Imperial Wyverns of Ganneoux
The symbol of Ganneoux's might, the imperial wyvern is one the most impressive species ever domesticated by any sapient culture, with few contenders.
Physiology & Morphology
The second largest member of the sky wyvern sub-order, imperial (also called the noble) wyverns are a sight to behold, standing three to five metres tall and measuring ten to fifteen metres head to tail, weight varying from three to six tonnes. A fair degree of sexual dimorphism is seen in the species, with female imperial wyverns averaging at a ten percent increase in size against the males (of course there are outliers for both sexes). All imperial wyverns are adorned in decorative feathers, which are strongly expressed in males to show brighter colours as a mating display, while females in contrast have duller colouration. Of course, imperial wyverns have wings, membranous structures that attach to the forelimbs in a fashion akin to bats, giving a wingspan that usually matches total body length. These wings are lined with differing degrees of feathers between individuals. The wing membrane does not terminate at the torso, instead running along the flanks of an imperial wyvern all the way to the tip of its tail, creating a skirt-like structure. Imperial flying wyverns have large, anisodactyl feet that bear huge talons, very similar to that of raptorial birds like eagles, so are built for grasping and puncturing prey. These feet are attached to powerful legs that fold into the body during flight, lashing out to snag a target at the last moment of a descent. Yellow-green eyes housing rounded pupils enable vision several times more focused than humans, so prey can be spotted from several kilometers away in the air.Sub-species
There are three distinct ancestral sub-species present within the genus, being the draped, coastal, and grinders. Draped imperial wyverns have the largest range, being found throughout ganneoux, most of Frynn and further afield to the eastern territories of the Long Stretch that blend into the Central Corridor. They are characterized by their thick plumage along the head and flight membranes, giving them the most avian appearance of the three sub-species. The coastal sub species is found along the southern coastlines of the Long Stretch, defined by a thinner snout and considerable development of the flight membrane, allowing for the greatest aerial mobility of the three varieties and a surprising capacity for swimming. The grinders are aptly named for their preference of crushing bone in their strong jaws, but are also identified by a low feather count, which seems to slightly reduce flying ability and may result from the grinders northerly range containing large amounts of swampland. A competitive environment means that the grinders are the most aggressive and territorial sub-specie of imperial wyvern, thus attain the greatest average size. These three sub-species are all capable of inter-breeding with one another, but the coastal and grinder wyverns rarely produce fertile young themselves. Hence the nobility of Ganneoux had the draped variants breed with the other two, producing lineages who can then be crossed with the originally incompatible sub-species to produce viable offspring, which combine desired traits from the three original varieties. All sub-species inhabit a specific range within the Long Stretch, primarily living within Ganneoux, Frynn, The Emerald Coasts and the Central Corridor in reduced numbers. Some coastal variants have been spotted as far as the sub-tropical islands South of the Long Stretch however.Mechanism of Flight
Strong enough to bear fully grown humans on their backs and fly with minimal penalty to their aerodynamics, it is fair to assume such a large volant animal can only occur through use of magical tampering. Yet this is not the case, as the imperial wyvern has evolved a unique mechanism to circumvent their weight by completely natural means. Much the same as their close cousins the balloon wyverns, imperial wyverns produce a special, lighter-than-air fluid that incorporates methane and nitrogen, which is then contained in glands and vessels concentrated at the wings, tail and torso. By circulating the fluid, imperial wyverns achieve increased buoyancy in air, easing the amount of stress put on the wings during flight. But producing this fluid has some drawbacks, primarily that it is expensive to make, store and is potentially dangerous in certain situations. Requiring various proteins and gases that are hard to synthesize, creating this fluid takes a fair portion of an imperial wyvern's energy, comparable to the amount needed for the function of its brain. Further adding to this cost is storing the fluid, which needs the previously mentioned vessels and glands, which contain enzymes and membranes that work to keep the various components from evaporating. Many such compounds are flammable, so any injury that damages the flight membranes or glands poses a risk of catching alight as the stored fluid rapidly evaporates, causing permanent disfigurement. Due to these factors, imperial wyverns are quite cautious about direct combat with conspecifics and other predators, preferring a hit and run style to fighting. However, in exceptionally dire circumstances, imperial wyverns can use their flight fluid as a potent weapon. When cornered, a grounded imperial wyvern may release a stream of the fluid from a semi-vestigial duct inside the fangs, retained from a venomous ancestor specie. The release of pressure at these ducts causes combustion of the fluid, causing a jet of flame and acid to spray from the wyvern's mouth, burning any too close to it. A risky ploy, it is common for an imperial wyvern to never use this tactic once in their life, only being observed regularly when they are defending their nest from a dangerous invader.Behaviour & Ecology
Diet & Hunting
