Mesozoic: A World Beyond Time and Space

K. El-Amrani · Dec 13, 2011

Because of the nature of my lust for creativity, here comes my first RP idea with this here sign-up thread and all! So, be prepared for a lot more reading, because here comes another original idea in need of players! Dinosaurs galore, here comes Mesozoic!

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0 - Mesozoic

Homeworld Name: Mesozoic. The name comes from the fact that the planet's four dominant species have an unexplained ancestry to primitive creatures from Earth's past, specifically ones that thrived during the Mesozoic era. Alternate names for the world, specifically those used by the planet's four dominant races, include Mesozocana, Mesozoa, Zocmes and Meo.

Homeworld Basic Info: The planet Mesozoic is a terrestrial planet slightly larger than the planet Earth. It orbits a main sequence star similar to our sun, which galactic astronomers have named Beta Solaris 4. It has a small moon with a stable orbit.

Homeworld Environment: Mesozoic has a relatively singular climate which is tropical in nature and spans across most of the planet. Its poles remain to be the coldest places on the world, with average temperatures frequently dipping below freezing year-round. The planet has years that take 572 days in Earth time, and days that take approximately 20 hours. Its gravity is 1.5 times stronger than the gravity found on Earth. Mesozoic's tropical climate makes it the harshest planet it its system; annual rainfall averages over 80 inches. The jungles are hot and stifling, and a human being not used to the environment will quickly tire from the heat and humidity. The rainforests of the planet have a semi-acidic and rich soil which eats away at fossils, so little in terms of evolutionary history is retained there. Between the lush rainforests are stretches of savannah that go on for miles, as well as towering mountain ranges that break up the planet's twelve continents like jagged teeth. Mesozoic's oceans are very warm except close to the poles, which are the only places where it is cold enough to allow glaciers to form.

Layers In Atmosphere: The layers of Mesozoic's atmosphere are larger and thicker than that of the Earth, resulting in a higher concentration of greenhouse gases that can be attributed to the some of the large forms of life that have thrived on the planet's surface. Mesozoic's troposphere, stratosphere and mesosphere are all considerably larger than the Earth equivalents, while the thermosphere and exosphere are considerably smaller.

Layers Of Planet: Mesozoic's planetary layers are about the same as that of the planet Earth, but the planet is prone to more frequent earthquakes and other disasters of that nature, due to it having more constant and extreme tectonic shifts.

Native Flora: Mesozoic's plant life is diverse and vast, and much of it resembles those varieties found on Earth. Some specific and unique examples include eon trees, which are massive perennial plants that can reach up to hundreds of feet in height. They are present throughout the great jungles of the planet, towering over the canopy and sometimes blocking out the sun entirely in some areas. Others include the viledome, a relative of the venus fly trap that is much larger and far more aggressive. Viledomes give off a scent of fresh meat, which attracts any would be scavengers that serve as the plant's main source of food. Mesozoic's jungles are known for having thousands of plants that contain potent medicinal properties. Some, like the lifesap, have fantastic properties such as the ability to regenerate living tissue. Others, like the deathweed, do the opposite, and their corrosive nature can disintegrate an organism in mere minutes.

Native Fauna: Mesozoic is noted by most galactic astronomers for having an incredible amount of bio-diversity. The planet's biosphere, which is based in a tropical environment, is ripe with life forms both microscopic in size. The planet's most successful non-sentient species are fish, mammals and insects. Reptiles and birds are oddly absent from the planet's biosphere, save for its four dominant species. Herds of large mammals, some omnivorous and aggressive, graze among the savannahs that split the junglelands. In the rainforests, rodents are prevalent among the treetops at night, using their large eyes and quick movements to forage for food. The estuaries have hidden dangers; blood leeches wait for vibrations in the water, and they attack anything living en masse for the precious blood they crave as food. In the oceans, carnage sharks are among one of the top predators, and they are known to even beach themselves on land in desperation to snap at escaping prey on the shore. The jungles hold all manner of poisonous insects, with some growing to sizes that are unheard of on Earth. Overall, Mesozoic's fauna is both beautiful and deadly, and certainly not to be underestimated by a mere human.

Homeworld History: Mesozoic's exact age is said to be something along the lines of 4 billion years, with life said to have appeared about 0.5 billion years into the planet's time line. The planet's four dominant species, which are the Zargosauras, the Azhdar, the Sauradon, and the Souvirei, are said to have become aware of each others existence within the last two hundred years. Their evolutionary history as races is unknown, but the hatred they seem to have for one other is strong and is the reason why their planet is often wracked with conflict and war. Though only the Zargosauras have managed to create something akin to gunpowder, all of the four races have managed to create cultures which frequently clash with one another. They do somewhat maintain territories, but as races they are still relatively tribal in nature and continue to squabble amongst themselves.

Under galactic law, all traffic and starship travel to Mesozoic is forbidden. Most agree that interference in the planet's already shaking racial affairs would only exacerbate its problems. As such, most observation of the planet's inhabitants and its nature come from satellites stationed high in the planet's exosphere.

 1 - Zargosaur

Species Name: Zoica Zargosauras.

Common Name: Zargosaur

Appearance: Zargosaurs have a supposed ancestry to the theropod dinosaurs of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. Though they are humanoid in shape, Zargosaurs have stronger musculature when compared to a human, and their jaw strength is quite powerful. They are bipedal.

Statistics:

Behavior: The Zargosaurs are an aggressive and war-like race that cherish hunting and all things related to it. They hunt everything that walks, flies or swims on their planet, and for a Zargosaur, be it male or female, to die during a hunt is the greatest honor of them all. Prone to violent behavior and cursed with extremely short fuses, Zargosaurs are easy to insult and taunt. They can sometimes be goaded into stupid moves during battle, but at the same time, combat-fueled rage can turn them into even more potent killing machines.

A Zargosaur reaches adolescence at the age of 14, and adulthood at 17.

Senses: Zargosaurs have excellent eyesight and sense of smell, but are lacking in the senses of taste and touch.

Color: Their skin coloration is the color of the jungles; a vast variety of greens and browns. Brightly colored Zargosaurs are rare, and their coloration is often looked down upon as it interferes with their hunting capability.

Diet: Zargosaurs are carnivours. They partake in the consumption of the majority of the planet's fauna. Though they prefer to hunt their meals, most Zargosaurs will rarely turn down an opportunity to scavenge. Zargosaurs have a strict limit on their food intake since gluttony is a dishonor in their race, eating just enough to keep them alive and energetic.

Females:
• warriors and hunters equal to and sometimes even more feared than the males of their race
• slimmer and more agile than their male counterparts
• a body shape comparable to theropods such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus
• shorter than males, usually reaching the apex of their height at around 7 feet
• curvier than males and show less muscle tone in their bodies
• posses mammary glands (not functional until first eggs have been laid)

Males:
• more muscular than females
• serrated teeth
• brutal warriors capable of ripping their foes apart even when unarmed
• average height is 8 ft, some 9 or 10 ft
• thicker skulls and tails than females
• claws and muscle tone usually more pronounced than females
• a body shape comparable to larger theropod dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosauras Rex and Giganatosauras
• reproductive organs remain protected internally until they become sexually active
• many meet a violent end before procreation

Basic Social Structure: Zargosaur society is measured solely by hunting prowess, a belief which stems from the race's version of a creation story. Like the other four races, their society is tribal, with pockets of their race scattered across the planet's vast rainforests. They are led by a huntmaster, who is a male or female Zargosaur who has shown incredible hunting prowess at some point in time. In their society, those who can hunt well are often considered to be the best leaders, a fact that has been constantly debated amongst their own kind. Hunts are a huge celebratory activity among Zargosaurs, and an entire tribe will participate in a hunt as a way to tie them closer together. As hunters, the Zargosaurs have a keen knowledge of nature, and they know their role and the role of other animals in the biosphere, and will hunt certain animals over others accordingly. In this way, they function as a factor that stops certain species from overpopulating.

Gender Roles: There are no gender roles in Zargosaur society. Males and females are held to an equal standard.

Procreation: There is little to be said here. They mate in the same way humans do. They can interbreed with the Azhdar, creating a hybrid of both races. This practice is seen as a sort of blasphemy however, and will often result in the two lovers and their child being exiled or even killed.

Mating Behavior: Since both genders are equal, it takes quite a bit of effort for a Zargosaur male to impress a female. In some cases, the female in question might be the huntmaster of the tribe or may just be superior to the male pursuing her. Most Zargosaur females are impressed by trophy kills and a male who is able to hold his own in a fight, but as their society has begun to evolve, exceptions become common.

Offspring: Females lay a single egg once or twice in their lifetime, and it is after the young are born that their mammary glands become functional. Their young wean for about a year, and grow quickly in size. Children in Zargosaur society are treated as future hunters; competition is encouraged at a young age, and concepts like bullying are acceptable to the Zargosaurs.

