ok so I spend forever writing this and trying to show both sides, and am now really unsure if I should post it. 

[hider=posting it anyway, you in no way even need to look at this stuff]
@WilsonTurner 
You've thought this out really well. In the last reboot, the only hope the gems had was a secret army created by one of the players and allowed to happen and even helped by one of the Drakken. Honestly, I didn't think that would play out very well for the gems in the end because of the way it was set up. But you've considered basically every angle, and that's awesome. The cult is a force the Drakken will have to contend with, and will probably be able to protect enough of Gemmina long enough to train more Gems to fight, or for the Gems to create their own army.

so, about this next part... you're awesome, and have planned this out really well.

[hider=opinions you don't even have to read]
I play and write a lot of characters that have a lifespan way longer than a normal person's ever could, and the general rule is that unless the universe they're in specifies an age where the [u]mentality[/u] of that species is equal to a one of a creature with a shorter lifespan at whatever age, then the age factor only applies to their physical bodies. ex: a 1000 year-old demon has the body of a 25 year-old in comparison to a human but all the knowledge and experience of those 1000 years. 

so a 35 year-old Drakken with the body of a 7 year old is just as dangerous as a 35 year-old Gem, and with the inherent strength of a Drakken, they'd probably be an equal match. The only reason younger Drakken would be considered childish is because they've not experienced as much as the average 100 year-old Drakken has. 

but then that's not very fair to the Gems in this situation, so let's throw that all out. The only reason I said any of this is because this is how I thought it worked in the last version. 
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[hider=so let's go with the idea that a 20 year-old Gem is mentally equal to a 100 year-old Drakken]
If mentally 100 = 20:
50 = 10
70 = 14
90 = 18
150 = 30
300 = 60
700 = 130

In my experience, a 14 year old can be pretty smart, so any Drakken over the age of 70 would still be a capable fighter, especially considering that most Drakken train from the time they can hold a knife. And, considering most species don't just allow their young to fight or get into dangerous situations, I doubt the drakken would let anyone under the age of 70 fight in their armies. They may mature slower, but still at a rate where they are a huge threat even when considered "young". 

but this does give the Cult an upper hand, as with all the infighting that goes on in Drakken society they end up killing any of their own who are over a certain age, so most Drakken are probably between 50-300 years old
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Summary: meh what's it matter I was just trying to show both sides of my thinking in one post

we should combine everyone's ideas b/c honestly player collaboration in world-building and understanding the basis of the RP is what makes RPs fun, along with our characters exploring the world and interacting with it. yes the chances of the Gems surviving are slim, but that makes it all the more interesting and fun to see the fight play out. (and personally everyone's put so much thought into everything and I love all the ideas, there are so many different ways to go about it and every way is interesting, like how in a video game there's easy, normal, and hard modes.)