Difference between revisions of "Vansyr/Native Species"

Latest revision as of 11:43, 16 November 2016

The Native Species of Vansyr [...]

Mammals

Ralessi

Main Article: Ralessi

Ralessi are a camel-like ungulate. They share similar temperament to desert camels, making them useful mounts. They are on average 2m (6.6 ft) at the shoulder and weigh about 590 kg (1,300 lbs). They have a long, thick coat of white fur, and two ibex-like horns. Their diet consists primarily of pine and mountain shrubs, though they can eat almost any plant life, including some species of lichens. Ralessi spend most of their time browsing or grazing, with about as much time spent ruminating.

They inhabit the northern section of Halaevide, mostly in the mountains. A group of Ralessi are called a herd. A herd contains 6-7 individuals, and any young still being nurtured.

Vansyri Red Elk

A large, stocky elk with brownish-red fur, and large black antlers. Bulls are, on average, 1.5 m (4.9 ft) tall and 331 kg (720 lbs) in weight. Cows are 1.3 m (4.3 ft) tall and weigh 241 kg (531 lbs). Red elk are primary grazers, but also browse, similar to deer.

They inhabit most areas of Halaevide, with the exception of the desert and the swamps.

Pitbeast

Main Article: Pitbeast

The pitbeast is a large, predatory mammal about the size of a lion. They have short, bristly fur in light tan, grey, or black. They have a large, mustelid-like skull, with a slim, feline body, and a long, thick tail with a large tuft of fur at the tip. Pitbeasts are both solitary and pack hunters, depending on location and nearby prey. They are highly intelligent, and extremely deadly with razor-sharp claws, powerful jaws, and bone-crushing strength. They are common in the forests and swamps of Halaevide.

Grassland Mammoth

Main Article: Grassland Mammoth

Similar to Terra's African Elephant, the grassland mammoth is a species of mammoth that inhabits the grasslands of central and Midwestern Halaevide. They stand at 4 m (13 ft) and weigh 8-10 tonnes (18,000-22,00 lbs). They are gentle giants, for the most part, but quickly turn deadly if a threat is perceived. Grassland mammoths are favorites for trading clans, as they are smart enough to be easily trained, gentle with humans, yet they are large and sturdy enough to carry large amounts of weight. They have grey skin, covered in a thin layer of brown or black hair, with large curved tusks.

They browse and graze for food, preferring to browse during the warmer seasons. Wild mammoths travel in familial herds that can reach dozens of individuals.

Sleiphorse

Main Article: Sleiphorse

Similar to a normal horse, sleiphorses are large ungulates domesticated by humans. Sleiphorses are very rare--many people consider them to be myths. They average the size of a large warhorse, with the chief difference being that sleiphorses have two pairs of front legs, for a total of six legs. They are faster than normal horses and maneuver over rocky terrain much better than most animals. It is thought they naturally lived in the mountains, but it is not known if any sleiphorses live in the wild anymore.

Rhinofloraceros

Main Article: Rhinofloraceros

Rhinofloraceros, or rhinoflor, is a large ungulate with thick, leathery hide. In terms of structure, it is nearly identical to a rhinoceros, with the exception that the rhinoflor has no horn, and has a symbiotic relationship with plants--as a rhinoflor reaches maturity, its digestive tract atrohpies, so instead rhinoflors allow grasses and flowers to grow on their body. The rhinoflor saps energy and food from the plants, and the plants are protected and have an advantage of spreading their pollen.

Rhinoflors are about 2 m (6.6 ft) at the shoulder, and weigh around 1 ton, not counting the weight of plant matter. Due to the strange nature of the symbiosis between plant and rhinofloraceros, it is thought that rhinoflors are biologically immortal. Especially old rhinoflors have plates of bark covering their bodies.

Aves

Reptilians

Nagdamsaeng

Main Article: Nagdamsaeng

Nagdamsaeng are large reptiles, closely related to desert tortoises. They are large and strong enough for average-sized humanoids to ride on, and surprisingly quick. Nagdamsaeng do not have large carapaces like tortoises, but instead have thick plates covering the majority of the body. They have long necks, and large, thick skulls. They have beaked mouths with powerful jaws. Nagdamsaeng have stocky torsos and are tetrapedal. They have a small, vestigial tail.