Folklore: The main Zargosaur creation legend involves a warrior known only as "The Nameless Gold", based on the legend revolving around a mythical suit of golden armor that warrior once wore. This warrior was said to be the greatest hunter to ever live, and stories are told of him using a sword made from the stars to kill the god-beasts that once trampled much of Mesozoic's surface. It is said that the Nameless Gold fell in his last great hunt, and his blood created the Zargosaurs. They owe their passion and natural instincts for hunting completely to him, and his story is often told in bone carvings made from the bones of some of the planet's fiercest creatures.

Settlements: The Zargosaurs build simple shelters crafted from the bones and pelts of great beasts. Simplicity and functionality is everything to them, though some tribes have begun to use some of the planet's durable ores as a means for building shelters. Zargosaurs follow the herds of great beasts that they hunt, and so they never have any permanent establishment. Always on the move, they rarely stay in any one place for more than a month.

History: The exact origins of the Zargosaurs are unknown, even to xenobiologists who have spent their whole lives studying them. They only began forming tribes, crafting clothing and artifacts, and organizing themselves into loose groups in last hundred years. Prone to causing war amongst themselves and the other three races, the Zargosauras are noted to have been the first to discover gunpowder and its very violent use.

 2 - Azhdar

Species Name: Zoica Azhdar.

Common Name: Azdhar

Appearance: Azhdar have a supposed ancestry to the pterosaurs of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. They are humanoid in shape, and like bats their arms and fingers make up the structure that is also their wings. The average Azhdar has a wingspan of twenty feet. They have large, pterosaur heads ending in long beaks, and often have large frill-like structures atop their skulls that are used for display. They are bipedal.

Statistics:

Behavior: The Azhdar are the most peaceful of the four races, with a society that does not approve of or encourage violence. However, despite this abhorrence to violence, they will still wage war when they believe they have no other option. They have a great reverence for the planet, and believe that the other three races do little more than abuse it for its vast resources. Azhdar practice communal mediation, and meditation ceremonies are a common practice among the tribes scattered throughout the mountain ranges.

Azdhar reach adolescence when they are 13, and become adults at the age of 16.

Senses: Though gifted with incredible eyesight, Azhdar speak slower than other races and are significantly slower on land.

Color: The Azhdar come in an array of bright colors, and in extremely rare cases some are born entirely white or entirely black.

Diet: Azhdar are omnivorous, and can subsist on a diet of nuts, fruits and certain types of tubers and roots. Fish is considered a delicacy to them, but it is something they purposely try not to indulge in as many see it as a wasteful use of the planet's resources.

Females:
• said to be the most beautiful and graceful of the four races
• slimmer and taller than their male counterparts, often reaching heights of 9 to 10 feet
• larger wingspans and longer beaks which are toothless
• have large feminine eyes that can easily captivate
• curvier than males and show less muscle tone in their bodies
• posses mammary glands (not functional until first eggs have been laid)

Males:
• more muscular than females
• serrated teeth within their beaks
• strong fliers and can match a Zargosaur in unarmed combat
• average height is 8 ft
• sharper, longer claws at the end of their fingers
• claws and muscle tone usually more pronounced than females

Basic Social Structure: Azhdar society is structured like a commune; individuals have a say in the affairs of their tribe, but for the most part everyone is expected to do their part for their community. Violence and hatred among members of the same community is unheard of, and problems between two Azhdar are usually resolved through a cleansing sort of mediation that is said to absolve the two of their differences. Most Azhdar tribes are headed by a council of elders, which are made up of the wisest and oldest females. These females will listen to the tribe as a whole, and from there they will make important decisions, almost always taking the well being of the tribe over the individual. Though they abhor violence amongst themselves, the Azhdar often cite that they have no choice against the other races, who threaten them and the planet with violence on a daily basis.

Gender Roles: There is a distinct cut of gender roles within Azhdar society. In most cases, females are the basis of the culture and are usually leaders in political matters as well as in the community as a whole. Males are depended on as warriors; many of the eldest Azhdar males cite that females are too pure to be allowed to partake in battle. Though this view is beginning to change within their society, many of the council elders, who are female themselves, still agree with this notion and tend to try and discourage any potentially rebellious females.

Procreation: There is little to be said here. They mate in the same way humans do. They can interbreed with the Zargosauras, creating a hybrid of both races. This practice is seen as a sort of blasphemy however, and will often result in the two lovers and their child being exiled or even killed.

Mating Behavior: Mating, courting and love in general are all very sacred things in Azhdar society. Females have slightly more respect than males mainly because they are said to resemble the Sky Mother (the chief Azhdar deity) the most. Males in Azhdar society are expected to go to great lengths to obtain a female as a mate, and years of having females put on a pedestal has begun to make some males see them as more of a prize to obtain rather than an individual to love.

Offspring: Females create complex nests in preparation for laying eggs. They usually have clutches of six or seven eggs once in their lifetime, and often they will nurse their young with the help of other females in their community. In this way, multiple Azhdar females develop functional mammary glands at once. Azhdar usually begin to feed on their own after a year, and are expected to take their first flight after two years.

Folklore: The main Azhdar legend involving creation has to do with a higher being the Azhdar refer to as the Sky Mother. The Sky Mother was said to have created the Azhdar in her image, and intended them to the perfect life forms. In addition, she entrusted them with the safety of the planet and its creatures, and went so far as to warn them of the dangers presented by the other three races.

Settlements: The Azhdar make their roosts high up in the mountain ranges that overlook the great jungles of Mesozoic. Their homes are open cone-shaped spaces with plenty of room for their wingspans, and more than often they serve as a little more than places for them to sleep. Azhdar have nothing to fear from the elements; the feeling of rain on their bodies is a pleasurable sensation for them, and they live too low on the mountains for snow to be a problem. Azhdar, like the other races, are still tribal, but they have organized and permanent villages throughout the mountains. Usually an Azhdar village will contain anywhere from a couple dozen to a hundred individuals, all whom are expected to come together for the good of their community.

History: Azhdar history is relatively unknown, but they have always been organized and peaceful to one another as a race, due to deep cultural values instilled in all of them during youth. Their males have only recently begun to partake in war, forced to do so after the Zargosauras began to encroach on their mountainous homes in search of more exotic game to hunt.

 3 – Sauradon

Species Name: Zoica Sauradon

Common Name: Sauradon

Appearance: Sauradon have a supposed ancestry to the sauropod dinosaurs of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. The Sauradon are the largest of the four races. Sauradons, unlike the Azhdar and Zargosauras, are centaurs in form, with a thick upper body and two muscular arms that sit atop a lumbering, four-legged body. Their hands have only three stubby fingers, and thus are not as capable when it comes to fine manipulation. Weighing in at four to five tons on average, Sauradons are incredibly strong and can snap eon tree saplings with a swipe of their heavy tails or with a punch from their muscular arms. Nostrils high up on their skull allow them to travel across large bodies of deep water easily, and despite their bulk, the Sauradon are great swimmers.

Statistics:

Behavior: The Sauradon are a relatively brutish race who make their home in large stretches of savannah on parts of Mesozoic's continents. Though not as war-like as the Zargosaurs can be, they also have short tempers and cannot resist the temptation of a fight that comes with being insulted. Since they tend to tower over most would-be opponents, the Sauradon fear little to nothing and consider all smaller beings as inferior. Size is everything to their race, and smaller, scrawnier members of their race almost never make it past adulthood.

Sauradons reach adolescence when they are 8, and become adults at the age of 12.

Senses: Sauradons have lackluster sight, but a great sense of smell and can hear with more clarity than the other races. booming voices and incredibly lung capacity make them surprisingly good singers.

Color: The Sauradon have drab gray and green coloration, though males do often exhibit bright colored neck spines that are often used for sexual display.

Diet:

Females:
• slimmer body mass and more sleek necks, with average heights of 22 feet
• curvier and lack sufficient armor
• thinner hide but significantly larger brain mass when compared to males
• not as strong as males, but still are significantly strong when compared to other races
• posses mammary glands (not functional until first eggs have been laid)

Males:
• possess pounds upon pounds of thick muscle
• long trunk-like necks and some possess large colorful neck spines for sexual display
• taller than females with heights reaching up to and past 30 feet
• possess large grinder-like teeth that can be used to intimidate opponents

Basic Social Structure: Sauradons have no homes to speak of, and much like the Zargosaurs, they are almost always on the move. They gather in large herds that tend to move from grassland to grassland, often trampling large sections of jungle in their wake. Their society is led by the biggest individuals of the biggest size, and as expected those individuals are almost always male. Sauradons are a competitive species, and often hold grand competitions with other herds that they might cross paths with. In these competitions, males will often test their strength against one another in an effort to win the right to mate with the other herd's most desirable female. Sauradons also have enormous appetites, and eating competitions are also a common occurrence at these herd gatherings, often resulting in the consumption of over a quarter mile of the surrounding rainforest.

Gender Roles: Upon first glance, it seems that Sauradon males have considerably more power when compared to females. They are the ones who lead the herd in both migration and in battle, and are sufficiently stronger and more intimidating than the females. Females are somewhat expected to be the caregivers and foragers of Sauradon society, but in reality is them females who make many of the important decisions regarding when a herd will migrate or whether or not they'll declare war on anyone. Males have a tendency to feel that thinking on their part is a waste of effort, and would rather give what they perceive as a less important role to the larger brained females.

