#moprw

[totally-somebody]

These things are animals from the Cabagu homesorld - Sethal Rethka, literally translates to "food from the grasslands." Their young fill an ecological niche similar to warthogs, scavenging, foraging, and burrowing until they pupate, but their adult form is more like deer or wild horses -- grazing in small groups that typically consist of several females and one adult male.

One pair of legs has evolved into a tail that they use for social signalling. When startled or otherwise agitated it sticks straight up and the fur at the tip flares.

Every stage of their life cycle is used by the Cabagu - they eat the larvae, eggs, and adults, and harvest the silk from the cocoons they make when pupating.

Sethal rethka don't care for their young -- they bury their eggs, scattered beneath warm soil and then leave them there to grow. They have the consistency of dumplings, sort of. Sticky and full of fluid, unless about to hatch, then it's rather solid. Cabagu eat them raw. Yum.

The two males below are engaging in a measuring contest. If their eye stalks are too similar in sizes they'll fight, trying to intimidate their rival rather than actually injure them... But it does still happen. The winner gets the herd and all the females in it.

[totally-somebody]

Shelen Threk - "Forest Hunter"

Sentient apex predator on the cabagu homeplanet. They hunted cabagu in the forested interior of the planet during their exploration age, so cabagu basically hunted them to extinction... They still exist, but only in isolated, scattered groups. Cabagu are still unaware of their intelligence.

Their hunting stratagy is to sit very still and strike out at prey when it gets close enough.

[totally-somebody]

Messy Cabagan tree concept, not to be confused with complex pillars who also function like trees. Their continent is mostly hot and dry grasslands, but towards the lower middle, there be forest. It's called a rainforest, but it's not a rainforest by earth standards. It rains more in the Cabagu rainforest compared to the grasslands, but it's more like dense brushland or temperate forests.

This tree grows in segments and has a hollow interior like bamboo.

[totally-somebody]

Cabagu mouth :3

Their teeth aren't actually "teeth" like human teeth, but bony projections of their upper and lower jaw into their mouth. In all they have two canines, and four molars.

Also, they don't have a true tongue either. The flaps that open and close their vocal tube have evolved to be longer and more muscular, not for eating, but for vocalization modification. It sort of looks like they have two tongues haha. The thing they use to manipulate their food is their pedipalps and mandibles!

They use their mandibles to tear pieces off their food like our incisors, and move food around in their mouth with their pedipalps like our tongue.

[totally-somebody]

Walili: my village brought back this thing what do I do with it why is it looking at me.

Walili: oh my god it's huge now.

Ota are about four feet tall at the head. Cabagu kings are five... Queens like Sulune (Otan name for Sky) are typically around six.

Sulune is very large, and Walili is very small. It's fun :)

Also, fun fact: while Ota typically have a central white thread to represent their birth on their memory necklace, Sulune's is orange to represent the flames of her crashed escape pod, since the tribe wasn't there to witness her birth.

[totally-somebody]

It has occured to me that I never posted Sky's design.

Sky is one of two main characters of MOPRW. She was stranded on Onura as an infant and became friends with Walili.

Notice her lack of a tail. Her escape pod crashed and she was so scared that it fell off :3

Also, being a bug who can't swim on a planet full of water is very fun!

[totally-somebody]

Khel Threk - "Loyal hunters"

Cabagu domesticated animal. They occupied a niche similar to hyenas before domestication -- medium/small sized apex pack predators who also scavenged readily. They were domesticated in a way similar to cats: they started hanging around early Cabagu settlements because of pests and abundant scraps.

This is the wild-type, I'll design domestic types later when I... Figure out what traits Cabagu like. Anyway, the wild species is struggling to survive in modern times on the Bug Planet where Cabagu live. Cabagu have destroyed their home world's ecosystem beyond repair!

Notes under cut:

- They don't have nostrils, they smell through extendable, moist/feathery sensory organs.

- The colorful fur at the side of their faces is used for display. It can move around!

- Vocal but not loud. Communicate through soft chittering and clicking sounds + body language.

- The blue/green parts of their face-plates can change color slightly to become more or less saturated.

- their young are grubs. In the wild they hide them under rocks or in burrows dug by others. They leave them alone for the most part except for bringing them scraps of meat.

Original concept:

[totally-somebody]

Do the Ota have any aquatic predators?

Hi blue!!! Yes! Ota have many predators that can pose hazards to them underwater. Pictured here:

Bull Scup/Bull Scubber: duncleostus A kind of Scubber that has converged on the niche of sharks. Fast, with sharp teeth and good eyesight. Tends to move slowly most of the time, however, unless it's interested in prey item.

Living Kelp: aquatic predatory worm plant. It blends in with kelp fields and snags whatever hapless prey wanders past.

Kelp Eel: I've actually talked about these guys before. Worms and "snakes" diverged from a common ascestor, with worms become more seccile. Snakes stayed mobile. Kelp eels are a kind of aquatic "snake." They're huge ambush predators that, like living kelp, also hide in kelp fields, waiting for prey. It tends to stalk, waiting for just the right time to attack.