These large reptiles are not terribly picky about what they eat, going after just about any animal that presents a sufficient meal. Only the largest and heaviest creatures on the Long Stretch are safe from predation by Imperial Wyverns, such as the giants and adamant bison, which are both the biggest members of their respective animal orders. Imperial wyverns employ a few different hunting strategies depending on the prey being targeted. For livestock and large terrestrial animals the imperial wyvern will initiate a long swooping glide to pursue the prey as it retreats, snagging it in its talons before carrying it off to the nest (should the caught animal survive the initial puncturing by the talons, an imperial wyvern may be forced to deliver a bite or even drop it to finish it off.) For smaller animals such as fish, imperial wyverns will often just scoop up the food in their jaws as they descend on the target. The coastal subspecies prefers the latter strategy as they subsist primarily on a piscovorous diet, while draped imperial wyverns use a combination of both tactics, predating on both large grazers and smaller animals. Grinders are unusual in their willingness to engage in ground hunting, their greater size enabling them to overpower large prey, even the mighty dire boar, with less issue. So, they can employ ambush tactics akin to a crocodile or simply savage prey unfortunate enough to stumble near their nests. In captivity, all three types of imperial wyvern are fed a steady stream of meat, needing prohibitive amounts of food to upkeep and ensure a wyvern reaches its full size. For this reason above all else are imperial wyverns considered a symbol of nobility, with the level of wealth needed to raise just one being inaccessible for most people in Ganneoux.Reproduction & Life Cycle
Across all three variants of imperial wyvern, courtship is a complex process that lasts several days. When the breeding season rolls around at late spring, female wyverns will announce their readines to mate by issuing a loud booming call from a high place that can be heard by others of the specie over one hundred kilometres away. From there males will begin to flock at the female's location, preparing for the contest ahead. Once landed, a male must first pass the female's preliminary assessment of their fitness, in which feather vibrancy, size and health are all put under scrutiny. This can take hours or even days, with female imperial wyverns turning hostile and chasing off the bachelor if they believe they will be unsuitable for raising hatchlings. At any point while a male is being inspected, if another imperial wyvern bull should happen to land near the nest then the two will have to compete for the right to mate with the female. This contest will involve a standoff where the combatants bellow at each other and raise their feathers in threat displays, trying to get the other male to desist and flee before resorting to violence. Should it come to it, males will begin to shove and bash each other with their bodies until one wyvern is forced to retreat. These fights rarely develop into lethal battles because even if one male successfully kills the other the injuries the victor might suffer would almost certainly spell a slow demise for themselves, and regardless, female imperial wyverns are not likely to choose a mate that readily engages in extreme violence as it indicates that the male will not be a good father to hatchlings. Once all challengers are repelled, the victorious male wyvern will mate with the female and both will form a monogamous bond, potentially for life if the availability of food in the nesting area is good, if not they may split after a few years. After laying one to three eggs, the female wyvern will begin incubating them for the remainder of the year, taking turns with her mate to hunt and protect the nest. When Winter comes, all adult imperial wyverns will perform hibernation, sleeping throughout the season while the eggs continue to incubate. Once the Spring season starts again, the eggs will hatch, revealing the neonate wyverns, around a meter long and weighing less than ten kilograms, tiny compared to their parents and lacking any plumage. For six months, hatchling imperial wyverns are fed by their parents, who may or may not have kept a cache of meat frozen over the Winter for the first couple of weeks. Then, when food starts to become scarce for their parents in the run-up to the next Winter, the young wyverns will have to start feeding themselves, forming a unit of now three meter long hunters who work to together to bring down larger prey under the watchful eye of their parents (which is thought to help reduce intra-specific aggression when the fledgelings reach maturity). The fledgelings will remain active for the remainder the year while their parents hibernate, eating and growing ever larger. The following year is usually the last the fledgelings spend with their parents, this time around being expected to hunt for themselves independently. Throughout the second year, the young wyverns will begin to grow out their feathers and start producing the flight fluid found in their wings and tail, gradually learning to fly for extended periods. Once the juveniles have reached their second Winter, they will once again forego hibernation to continue feeding, however this time they will leave the nest permanently, flying out of their parent's swathe of territory in a short migration. After this event, the lone juveniles will spend the rest of their adolescence wandering and trying to avoid the attention of larger imperial wyverns, who may kill the juveniles if they pose competition for food in that wyvern's area. Once reaching the age of ten, imperial wyverns will have reached adulthood and be able to mate, causing them to strike out and claim their own defined territory, which usually involves forcing another adult out. The average lifespan for the imperial wyvern lies around forty to fifty years, however wild individuals have been known to live past a century if they avoid injury and have a steady access to food. Primary causes of death stem from predation by other predators when imperial wyverns are in their juvenile state, or starvation during adulthood when there is a lack of large game to hunt. Human and giants hunting adult imperial wyverns also factors into the species decline in recent times, as most cultures outside Ganneoux do not hold the same reverence for the animals, instead seeing them as evil creatures that symbolize destruction. Domesticated imperial wyverns can have a significantly elongated lifespan, with various human spells and magic allowing for some specimens to live for many centuries, especially in the cases of Senorix and the Ange du Trône Gris, who both persisted past the age of five-hundred years.Domesticated Imperial Wyverns