Procreation: Sauradon cannot procreate with any of the three races due to their unique physiology and great size. Within their own race, there is little to be said. Due to their great size, they mate in a way similar to elephants.

Mating Behavior: Sauradon males get most of their mates through their competitive herd meets, and will often be the fathers of many children over the course of their life time. They usually aren't monogamous, and as such the females are left with the burden of taking care of the young.

Offspring: Female Sauradons will lay many eggs over the course of their lifetime, the product of many fathers, but they almost always take care of only one child at a time. Their mammary glands become functional only after the young hatch, and it only takes a young Sauradon less than two years to grow to a size where it can ward off most would be predators and begin to establish itself in its herd. After those two years, most Sauradon mothers forget their children and cut off familial ties, moving on to bear more offspring.

Folklore: The Sauradon legend of creation is a much more simplistic one when compared to the other races, and involves the Sauradon being the first race to spontaneously appear on the planet for an unexplained reason. Being the largest race, the Sauradon grew to believe that they were always meant to be superior, and thus they developed the complex present in most members of their race today. Sauradons believe the world was made as an open ground for their sport and for their kind to flourish, and see the smaller races as nothing more than ants who continue to get in their way.

Settlements: Sauradons are far too large to fit inside any reasonable shelter, and move too often to need one anyway. They are perfectly fine with sleeping out in the open savannah, and their tough hides can easily withstand the elements. Due to their nature of gathering and living in herds of a dozen individuals or more, the Sauradon have no permanent settlements. In fact, they often trample much of the foliage surrounding their savannah homes during migrations, earning them a distinct hatred from the Azhdar, who see them as uncaring brutes with no respect for the natural world.

History: Like the three other races, the Sauradon and their history is a thing shrouded in mystery. They have a relatively loose society, and have been that way for the last hundred years. Despite their brutish nature, they tend to be isolationists, and prefer to compete amongst themselves rather than incite the messy act of war with the smaller races. That, and their huge egos have them under the belief that such conflict would be far too easy for them to win anyway.

 4 - Souvirei

Species Name: Zoica Souvirei.

Common Name: Souvirei

Appearance: Souvirei have a supposed ancestry to the pliosaur variety of marine reptiles of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. Souvirei are the second largest next to the Sauradon in size. The average Souvirei weighs two or three tons, and like the Sauradons, they are centaurs in form. But instead of four legs, the Souvirei's bottom half is made up a torpedo shaped body armed with two sets of large paddle-like flippers. They have slick upper bodies armed with two arms ending in four-fingered webbed hands.

Statistics:

Behavior: Monstrous and violent, the Souvirei make the war-like Zargosaurs look like peaceful Azhdar monks. They are intolerant of outsiders and trespassers of their ocean homes, and will gladly consume the culprits without second thought. Males are much more aggressive than females, but female Souvirei should not be mistaken as docile just because of their outward grace. The Souvirei are a gluttonous race, and the act of eating has a highly important and religious meaning for them.

Souvirei reach adolescence when they are 10, and become adults at the age of 14.

Senses: A Souvirei's senses are amplified to a great degree while they are in their watery element, but outside of it, their sight, sense of smell and reflexes are all considerably worse.

Color: The Souvirei come in a range of colors that reflect their ocean environment; deep water blues, light ocrean grays, turquoise, and pearl whites.

Diet: Souvirei are voracious eaters, and though they prefer sea life, they will relish at the opportunity to eat land creatures whenever the opportunity presents itself. Souvirei even enjoy eating each other, and will often use crimes such as murder within their race as an excuse to dish out the convenient punishment of cannibalism.

Females:
• slimmer body mass with average heights of 18 feet, they bear a resemblance to pleisosaurs like Elasmosauras and Crypticlidus
• curvier and faster swimmers
• long necks topped with small necks
• small mouths filled with rows of tiny serrated teeth
• posses mammary glands (not functional until first eggs have been laid)

Males:
• possess pounds upon pounds of thick muscle, they bear a resemblance to pliosaurs like Kronosauras and Liopleuradon
• short necks and huge jaws full of large needle-like teeth
• bulkier and more aggressive than females
• more driven by hunger and violence than females

Basic Social Structure: Souvirei culture is based mostly around eating, an act which holds significant religious importance to them. The Souvirei gather in pods along many of continental shorelines, where females will annually come to mate and later return to lay eggs. Their culture is very loose, with little organization or familial bonds between any of the pod members. Pods of Souvirei often hold annual feasts; the culmination of all the creatures they've caught, killed, and prepared to eat in a grand feast that involves both males and females eating like gluttons. Outsiders who interrupt any of these feasts are soundly turned into one of the main courses. Two or three males, always competing, lead pods of females and will mate with them at leisure, ensuring large amounts of young. Souvirei pods will eventually have only one dominant male, as competition becomes fatal until one male is finally the true victor and enjoys the spoil of having all the females at his disposal.

Gender Roles: Souvirei males control the pods of females most of the time, but it is not unheard of for a single female to kill one of the dominant males of a pod, making an example of him and thus gaining control of the pod.
Procreation: Due to their size and physiology, Souvirei mate in the water, and in a way similar to that of whales. They cannot interbreed with the other three races.

Mating Behavior: Mating is simple for most Souvirei males, who tend to lead their own pods and have access to all of its females. Solitary males or females are not uncommon, and they will often seek each other out, mate, and then go their separate ways. Large teeth are a powerful form of sexual display for males, while longer necks work in the same way for females.

Offspring: Souvirei females lay a clutch of three to four eggs at time, and will return to their young consistently until they finally hatch. Like the females of the other three races, Souvirei females develop the functionality of their mammary glands at this time, and manage to nurse their multiple young with little difficulty. Due to intense competitive instincts even at a young age, only two or even just one of the Souvirei young survive 10 years later into adolescence, eventually making it to adulthood at age 14.

Folklore: The Souvirei legend of creation involves a monstrous creature known as the Great Maw, which is described by the Souvirei as a beast capable of swallowing herds upon herds of Sauradons with little effort. The Great Maw was one of many god-beasts that lurked in the planet's oceans in ancient times, coming out of the sea to feed in excess when its voracious hunger became unbearable. It was eventually killed by an unknown warrior of Zargosaurian origin, and from its blood came the Souvirei, who were all instilled with all the hunger and lust for violence that it once had in life.

Settlements: Being so massive and mostly water-dwellers, the Souvirei rarely need shelter. They sometimes dwell in underwater caves or within spacious coral reefs for brief periods of time, but otherwise do not need any kind of shelter beyond the rocks they will often sun themselves on. Souvirei sometimes mark certain tracts of shoreline as their territory and nesting places, but otherwise do not have any real permanent settlements to speak of.

History: Like the other three races, the exact history of the Souvirei is shrouded in relative mystery. Most knowledge about the progression of their race is known in bits and pieces, due to their homes being in the vast oceans of Mesozoic. Some solitary individuals and pods have begun to move slowly move inland, adapting to the estuaries and vast jungle rivers. These migrations have begun to put them into more direct conflict with the other three races than ever before.

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The first prospective plot for this will involve a crashed satellite found by one of the members of the four races. The discovery of the satellite causes a huge commotion among the planet's inhabitants, causing conflict and sparking the idea that they might not be as alone in among the stars as they previously thought.

Obviously the RPers would be one of the members of the four races, and due to how specific they are as creatures, characters might be a little more difficult to create. But I think it will be a unique prospect to play as something nonhuman for once, and if you noticed, I really tried to humanize the four races while keeping them alien and bestial at the same time.

Anyway, those who like this idea (which won't probably be many, it's very specific), feel free to make a CS based on the template below.

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Name:

Race:

Appearance(be sure to note anything that makes them look different, even if by a little bit, when compared to the rest of their race. Also, they do wear clothing. It's just clothing of a much simpler variety.):

Personality(these races are just as intelligent as humans, after all):

Hobbies and Skills (remember that these races are living on a jungle planet, and haven't really made it to gunpowder technology yet):

Paraphernalia and Equipment:

Tribe, Pod or Herd Affiliation(if any, and they don't have overcomplicated or exact names):

EDIT: Fixed the organization of all the races and changed some information on them. Should look much better now.

Abracadabra · Dec 14, 2011

Awesome work! I've added some commentary, and I'll post a CS soon!

Hejin said:
Homeworld History: Mesozoic's exact age is said to be something along the lines of 4 billion years, with life said to have appeared about 3.5 billion years into the planet's time line.

Er, I think you mean life appeared 0.5 billion years into the planet's time line, and that life has been around for 3.5 billion years. For such an incredibly diverse ecosystem to develop, it sounds very strange for life to have started a mere 0.5 billion years ago, at least in comparison to Earth.

One small question about the Zargos – the name is constantly fluctuating between Zargosaurus, Zargosauras, and Zargosaur, in both singular and plural forms. Some consistency with the name could clear that up in a jiffy. In my example below, I took the liberty of making the common name simply "Zargosaur" and the plural "Zargosaurs".