Nagamsaeng are popular mounts in the desert and arid regions, due to needing little food and water for long trips in the harsh enviornment. Furthermore, they are friendly and easy to tame.

Pseudowyverns

Medium-sized winged reptilians with a lithe, streamlined body, two powerful hind legs, and forelimbs that allow for gliding, but not true flight. As the name suggests, pseudowyverns are not true wyverns, because their 'wings' are not true wings, but rather forelimbs with 3 claws and 2 wing digits. They are capable of slow, powerful flight, but are much more suited to ground movements. Generally, walking takes place on all four limbs, but when sprinting, pseudowyverns pick up their forelimbs and tuck them in, allowing for a more aerodynamic form. Their scales are small and overlapping, yet still quite thick. Generally they are colored in varying shades of grey, and white, to camouflage themselves on the mountainsides.

Pseudowyverns are solitary, highly territorial carnivores. They spend most of their time hunting, choosing to build nests high in the mountains where they can spot prey, then glide down and ambush the target. They are tamable, although it is extremely difficult, and generally they retain the intense aggression of their wild counterparts.

Amphibians

Myripyo

Main Article: Myripyo

Myripyo is a large, predatory amphibian that inhabits the swamps of Southwestern Halaevide. They are similar in size to a leopard, with a surprisingly similar body structure. They have eight limbs--a pair of hind legs, two pairs of forelegs, and a pair of fin-like appendages on the center of their back. Myripyo also have long tails with folding fins on the end to aid in quicker swimming speeds. They have digitigrade feet, with retractable claws and webbed toes. They have flat heads, wide jaws, and blunt snouts with round eyes on the side of their head. Their eyes can rotate independently. They have nostrils at the tip of their snout, with a pair of pits right beneath that detect body heat from other animals. Myripyos have two rows of flat, serrated teeth that can tear through soft tissue with ease. Their skin is smooth, and a mix of brown and green in color that lets them blend in with the riverbeds. Myripyo are thought to be able to breathe through their skin, and even underwater.

Myripyos are solitary creatures, gathering once in the spring to find mates. They are advanced hunters, with extremely acute senses--a myripyo can detect prey from several kilometers away. However, they do not indiscriminately attack. Generally they do not pose a threat to humans unless their nest is disturbed.

Similar to other amphibians, myripyo lay a clutch of eggs in rivers or lakes that hatch into small tadpoles that eventually grow limbs and develop the ability to leave the water.

Fish

Mollusks

Kraken

A massive octopus that inhabits the oceans of Vansyr. They are estimated to be about 35 m (110 ft) in length, and weighing nearly 750 kg (1,650 lbs). Generally they are dark grey or red in color, with lateral papillary folds all over their body. Krakens have the potential to move quickly to chase prey, but generally wait as ambush predators, camouflaging themselves normally as boulders on the ocean floor, grabbing nearby prey when it gets close.

In addition to hooked suckers and a powerful beak, the mantle contains specialized appendages that when filled with blood, become solid spines full of neurotoxin. Krakens do not have ink, like many other mollusks.

Arthropods

Giant Moths

There are two different species of giant moth on Vansyr, both living exclusively in the mountains surrounding Noonvale. Both species are similar in size, with overall body shape and diet being the factors that separate them. The two species are Emperor Moths and Vampire Moths.

Emperor Moths are quite intelligent, able to be domesticated and trained similar to griffons. They are in the saturniidae family, looking very similar to the marbled emporer moths of Terra. They feed off of plant life by pumping a compound into the base of the plant and sucking out the liquefied plant matter. They also feed off of nectar from the occasional giant flowers that bloom in the mountains. Emperor moths average a wingspan of 20 feet. Females lay eggs on large, sturdy trees. However, unlike their tiny counterparts, giant moths only lay 5-10 eggs at a time. The caterpillars are large and green in color, with large white spines covering the length of their body. The caterpillars voraciously eat any plant matter in their path for around two weeks, at which point they dig into the ground and construct a partially subterranean cocoon to metamorphose.