Speaking of domesticated imperial wyverns, the nation of Ganneoux is the only country that has made a culture around the taming of the reptiles, with any other instance of an imperial wyvern being used as a mount outside the nation being either a once off occurrence or a feeble attempt to emulate Ganneoux. Therefore, only Ganneoux can boast having a population of imperial wyverns that are truly "tamed", or as close as one can get. The practice of using these wyverns as a beast of burden originated from stealing eggs out of imperial wyvern nests, which was carried out primarily by peasants hoping to sell the eggs for a lucrative payout. The area of Ganneoux known as the Parched Lands was a very productive site for this activity, as imperial wyverns enjoyed making their nests in the mountains found there. Eventually, a conglomerate of opportunistic peasants realized they could take advantage of the monopoly they had on wyvern eggs, creating a hold in the mountains where they could train a batch of imperial wyverns. This set the foundation for future generations, with the descendants of these peasants amassing enough power with their wyvern mounts to force the other Noble Houses of Ganneoux to officially recognize them as their own House, House Cendre. The predecessors of House Cendre were thorough in their domestication of imperial wyverns, allowing newborn welps to imprint on a single trainer who would act as the guardian for the wyvern in its vulnerable early years. During this time a trainer would teach the welp various behaviours, such as responding to commands, defending the trainer and conditioning the wyvern to carry a rider by attaching weights to their back. Once the welp had grown to the point where it would normally migrate away from its birthplace, House Cendre had to rely on some questionable tactics in order to get the wyverns to remain docile, repressing certain hormones or using depressants. This was repeated for several generations until welps naturally stayed within the bounds of their trainer, but even during recent times many adult wyverns still need their wandering instinct to be pacified in some way. These basic techniques for training an imperial wyvern have continued to develop and evolve with time up to the current day, yielding a distinct etiquitte to properly raising the animals in Ganneoux. Adult imperial wyverns kept by nobility are expected to be well groomed and have a dedicated aerie where they can sleep and eat. Such aeries must be positioned over a kilometer away from one another, on account of imperial wyverns becoming agitated if their roosts are too close to each other. Additionally, a wyvern's name needs to carry weight in the minds of the people, so alluding to historic figures or events with a name is often seen, or borrowing from the ancient languages of the ancestral peoples of a region such as the previously mentioned Senorix. The visual appearance of their wyvern steeds is considered heavily by Ganneoux's princes, with popular regional tastes dictating the favoured breeds. Lineages of imperial wyvern that accentuate the features of the wild draped variants are far and away the most popular across Ganneoux, with colourful feathers appealing to the often ostentatious nobles. The descendants of the coastal variety periodically fluctuate in popularity, commonly seen in southern regions of Ganneoux but sometimes thought as too flimsy and weak by princes further inland. Of course, the best aerial and aquatic mobility, plus a milder temperment compared to the other breeds presents an ideal companion for any thrill-seeking prince. Grinders are for the most part not a crowd-pleaser, thought of as drab and thuggish because of the low feather count and extreme aggression. The only Noble House that readily seeks grinder wyverns are House Golo, a group of families who value strength as the greatest virtue, so it follows that they would prefer the grinder's physical might and size over superfluous aesthetics.Propensity Towards Magic
Imperial Wyverns showcase an advanced intellect compared to many other animal species, likened to that of large felines. This cognitive ability is associated with fairly common developments of strong magic, with several individual imperial wyverns through history being recorded to have used arcane abilities. Most applications of magic by these wyverns have been simple physical enhancements, although one of the key stories of Ganneoux's early history featured a wyvern that took this simple use of magic to an extreme. This wyvern was the Wyrm of Omen-Way, a gigantic beast that was at one point a normal imperial wyvern, but after sustaining a serious injury and trying to mend the wound with magic began to swell to an enormous size, thought to be caused by the growth of tumours throughout the body. It got to a point where the Wyrm was unable to fly and feed itself, forced to prey on early Ganneoux settlements near Obelon. While later stories would grossly over-exagerate the actual dimensions of the Wyrm, it still astonishes contemporary researchers that the individual in question could swell to over thrice the size of the average female imperial wyvern. Advanced use of magic is hardly seen in imperial wyverns, but that does not mean it has never been observed. A notable case includes the "Scoundrel of Prochemer", a male wyvern who continuosly confounded his rider and other princes by repeatedly sneaking into female wyvern's aeries and mating with them, despite being monitored at a distance at all times. It came to light that this wyvern was able to use a fair degree of magic and, not only that, had the foresight to cloak itself in an invisible shroud, allowing it to leave its aerie undetected. Invisibility, though widespread amongst human cultures and even some giant communities, is very hard for most other animals to use, recquiring at least some capacity for second order intentionality, otherwise known as being able to conceive of other entities holding knowledge. This fact alone is enough to place imperial wyverns in a respectable position as "Significant Arcane Entities", creatures with the capacity to use magic at a level approaching sapient species, joined by the likes of corvids, dolphins and certain apes.Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
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Related Articles: Detailed explanation: Wyverns Detailed explanation: The Long Stretch