This is extremely well thought-out and organized and I was taken with it from the start, but it's an awful lot of blocks of text. I think a useful tool that could help categorize and order the text would be color-coding and making important titles larger. For example, for the Zargosauras race, in this case colored green:

(About the details listed, they are awesome and really qualitative, but I propose two more sections I was curious about but found no answer for – 1) punishment system, and 2) eye color … are all colors natural as seen in reptiles today on Earth, or could a Mesozoic alien have pink eyes, for example?)

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1 – Zargosaur

Species Name: Zoica Zargosauras.
N O T E: I deleted [Zargosauras is the common name that the species identify themselves with and the xenobiological community uses to identify them.] because it's kind of irrelevant and it interrupts my proposed stat flow.
Common Name: Zargosaur

Appearance: Zargosaurs have a supposed ancestry to the theropod dinosaurs of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. Though they are humanoid in shape, Zargosaurs have stronger musculature when compared to a human, and their jaw strength is quite powerful. They are bipedal.

Stats: Their powerful, bird-like legs that enable to them to reach running speeds of over 40 mph, with females being faster and having the ability to keep these speeds up for long periods of time.
N O T E: Here, the main statistics you would like for the aliens to have could be mentioned – based on your material, I would recommend four: Strength, Speed, Endurance and Intelligence, with an optional fifth Charisma or Agility or something. If you like, the "Stats" section could be replaced by four different sections for each individual stat.

Senses: Zargosaurs have excellent eyesight and sense of smell, but are lacking in the senses of taste and touch.

Color: Their skin coloration is the color of the jungles; a vast variety of greens and browns. Brightly colored Zargosaurs are rare, and their coloration is often looked down upon as it interferes with their hunting capability.

N O T E: Rather than have those enormous blocks of text below, it could be easier to read if there were simple, clear bullet points pinpointing gender differences, or simply have the above basic information sections duplicated and adjusted for each gender. (So, have a Male & a Female Appearance, Stats, Senses, Color and potentially Behavior or anything else you'd like to put in.) See Footnote 1 for examples.

[Females: The female Zargosaur is a creature that is both deadly and oddly beautiful; a society that has forced them to fight for their lives since a young age has produced a large amount of warriors and hunters that are equal to and sometimes even more feared than the males of their race. Slimmer and more agile than their male counterparts, female Zargosaurs have a body shape comparable to theropods such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus. They are shorter than males, usually reaching the apex of their height at around 7 feet. Females are curvier than males and show less muscle tone in their bodies. In addition, they posses mammary glands, but these are not actually functional until after they have laid their first eggs.
Males: A male Zargosaur is an obvious danger. Packed with muscle and a mouth full of serrated teeth, a male Zargosaur is a potent and brutal warrior capable of ripping their foes apart even when unarmed. The average height of a male Zargosaur is eight feet, with larger males sometimes reaching 9 or 10 feet. Males have thicker skulls and tails when compared to females, and their claws and muscle tone are usually more pronounced. Male Zargosaurs have a body shape comparable to larger theropod dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosauras Rex and Giganatosauras. Their reproductive organs remain protected internally until they become sexually active, as many male Zargosaurs have their lives end violently before they can ever hope to procreate.]

Behavior: The Zargosaurs are an aggressive and war-like race that cherish hunting and all things related to it. They hunt everything that walks, flies or swims on their planet, and for a Zargosauras, be it male or female, to die during a hunt is the greatest honor of them all. Prone to violent behavior and cursed with extremely short fuses, Zargosaurs are easy to insult and taunt. They can sometimes be goaded into stupid moves during battle, but at the same time, combat-fueled rage can turn them into even more potent killing machines.

Diet: As their supposed ancestry suggests, Zargosaurs are carnivorous, and partake in eating many of the fauna found on Mesozoic. However, gluttony is a sort of dishonor to their race, and as such most Zargosaurs have a strict limit on their food intake. They eat enough to keep them alive and energetic, but any more than that is considered to be an excess.
N O T E: Here I would recommend downsizing to three simple sentences, followed by some racial specifics.
First sentence (herbivore, carnivore, or omnivore): Zargosaurs are carnivorous.
Second sentence (diet): Zargosaurs eat X [in this case, practically any non-poisonous fauna].
Third sentence (how often they eat): Zargosaurs have a strict limit on their food intake since gluttony is a dishonor in their race, eating just enough to keep them alive and energetic.
After this, racial specifics. I would also recommend a little more detail – do they scavenge? Is there an eating hierarchy? Are babies allowed to partake in the meal, or does a parent regurgitate the food to them later? Are meals brought back to the entire tribe for everyone to eat, or do the warriors eat the best parts of a carcass before taking it home? Do some die from indigestion because they so stupidly eat everything and anything that fits in their mouths? … et cetera.

Basic Social Structure: Zargosaurian society is measured solely by hunting prowess, a belief which stems from the race's version of a creation story. Like the other four races, their society is tribal, with pockets of their race scattered across the planet's vast rainforests. They are led by a huntmaster, who is a male or female Zargosaur who has shown incredible hunting prowess at some point in time. In their society, those who can hunt well are often considered to be the best leaders, a fact that has been constantly debated amongst their own kind. Hunts are a huge celebratory activity among Zargosaurs, and an entire tribe will participate in a hunt as a way to tie them closer together. As hunters, the Zargosaurs have a keen knowledge of nature, and they know their role and the role of other animals in the biosphere, and will hunt certain animals over others accordingly. In this way, they function as a factor that stops certain species from overpopulating.

Family Life/Gender Roles: There are no gender roles in Zargosaurian society. Males and females are held to an equal standard.
N O T E: Hmm, I'd recommend keeping X/X titles to one X title. I've taken the liberty of condensing following titles like this.

Procreation: There is little to be said here. They mate in the same way humans do. They can interbreed with the Azhdar, creating a hybrid of both races. This practice is seen as a sort of blasphemy however, and will often result in the two lovers and their child being exiled or even killed.

Mating Behavior: Since both genders are equal, it takes quite a bit of effort for a Zargosaurian male to impress a female. In some cases, the female in question might be the huntmaster of the tribe or may just be superior to the male pursuing her. Most Zargosaurian females are impressed by trophy kills and a male who is able to hold his own in a fight, but as their society has begun to evolve, exceptions become common.

Offspring: Females lay a single egg once or twice in their lifetime, and it is after the young are born that their mammary glands become functional. Their young wean for about a year, and grow quickly in size. Children in Zargosaurian society are treated as future hunters; competition is encouraged at a young age, and concepts like bullying are acceptable to the Zargosaurs. A Zargosaur reaches adolescence at the age of 14, and adulthood at 17.
N O T E: Might want to move/add the last sentence somewhere under the "Basic Info" at the top, since this should be important in the making of character sheets.

Folklore: The main Zargosaurian creation legend involves a warrior of unknown name and purpose who was once a part of their race. This warrior was said to be the greatest hunter to ever live, and stories are told of him using a sword made from the stars to kill the god-beasts that once trampled much of Mesozoic's surface. Among these god-beasts was something known as the Great Maw, which serves as the focus for the Souvirei's version of creation. It is said that this Zargosaurian warrior fell in his last great hunt, and his blood created the Zargosaurs. They owe their passion and natural instincts for hunting completely to him, and his story is often told in bone carvings made from the bones of some of the planet's fiercest creatures.
N O T E: Who are the Souvirei? Also, it would be useful to add something like, "…although he is known as the 'Nameless Hunter'" when discussing the warrior, since during the RP it would be awkward for someone to write, "He wished that one day he might be as brave as that warrior from the creation story who was said to be the greatest hunter to ever live since he used a sword made from the stars to kill […etc]" as opposed to writing, "He wished that one day he might be as brave as the Nameless Hunter of legend" – that way everyone else knows who the RPer is talking about.

Architecture: The Zargosaurs build simple shelters crafted from the bones and pelts of great beasts. Simplicity and functionality is everything to them, though some tribes have begun to use some of the planet's durable ores as a means for building shelters.
N O T E: This could be combined with "Settlements".

Settlements: Zargosaurs follow the herds of great beasts that they hunt, and so they never have any permanent establishment. Always on the move, they rarely stay in any one place for more than a month.

History: The exact origins of the Zargosaurs are unknown, even to xenobiologists who have spent their whole lives studying them. They only began forming tribes, crafting clothing and artifacts, and organizing themselves into loose groups in last hundred years. Prone to causing war amongst themselves and the other three races, the Zargosauras are noted to have been the first to discover gunpowder and its very violent use.

F O O T N O T E – 1
Here are some examples of how the female and male comparisons could look:

1) The Bullet List

Females:
• warriors and hunters equal to and sometimes even more feared than the males of their race
• slimmer and more agile than their male counterparts
• a body shape comparable to theropods such as Velociraptor and Deinonychus
• shorter than males, usually reaching the apex of their height at around 7 feet
• curvier than males and show less muscle tone in their bodies
• posses mammary glands (not functional until first eggs have been laid)

Males:
• more muscular than females
• serrated teeth
• brutal warriors capable of ripping their foes apart even when unarmed
• average height is 8 ft, some 9 or 10 ft
• thicker skulls and tails than females
• claws and muscle tone usually more pronounced than females
• a body shape comparable to larger theropod dinosaurs, such as Tyrannosauras Rex and Giganatosauras
• reproductive organs remain protected internally until they become sexually active
• many meet a violent end before procreation

2) Two Basic Informations

N O T E: The stats could be given a numeric value that would eliminate a need for lots of text. However, it would take away some of the customization and the lovely detail you provide in your verbal explanations. Perhaps both numbers and words could be implemented.

