20-December-2011 Christmas Event

[Kimberly]

Besides the fact they are smart and do not know the world yet it makes perfect sense to NOT attack a major settlement as they have no idea how powerful a foe they would enrage, there is only 3 of them afterall and they were defeated by Robert the Strong, a human, previously.

 

They attacked the leader of a group of arcane beings--even though they didn't know Lucien was unlikely to receive any help from his brethren--without a second though. I'm not exactly sure if that possibility is strong enough to be considered. Zaaps does have a great point, especially since their magic was strong enough to give our character a sending of the trouble to come using areas from Gielnor and obscure people from our character's lives to send a strong emotional message. Much of RotM had these strange little leaps of logic in them, and it's nice to fill in the gaps, but I really think it was an oversight on the quest writer's part.

[Sy_Accursed]

Besides the fact they are smart and do not know the world yet it makes perfect sense to NOT attack a major settlement as they have no idea how powerful a foe they would enrage, there is only 3 of them afterall and they were defeated by Robert the Strong, a human, previously.

 

They attacked the leader of a group of arcane beings--even though they didn't know Lucien was unlikely to receive any help from his brethren--without a second though. I'm not exactly sure if that possibility is strong enough to be considered. Zaaps does have a great point, especially since their magic was strong enough to give our character a sending of the trouble to come using areas from Gielnor and obscure people from our character's lives to send a strong emotional message. Much of RotM had these strange little leaps of logic in them, and it's nice to fill in the gaps, but I really think it was an oversight on the quest writer's part.

 

I don't think it is when you consider the full logic of it.

 

Using the stone of jas enrages and empowers the dragonkin to a point of no control.

In using it before them Lucien made them basically go mental.

Plus they are VERY powerful and ancient, no doubt they knew the mahjratt from their last time out and mahjratt hadn't posed a threat to them then.

So with that and their general power a small cluster like that shouldn't pose an issue to wipe out as needed.

Plus given that they left Mos Le Harmless way before our fight its quite easy they were watching, until the stone's use sent them mad; so they'd know the squabbles and in fighting going on.

 

As for our flash forward, that can be explained easily: One of the most commonly used rules of physic powers of that kind is they can only produce images from the sender or receivers mind.

Factor in we have touched the stone of jas that directly feeds into the dragonkin and effigies and dragonkin lamps are feeding knowledge to them (which in lore only we the singular adventurer) actually do.

So they could easily raid our psychic to set up a place and faces that we know.

 

Also if you draw a line from the ritual sight to mos le harmless area (assuming they come from somewhere that direction based on their arriving there first) it does/can pass through edgeville quite easily for them to vent on enroute; quite possible they got set off again when we were moving the stone.

 

So in the full picture I'd say the logics around the dragonkin work fine narratively, even if some of the other elements of the quest were a bit off logically.

Of course in filling such details in is entirely subjective to how you personally "read" it, same as books, but still there is a perfectly sensible and logical rationale that can fill it all in with no major issues.

[Kimberly]

So in the full picture I'd say the logics around the dragonkin work fine narratively

 

It works, but not well. The number of assumptions you have to make to get from point a to the conclusion is quite large. I just can't agree that it was intentionally laid out as you proposed, considering how shallow the presentation of the quest was. You did write out a well detailed concept though. Maybe they should get you to work on the quests, huh? Lol

[Sy_Accursed]

So in the full picture I'd say the logics around the dragonkin work fine narratively

 

It works, but not well. The number of assumptions you have to make to get from point a to the conclusion is quite large. I just can't agree that it was intentionally laid out as you proposed, considering how shallow the presentation of the quest was. You did write out a well detailed concept though. Maybe they should get you to work on the quests, huh? Lol

 

Lol I am a writer by trade and a literature student. It's my natural field to find the plot strings to make it work!

 

I think the thing to remember is its part of an ongoing plot, Jagex always leaves holes in them because those holes are what makes you want to (theoretically) do the next quest and begin to plug in the gaps.

Most other big story lines have required big assumptions to fill in blanks in the early stages; heck many of them still do. Like it's still not 100% confirmed for definite who on earth The Dark Lord guy in elf series is, or wtf happened to Tyras for real or where the various other elf clans have gone. And there is a pretty big logic leap between Iorweth (sp) is being a meany! Lets make our entire city revert to seed form for safety!

[Zaaps1]

But..they can fly.is it THAT much harder to look to your right at realize there's a much better target right there? From a birds eye view?

