Wyvern

## Encyclopedia Entry

Bronwyn, one of the few documented Wyverns left in Reis.

Wyverns are one of the few evolutions of the ancient Moon Dragons, Maintaining the ancient dragons' power of flight and dragon transformation, but with an enhanced physical strength and GREATLY diminished magical capabilities. Known to be much less gentle than their pacifist counterparts, Wyverns once dominated the skies, but have nearly gone extinct due to their territory shrinking to practically nothing due to human advancement in Reis and a shortage of food.

(This page is still a work in progress!)

#### APPEARANCE-

Wyverns are large beastmen taking on several draconic traits, and have 3 forms. Because of their very close relation to Moon Dragons, They share many traits physically. Their "default" form is the form of a massive beastial dragon, but rather than having four limbs and two great wings, they only possess two back limbs, and their wings and front limbs have joined together, a bit like a bat's. In their humanoid forms, however, they have full arms, and their wings are not present for the sake of convenience and to allow them to better adapt to bipedal life and tool use.

In their Humanoid forms, They resemble typical beastmen. Mostly humanoid with a few dragon-like part, the main two being their large curved horns and their huge, thick tails. They are known to have claws and large, dangerous fangs. They have long, tapered dragon-like tongues with a small fork at the end like a snake. Their eyes tend to be golden, orange or red, and their hair tends to match the color of their scales, which can range between black, red, dark green, and gold. It is not uncommon for wyverns with parents of two different colors to have multicolored hair or scales, presenting as an Ombré in their scales or horns and small streaks in their hair. Unusual coloration like this always means that the wyvern's parents were two different colors, and the colors present on the child will match those two colors, a bit like skin colors blending together in children of biracial parents in humans.

Wyverns have a larger, more intimidating form that is often used for combat and for mating during a rut. This form as known as their "beastial" form, though they still remain humanoid in this form. Their scales tend to cover much more area on their body, often covering their entire limbs and back, as well as up their neck and across parts of their face. Their tail increases in size and length, their horns grow larger, their claws grow longer, and their feet change to be more like draconic talons. This form is thought to be a remnant of the "royal form" of moon dragons, and is only used in dire circumstances because it tends to be frightening. The dragon can be up to 3-4 feet taller in this form. They tend to transform into this form when they are highly emotional in any way.

During a full moon, Wyverns are known to revert back to their dragon forms, with no way to turn back into their human forms until the moon vanishes over the horizon. This is thought to be because of their connection to the moon dragons and the late moon goddess, but to most wyverns, it's just an awkward inconvenience. Nothing changes during this time than their appearance, but it can cause wyverns that are living among smaller monsters to become a bit embarrassed or shy.

Wyverns, like all dragons, are very large creatures even in their smallest forms. On average, Wyverns range between 7 to 8 feet tall in their human forms, and about 9 to 10 feet in their beastial forms. The size of their dragon forms is incredibly varied between individual wyverns and depends entirely on genetics, but they can be anywhere from 35-65 feet long from horns to tail. On average, they are about 45 feet long. Wyverns are also very naturally muscular without needing to exercise. The average wyvern is strong enough to lift 20,000 LBS (10 tons) with Ease, their upper limit being about 30,000 LBS (15 tons). Their strength is shared between their smallest form and their dragon form, so they can be deceptively strong. Male and Female wyverns nearly equal in strength, with males being slightly stronger on average, but with females being faster fliers because of their slightly reduced bulk and longer wings. This incredible strength makes them one of the strongest living monsters in the entire world by pure, brute force.

#### BEHAVIORS-

Wyverns once lived in moderately sized tribes that scattered over time due to lack of food and territory. When Wyverns are around other wyverns, they exist in a power hierarchy, where the strongest wyvern is in charge and has the power to make important decisions for the group. Because of this, Wyverns often fight when they come across each other to establish dominance and to establish the hierarchy. Wyverns are about as intelligent as humans, but lack the knowledge on technology or societal structures of the modern world, so wyvern society is more tribal in nature, similar to other social ferals. Wyverns who are displaced from a tribe- be it by exile or by their place of birth- will inherently seek out others for companionship, and will become depressed when left all by themselves, as they feel placeless without a pack or a partner.

As their territory shrank due to human advancement in reis and other monsters invading while fleeing from humans, they were forced to share territory with opposing tribes, which often left to disputes- and sometimes war- over things like hunting grounds. Wyverns have very large dietary requirements, requiring them to eat a massive amount of food every week, and because of that, their food sources quickly ran dry, and the wyverns began to die out. Some wyverns resorted to attacking and eating humans, which led to humans and allied monsters at the time driving the wyverns further north, into the mountains, and south, into druaga. The wyverns that moved to both places eventually died out die to starvation and internal conflicts, as they were a very aggressive and violent race at times and were unable to reach compromises with each other when problems arose.