Male Appearance: Zargosaurs have a supposed ancestry to the theropod dinosaurs of Earth's ancient Mesozoic era. Though they are humanoid in shape, Zargosaurs have stronger musculature when compared to a human, and their jaw strength is quite powerful. They are bipedal.

Female Appearance: Same

Male Stats: Their powerful, bird-like legs that enable to them to reach running speeds of over 40 mph. N O T E: Here, the main statistics you would like for the aliens to have could be mentioned – based on your material, I would recommend four: Strength, Speed, Endurance and Intelligence with an optional fifth Agility or Charisma or something. If you like, the "Stats" section could be replaced by four different sections for each individual stat.

Female Stats: [in sentence form]slimmer, more agile, faster, higher endurance

Male Senses: Zargosaurs have excellent eyesight and sense of smell, but are lacking in the senses of taste and touch.

Female Senses: Same

Male Color: Their skin coloration is the color of the jungles; a vast variety of greens and browns. Brightly colored Zargosaurs are rare, and their coloration is often looked down upon as it interferes with their hunting capability.

Female Color: No difference?
--

All rightey. That was some of my commentary, I hope it's useful and not offensive or patronizing in any way, I'm very impressed by the obvious work and attention paid to realism in this RP. Please be aware that my notes are comprised solely of tentative suggestions and I do not expect you to revamp everything to accord with what I have written there – it's just meant to be useful…

Hejin said:
Family Life/Gender Roles: Males and females in Azhdar society are not exactly equal. Males are the only ones permitted to take part in battle, while females are reduced to the roles of foragers. Most elders cite that females need to be kept pure for marriage, and so they are forbidden to participate in violence even when it does become absolutely necessary for the Azhdar.

Mating Rituals/Habits: Azhdar females are a sort of prize in their society, due to their beauty and elegance. Though the Azhdar believe in the concept of love, many females are shallow to the point where they will only take a male as a weight based on wingspan, coloration or similar visual factors. Azhdar mate for life, but males breaking that vow is surprisingly common in their society.

Hmm … I'm not offended by that, nor do I think it's a bad or unrealistic idea. However, I feel it limits RPers who want to create a female Azhdar character. The Azhdar are so beautiful in their grace and appreciation of nature, it seems a shame to make the community so sexist and allow so much room for emotional domestic abuse and oppression of women. Perhaps eliminating that sentence about many women being "shallow" in their mating choices could dampen the limiting impact on characters.

Hejin said:
Family Life/Gender Roles: Sauradon males have almost all the power in their culture, with females having little of a role beyond bearing and taking care of young.

Again, a little limiting for an RPer who wants to make a female Sauradon character. Though these sexist elements are -totally- realistic and I don't discourage them, it's an RPG and character freedom and customization is an important part of that. For Sauradons, it could be nice for women to have a higher intelligence stat than males and perhaps have a subtle form of power that males are unaware of – for example, teaching children, or advising their men, planning battle strategies and making their mates believe they themselves [the mates] did all the work. Women have been doing so throughout history in similarly oppressive cultural environments.

I just read men didn't stay with their women, making the "advising mates" theory highly unrealistic. Still, females could have their own hierarchy, with high-ranking women having raised the most children and attracted the most men, probably also being the most attractive; these women could still influence the males of their community and manipulate important social and inter-tribal events from an inconspicuous distance.

Or maybe the high-ranking women – since childbearing and taking care of one's progeny for 2 years would be distracting and exhausting work – are the infertile ones (it sounds like all these free-for-all reproduction habits could result in some incestuous interbreeding that could produce these results at a higher rate than other races). Perhaps these infertile women, though not directly admired or honored, may be tolerated in their high position (though still below the lowest-ranking male) for resisting the male "spirit" by rejecting his seed, as Sauradons may explain this phenomenon. Or these infertile women could be seen as a threat and become outcasts and pariahs, perhaps even subject to frequent abuse in a vain attempt to break their "too-strong" spirit.

Ok I'm moving on now.

Hejin said:
Biology – Male: Male Souvirei are voracious and powerful carnivores who are widely feared by the other three races, and for good reason. Stream-lined and packed with a decent amount of muscle, males share a body shape and mouth structure with the largest of earth's ancient pliosaurs, specifically Kronosauras and Liopleuradon. With many being little more than bloodthirsty monsters, Souvirei have a reputation for being merciless eaters.

Again, the limiting aspect for an RPer who wants to make a male Souvirei char. Since it sounds true to the racial profile, though, I wouldn't re-make this comment if it weren't for the fact that none of the other races seem to offer alternative choices for a male than to be a hunter of varying degrees of voraciousness. These races all have a lot of work put into them and I wouldn't expect you to revamp one or add a whole other one just because of a stray comment from me (nor am I at all sure it would even be worth the effort), but it would be interesting to have some matriarchal (women-in-charge) elements in one of the racial societies, or at least a society where men aren't just hunters, but also, say, priests or gatherers or actively involved in rearing young.

Heijin said:
Procreation: Due to their size and physiology, Souvirei mate in the water, and in a way similar to that of whales. Any attempt for them to breed with a Zargosaur or an Azhdar would most likely result in the painful and embarrassing death of the smaller creature.

What about Sauradons?

Heijin said:
Legends/Folklore: The Souvirei legend of creation involves a monstrous creature known as the Great Maw, which is described by the Souvirei as a beast capable of swallowing herds upon herds of Sauradons with little effort. The Great Maw was one of many god-beasts that lurked in the planet's oceans in ancient times, coming out of the sea to feed in excess when its voracious hunger became unbearable. It was eventually killed by an unknown warrior of Zargosaurian origin, and from its blood came the Souvirei, who were all instilled with all the hunger and lust for violence that it once had in life.

Ohhhh, now I get that reference to the Great Maw and the Souvirei I found in the Zargosaur racial profile. I'd recommend taking that sentence out of the Zargosaur description, though, since at that point the reader doesn't know who the Souvirei are and is confused. Or you could just add "race" to the Souverei part.

Heijin said:
The first prospective plot for this will involve a crashed satellite found by one of the members of the four races. The discovery of the satellite causes a huge commotion among the planet's inhabitants, causing conflict and sparking the idea that they might not be as alone in among the stars as they previously thought.

Obviously the RPers would be one of the members of the four races, and due to how specific they are as creatures, characters might be a little more difficult to create. But I think it will be a unique prospect to play as something nonhuman for once, and if you noticed, I really tried to humanize the four races while keeping them alien and bestial at the same time.

Awesome, awesome, awesome, awesome, AWESOME idea!! And you really, really succeeded in making the aliens relatable and lending them all sorts of human characteristics while still keeping them, well, alien and non-human. This is a really interesting concept, I'll make a CS as soon as possible!

Heijin said:
Name:

Race:

Appearance(be sure to note anything that makes them look different, even if by a little bit, when compared to the rest of their race. Also, they do wear clothing. It's just clothing of a much simpler variety.):

Personality(these races are just as intelligent as humans, after all):

Hobbies and Skills (remember that these races are living on a jungle planet, and haven't really made it to gunpowder technology yet):

Paraphernalia and Equipment:

Tribe, Pod or Herd Affiliation(if any, and they don't have overcomplicated or exact names):

Hmm. I recommend adding a few fields to this CS: 1) Gender, 2) History, 3) Goal (unless that goes under "Affiliation"). In general, it would be useful including in the racial profiles a section or at least somewhere some information on their reaction to the spaceship discovery. Are they curious, fearful, superstitious, aggressive, impassive about it?

Lastly, I think a map could be enormously helpful. Even the vaguest of sketches might bring this RP to life wonderfully (and I wouldn't mind making one myself if I had some guidelines). I realize that some races are nomadic, but since they seem so aggressive towards one another I doubt a tribe would be stupid enough to wander into another race's territory, no matter how more powerful they are. Of course, if this is done, excuse me and nevermind with marking territories visually.

Wow. This is quite an RP. There's so much effort invested in it, and it's really advanced! I can't wait to join, and I hope other people won't be intimidated by the unusual and demanding elements of this RP. Good luck! I will post my CS soon.

K. El-Amrani · Dec 14, 2011

There are so many corrections and things that I can't even begin on where to start.

But you've pointed out a lot of good points, and I'll get to work fixing and revising things based on those points, and starting to organize things in more a stream-lined manner as you're proposing. I'm very grateful for this help; you obviously don't have to do this unless you really want to as it is very time consuming. I'll be sure to edit some racial things and deal with the sexism that I seem to have written into the Azhdar.