[NukeMarine]

But..they can fly.is it THAT much harder to look to your right at realize there's a much better target right there? From a birds eye view?

Don't confuse the game map with what the map would be if this world existed. Imagine it as being most of Europe with a good chunk of Africa and Asia thrown in for good measure. These major cities would be surrounded by dozens if not hundreds of villages and towns. With that, Edgeville could be two ro three day's journey from Varrock.

 

It's a trade off. Do you want a huge map that's to scale such as Ultima Online offered or this more interactive video game map where the highlights are much closer together and the drudgery of travel is removed not to mention pushes players closer together. I did enjoy the scaled map that Ultima offered, but I find that RS with it's game logic map design more fun.

 

With that, I'd say by game logic, the Dragonkin ignored Varrock.

[Sy_Accursed]

But..they can fly.is it THAT much harder to look to your right at realize there's a much better target right there? From a birds eye view?

 

Biut you are still entirely ignoring the factor of they do not know the world and do not want to set off something they cannot finish.

They know humans defeated them before, so it is in no way a GOOD idea to go and attack a massive human settlement for no good reason until they have time to plan and learn about the current world. There were hundreds of them before, there is only three of them now; humans were small tribal creatures with the odd small city before they are clearly a well organised race with massive settlements now.

 

And as NukeMarine pointed out the map is scaled, you can see that if you read the books; places like Falador and Varrock houses many hundreds, if not thousands of citizens and take days or even weeks to travel between. So in lore terms its even more of a stupid idea for the dragonkin to attack a big settlement.

 

Plus as mentioned several times they probably weren't trying to send a message with their attack; they were venting the rage from the stones use.

[Zaaps1]

But you're forgetting that they're FLYING. It might be a days journey between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange, but it's NOT hard to see it when you're far above the ground. And while it might be days between Falador and Varrock, consider how quickly they were able to fly from the Ritual Site to Edgeville. I believe more or less the moment we left the Ritual site, we got hit by that vision? Immediately after the vision Edgeville was already in ruins. That leaves very little time unaccounted for that the Dragonkin could've been traveling to and attacking Edgeville. It can't be difficult not not only TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD EAST, but also to fly there, which is far less of a task you guys make it out to be even considering the spacial warping the actual Gielinor would have.

 

Plus I do remember the Dragonkin telling us (the player) that "the destruction starts in Edgeville", or something along those lines that hints that Edgeville's desolation is supposed to warn the player, if not exclusively, of what they can do.

 

And from the way the Dragonkin addressed us (the player) during the vision we had, I don't think they have any problem attacking humans.

 

Rage is a factor yes, but you have to remember that the previous "random" attack on Mos le'harmless was not out of rage, it was more out of pain. That pain is gone now that there is no "False User" of the Stone of Jas.

 

So yes, it is a warning, at least in part. And yes, they should be able to see there are better targets. And no, they're aren't afraid of attacking humans.

[Sy_Accursed]

But you're forgetting that they're FLYING. It might be a days journey between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange, but it's NOT hard to see it when you're far above the ground. And while it might be days between Falador and Varrock, consider how quickly they were able to fly from the Ritual Site to Edgeville. I believe more or less the moment we left the Ritual site, we got hit by that vision? Immediately after the vision Edgeville was already in ruins. That leaves very little time unaccounted for that the Dragonkin could've been traveling to and attacking Edgeville. It can't be difficult not not only TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD EAST, but also to fly there, which is far less of a task you guys make it out to be even considering the spacial warping the actual Gielinor would have.

 

Plus I do remember the Dragonkin telling us (the player) that "the destruction starts in Edgeville", or something along those lines that hints that Edgeville's desolation is supposed to warn the player, if not exclusively, of what they can do.

 

And from the way the Dragonkin addressed us (the player) during the vision we had, I don't think they have any problem attacking humans.

 

Rage is a factor yes, but you have to remember that the previous "random" attack on Mos le'harmless was not out of rage, it was more out of pain. That pain is gone now that there is no "False User" of the Stone of Jas.

 

So yes, it is a warning, at least in part. And yes, they should be able to see there are better targets. And no, they're aren't afraid of attacking humans.

 

Still in terms of tactics it makes sense to NOT attack a big colony straight away.

There are only 3 of them.

They do not know the world.

A human defeated them before.

They need time to learn what they are up against and establish a position they can defend.

