Wyvern (wiv-ern)

Summary

The fearsome and often unrivaled rulers of the skies, wyverns are a wind-aspected variant of dragons. They're easily identified as such by the fact their main arms and back wings are actually one set of limbs, compared to the typical dragon's two sets.
Haughty even by draconic standards, wyverns are prideful people who live in some of Veltrona's most challenging environments. They're particularly fond of homemaking in Prak, as the roaming sky islands suit their sensibilities well. As a result, most wyvern lineages can be traced back to particular islands in Prak that they regard as their ancestral home.
These lineages are subdivided into clans, overseen usually by direct descendants of the lineage's matriarch. How they work internally beyond that differs from clan to clan, but usually various positions like healer, huntress, songstress, lore keeper, mage, and the like exist. Each clan is given a lot of freedom to do their business, and so the concept of lineage is much more loosely defined for most wyvern cultures.
This suits their lifestyle fairly well as wyverns may occupy an area for some years, then move on. Or, in the case of Prak dwellers, frequent between the skies and the veltron below. They're a naturally explorative people, taken by fancy and whim to see what life has to offer. In some senses, sedentary living is very troublesome for them. Hence, the various members of a clan frequently go out, either solo or in small groups. This often makes them the first sort of dragon most other peoples on Veltrona encounter, and the one they think of when the word 'dragon' is spoken.
Wyverns are, among all dragons, the most approachable despite their penchant for being haughty. They're used to dealing with other species, and their unique aerial power gives them incredible leverage in trade. Whether as scouting mercenaries, some of the best messengers on Veltrona, or otherwise, wyverns are fine with contracting out their talents for a while. In return, they usually acquire vast amounts of resources, interesting trinkets, beautiful artworks, or other luxurious goods. They also love to eat with voracious abandon, so excellent cooking is sure to win them over.
In time, a very strict sense of honor took root in most wyvern cultures. Trust became their most valuable asset, especially as the centuries crawled by and civilizations changed. Old friends vanished, new ones took their names, and wyverns were never sure if they'd see someone again. Thus, something more permanent and inviolable was needed to maintain business on a draconic time scale. Indeed, the prestige they amassed became something precious and polished as an eternal mark of pride.
It would be of little surprise that the age of the Imperium would put them to the test.
Of all dragonkind, wyverns had the most relations with the many other peoples. For whatever disregard Imperious had, xenophobic dragons eagerly filled in the void. They, who would turn on their own kind with gleeful cruelty, had no compulsions about everyone else. The wyvern clans would not stand idly by, and so committed to war against the Imperium. Lineage turned against lineage, and even clan against clan, as loyalties were drawn and blood shed. None more than the wyverns sided with everyone else, an act of grace ever remembered by many civilizations.
Indeed, a lot of draconic heraldry that mortal species carry is typically to honor the sacrifices made by the wyverns during the long war. These reasons, though, somewhat became lost when the Imperium collapsed and the Great Darkness followed. For wyverns, the war and subsequent world-wide destruction nearly wiped them out entirely. Those who survived were the ones to hide high in the sky within Prak, or deep within divine mountains amongst fellow dragons.
For them, the danger of flying in such calamity-stricken weather brought on endless amounts of sickness and further death. They hid themselves away from the world, doing all they could to survive such terrible conditions.
But, they were not idle during such time.
In a rare showing of cooperation, the surviving lineage matriarchs coordinated a meeting that took decades to realize. It would be upon Mount Skyreach, ancestral home of Bloodwing, did they meet. Each of them were unified in a single, shared thought: their complete and utter hatred of the Imperium and what it'd done. Much of their world, loved ones, and way of life had been slaughtered on the alter of Imperious' ambitions. They each took a blood oath then: five hundred years of peace between wyverns, all to hunt down and kill every last Imperium loyalist.
If the world was going to end in darkness, they would have their fair share in blood before time was up.
Some historians would later attribute this meeting as the very first step toward the later creation of Votyoger. The wyvern matriarch's unbridled rage became the spark that ignited the rest of dragonkind into action. With the wyvern's ferrying messages and documents around with purposeful speed, it became one of the fastest formulations of governance dragons ever saw happen.
They were no less motivated when the skies finally cleared, and the wyverns could take flight in safety once more. Their clans reclaimed their ancestral homelands and kept to their blood-sworn promise. To the edges of the sky, to the darkest of depths they could reach, the wyverns scoured Veltrona for their hated enemy. Many became enforcers of Votyoger outright, giving wings and claws to the draconic forum's lawful mandates. In these ways, the wyverns found vengeance for their slain kin, and ensured another Imperious would never arise again.
Still, decimated from their once prolific number, the wyvern clans are just as busy trying to re-establish themselves. Some were completely annihilated, leaving their glorious islands in Prak vacant tombs. Others, so severely depleted, had no choice but to fold into larger lineages to sustain themselves. Those that could fly on their own were forced into playing a long, careful game of survival.
All the same, they are yet dragons, proud and unbroken despite the terrible winds that cut them down. The skies will yet fill with the thunder of their wings as their shadows sweep across the veltron.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Wyverns are anatomically similar to the prototypical dragon, with the key distinction of their arms and wings fusing together as one functional pair. More wyvern-specific details will be notated below:
Unlike dragons, wyverns are 'light enough' to fly with the strength of their wings alone. However, they do make usage of instinctual wind magic to actually propel themselves at the legendary speeds and aerial acrobatics they're known for. This means magical disruption doesn't necessarily ground a wyvern the same way it does a dragon, but instead slows them down significantly.
Wyverns are still heavily armored and muscular. They're by no means easy to take down, and their incredible agility makes them deceptively difficult to damage. Their scales trend toward being more 'streamlined', insofar as reducing drag and air resistance, while maintaining normal draconic bulk.
Their tails are both longer and sleeker, acting like a natural harpoon that can double as a prehensile appendage.
Their wing arms are, proportionally to their body, somewhat larger and more expansive. Although they can walk on their two feet just fine, they can use their arms as crutches/supports when trying to interact with things via their feet.
Their feet are exceptionally notable in their difference, as they're actually specially adapted hands rather than normal feet. They have four elognated fingers and an opposable thumb, making their hand-feet functionally usable. Powerful claws still grow out, doubling as gripping/shredding implements. Hence, for wyverns, much of their fine work is done using a combination of their feet and tail, with the arms as weight balancers.

