>>96962980
Right. A couple more details that came to mind that I've had in my head for a while (and that I need to add to my docs).
The "crazy wizard in a tower doing dangerous experiments" phase is (mostly) over, save for some hermits at the very fringes of the continent. That ended almost 300 years ago as the current framework began taking shape.
There are a bunch of spells created in that era that bear the name of their creators, and that have since been deconstructed, better understood under the systematized lens, and made easier or safer to use (also, less powerful). So you might know the formula to cast a kinetic barrier that can stop a battering ram, but it only lingers for a second or two. The upside is that it no longer has the change of charring your hands or pulling all muscles in your hands and feet.
"Old magic" tends to come with a lot of damage to the extremities at the low end.

>>96364159
I'm a fan of big dragons when they are old and few and when all of that matters.

>>96364707
>a lot of people who want their creatures to be larger than a elephant
Funnily enough, that's the scale I'm working with in a story I'm writing.
The co-protagonis dragon is about as tall as an asian elephant or an orca, with the largest dragon alive being about twice that size (GoT tv show dragon size?), otherwise the rules of engagement change too much. A fight against something gargantuan is more like fighting a moving building than a living creature, something like that.
Which can work if you really take into consideration what that means, but that's not what I want to write about.
A flying fire breathing humpback whale is scary enough as is.