#wyvara

[brothermanwill]

An early Clan era Lead Flyer touching down after a multi-day long flight to a fresh island. The rest of the clan and their livestock following close behind.

[itsmergb]

Day 1 of Artfight! The grind never stops! Feat. @brothermanwill’s Wyvara species, @lonelysheepling’s trickster goddess, @comicwolf’s wounded monster beasty, @spinbit’s Mini Music Man Experimentalist, and more!

[rxttenfish]

Color + shade commission for @brothermanwill of the Wyvara!

[owlsockets]

Another character for my dnd homebrew - Wyvara!

[brothermanwill]

trick or treat !!

Ah!!! I wasn't expecting anyone! Here. Have some Wyvaran Puffed Crunch! Its a common street food/snack food. Its made by tossing fried puffy cliffnut grain and drizzled sugary sauce to get the grains to stick together into clumps. There's tons of variations in toppings and style but this one's a pretty traditional sweet and spicy! Enjoy!

[brothermanwill]

Did some futzing and made a sound for a happy Wyvaran!

[brothermanwill]

It's intra-galactic hug-a-human day! Have you hugged your human friends yet? You should! Humans prefer more personal space than us Wyvara but despite this lack of proper platonic pats humans do still require physical contact and most humans don't get what they need to remain mentally healthy. Do do your friends a service and hug-a-human today!

[brothermanwill]

A moonlight lesson between a Beastmaster and their apprentice. Teaching the ways they map the stars to guide their herd on the migration circuit.

[brothermanwill]

Chiiki, just because your human friend has weak and tiny vocal cords, doesn't mean you get to bully him over it...

[brothermanwill]

Response to this world building prompt:For your alien’s integument (skin/feathers/fur/scales/carapace/etc): how does it grow, what maintenance does it need, does it shed, if so does it shed all at once or in pieces, and what sociocultural practices have grown around that?

Wyvarans shed feathers and scales. Scales(which are more crocodilian than snake) come off piecemeal and aren't assigned any real meaning. Feathers are a bit more important culturally because they had to fly a lot to survive. Wyvara have several distinct patches of feathers on their bodies. Their headcrest which is made up of long stiff feathers they use to emote. Their under-chest/stomach area is way thicker with down feathers as they're used for incubation of eggs and keeping their arms warm during flight. They also have their main flight feathers/tail feathers.

They fly so keeping their main flight feathers in order is very important. While their necks are flexible enough to maintain their flight feathers, they cannot reach their entire bodies. Thus, social grooming is very common in Wyvara society. Normally, it is done paired and mutually. Being groomed without reciprocating is strangely considered varying levels of, rude, a show of power or just being plain genuinely helpful(This is really weird though and is only done for those who really can't do it reciprocate, like the elderly, infirm or children). Being groomed and not reciprocating evokes the same internal feeling that being at your birthday party and having to do nothing while everyone sings you happy birthday does in humans. A shared experience of a lot of young Wyvarans have is helping preen your grandparents while they insist on reciprocating, accidentally pulling too hard or messing up their feathers. In literature or movies, not reciprocating grooming is similar to the human, "jerk eating an apple" or "kicking a puppy." Shorthand for "This not a very nice or caring person"

Wyvarans also believe that beings exists finitely and its tied to how much stuff comes off/out of them. You only have so many feathers or scales to shed, so many children you will have, etc. Physiologically, this is supported by elderly Wyvarans "going bald" before passing away. Losing their feathers fully and scales becoming unable to shed. It is believed to be different for each individual and is meant to be unknown. There's folk tales of Wyvarans trying to discover their numbers and failing or finding out theirs and going crazy because of it.