I look forward to seeing a CS from you, and I'll edit the first post accordingly. Let's hope more people join. I don't want this idea to fall into oblivion.

I will admit to being somewhat confused by how to handle stats? You mean to list those stats your proposing, and add numbers next to each? Or should I be describing Strength, Speed and those things in detail with words? Just wondering.

Abracadabra · Dec 16, 2011

Hejin said:
There are so many corrections and things that I can't even begin on where to start.

But you've pointed out a lot of good points, and I'll get to work fixing and revising things based on those points, and starting to organize things in more a stream-lined manner as you're proposing. I'm very grateful for this help; you obviously don't have to do this unless you really want to as it is very time consuming. I'll be sure to edit some racial things and deal with the sexism that I seem to have written into the Azhdar.

I look forward to seeing a CS from you, and I'll edit the first post accordingly. Let's hope more people join. I don't want this idea to fall into oblivion.

I will admit to being somewhat confused by how to handle stats? You mean to list those stats your proposing, and add numbers next to each? Or should I be describing Strength, Speed and those things in detail with words? Just wondering.

Heh, sorry, when I get excited about someone else's RP I'm infamous among my RL friends to become … overbearing … on occasion. Everything I wrote is just a suggestion and no more, I would love to see some more interest in this RP! If not, I don't think it would suffer from being a one-on-one … :D

About the stats, they can be listed any way. Numbers are sometimes preferred to better explain rank – the Sauradons have the most strength (15) but the lowest intelligence (2), for example, but the female Sauradons have a slightly higher intelligence (4) and less strength (13), though both stats add up to 17 – and be utilized as a convenient comparison. This is often found in online texting games, where stats range from 1-15 in proficiency and a race has an average proficiency; the roleplayer then rolls a dice randomly to get a number somewhere among those averages, the higher, the better, for each stat or has an allotted amount of stats he/she can distribute evenly among his/her char's skills (though customization rarely goes beyond the choosing of a race).

However, seeing as you are such a great writer (I mean this) and so detailed in expressing your imagination, verbal descriptions potentially containing comparisons between races would also be more than sufficient, in my opinion.

Whatever floats your boat, pretty much.
I have lots of time this week so I'll spin out a char application in no time! XD

I had a question myself about names. Can they be real words put together, like for example Willowclaw, or do they have to be fantasy, like Elliyendor, or should they be normal, like Steve, or can they be just about anything?

K. El-Amrani · Dec 16, 2011

Abracadabra said:
Heh, sorry, when I get excited about someone else's RP I'm infamous among my RL friends to become … overbearing … on occasion. Everything I wrote is just a suggestion and no more, I would love to see some more interest in this RP! If not, I don't think it would suffer from being a one-on-one … :D

About the stats, they can be listed any way. Numbers are sometimes preferred to better explain rank – the Sauradons have the most strength (15) but the lowest intelligence (2), for example, but the female Sauradons have a slightly higher intelligence (4) and less strength (13), though both stats add up to 17 – and be utilized as a convenient comparison. This is often found in online texting games, where stats range from 1-15 in proficiency and a race has an average proficiency; the roleplayer then rolls a dice randomly to get a number somewhere among those averages, the higher, the better, for each stat or has an allotted amount of stats he/she can distribute evenly among his/her char's skills (though customization rarely goes beyond the choosing of a race).

However, seeing as you are such a great writer (I mean this) and so detailed in expressing your imagination, verbal descriptions potentially containing comparisons between races would also be more than sufficient, in my opinion.

Whatever floats your boat, pretty much.
I have lots of time this week so I'll spin out a char application in no time! XD

I had a question myself about names. Can they be real words put together, like for example Willowclaw, or do they have to be fantasy, like Elliyendor, or should they be normal, like Steve, or can they be just about anything?

Things like Willowclaw, or any names that have a Native American feel but might also purposely nod to words relating to prehistory or other extinct animals would be perfect. Fantasy names won't feel right and neither will real ones.

Abracadabra · Dec 16, 2011

Hejin said:
Things like Willowclaw, or any names that have a Native American feel but might also purposely nod to words relating to prehistory or other extinct animals would be perfect. Fantasy names won't feel right and neither will real ones.

Perfect!! I call the name Fleetfoot. Can I have more than one char?

K. El-Amrani · Dec 16, 2011

Abracadabra said:
Perfect!! I call the name Fleetfoot. Can I have more than one char?

Feel free. I'll get to re-organizing things soon. I just haven't been able to really sit down and do it yet.

Abracadabra · Dec 18, 2011

I added a Gender and History field, not to be obnoxious, but because I felt I needed to include information there to successfully flesh out my character. Let me know if you want them gone and I can delete them anytime.

Second char is on the way, but for now this is just the first, Fleetfoot:

Name: Fleetfoot
Race: Zargosauras
Gender: Male

Appearance

Way nimbler than most of the males of his race, Fleetfoot makes up for his shortage of brawn with extraordinary agility and speed. In his pack, he held the distinction of being at the head of the hunting group so that he could keep the prey running until it tired. Then, he'd circle it until the rest of the hunting party arrived to descend upon the exhausted victim. Fleetfoot enjoyed confused praise for his hunting prowess by pack members – most were jealous, the rest divided between contempt for his lack of strength and relative ineptitude in an actual battle, or accepting him as a senior hunter. What no one could dispute was that he was valuable.

Part of Fleetfoot's flexibility is thanks to his unusually long tail, which is patterned with thick brown bars that recede to jagged stripes as they near his hindquarters. From there, they form wavy, uneven bands up his back and neck and over his eyes all the way to the corners of his mouth. Fleetfoot's base coat is a pale, gentle olive green that blends in nicely with the forest surroundings. It's his pure white belly that he must disguise during a hunt if he is to sneak up upon prey unnoticed. During his childhood, he was often ridiculed, and was unwillingly dubbed "Moony".

From his jutting eyebrow ridges to midway down his tail, Fleetfoot's skin sports inch-high, wickedly sharp spines that lean backwards a little. A few have been snapped off but they grow back quickly. Fleetfoot's eyes, quite large for a Mesozoic predator, are almond-shaped, with a calculating, quizzical look akin to that of an Earth bird. They are a bright, coruscating gold, with a ring of deep auburn tones farthest from the slitted pupil. Still, due to his personality and dubious hunting skills, he has been dismissed as undesirable among the females of his pack, especially since he would be hard pressed to bring back any sort of hunting trophy.

Equipment

Fleetfoot often wears green hides over his pale white belly, both to protect the sensitive area and to help camouflage. He carries a few healing pouches attached to strings over his neck, but other than that he refrains from most forms of clothing or armor because they weigh him down and impede his speed.

Personality

Fleetfoot is pretty shy, often intimidated by the weakest members of his pack. Growing up deemed a weakling, only to become a priceless hunting advantage, has left his social position haphazard and uncertain, and this insecurity mirrored by all those around him has become an integral weakness in his disposition. He is not very self-confident and frequently compares himself to others, wishing he were as strong and brave and popular.

But while he is timid among others of his kind, he possesses an inquisitive and adventurous nature at heart, constantly appraising the world around him and seeking knowledge to reap from it. He loves to spend hours just running aimlessly through Zargosauras territory, taking in the beauty of the nature around him and discovering a new species of flower or insect he'd never seen before. That he returns from these trips largely empty-handed only confirms the declarations of those who firmly believe he can't really hunt.

Fleetfoot is not so unlike his race, though, that he could be devoid of any aggression or violence. While his temper, having been often tried throughout his childhood, is better controlled than that of most other Zargosauras hunters, Fleetfoot can grow inordinately angry when rubbed the wrong way. In combat situations, he has been manipulated too easily by his pack members, but with time and thanks to the constant ridicule he endured before adulthood, taunts bother Fleetfoot a lot less than they would most Zargosauras.

Hobbies

Fleetfoot loves to run – in fact, he enjoys physical exercise in general. As a child, he was very fond of the many strenuous games the Zargosauras adolescents would partake in, though he was frequently excluded. Fleetfoot also considers himself an explorer and likes to see and experience new, exotic things.

Skills

Fleetfoot is very fast and agile, he has sharp eyesight and an adequate sense of smell, but poor faculties of taste, touch and hearing. He is an expert carver and whittler, yet such talent is largely ignored in his pack.

History

While out hunting one day, Fleetfoot's entire pack was tracking the path he forged through the greenery in pursuit of a herd of alien prey. When he crossed over into Sauradon territory, his pack was so far behind he didn't hear their shouts of warning and yells to stop. Suddenly, he was assaulted by the strong stench of Sauradon, and, realizing what he'd done, ran back the way he had come as quickly as possible – but it was too late. Alerted of his presence, a pack of hungry, furious Sauradons pursued him, believing him to be alone.

Fleetfoot veered away from his pack, leading the Sauradons into the deep forest, hoping he could outrun them, and confident that he stood a chance. Unfortunately, several of his hunting party, who saw this as a golden opportunity, rushed right into Sauradon territory to mark large patches of it as their own. With their superb sense of smell, stragglers among the Sauradons realized what was happening and steered the pack back to Fleetfoot's hunting party.

