#thanan

[latestdevil]

Small Meaningful Symbol Tattoo #THANAN (#HiddenPower #InnerStrength) #symbolicink #smalltattoo #smalltattooideas #fingertattoo #meaningfultattoos #DipenPatelTattz #NaughtyDevil #tattoos #nDevilz #tatts #tattoo (at Naughty Devil's Tattooz - NDevilZzz)

[tiny-rook]

This joke is bad and I should feel bad. I don’t though

[tiny-rook]

Uhra has cute leggies

and Thanan is a grump

[tiny-rook]

More of Thanan and Uhra!

Thanan’s third eye isn’t actually an eye, more like a special pigmented membrane. It does a hypnosis thing that freezes whoever is looking at it in their tracks. (Other basiliks are immune to it.) And he has birdie feet! Basiliks are swamp dwellers.

I was lazy with Uhra’s skin texture, it’s supposed to look somewhat like old brass, this will need some work in the future. The third eye on Uhra is just painted on (mark of ownership), Thanan doesn’t really care about putting it on him though.

Edit: Fuck that, Uhra got rusty iron.

[tiny-rook]

26, 36, and 59 for any OC you have yet to talk about, please.

Oh gosh, I actually have some new characters in my head. I have some scribbles of them, but I haven’t worked with them a lot because a lot of people would scream at me if I did that right now, haha. I am going to call them Mystery Smol and Mystery Tol for this because I have no names yet.

(EDIT: Smol is Thanan, Tol is Uhra. And Thanan doesn’t have wings anymore, lol)

Also, Kronos from the main setting who is going to be a mystery for some time as well.

26: Is your OC a human or an animal? (or something else idk) 

Kronos: a god, according to them

M. Smol: basilisk

M. Tol: the most human out of all of these? species still needs a name

36: What turns your OC on?

Kronos: POWER

M. Smol: ??? (doesn’t know how to have fun)

M. Tol: domestic cuteness

59: What is the first thing that someone would notice about your OC? 

Kronos: what the FUCK is that

M. Smol: wings and weird eyes

M. Tol: cute

[morgrimmoon]

NaNoWriMo 2014: Dromae Feathers

I wrote this very late at night and it gets increasingly poor as it progresses. Oh well. Feathers for everyone!

Dromae moult once a year. The primary leathers on the legs and arms follow a pattern, with the outermost feather being replaced first and each following after in succession. Generally each feather is fully regrown before the next falls out, but occasionally one will drop before the next is full length. The secondaries are less coordinated in their replacement order but still broadly follow the same out to in sweep, beginning once the primaries are complete.

The feathers of the crest are often shed two or three at a time and in a more random distribution, occasionally giving the raptor an unfortunate lopsided look for some weeks. Tail feathers are shed starting at the tip and moving down the sides, in theory dropping in pairs. In practice one side will inevitably get ahead of the other and so fall out of step. The contour feathers of the body are moulted sporadically throughout the year.

Many dromae choose to trim the long feathers on their arms and legs since uncut feathers limit the clothes that can be worn and for most occupations only serve to get in the way. Some jobs will even require feathers to be kept below a certain length as part of their dress code. While their balance and jumping distance is restricted a dromae can still hunt with their feathers clipped. Consequently some raptors in occupations taking them into dangerous parts of the wilderness will still choose to clip their feathers so that they are able to wear armour, trading attack prowess for survivability.

On the flip side, possessing particularly long, well groomed and decorated plumage is considered a sign of status. Considerable time must be dedicated to preening to achieve this as well as one's job both allowing it and not being likely to cause quill damage.

For most dromae attention is mostly given to the feathers of the head and crest. These are an important part of a raptor's body language and may be enhanced with lightweight jewelry or daubs of paint. More daring raptors may chose to dye their crest bright colours or even trim the tips and sides of feathers to create dramatic shapes.

Contour, trimmed or damaged feathers are disposed of once moulted, but some dromae choose to collect and recycle intact larger ones. In many past cultures tribal leaders would wear wraps, scarves or capes decorated with one or more of the tail, wing or crest feathers of their pack as a symbol of unity. For highly formal functions many empresses will wear a full cloak made from the donated feathers of their subjects. When a new Empress is chosen the call will go out and thousands will be collected with the finest woven into the cloak she will wear at her coronation. The majority of empresses will be buried, cremated or entombed wrapped in it as well.

[morgrimmoon]

NaNoWriMo 2014: Dromae Foot Claws

Somehow I have managed to write 500 words on how my species' modern culture considers feet. Not even that. Toes, really. I have written 500 words on toes. Good grief.