 

Also it was rage, not pain. They specifically talk about the rage and just as the stone is out of use does not make them 'turn off' as it were, everything we've been shown shows they retain the rage and power levels and merely get more powerful as the stone is used. Shown by the fact they are seen at the end of WGS, but are not yet able to escape then when Lucien further uses the stone they clearly can escape and become even more violent in their final cutscene when Lucien is using the stone once more.

 

By all means when they launch a full attack a big city makes sense as a target, but a warning shot is not a full attack and a small colony makes perfect sense given their lack of knowledge of the current world, their limited numbers and the fact a human defeated them before; and I believe that is a very important factor. In their prior slaughtering it was a singular human that did most of the damage; what if that knowledge has become common knowledge and now thousands of humans know how to kill them? If that's true it'd be suicide to attack a large city.

 

And yes they made it clear they would kill us, but when you are threatening someone you would not admit any doubt (such as possibly thinking humans may be dangerous based on previous being slaughtered by one)

And you have to remember they do have a specific rage against us as we are a false user of the stone.

[Kimberly]

Just finished the christmas event today. Last minute success.

[brunokiller]

Where does it say that we are a false user?

 

They didn´t attack us.

[Zaaps1]

But you're forgetting that they're FLYING. It might be a days journey between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange, but it's NOT hard to see it when you're far above the ground. And while it might be days between Falador and Varrock, consider how quickly they were able to fly from the Ritual Site to Edgeville. I believe more or less the moment we left the Ritual site, we got hit by that vision? Immediately after the vision Edgeville was already in ruins. That leaves very little time unaccounted for that the Dragonkin could've been traveling to and attacking Edgeville. It can't be difficult not not only TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD EAST, but also to fly there, which is far less of a task you guys make it out to be even considering the spacial warping the actual Gielinor would have.

 

Plus I do remember the Dragonkin telling us (the player) that "the destruction starts in Edgeville", or something along those lines that hints that Edgeville's desolation is supposed to warn the player, if not exclusively, of what they can do.

 

And from the way the Dragonkin addressed us (the player) during the vision we had, I don't think they have any problem attacking humans.

 

Rage is a factor yes, but you have to remember that the previous "random" attack on Mos le'harmless was not out of rage, it was more out of pain. That pain is gone now that there is no "False User" of the Stone of Jas.

 

So yes, it is a warning, at least in part. And yes, they should be able to see there are better targets. And no, they're aren't afraid of attacking humans.

 

Still in terms of tactics it makes sense to NOT attack a big colony straight away.

There are only 3 of them.

They do not know the world.

A human defeated them before.

They need time to learn what they are up against and establish a position they can defend.

 

Also it was rage, not pain. They specifically talk about the rage and just as the stone is out of use does not make them 'turn off' as it were, everything we've been shown shows they retain the rage and power levels and merely get more powerful as the stone is used. Shown by the fact they are seen at the end of WGS, but are not yet able to escape then when Lucien further uses the stone they clearly can escape and become even more violent in their final cutscene when Lucien is using the stone once more.

 

By all means when they launch a full attack a big city makes sense as a target, but a warning shot is not a full attack and a small colony makes perfect sense given their lack of knowledge of the current world, their limited numbers and the fact a human defeated them before; and I believe that is a very important factor. In their prior slaughtering it was a singular human that did most of the damage; what if that knowledge has become common knowledge and now thousands of humans know how to kill them? If that's true it'd be suicide to attack a large city.

 

And yes they made it clear they would kill us, but when you are threatening someone you would not admit any doubt (such as possibly thinking humans may be dangerous based on previous being slaughtered by one)

And you have to remember they do have a specific rage against us as we are a false user of the stone.

 

You're arguing two things here. First is that they are in a fury and are so enraged that they attack a human settlement. Second is that they are calm and calculating enough to analyze their current situation. These are polar opposites.

 

If me and my two buddies had enormous amounts of power and were in an absolute rage, we would go and do the most damage possible.

 

If me and my two buddies wanted to play slyly and cunningly, and calculated out a scheme and set very intricate and appropriate warnings, we would not do so out of fury.

[Vezon Dash]

Where does it say that we are a false user?

 

They didn´t attack us.

 

During the vision at the end, they identify you as a Stone Toucher.

[Squakus]

Where does it say that we are a false user?

 

They didn´t attack us.

 

During the vision at the end, they identify you as a Stone Toucher.

