Wyverns

Wyverns are a diverse species of monsters found across Aebrirea. They resemble flying, two-legged reptiles of large stature. Wyverns possess immense strength and considerable animal cunning, with a high degree of rapid speciation and adaptation to different environments.

## Biology

Wyverns have two legs, powerful leathery wings and muscular scaled bodies. Most subspecies nest in high places, laying on average 3 thick-shelled eggs which females incubate for around three months. Wyverns are not particularly attached to previous mates and tend to vary partners for each mating, which contributes to their frequent evolution.

They are carnivorous and prefer to take large prey, carrying it to their nests to eat over time. Wyverns tend to ambush their prey and kill it with their powerful bites to the neck and spine. For very large prey such as mammoths, K'orlannsch or Leviathans, wyverns will tear heavy bleeding wounds in diving attacks and weaken their targets through blood loss over time before going in for a biting kill, or 'embrace' them with their wings and legs in order to execute a 'death roll', where the wyvern turns rapidly in the air and uses the momentum to tear off flesh and limbs from their prey. Some subspecies scavenge and usurp prey from lesser predators, but for the most part wyverns hunt and kill their own food.

Though generally solitary hunters, certain subspecies practice pack hunting and sophisticated strategems to drive prey into dead ends or ambushes. The cliff wyvern is particularly known for this, with many sailors sailing in the shadow of the beasts swearing that they can toy with ships for sport for hours on end.

Wyverns are powerful flyers, though most subspecies are not particularly fast in the air. They can cross vast distances without resting; indeed, some subspecies are migratory and wander seasonally through large stretches of the planet. Wyvern wings can be drawn in and 'collapsed' to allow for rapid changes of direction and tight maneuverability, which makes them lethal aerial combatants.

Wyverns can live several hundred years, though few reach this age. Older wyverns tend to be stronger but slower, with some relying on bullying juvenile wyverns for their food instead of hunting. Wyverns are social but irritable creatures - fights over nesting sites, prey and mates are common and often fought to the death. Some subspecies are more territorial than others.

## Domestication

Wyverns are very difficult to tame and very resistant to domestication, with traits such as docility and attachment breeding out of populations quickly unless carefully monitored. Humans of the Clouded Lands are the most successful wyvern-tamers. Their favored method is to sneak into the nest of a young wyvern with fresh hatchlings and hope the mother adopts them as their own. The mother then protects the false chick from its 'siblings' until they imprint on him or her, rendering them pliable for taming. The mother is usually killed at this stage; when left alive, they have an unfortunate tendency of following their offspring into their human sibling's village and slaughtering everyone there. Generations of selective breeding have produced a semi-domesticated subspecies, the dwarf wyvern, which nests near beastlander villages.

Individual wyverns have also been successfully tamed elsewhere, but many would-be trainers who expect their offspring to be as obedient as their parent was have found a swift end in the hatchlings' jaws.

## Subspecies

Notable wyvern subspecies include:

* **High wyvern:** Perhaps the subspecies closest to the 'original' wyvern, high wyverns favor mountains and highlands. Their grey and black coloring allows them to fade into the terrain and they can fly near soundlessly when needed. They are one of the largest subspecies of wyvern.
* **Cliff wyvern:** A sea-diving subspecies nesting on sea cliffs, coastal caves and rocky islands. They patrol coastal waters, diving like lances into the depths when they spot prey. The sheer speed of cliff wyverns on impact is usually enough to kill their victims. Their preferred prey is fish, cetaceans and unlucky sailing ships.
* **Forest wyvern:** A populous subspecies at home in the woodlands, forests and taiga of Arka. Its prodigious size and wingspan make it hard to miss as it patrols its territory. Forest wyverns tend to have grey or blue coloring, with their scales prized for their deep color and beauty.
* **Sand wyvern:** A subspecies found in arid regions. It is notable for the venomous stinger at the end of its tail, which kills smaller prey outright and paralyzes larger animals. The sand wyvern then drags paralyzed prey into its burrow and devours them over time. Sand wyverns come in shades of brown, orange and red.
* **Muck wyvern:** An amphibious subspecies favoring lakes, rivers and coastal shallows as habitats. It burrows into soil with its specialized claws and lays in ambush until large prey comes to drink nearby. Their coloring varies from sandy browns to lush undergrowth greens.
* **Fir wyvern:** A subspecies from the southwestern Hot Lands. It makes its nest in the high canopy of the mithril fir. The fir wyvern's scales have patterning resembling fir needles and a deep green coloring that makes them almost impossible to spot despite their size.
* **Salt wyvern:** A large, migratory sea wyvern. They spend most of their lives over water and feed exclusively on fish, cetaceans and K'orlannsch.
* **Vine wyvern:** A swamp-dwelling wyvern at home in murky water, with greenish-brown coloring and a long, sinuous body.
* **Dwarf wyvern**: A smaller, more social subspecies bred by beastlander Humans as mounts and companions. They resemble smaller and wirier high wyverns, which they are largely descended from.