Ospian

"Gods above, watch out! Ospians are all through this forest and they love messing with people."

— A traveller

Flying Forest

Ospians are a forest dwelling primate, they excel at scampering across the tree tops and leaping across the canopy from tree to tree. Their keen sense of smell allows them to be able to track prey through their scent, a necessary adaptation as their eyes are especially weak beyond a short distance. They are fairly small in stature, only reaching about three feet in height, with their arms easily reaching to their knees. Their bodies are covered in a thin mottled brown fur to help them blend into their surroundings as they bound through the trees.
When hunting, they will send an ospian ahead as a scout who will follow behind their quarry until it is time for them to leap out of the branches and attack their target. Their prey usually consists of medium sized deer, as well as plants and insects when they fail to find a suitable target to hunt.

Fighting Fliers

Born and raised by the communities they form and live in, ospians reach maturity after two years and live up to twenty years. Their nests consist of large balls of moss and leaves which hang from the high branches. Ospians build several different nests in their territory, allowing them to hunt and rest without having to travel far. The nests can be used for sleeping as well as for storing food, giving them a safe place to retreat to if necessary, and allows them to survive winters better than they might otherwise.
They also communicate with other ospians by tapping out messages on tree trunks and sending out complex sequences of taps that can be used to relay messages between the nests. They mostly utilize this form of communication to alert their families of a good target to hunt, however they also use it to warn of approaching predators that they know they will have no chance of fighting against.

Lifespan

Approx. 20 years

Average Height

2.5 to 3 feet

Average Weight

Approx. 60lbs