 

Seems to me that they identify you as 'the' Stonetoucher, the person destined to use the Stone.

 

It's just that they don't want you to use it.

[Sy_Accursed]

But you're forgetting that they're FLYING. It might be a days journey between Edgeville and the Grand Exchange, but it's NOT hard to see it when you're far above the ground. And while it might be days between Falador and Varrock, consider how quickly they were able to fly from the Ritual Site to Edgeville. I believe more or less the moment we left the Ritual site, we got hit by that vision? Immediately after the vision Edgeville was already in ruins. That leaves very little time unaccounted for that the Dragonkin could've been traveling to and attacking Edgeville. It can't be difficult not not only TURN YOUR DAMN HEAD EAST, but also to fly there, which is far less of a task you guys make it out to be even considering the spacial warping the actual Gielinor would have.

 

Plus I do remember the Dragonkin telling us (the player) that "the destruction starts in Edgeville", or something along those lines that hints that Edgeville's desolation is supposed to warn the player, if not exclusively, of what they can do.

 

And from the way the Dragonkin addressed us (the player) during the vision we had, I don't think they have any problem attacking humans.

 

Rage is a factor yes, but you have to remember that the previous "random" attack on Mos le'harmless was not out of rage, it was more out of pain. That pain is gone now that there is no "False User" of the Stone of Jas.

 

So yes, it is a warning, at least in part. And yes, they should be able to see there are better targets. And no, they're aren't afraid of attacking humans.

 

Still in terms of tactics it makes sense to NOT attack a big colony straight away.

There are only 3 of them.

They do not know the world.

A human defeated them before.

They need time to learn what they are up against and establish a position they can defend.

 

Also it was rage, not pain. They specifically talk about the rage and just as the stone is out of use does not make them 'turn off' as it were, everything we've been shown shows they retain the rage and power levels and merely get more powerful as the stone is used. Shown by the fact they are seen at the end of WGS, but are not yet able to escape then when Lucien further uses the stone they clearly can escape and become even more violent in their final cutscene when Lucien is using the stone once more.

 

By all means when they launch a full attack a big city makes sense as a target, but a warning shot is not a full attack and a small colony makes perfect sense given their lack of knowledge of the current world, their limited numbers and the fact a human defeated them before; and I believe that is a very important factor. In their prior slaughtering it was a singular human that did most of the damage; what if that knowledge has become common knowledge and now thousands of humans know how to kill them? If that's true it'd be suicide to attack a large city.

 

And yes they made it clear they would kill us, but when you are threatening someone you would not admit any doubt (such as possibly thinking humans may be dangerous based on previous being slaughtered by one)

And you have to remember they do have a specific rage against us as we are a false user of the stone.

 

You're arguing two things here. First is that they are in a fury and are so enraged that they attack a human settlement. Second is that they are calm and calculating enough to analyze their current situation. These are polar opposites.

 

If me and my two buddies had enormous amounts of power and were in an absolute rage, we would go and do the most damage possible.

 

If me and my two buddies wanted to play slyly and cunningly, and calculated out a scheme and set very intricate and appropriate warnings, we would not do so out of fury.

 

 

They are not poplar opposites at all. As far as we have been shown the Dragonkin while needing to release their rage and power are still perfectly able to target it and exercise their mental capacity within reason.

There's loads of story examples out there where people easily exercise self control over their wrath in order to be sly and cunning and thus exact a more complete vengeance. Kinda the driving force behind the whole "revenge is a dish best served cold" idea and the most obvious plot tool in many kids TV shows (think things like digimon, how often the big angry bad guys slink away with their rage to regroup and come back stronger) heck it even crops up in many books Sauron in LOTR spends many many years regrouping his power and his forces, despite being very vengeful towards the world before he acts upon it; heck just consider all the years the ring was lost before Gollum got it and then many years after that before Bilbo found it and passed it to Frodo in which Sauron bided his time. Same holds true in Harry Potter, Voldemort is hell bent on killing Harry but he doesn't just blindly go at it; he takes a couple of years after his resurrection restoring his followers and infiltrating the ministry of magic before he actually makes a big move with the aim of killing Harry.

Or you could take any big soap opera villain and the way their final outburst depicts their huge anger/malice towards people but it the plot is built up over months and months as they cunningly do things around the town.

Heck even think of TV dramas, they use the trope no end in Desperate Housewives, Lost, Chuck, Supernatural, Charmed etc.

