#askbeast

[loominggaia]

I’m quite curious about the Skadgrik trolls and their walrus hunting?

What are their traditional walrus hunts like? What kinda weapons aside from trollish strength do they use to kill these giant, blubbery aquatic tanks? (Serious people underestimate just how BIG walruses can get!)

What kinda relationship do they have with the walruses they hunt and do they have culture significance outside just food and material? I’d imagine they would be experts on walrus biology & ecology just like Great Plains people with bison or indigenous Russians tribes with reindeer.

How do they preserve all the meat they harvest from these walrus hunts? And aside from meat and tusk what other materials and uses do these trolls have for the walrus parts?

Good questions! I haven't fully developed the Skadgrik lore yet, but I do have some basic ideas.

I think they utilize basic rafts made out of driftwood, bone, skins, and flesh (using flesh as inflatables) to drift from iceberg to iceberg, where they find the walruses. They probably spear-fish other marine life like fish and penguins while they're on the water.

The average troll weighs about 600 pounds, but Skadgrik trolls do lean on the heavier side. The average adult Skadgrik male is probably closer to 700-800lbs. That's still not as heavy as a walrus, but it does give them a much better chance of surviving a fight with one than smaller peoples, especially when you consider their ultra-thick skin, blubber, and natural weapons like fangs and claws. They use spears, clubs, and sharpened projectiles like stones to injure the walruses and then chase them down. The Skadgrik (and trolls in general) don't traditionally utilize traps or anything like that, they have a more straightforward way of dealing with their prey.

I do think the Skadgrik have a healthy respect for the walruses. They understand that without the walruses sacrifice, their tribes would not be able to survive. So, there are likely walrus-themed rituals or perhaps funerals to honor those sacrifices. A troll who dies hunting a walrus is honored as a hero for trying to feed his tribe, but the walrus itself is also honored for providing that meal.

The trolls harvest many useful things from the walruses besides meat. They carve all kinds of tools from the tusks, the blubber can be eaten or turned into fuel, and the skins are used for water-repellent clothes, furniture, and insulation. They even use the sinew for thread. The Halostiran tundra is too harsh to let any part go to waste, so there is nothing left of the walrus' corpse by the time the tribe parts it out. The one who made the kill gets the biggest cut of the spoils.

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[loominggaia]

Since in Mogdir they can't have pets or livestock except for bugs can they have service animals or guard animals or stuff like that?

Good question! The Mogdiri are allowed to have "pets" as long as the animal in question is their companion by choice. Mogdiri are not allowed to pen, trap, or otherwise confine an animal unless it's for self-defense. They also can't legally "own" an animal, there are no registries for pets. Buying and selling animals is illegal. They may not be treated as goods/commodities in this kingdom. (Bugs are the exception)

So, if a dog decides it likes you and wants to stay in your house, that's allowed. But grabbing a random dog off the street and keeping it on a chain is a no-no. If the dog wants out, you must set it free by law. And if that dog attacks someone and gets killed in self-defense, there is no legal action you can take because it never "belonged" to you to begin with.

All of this applies to service animals as well. Mogdiri people may not legally keep an animal to serve them, it's considered slavery. But if the animal chooses to serve by its own free will, that's fine.

Mogdiri actually have service bugs instead! Giant Arcadian isopods are a popular choice because they're so docile and trainable. They are strong enough that crippled peoples can ride on their backs, they are smart enough to lead the blind, and they are obedient enough to learn many commands.

They are actually exceptional service critters, so why do you rarely find them outside Mogdir Kingdom? Well, the Mogdiri have a special relationship with bugs. Most foreigners find them too gross and creepy...

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[loominggaia]

now i want to see a service isopod in a harness-

He is working! Do not pet!

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[loominggaia]

Cosas:

Ideas de cultura de cecaelias de aguas profundas: la magia de luz para calentarse. Algo que mucho gente no piensa, es que al vivir en aguas profundas donde no llega la luz del sol, ahí hace tanto frío que se te congelan hasta los mocos. Para conservar el calor las cecaelias de aguas profundas podrían usar hechizos de luz para calentar lugares

Fauna marina de halostria: relacionado a lo anterior, es muy posible que la fauna marina de halostria sea especialmente grande. Esto debido a que es más o menos como la Antártida, dónde varias condiciones han dado como resultado un gigantismo abisal, Pero en la superficie (no se si se entendió)

(Translated with Google Translator)

Things: Deep-sea cecaelia culture ideas: light magic for warmth. Something many people don't think about is that living in deep waters where sunlight doesn't reach, it's so cold that even your snot freezes. To conserve heat, deep-sea cecaelias could use light spells to warm places. Halostrian marine fauna: Related to the above, it's quite possible that Halostrian marine fauna is especially large. This is because it's more or less like Antarctica, where various conditions have resulted in abyssal gigantism. But on the surface (I don't know if that's clear)

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I think you're onto something with both of these!

Mr. Ocean used a light spell to keep Solveig warm in "Ocean Returns to the Sea". He must have learned this spell from somewhere, so I bet it's used widely among many cecaelian cultures.

Cecaelia (and all Aquarians) are very resistant to cold naturally, they actually don't get hypothermia. When they freeze, they simply enter a stasis and safely thaw out when conditions warm up. Cold temperatures do slow them down though, they get quite sluggish and disoriented in near-freezing temps.

Canonically there are orca whales swimming around Halostira, but I bet there are other, even larger creatures in those waters too. Krakens, sperm whales, and giant crabs are some of them. I'm imagining a giant species of walrus as well!