Now, when wyverns are born, their parents almost always abandon them, knowing that they could not possibly feed three mouths from a single hunting ground. Those wyverns that do exist are left to fend for themselves, and few adapt and survive without their parents. All of these factors have led to wyverns become virtually extinct in the modern era, though a few incredibly lucky stragglers have survived. there are so few left that they are considered long gone by most monster biologists. Any rumors of wyvern activity is almost never believed.

As the only terrestrial dragons, it's believed that wyverns could potentially make a resurgence in population if they were to integrate into modern society like many ferals are choosing to do.

Wyverns are known to be possessive over their mates, as well as valuables, often accumulating hoards of gold in their dens, and becoming fiercely protective of their mates and children- which are usually referred to as kin or young.

Much like the ancient moon dragons, Wyverns practice "soul bonding", though it's a lot different than what moon dragons once did. Instead of soul-bonding the moment they are intimate with someone for the first time, requiring them to practice abstinence, Wyverns are free to sexually experiment with other wyverns while looking for a lifelong mate. Instead, Soul bonding has replaced traditional "marriage" in Wyvern culture, and wyverns can reproduce with non-wyverns without soul bonding- though they will have to accept that their parent will likely die before they child is even 6 or 7 mentally.

#### LIFE CYCLE-

Wyverns age at a rate of 1/10th the speed of a human- every 10 human years is 1 year for a wyvern. Because of this, the life expectancy of a wyvern is about 700-800 years old. This also accounts for the speed in which they mature- their brain development is very slow, so their mentality is relative to their physical age. A 60 year old wyvern would only be as intelligent and mature as a 6 year old child, and a 200 year old wyvern would only be as mature as a young adult. It takes up to 180 years for a wyvern to reach sexual maturity, and they will posses no interest at all in mating until that time.

Wyverns have a particularly harsh libido that can cause them to quickly become distressed if not handled correctly. Because of this, they tend to seek out mates as soon as their sex drives "awaken" at about 170-180 years old. They have been seen to be a bit sexually agressive. Most Wyverns are incredibly dominant because of how their power structures work- even the most gentle and sweet wyverns are often rough in bed. This is an instinct that they have a hard time controlling. It is important that their partners are able to handle this, so wyverns often sexually experiment with many monsters and humans while searching for a proper mate. Sexual compatibility can make or break a relationship with a wyvern.

Wyvern males are Diphallic (they have two penises) and they tend to be orientated so that one is on top of the other. Wyvern females, however, do not have two sets of genitals, but instead, their genitalia is larger to account for expected dual-penetration. Because of this, Straight Wyvern females are often left sexually unsatisfied with less-endowed species such as humans and those on par with them in size, and will not choose to date species that are too small to satisfy them. Likewise, Wyvern males are known to be overly endowed and sometimes struggle to find partners who can handle their size. Because of this, Wyverns are significantly less likely to form interspecies relationships compared to most species.

Wyverns produce in a way that is identical to Moon dragons. Male wyverns are oviparous and female wyverns are egg-laying. Male wyverns can reproduce with any species with a lower sexual orifice- Vaginally or anally. Female wyverns can only reproduce via insemination, but if their lover does not have the capabilities to do this, magic is required for the two to have child together. Female wyverns produce 1 egg every time they wish to conceive, but male wyverns are capable of ovipositing clutches of between 1-5 eggs at a time with other species. Many wyvern males choose to have larger litters of children to ensure that at least one will survive to adulthood.

When either a female wyvern or the partner of a male wyvern is ready to reproduce, they will have sex with their partner until climax and then they will carry 1-5 soft, squishy eggs inside of them for about an hour- each being about the size of a small chicken egg. During that time, genetic material from both parents will pass through the semipermeable membrane of the egg, and then a hard shell will form around it, and once the shell is properly formed, it will be ready to exit the body. The egg, once laid, will not need anything but a warm environment to continue to grow. Over time, the egg will expand and grow ridges, signifying that the baby inside is healthy and developing properly. After about 12 months of this, the egg will hatch, revealing a wyvern toddler. Like Moon dragons, the infant stage of growth is skipped in wyverns, and the child comes out of their egg with a basic understanding of how to do extremely basic things, and will avoid danger instinctively, such as heights.

Wyvern children can not fly until they are about 40 years old, as it takes time for their wings to gain strength and for them to learn how to fly. They are often self taught. This time can be halved if parents are available to help teach them, but since most wyvern children are born having been abandoned by their parents, it takes a lot of time for them to figure it out and get strong enough.