Fleetfoot knew what was happening and managed to bait some of the Sauradon pack into pursuing him still, and before night fell, his pursuers had given up and made their way back. Fleetfoot hoped they'd get lost, or be found by a large Zargosauras pack. He himself was winded, having run faster and longer than ever before, and totally clueless as to his location. He has spent the last few days searching fruitlessly for his pack, hoping that they were able to sense the Sauradons returning and escape in time.

Affiliation

Fleetfoot is a Zargosauras, and of their affiliation. He deeply hates Sauradons, especially after the incident detailed in his History.

K. El-Amrani · Dec 19, 2011

Abracadabra said:
I added a Gender and History field, not to be obnoxious, but because I felt I needed to include information there to successfully flesh out my character. Let me know if you want them gone and I can delete them anytime.

Second char is on the way, but for now this is just the first, Fleetfoot:

Name: Fleetfoot
Race: Zargosauras
Gender: Male

Appearance

Way nimbler than most of the males of his race, Fleetfoot makes up for his shortage of brawn with extraordinary agility and speed. In his pack, he held the distinction of being at the head of the hunting group so that he could keep the prey running until it tired. Then, he'd circle it until the rest of the hunting party arrived to descend upon the exhausted victim. Fleetfoot enjoyed confused praise for his hunting prowess by pack members – most were jealous, the rest divided between contempt for his lack of strength and relative ineptitude in an actual battle, or accepting him as a senior hunter. What no one could dispute was that he was valuable.

Part of Fleetfoot's flexibility is thanks to his unusually long tail, which is patterned with thick brown bars that recede to jagged stripes as they near his hindquarters. From there, they form wavy, uneven bands up his back and neck and over his eyes all the way to the corners of his mouth. Fleetfoot's base coat is a pale, gentle olive green that blends in nicely with the forest surroundings. It's his pure white belly that he must disguise during a hunt if he is to sneak up upon prey unnoticed. During his childhood, he was often ridiculed, and was unwillingly dubbed "Moony".

From his jutting eyebrow ridges to midway down his tail, Fleetfoot's skin sports inch-high, wickedly sharp spines that lean backwards a little. A few have been snapped off but they grow back quickly. Fleetfoot's eyes, quite large for a Mesozoic predator, are almond-shaped, with a calculating, quizzical look akin to that of an Earth bird. They are a bright, coruscating gold, with a ring of deep auburn tones farthest from the slitted pupil. Still, due to his personality and dubious hunting skills, he has been dismissed as undesirable among the females of his pack, especially since he would be hard pressed to bring back any sort of hunting trophy.

Equipment

Fleetfoot often wears green hides over his pale white belly, both to protect the sensitive area and to help camouflage. He carries a few healing pouches attached to strings over his neck, but other than that he refrains from most forms of clothing or armor because they weigh him down and impede his speed.

Personality

Fleetfoot is pretty shy, often intimidated by the weakest members of his pack. Growing up deemed a weakling, only to become a priceless hunting advantage, has left his social position haphazard and uncertain, and this insecurity mirrored by all those around him has become an integral weakness in his disposition. He is not very self-confident and frequently compares himself to others, wishing he were as strong and brave and popular.

But while he is timid among others of his kind, he possesses an inquisitive and adventurous nature at heart, constantly appraising the world around him and seeking knowledge to reap from it. He loves to spend hours just running aimlessly through Zargosauras territory, taking in the beauty of the nature around him and discovering a new species of flower or insect he'd never seen before. That he returns from these trips largely empty-handed only confirms the declarations of those who firmly believe he can't really hunt.

Fleetfoot is not so unlike his race, though, that he could be devoid of any aggression or violence. While his temper, having been often tried throughout his childhood, is better controlled than that of most other Zargosauras hunters, Fleetfoot can grow inordinately angry when rubbed the wrong way. In combat situations, he has been manipulated too easily by his pack members, but with time and thanks to the constant ridicule he endured before adulthood, taunts bother Fleetfoot a lot less than they would most Zargosauras.

Hobbies

Fleetfoot loves to run – in fact, he enjoys physical exercise in general. As a child, he was very fond of the many strenuous games the Zargosauras adolescents would partake in, though he was frequently excluded. Fleetfoot also considers himself an explorer and likes to see and experience new, exotic things.

Skills

Fleetfoot is very fast and agile, he has sharp eyesight and an adequate sense of smell, but poor faculties of taste, touch and hearing. He is an expert carver and whittler, yet such talent is largely ignored in his pack.

History

While out hunting one day, Fleetfoot's entire pack was tracking the path he forged through the greenery in pursuit of a herd of alien prey. When he crossed over into Sauradon territory, his pack was so far behind he didn't hear their shouts of warning and yells to stop. Suddenly, he was assaulted by the strong stench of Sauradon, and, realizing what he'd done, ran back the way he had come as quickly as possible – but it was too late. Alerted of his presence, a pack of hungry, furious Sauradons pursued him, believing him to be alone.

Fleetfoot veered away from his pack, leading the Sauradons into the deep forest, hoping he could outrun them, and confident that he stood a chance. Unfortunately, several of his hunting party, who saw this as a golden opportunity, rushed right into Sauradon territory to mark large patches of it as their own. With their superb sense of smell, stragglers among the Sauradons realized what was happening and steered the pack back to Fleetfoot's hunting party.

Fleetfoot knew what was happening and managed to bait some of the Sauradon pack into pursuing him still, and before night fell, his pursuers had given up and made their way back. Fleetfoot hoped they'd get lost, or be found by a large Zargosauras pack. He himself was winded, having run faster and longer than ever before, and totally clueless as to his location. He has spent the last few days searching fruitlessly for his pack, hoping that they were able to sense the Sauradons returning and escape in time.

Affiliation

Fleetfoot is a Zargosauras, and of their affiliation. He deeply hates Sauradons, especially after the incident detailed in his History.

Awesome concept. I look forward to seeing the next one you come up with, and now that I've reorganized things a bit, I'll get to work on a character of my own and start thinking about getting an introductory post up for the IC thread.

This is going to be pretty good when we get it all started.

Abracadabra · Dec 20, 2011

Yay! Thanks! I'm looking forward to getting this show on the road.

2nd char will be up soon!

I'll make them hate each other … >:3

Elflady · Dec 21, 2011

I'm interested, this is such a well planned and unique idea, and so different from my other Rp's:) I'm going to work on a CS right away.

I also wonder how much the Azhdar's can do when it comes to their wings, are they entirely like bats and pterosaurs that they use them as balance and for flight or can they use their fingers to hold things?

Abracadabra · Dec 22, 2011

Elflady said:
I'm interested, this is such a well planned and unique idea, and so different from my other Rp's:) I'm going to work on a CS right away.

I also wonder how much the Azhdar's can do when it comes to their wings, are they entirely like bats and pterosaurs that they use them as balance and for flight or can they use their fingers to hold things?

YEEESSS! YEEEESSS! AWESOME! More players, this is great!

Can't answer your question, though.

Looking forward to RPing with you! :D

–A

K. El-Amrani · Dec 22, 2011

Elflady said:
I'm interested, this is such a well planned and unique idea, and so different from my other Rp's:) I'm going to work on a CS right away.

I also wonder how much the Azhdar's can do when it comes to their wings, are they entirely like bats and pterosaurs that they use them as balance and for flight or can they use their fingers to hold things?

Their fingers have adapted for flight, but they're long and multi-jointed and easily capable of fine manipulation; holding things, handling things, making things, etc.

Elflady · Dec 22, 2011

Okay, thanks both of you:D

K. El-Amrani · Dec 29, 2011

Hey! Still hoping people have interest in is RP! Really, really don't want to see it die, as I'm still prepping to start it. :)

Elflady · Dec 29, 2011

I'm not going to abandon ship just yet:) I'm working on two characters right now but I got slightly side tracked after christmas but they'll be up soon.

Abracadabra · Dec 30, 2011

Same here :D

Plus I lost Internet in my home for 24 hours yesterday!!!! D:< Weeping and consoling may now ensue.

Elflady · Jan 1, 2012

I'll have my Ahzdar female up in a jiffy as well:)

----

Name: Shadowfeather

Gender: Female

Race: Zargosaur

Appearance:

She is quite short for her race, only reaching up to a 6'5" and, like some other females has her slender body covered with short feathers, she has small wings of sort, long feathers reaching between her wrists and elbows, but she can not support her own body weight in flight. Her hands are nimble and small making her skilled at her favourite profession as a weaver of grass. Her feathers are mainly brown, slightly brighter on her abdomen and more dark, dirty brown on her back and from her head down to her strong jaw the brown fades to beige and then to a dull white at the tip of her snout, her jaw is filled with inwardly curving, serrated teeth. She has strong, greyish legs ending in sharp talons, the two inner most claws on both feet are large and held up from the ground when Shadowfeather walks and runs, longer feathers grow from the back of her legs and the tip of her tail also has a plume of longer feathers. The edges of her wings, tail feathers and leg feathers have a pattern of horizontal lines and dots in a de-saturated green, a few green lines follows the curve of her neck fading as they reach Shadowfeather's back, the slight plume on her head is brown with dull green tips, her feathers are flecked with beige randomly as well. Her large eyes are shaded by bold brow ridges and she has striking hazel eyes, flecks of gold and green on an iris of pale brown. She wears a simple one piece dress made from soft leather worked thin, a rich green with freckles and lines in brown and dark grey, it has one shoulder strap and is short to avoid it hampering her movements.