Dromae and their relatives, both close and distant, have feet with four toes. The outer two digits are strong, flattened and bear the individual's weight as they run. The claws are capable of damage but ground contact naturally blunts them and they serve primarily to provide grip against the soil (or the hide of their prey). Individuals planning to hunt particularly large and challenging prey may sharpen their running claws the evening before to enable them to better pierce skin and aid in clinging to a panicked beast. In cultures that mark adulthood with a traditional blooding it is common for the ceremony to involve the huntmaster ritually sharpening the running claws of the adolescents, or for one of their older participating family members to do so.

The second toe is held aloft from the ground and bears the lethal sickle claw the Deinonychosauria are known for. In childhood the sickle claw is of similar size to the running claws and only grows to full size in early puberty. It is a weapon and all children are taught to treat it as such. In adulthood, one's sickle claw will only be touched by one's closest friends and family members, or by medical professionals. Many dromae with urban jobs choose to keep their sickle claws slightly dull and only trim when necessary, to reduce wear on their claw covers.

During social engagements it is considered polite to place a claw cover over the sickle claw as a gesture of peace. Traditional claw covers are woven from plant fibers and decorated with bright feathers or tassels, or carved from wood. Modern claw covers are still split into soft and hard. Hard covers better protect the claw and are often more utilitarian, although intricate designs in wood, metal or ivory are available. Soft covers are crafted from a variety of fabrics or leather and are decorated to accentuate the foot, with more fashionable varieties connecting to anklets and other foot jewellery.

In contrast, dromae who's lifestyle or occupation requires their sickle claws as tools or weapons will devote considerable time to sharpening and maintaining the edge. Generally speaking a pocket knife will be a better tool for cutting but it can be much more convenient to use a claw to cut a small cord or a piece of tape. In rural areas the opportunistic hunting of small game is common and much more difficult if covers are being worn. Rangers, police, guards and military consider their feet backup or even primary weapons and maintain them accordingly.

The innermost toe on a dromae's foot is small, unable to reach the ground and somewhat more flexible than the other digits. The claw is blunt and used for grooming feathers, especially on the head and neck. Between the grooming claws and the mouth a healthy dromae can, in theory, reach any feather on the body. In practice parts of the plume, the end of the tail and the sides of the neck near where it joins the chest are tricky to reach, and the areas most targeted by communal grooming.

[morgrimmoon]

NaNoWriMo 2014: Evolution of Hunting Adaptions

More raptor-people running about, this time killing and eating things.

There is significant debate amongst dromae paleontologists about whether their primitive dinosaurian ancestors were capable of flight. It is clear that their distant cousins the birds are, and that some species closely related to raptorian ancestors may have been more than gliders.

Dromae paleontologists are firm that they are not descended from birds. The presence of teeth, prominent primary feathers on the legs, partially keeled sternum and shoulder girdle adaptions indicate the split was from the protoavians. Unfortunately the small size, fragile bones and forested habitat combine to form a sharp gap in the fossil record. Primitive raptorians next become obvious in desert salt-lake deposits and there are multiple potential paths that could have brought them there.

It is thought that small primitive raptorians may have roosted in trees and outcroppings and retained the legwings for ease of return to the ground for hunting. Hunting techniques are thought to be similar to that used by young dromae or by adults against small prey: the prey is pounced upon from a distance, with the spread arms lengthening the jump and acting as large control surfaces while the tail and its feather vane stabilise and make fine alterations. Upon landing on the prey the sickle claws sink into its flesh to provide an anchor point while the wing feathers are rapidly flapped to stabilise the hunter and prevent falling. The jaws are used to tear into the prey and inflict injuries. Prey death is by shock and blood loss from the combined teeth and claw wounds. More skilled hunters will dispatch the prey with a targeted bite to the neck or spine.

Larger prey is hunted communally. While the sickle claw of dromae is still curved, unlike ancestral dinosaurs the base is straighter and the claw more pronounced at the tip, and the inner surface sharper. After cutting out and harrying a chosen large prey animal pack members will leap onto its back and flanks, avoiding the threatening front quarters where possible. Front and rear claws are used to grip the prey's hide, sometimes supplemented by jaws, while one or both legs kick out with sickle claws to inflict deep injuries. Once the prey has been sufficiently weakened and dragged down the neck and throat can be safely targeted and the prey dispatched.

The scaled belly and inner thighs of the dromae is an adaption for this method of predation. A struggling prey animal is challenging to cling to and the smooth surface of feathers lacks grip. Contour feathers are likely to suffer significant damage by being scraped over rough hide while offering little protection in return as the hunter is shaken. The naked face reduces fouling by blood and offal as the dromae feeds, as it will be reaching deeper into the body cavity given the size of the prey. If crests were not such an important visual communication tool and if ancestral dromae scavenged more frequently, it is possible they would have lost their head and neck plumage all together as some distantly related species have done.