This give a lot of meaning to the other cultural practice relating to feathers: Piece Weaving. Piece Weaving is a common cultural practice where Wyvarans will take the shed feathers of an individual they are close to and weave it into their feathers to display it, typically the crest. There are some overarching societal implications depending on the location of the feather as well. Headcrest is a general, "Hey! I like this person!" The thick, fluffed underbelly is typically more intimate. Feathers can be taken from anywhere but usually are taken from areas with larger feathers to show more color but many smaller feathers woven into a pattern are also common. Isolated Wyvara do still need to groom themselves and with these cultural stigmas its a hard taboo to break…

[brothermanwill]

The wild Cliff Nut grows rocky ocean cliffs, intertidal zones, and beaches. It can grow on normal soil but is usually out competed by other plants. Its leaves are similar to succulents. They store filtered fresh water due to the rock they root in being unable to hold onto moisture. While the Cliff Nut can deal with some of the salt from the seawater it uses to survive, anything it cannot naturally process, will be sequestered in the least efficient leaves at the base of the plant which will die off and the salt disposed of. The seedpod of the Cliff Nut has an interesting evolutionary tactic of seed dispersal. Due to the extreme tides of the planet, there are large regions of tidal or shallow beaches that are exposed to the air for a majority of the day. These are picked up by, or are dropping into the water to float along the currents to new land. During its journey, the heavy bottom of the shell keeps a large portion of the nut submerged and cooled by the ocean water. Once it has been deposited by the tide, lack of cooling water begins heating the protein rich interior water of the nut. This causes the fatty proteins in the grain to become simple sugars and the interior water to evaporate. The proteins in the water begin to thicken. These proteins, once exposed to air, will become a sticky, mucous like material that will bind seeds to their new rooting spots. Over the course of about an hour, pressure builds enough to cause an explosion along the pressure seam of the nut, scattering globs of seeds and rooting mucous across wherever the nut has landed. Some land high enough to attach to cliffs which is the safest spot for them to land as they are away from any sea or land based herbivores.

The Wyvara began harvesting these plants for both water and food while their livestock fed on inedible vegetation. Wyvara eventually figured out that instead of allowing these seeds to ferment and explode, they could empty the contents of the nuts into cooking vessels to heat and create a seed paste to smear on cliff faces to grow an exclusive food source as the cliffsides were very inaccessible to most of the threats to the Cliff Nut. The Cliff Nut did not need tending as the ocean waves irrigated the plants without any need for watering. This allowed for a stable, reliable source of food for their next visit on to the island while on their migration circuit. This technique was further refined by hollowing out parts of cliffs into terrace-esque farms. These plant beds were augmented to promote growth by dumping dung of livestock animals fostering a trade between any permanent residents and nomads. The nomads gave fertilizer, meat, and animal products in exchange for tools, food, and grazing rights. The soil is regularly dumped into the sea and replaced to prevent toxic salt buildup and to renew soil nutrients.

From the artificially improved growing conditions and Wyvara influence selection, the Cliff Nut began to grow larger. More stalks for nuts and more nuts per stalk. Several different strains of Cliff Nut are in use today. The glue producing Cliff Nut has very low amount of internal grain and a much higher concentration of congealing proteins in the internal water. They are a renewable source of adhesives for settled communities. Grain Cliff Nuts are bred for the maximum amount of grain. They cannot naturally explode and must be manually opened by Wyvara to disperse seeds due to there being almost no water in their nuts. Salt Cliff Nuts are bred for their salt-sacrifice leaves. They are used in a large amount of Wyvara traditional dishes and barely produce any nuts and when they do they are rather small. They absorb an extreme amount of salt and push it in very high concentrations into leaves. Fig(2) is a late Clan era farm where permanent residents were becoming largely self sufficient and experts at farming. Slowly beginning to domesticate the Cliff Nut into a proper staple food crop.

Nets are often used to ensure minor crop loss from any premature dropping or rogue waves stealing crops. They are also regularly scraped for surplus salt.

[brothermanwill]

Wyvarna evolved from pack hunters that followed herds of large, typically large, flying prey items. They are expert vocal mimics. Much of their brain development was caused by the need for sound usage and memorization. Through this mimicry they were able to trick their prey herds into being easier to hunt and then took this further to eventually lead and domesticate them. From here their sapience began. Controlling and leading herds of animals between fertile lands. This led to visiting the same areas and small instances of "farming." Leaving crops, such as the Cliff Nut, to fend for themselves then coming back with the herd to collect your rewards. The farming and infrastructure began to become more complex and require more and more maintenance. This eventually lead to members of the tribe staying full time to tend to crops and maintain infrastructure. Settled communities refined farming and further domesticated more plant species overtaking the influence of the roving clans.

One thing leads to another and bam. Space faring civilization. After a while they meet humans. They have a name for themselves but its unpronounceable to humans.