It even creeps up in fairytales, like Seelping Beauty (I think thats the one) where the curse won't occur until a specific birthday allowing the evil person time to lay their plans.

Or Shakespeare, Richard III especially, he wants to create war and gain power but he plays clever games to slowly get rid of people.

Or most adventure video games where we know from the get go who the big baddy is and usually annoy them enough to warrant our demise, yet spend the entire game dealing with their random cunning ploys before they finally unleash their full rage and power on us for the final battle; all the Zelda games are great examples of this.

 

There are literally endless examples of the basic trope, it's utter nonsense to say a some sort of wrath or fury and being cunning or sly are polar opposites, in story telling terms they go hand in hand. Cunning and sly is used to build tension and drama as an antagonist figure channels their rage into a cunning plan, culminating in the climactic event when the wrathful attempt occurs as the carefully laid plans come together.

[Zaaps1]

They are not poplar opposites at all. As far as we have been shown the Dragonkin while needing to release their rage and power are still perfectly able to target it and exercise their mental capacity within reason.

 

Please find me such an example.

 

There's loads of story examples out there where people easily exercise self control over their wrath in order to be sly and cunning and thus exact a more complete vengeance. Kinda the driving force behind the whole "revenge is a dish best served cold" idea and the most obvious plot tool in many kids TV shows (think things like digimon, how often the big angry bad guys slink away with their rage to regroup and come back stronger) heck it even crops up in many books Sauron in LOTR spends many many years regrouping his power and his forces, despite being very vengeful towards the world before he acts upon it; heck just consider all the years the ring was lost before Gollum got it and then many years after that before Bilbo found it and passed it to Frodo in which Sauron bided his time. Same holds true in Harry Potter, Voldemort is hell bent on killing Harry but he doesn't just blindly go at it; he takes a couple of years after his resurrection restoring his followers and infiltrating the ministry of magic before he actually makes a big move with the aim of killing Harry.

Or you could take any big soap opera villain and the way their final outburst depicts their huge anger/malice towards people but it the plot is built up over months and months as they cunningly do things around the town.

 

There are literally endless examples of the basic trope, it's utter nonsense to say a vengeful rage and being cunning and sly are polar opposites, in story telling terms they go hand in hand. Cunning and sly is used to build tension and drama as an antagonist figure channels their rage into a cunning plan, culminating in the climactic event when the wrathful attempt occurs as the carefully laid plans come together.

 

Actually, you sites examples of a villain retreating into the shadows to rebuild power. Sauron needed power to terrorize Middle Earth again, and Voldemort was not going to overthrow the Ministry by being stuck on the back of some pawn's head.

 

The Dragonkin didn't need power. They could've just as easily razed Varrock or the Grand Exchange area as they did Edgeville. ONE SINGLEHANDEDLY CRUSHED THE STAFF OF ARMADYL INTO PIECES WITHOUT BREAKING A SWEAT. Tell me that they feel the need to bide power before attacking, and just in case you do, go look at Edgeville and tell me what special defenses Bob Barter has that would've saved him.

 

I can't think of a single example of a villain, with the power to cause destruction, saying "oh, I'm in a blind fury right now and I could destroy your entire civilization if I wanted, but hey just in case you kids got any special tricks I'm just going to burn that place of there instead of that much better target over there" *tilts head 2 degrees to the right*

[Sy_Accursed]

I'm not disputing the fact they could probably raze a city, only in terms of plot and tactical thinking it makes sense they did not.

 

They are strangers to this time with no base of power.

They do not know exactly how powerful the humans settlements are but can clearly see they are vastly outnumbered.

Plus of what they do know, Robert the Strong knew how to kill them and could of passed the knowledge out AND they were vastly overpowered by the world in general at some point as they created dragons to defend themselves and retreated from the known world at some point in the early Godwars.

 

Tactically speaking bringing an enemy that could potentially be such a threat into conflict with you en-mass is a foolish idea, atleast until they have better knowledge of the current world and have established a stronghold.

Plus with very definitive aims to kill just the false stone users, basically meaning us the player, it is also tactically unwise to create an open war which could put obstacles between them and us unnecessarily.

 

In terms of pure brute power the Dragonkin may not need to regroup (though we do not know the limitations of their power), but in terms of tactical power they certainly need some time to gather themselves.

