries go by before moving on themselves. Their influence can be quite dramatic, though, becoming an era-defining event in and of itself. They're not ignorant of this, but leaning into that does undermine why they're there to work in the first place. Combined with the typical reverence or rejection dragonkind faces, and it proves difficult working sometimes.
As Veltrona has developed, educations improved, and knowledge became more widespread, the demystifying of dragonkind has helped a lot. Although still owed their own respect, the sokral in particular enjoy better working environments because of it. No end of them would scoff at being invited to a university, but they won't pass up a chance to show off their prideful work, either.
Comments