And then Strange just starts talking. And talking. The more he talks, the more animated he gets, though he's taking care to keep his voice relatively quiet.

"I think the failure of the ritual hinges on 'only living magic can alter living magic's course.' The text describes people as conduits of magic, not living magic itself. Having a conduit use a conduit to try and change living magic simply won't work. You'd need the conduit to use living magic, such as the elements. Dragon eggs can adapt to fit their surroundings, after all.

Of course, they did use that orb, but considering that I haven't gotten a look at it, I can only assume that the orb is a conduit of magic itself, something made by the cultists to try and match the dragon. I also have to assume that those sacrificed people were just normal, everyday sort of people. If any one of them shared our pseudo-dragonborn state, then that could change all my theories."

Wait, does Daud know about Strange's dragonborn theories? Well he does now.