Vampire Moths are the other species of giant moth. They are about as intelligent as the giant emperor moths, however vampire moths are aggressive and not easy to train. They are in the sphingidae family, and share a similar appearance to hawkmoths. Like other shpingids, they are able to hover in place. Vampire moths feed by piercing large animals with their proboscis, injecting a highly toxic and corrosive venom, then sucking out the slurry for nutrients. They can also feed in a similar manner to emperor moths, but only do so if prey is not an option. Females lay 5-10 eggs on large trees, and the caterpillars that hatch have a nearly identical appearance to the emperor moth caterpillars, though the spines are toxic in vampire moths. Vampire moth caterpillars are also omnivorous, eating not only plant life but any small animal that can fit inside their mandibles.

Despite the difficulty in taming vampire moths, they are the fastest and most nimble flying mounts in all of Vansyr. Unlike most flying creatures, vampire moths can instantly switch directions and fly sideways.

Cnidarians

Zeppelin Jellyfish

A species of massive jellyfish that begin as small polyps in the water, both in saltwater and freshwater, then mature to massive blimp-shaped creatures with long tentacles that float through the air, using hydrogen gas to stay afloat. They average 15 m (50 ft) long, with a circumference of 6 m (20 ft). They eat anything that gets tangled in their tentacles as they float through the sky. The tentacles release extremely deadly stings, powerful enough to kill even large animals in a matter of minutes.

They have no natural predators, because their gelatinous flesh has little nutritional value, tastes horrible, and the release of hydrogen gas is potentially dangerous. However, there are a couple of animals immune to the stinging tentacles. Furthermore, if the tentacles can be safely gathered, the stinging cells within can be used to make deadly poisons.

Worms

Echinoderms

Megafauna

The megafauna of Vansyr are called Leviathans. Leviathans are massive enough to influence the weather with their movements and specialized organs. They effortlessly destroy any human settlement that is outside of the 'safe zones' of Vansyr.

Despite appearing to be mostly unrelated to other organisms on Vansyr, the Leviathans are classified in the animalia kingdom, and Chordata phylum. Leviathans are classified under their own class, Leviathan. The order is Leviatha, the family is Leviathae, the genus is Leviathan, and finally the species is Leviathan.

Physiology

Leviathans are large and serpentine, with thick, scaly hide. Some have limbs, some do not, but most common is small back legs and small forelegs. Color ranges from light grey to dark blue, rarely black, and lighter (usually white) underbellies. Their heads generally have some sort of horn-like crest, containing an organ that senses electricity and emits high-voltage shocks, similar to an electric eel. They also have an array of organs in their backs that produce high amounts of lighter-than-air gas, causing leviathans to float.

Similar to vipers, Leviathans also have pits that sense differences in heat. Their mouths are full of long, needle-like teeth, often the size of lances.

Behavior

Leviathans are solitary creatures, only meeting once every few decades to breed. Otherwise, leviathans will kill and demolish anything in their path. Leviathan eggs hatch in groups, and only one or two leviathan hatchlings will survive--they eat each other until they are large enough to hunt on their own.

The hunting habits of leviathans are unknown--it's thought that they eat large ocean life, such as whales, sharks, and krakens.

Plant life

Plant life in Vansyr is not as varied as the animal life, with only a few unique species present.

Trees

The biggest category of unique plant life belongs to trees, which are important to both elves and demonkin, the latter of which must substitute large chunks of construction material with wood.

Stone Yew

Similar to most yew trees, the stone yew gets its name from the incredibly hard and dense heartwood of a mature tree. Generally stone yews are not harvested for use because of the immense difficulty in chopping one down, although it is a favorite for demonkin weapon forging, because of the incredible properties of the wood. A wooden club made from stone yew can smash through metal armor like an iron mace.

Despite the heartwood's characteristics, the sapwood, bark, and leaves of the stone yew are similar to a common yew. The red berries are toxic if ingested.

Blood Oak

Similar to common oak trees, blood oak is large tree, getting its name from the bloodred wood and bark of the plant. Blood oak planks are of exceptional quality, being both extremely hard and flexible. Demonkin are especially fond of the wood, though it is difficult to gather because of the high demand and rarity of the tree.

Vansyri Ironwood

Identical in appearance to the Acacia trees of Terra, Vansyri Ironwood trees are common in the drier climates of Halaevide. Similar to the blood oak and stone yew, Vansyri ironwood is known for it's durable, high-quality wood. It is often used to make fences, as well as spears and arrows.