Personality:

Shadowfeather is a complex Zargosaur, she is mostly approachable and sociable but is also a fierce hunter and her mood swings without a seeming cause, but most of the time her growl is worse than her bite. Being a relatively peaceful Zargosaur she enjoys calm moments where she can contemplate and think in silence but she is just as eager to fight with the other races as others of her race, and actually enjoys the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of the fight. So far she is not very interested in laying eggs of her own and is content continuing life as it is.

Hobbies:

Besides hunting Shadowfeather is very fond of weaving simple things out of grass and thin leather straps, sometimes treading on beads for an extra touch, though she finds it quite difficult and often opt to not add the beads unless it's necessary.

Skills:

She is skilled at hunting, using her nimble form and good balance to jump up on the prey the faster in her herd has caught, and help hold it down and finish it off. She's also a skilled weaver.

History:

Shadowfeather was raised mostly by her mother and was a strong child since birth, always eager to compete and never on the receiving end when it came to bullying. Her quick mood swings caused her to have few friends but she didn't really care and was perfectly fine with the few she have, even from a young age it was apparent that Shadowfeather wouldn't be impressed by just anyone, a future mate would have to impress her in more ways than fighting and hunting. Having a surprisingly good relationship with her mother Shadowfeather took her mother's death hard, the hunting party had clashed with a Souvirei male when hunting near a deep lagoon, in the fight against the massive, vicious beast many brave Zargosaur's died, including Shadowfeather's mother. When they finally returned home to their temporary settlement she went and fashioned a simple necklace of a leather strap and fastened her mother's sickle claw to the strap, keeping it with her as a sign or respect to her mother and the their harsh life. Since that day Shadowfeather has developed a hatred for the Souvirei that is far stronger than the loathing she has for the Sauradon race.

Equipment:

Shadowfeather has her dress of course and around her waist she has a leather strap holding a small pouch with some herbs and concoctions to aid her if she gets wounded, she also has a necklace she treasures above all else, her mother's sickle law, engraved with a simple pattern and held by a leather strap.

Tribe: Member of a Zargosaur tribe.

K. El-Amrani · Jan 1, 2012

Awesome concept! I'll be getting my own characters up as well, once you guys finish with yours.

Then we can get this thing started. :D

Elflady said:
I'll have my Ahzdar female up in a jiffy as well:)

----

Name: Shadowfeather

Gender: Female

Race: Zargosaur

Appearance:

She is quite short for her race, only reaching up to a 6'5" and, like some other females has her slender body covered with short feathers, she has small wings of sort, long feathers reaching between her wrists and elbows, but she can not support her own body weight in flight. Her hands are nimble and small making her skilled at her favourite profession as a weaver of grass. Her feathers are mainly brown, slightly brighter on her abdomen and more dark, dirty brown on her back and from her head down to her strong jaw the brown fades to beige and then to a dull white at the tip of her snout, her jaw is filled with inwardly curving, serrated teeth. She has strong, greyish legs ending in sharp talons, the two inner most claws on both feet are large and held up from the ground when Shadowfeather walks and runs, longer feathers grow from the back of her legs and the tip of her tail also has a plume of longer feathers. The edges of her wings, tail feathers and leg feathers have a pattern of horizontal lines and dots in a de-saturated green, a few green lines follows the curve of her neck fading as they reach Shadowfeather's back, the slight plume on her head is brown with dull green tips, her feathers are flecked with beige randomly as well. Her large eyes are shaded by bold brow ridges and she has striking hazel eyes, flecks of gold and green on an iris of pale brown. She wears a simple one piece dress made from soft leather worked thin, a rich green with freckles and lines in brown and dark grey, it has one shoulder strap and is short to avoid it hampering her movements.

Personality:

Shadowfeather is a complex Zargosaur, she is mostly approachable and sociable but is also a fierce hunter and her mood swings without a seeming cause, but most of the time her growl is worse than her bite. Being a relatively peaceful Zargosaur she enjoys calm moments where she can contemplate and think in silence but she is just as eager to fight with the other races as others of her race, and actually enjoys the thrill of the hunt and the thrill of the fight. So far she is not very interested in laying eggs of her own and is content continuing life as it is.

Hobbies:

Besides hunting Shadowfeather is very fond of weaving simple things out of grass and thin leather straps, sometimes treading on beads for an extra touch, though she finds it quite difficult and often opt to not add the beads unless it's necessary.

Skills:

She is skilled at hunting, using her nimble form and good balance to jump up on the prey the faster in her herd has caught, and help hold it down and finish it off. She's also a skilled weaver.

History:

Shadowfeather was raised mostly by her mother and was a strong child since birth, always eager to compete and never on the receiving end when it came to bullying. Her quick mood swings caused her to have few friends but she didn't really care and was perfectly fine with the few she have, even from a young age it was apparent that Shadowfeather wouldn't be impressed by just anyone, a future mate would have to impress her in more ways than fighting and hunting. Having a surprisingly good relationship with her mother Shadowfeather took her mother's death hard, the hunting party had clashed with a Souvirei male when hunting near a deep lagoon, in the fight against the massive, vicious beast many brave Zargosaur's died, including Shadowfeather's mother. When they finally returned home to their temporary settlement she went and fashioned a simple necklace of a leather strap and fastened her mother's sickle claw to the strap, keeping it with her as a sign or respect to her mother and the their harsh life. Since that day Shadowfeather has developed a hatred for the Souvirei that is far stronger than the loathing she has for the Sauradon race.

Equipment:

Shadowfeather has her dress of course and around her waist she has a leather strap holding a small pouch with some herbs and concoctions to aid her if she gets wounded, she also has a necklace she treasures above all else, her mother's sickle law, engraved with a simple pattern and held by a leather strap.

Tribe: Member of a Zargosaur tribe.

Elflady · Jan 2, 2012

Name: Skysinger

Gender: Female

Race: Azhdar

Appearance:

Skysinger is a slim and elegant Azhdar reaching around 9'2". She has a vivid sapphire blue on her wings and head, a pale blue underside, a dark anthracite grey beak and talons. On top of her head she has a vivid peach, red tipped frill and expressive blue black eyes that often look completely black except in good light.

Skysinger usually wears a simple, short dark grey skirt and a tight strapless top in the same colour, both have pale peach patterns woven in the edges. Skysinger is also a beginner crafter specialising in necklaces and wears a necklace fashioned from feathers, wooden beads and smooth stones.

Personality:

Skysinger is level headed and contemplative, spending a lot of time meditating or sky dancing, however she is more of a rebel Azhdar though she isn't a fighter per se but she dislikes the gender roles in their community. When the community wants to see her as a meditating politician she fights against it just because she is told that is the path for her and Skysinger has used her dancing to learn a bit of fighting. By no means would she manage in a fight with either of the other races but her skills would get her away safely most of the time by using speed and agility.

She is friendly and open, nothing so far has made her really angry or upset, for both good and bad whenever she have any hard feelings Skysinger hides them deep inside using meditation if necessary. Her calm psyche makes it almost impossible to get under her skin but it is possible if threatening her tribe or family but she does her best to keep her cool so as to not loose control. That is also her largest weakness, she fears to loose control and is not eager to gain a mate because of her fear of commitment, to loose yourself to another without question. This also tends to show Skysinger as cold and unapproachable sometimes but in fact she is the opposite if you talk to her.

Hobbies: Sky dancing.

Skills:

She is very agile, being a great sky dancer spending most of her time in the sky except when she is hunting or gathering food or when she is working on crafting necklaces. Other than that she is very fast but lacks physical strength.

History:

Skysinger lead a fairly normal life among the Azhdar, her tribe the SkyJungle lived very low on the mountains living equally on the jungle and mountain therefore their name. When Skysinger was quite young her mother was injured in a Zargosaur attack, badly wounded she survived but could never fly more and since then Skysinger hates Zargosaurs.

During her childhood she got good at hiding her true feelings and her anger at the elders for neglecting the younger females to learn to fight, she was not a fighter really but just the fact that it was not allowed made Skysinger upset and determined to learn how to fight on her own. It hasn't gone overly well learning fighting on her own and now when she's just about to become an adult Skysinger has learned some basic skills and a lot of evasion skills.

Truthfully she always preferred peace but not when she is forced to it like all females, her goal is to make the Azhdar tribes to realize that females can fight just as well as males and that both sexes are equals.

Paraphernalia and Equipment:

A simple woven bag slung over her shoulders where she keeps tools to make necklaces off, herbs in case she or anyone else gets hurt. The woven bag was made by Skysinger's mother.

Tribe: Member of the Azhdar tribe SkyJungle.

Mesozoic: A World Beyond Time and Space

K. El-Amrani

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Abracadabra

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