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[loominggaia]

Question Time! Are there any extinct animals from the past still alive in Looming Gaia? Like, say, trilobites, ammonites, Ice Age megafauna, or pterosaurs? Just askin'.

There are wooly mammoths still hanging out in the Shrieking Mountains, but not as many as there were in prehistoric times (in this case meaning before the 1st Age). Folkvarans herd them across the tundra like cattle. It's dangerous work, but every dead mammoth provides a huge amount of resources, and the cold climate makes it easy to transport the meat long distances before it goes bad.

There are plenty of megafaunas like sharks, squids, giant sloths, and giant insects. (Most of the giant bugs are in Umory-Ond and eastern Evik. They used to be plentiful in western Evik too, until Zareen Empire killed them all with pesticides.)

Mr. Ocean and Solveig had a pet giant ground sloth called King Kaiva. He was supposedly the last of his kind on Redwood Island.

There are gigantic isopods in Mogdir Kingdom which are used as busses. They have not evolved in millions of years.

There are straight-up velociraptors in Lorrowey.

Most of Looming Gaia's dragons are "dinosaurs" that have not changed much from their ancient forms, especially the Evangelite and Matuzan war dragons, and the Redwings. They're basically perfect predators as-is.

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[loominggaia]

razzek Would Zygrow even waste resources creating males? All clones start as female in mammals and it'd be pretty convenient to just not bother with the extra steps to get that Y chromosome. XD

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That's a really good point! I feel like they would favor males just because they're larger, stronger, and more aggressive. Since these beasts were made specifically for combat situations, I think they'd want to minmax those traits as much as possible. No resources wasted on weaker dogs; they are graded by how efficiently they can shred a mofo and nothing else.

Now that I think of it, the female ironjaws probably don't see combat at all. They'd be kept in the lab where their eggs and any other genetic material could be harvested for cloning purposes, then they'd be terminated. Ironjaw handlers are expensive military units, so they're only assigned to the biggest, baddest beasts.

I don't imagine Zygrow's cloning process resembles the one we have in the real world. I think they're going about it in some fantastical, abstract kind of way.

I am very uneducated about things like this though, so who knows if I'm making any sense here.

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[loominggaia]

How big is shadow like she can fit a whole gazebo on her back

(please forgive my crappy image)

Shadow is still young and not quite full-grown, but she will grow bigger with time.

Her "gazebo" is actually more of a tent-like structure. One of these days I'm going to edit every instance of "gazebo" in the whole series and change it to "tent" or "yurt", because it seems to cause a lot of confusion. Poor word choice on my part!

Shadow doesn't carry the tent on her back, she actually carries it in her talons like this:

(However, I have seen art of rocs carrying tents on their backs like the pic below:

Rocs of Looming Gaia don't generally carry them this way though.)

Shadow has a few different tents which she uses to carry her crew. The largest one is big enough to hold about ten crewmen, including Elska and Javaan (it's a tight squeeze!). The smallest can hold just two human-sized people. The larger tents are more unwieldy and make her fly clumsily.

Some of the tents are made of light canvas and well-ventilated for hot climates, while others are made of heavy pelts and extra insulated for cold climates. In one story, the FGG put skis on a roc tent so they could drag it through the snowy tundra, showing that they're easily customizable.

All the tents are equipped with safety parachutes in case Shadow accidentally drops them (the FGG had to deploy these at least once in the series...). They also float in case they're dropped in water. However, these tents are built to be as lightweight as possible and that means they're not very sturdy. They tend to break apart easily.

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[loominggaia]

I’d like to know alittle bit more about how roc reproduction and their lifecycle works? Exactly how big is a roc egg and how long do they incubate? How big and developed are roc chicks upon hatching and how long do they take to grow? What happens if a roc fails to find a mate, do they lay an unfertilized egg or just don’t lay an egg at all? Etc…?

How big a roc egg?

Roc eggs are the largest avian eggs on Looming Gaia. They’re about 3 feet tall and can weigh up to 100 pounds.

How long do the eggs incubate?

About 2-3 weeks. A female roc and her mate take turns guarding these eggs while the other hunts for food. Once the hatchlings are old enough to start wandering out of the nest, the male usually leaves and never returns.

How developed are roc hatchlings?

When baby rocs emerge from their eggs, they are covered in a fine gray fuzz. This fuzz is hard to see because their skin is also gray, but it can be felt and it's very soft. After a few weeks, they grow a coat of black downy feathers. At this stage they start to wander around outside the nest and hunt small animals. Over the next few months, their down turns into real feathers and their mother will teach them how to fly. Most rocs are flying at 6 months of age.

At this age, the rocs are much smaller than their mother, but still large enough to defend themselves against most predators in the desert. They start becoming territorial and aggressive towards their mother, prompting her to attack them and scare them away from the nest for good. They will then fly off and become independent.

How long do they take to grow?

At 6 months old, rocs are considered "juveniles". Juveniles are smaller than adults, but still quite independent and dangerous creatures. It takes 5 years for a roc to reach full size/maturity. Wild rocs tend to live for 20-50 years, but those in captivity can live to see 100.

They usually die from injuries, infections, starvation, bad weather, and fighting with other rocs.

What happens if a roc fails to find a mate?

Female rocs can only lay 3 eggs in their entire lifetime. Some lay just one every few years, while others lay them all at once. It's unknown what triggers this process, but rocs seem to sense when they're about to lay an egg a few weeks ahead of time. Their instincts drive them towards the Serkel Desert, where they will search for a mate to fertilize them. If they are not fertilized in time, they will lay a dud.

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