The key factor in this case is the Dragonkin's knowledge; they do not know enough to be able to say they can wipe us all out. Sure we as the player know they probably could, but it doesn't mean they do; in fact all evidence relating to their 'demise' last time they were about gives them very good grounds to suspect we could easily have the power to deal with them should they take on a major power such as a large city.

 

Also fyi if you're gonna counter a specific example, you should really do so on the grounds it was used. For Harry Potter I specifically said the two years AFTER he was resurrected, his resurrecting being when he was reborn using Harry's blood etc. at the end of the Goblet of Fire, not when he was surviving as a parasite on the back of Quirrel's head in Philospher's Stone.

[Zaaps1]

Quickly addressing the Harry Potter point, you realize that it doesn't matter either way and that the entire Voldemort example is not the same as the Dragonkin issue we have at hand.

 

If the Dragonkin are as cautious as you say they are, why attack a city AT ALL, then? Edgeville is small, but it's still populated and so obviously close to bigger civilizations that any idiot could have realized that if the humans had defenses, they would also be in Edgeville. It seems to me that the Dragonkin really were not thinking when they attacked Edgeville. If they did not want to risk dealing with more like Robert the Strong, they would not have attacked a settlement so clearly linked to great kingdoms. If they were blind with rage, they would not have attacked Edgeville and rather have gone with a far greater and more effective target. Unless you mean to tell me that they had JUST enough rage and pain to want to burn something to the ground with their HUGE bank of power, yet at the same time be calm and composed enough to analyze that an outpost of a great civilization would not have endangering defenses when it is in fact not only closely linked to a great human kingdom, but also possesses Zarosian ruins.

[HunterDexter]

The ruins are probably not Zarosian, most think that the dungeon actually was pieces of the fortress, and the building found on top of it were the deserted homes of a newer village, which then turned into a deserted place called Ghost Town, which then in turn changed to the village we now know as Edgeville.

[Jonanananas]

The ruins are probably not Zarosian, most think that the dungeon actually was pieces of the fortress, and the building found on top of it were the deserted homes of a newer village, which then turned into a deserted place called Ghost Town, which then in turn changed to the village we now know as Edgeville.

 

And this fortress *was* Zarosian...why else would we get an ancient tele to Edgeville?

[Sy_Accursed]

The ruins are probably not Zarosian, most think that the dungeon actually was pieces of the fortress, and the building found on top of it were the deserted homes of a newer village, which then turned into a deserted place called Ghost Town, which then in turn changed to the village we now know as Edgeville.

 

Yeah the ruins in Edgeville are complex.

We do know a Zarosian fortress was there at some point; but then at some point after the Godwars a village was built there then an attack from the wilderness made it into Ghost Town, later to be settled as Edgeville.

But we also do not know quite where Avarrocka was before that got destroyed and rebuilt later as Varrock; given the fact there was a city at the digsite perviously it's quite possible it could of been further over and the Edgeville remains could be part of that.

 

Plus in terms of tactics for Dragonkin using it to send a message it is only a small village of quite a ramshackle nature compared to the cities, not the kind of place likely to cause great outrage if it is attacked. Plus it is right beside the wilderness full of dangerous creatures (even a quick glance could tell the dragonkin this, especially if they can some how sense the presence of their dragons) and it can already bee seen that it has ruins so it has clearly been attacked before.

Also such a small village they can quickly blast as they fly past and nobody will have any idea it was them, based on how quickly they seem to be able to travel, (other than the player obviously as they told us) where as in razing a city they'd need to hang about and get spotted.

 

Plus one more factor that can be thrown into the mix is the majority of the damage seems to be in a trail culminating at Lucien's house, which does throw up the possibility that the attack was tied to rage of Lucien still. Perhaps some sort of latent sense of his presence having been there etc.

 

By all means there is many holes and flaws as it is a early plot line that will be fleshed out; but there certainly is logical reasoning for the Dragonkin to not attack anywhere big straight off the bat and several factors in play that could justify attacking Edgeville to send the message. Personally I think it would of made a whole lot more sense if jmods had kept original concept (mentioned in FAQ and seen in concept art) where Canafis was the place to get attacked as that place really far more isolated.

 

Also The Harry Potter point/example is by far the most relevant; when he was resurrected at the end of Goblet of Fire he had all his power back, same as the Dragonkin have all their power but he needed to tactically regroup and establish his spies etc etc., the exact thing the Dragonkin are no doubt doing now. They do differ a bit in that Voldermot tactically went after more power via the Deathly Hallows, but still he already had more than enough power to do what he wanted.