Biological Traits

In addition to all the traits they inherited from dragons, wyverns have the following differences:
Wind Aspected – This species is fundamentally biased toward wind mana.
Sensory Adaptation: Eyes – Wyverns have incredibly keen eye sight, and can sharply perceive details both close and at extreme altitudes. Their more powerful eyes makes them particularly suspectible to things like targeted rays of light.
Visual Fixation – Visually complex, colorful, and shiny things are captivating to a wyvern's mind, making such things quite distracting.

Civilization and Culture

Relationship Ideals

The lifestyles of wyverns means certainty is a luxury, and something they demand greatly in their relationships–romantic or otherwise. To any that deal with them, their upholding of honor in its myriad forms is not at all a surprise. Wyverns despise sudden, unexpected changes or a lack of upholding expectations as it destabilizes their proverbial footing. This shouldn't be likened toward a dislike of 'failure' necessarily. Failure can be accounted for by a capable mind; one's friend or lover betraying them, however, cannot be.
While these expectations may seem burdensome, wyverns also place great pride in being capable of fulfilling them. To put one's honor and word on the line to fulfill obligations both spoken and not is indeed most admirable. It can make some of their mannerisms very bizarre to behold, as they may take on very contradictory positions to fulfill said obligations. After all, having someone else provide first means they 'lost' out, and so it becomes important for them to win next time.
Despite sounding like a kind of conflict, this constant trading back-and-forth is the bedrock of most wyvern relationships. It becomes even more pronounced in their romantic ones, as things like partners caretaking and tending to one another is established. The physicality of wyverns means that, while they're mostly capable, they do have certain cumbersome problems. Partners help alleviate those issues entirely, and so represent a very meaningful way for one another to help each other.
Notably, upsetting the structured of relationships is where a lot of problems tend to crop up. Once everyone has settled into their 'roles', suddenly changing them or trying to 'usurp' another is what generates conflict. It puts a very interesting spin on things like personal growth and development, where a previously 'lower ranked' person becomes capable of much more. Navigating these constant changes with the wyvern's preference for structure is quite the skill, as much in verbal communication as combative talent.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Wyvern cultures are intensely family and clan oriented, placing great value on not only fostering such relationships, but growing them. In Veltrona's often unforgiving skies and wildernesses, those that can be trusted are truly a most precious thing. When many live upon Prak, the ever moving islands means the surrounding lands is often ever changing, too. Only those who live with the wyverns on their islands, thusly, become the fixed point of which their worldviews grow upon.
In time, as they dealt with other species, the wyvern's sense of trust evolved into a complex system of honor and integrity. They considered their words more valuable than any metal or crystal, and failure to uphold them brought about the greatest shame. Conversely, however, they placed the same expectations upon others. The wyverns did not shy from dealing out punishment to oathbreakers, and oft delivered it on thunderous wings. Thus, for as brutal their judgements would be, most considered them fair arbitrators in doing so.
If they weren't, complaints to other wyvern lineages would easily rope them in as well. The dishonor of a few would impact them all, and so wyverns were quick to suss out problems. Their penchant for doing so made them desirable arbiters in disputes other peoples had, if they could afford a wyvern's services thereof.
Fighting, be it in war, ritualistic dueling, or as a sport, became a cornerstone of many wyvern cultures. They would prove their martial prowess against one another, nature, or in dreadful wars. It fed their intensely competitive spirits, with even intellectual forms of entertainment featuring competitions of some variety. In time, many of these came to be public displays of showboating more than anything else. Better performances affected not only one's prestige, but that of their family and clan as well.
Magical and technological inventiveness took on slightly different ideas for the wyverns who dwelled in Prak. The limitation of space and materials meant engineering works were strictly confined. Most wyvern sokral had to leave their home islands to study and practice elsewhere, then bring their talents back home. Mages, on the other hand, only wanted for mana to fuel their magics, and space to store their scrolls and books. Many wyvern lineages developed far more sophisticated magics than engineering as a result.
Although, their technical feats never lagged far behind that of their veltron-bound kin, curiously enough. Being able to fly across vast distances and study at will certainly gave them a much more flexible view than other dragons.
It also made them gleeful hedonists, as wyverns loved to experience artful cultures, fine cuisine, and all sorts of guilty pleasures. Their homes in Prak are all patchwork collections of fanciful things a wyvern or three brought back on a trip at some point. Some traditions that even died off in their native lands live on through the wyverns who indulge in such delights with a timeless regard.

Inspiration

European mythology, common fantasy

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Dragonkind

Lifespan

Immortal

Average Height

7-8ft / 213-243cm

Average Weight

300-600lb / 136-272kg

Related Organizations

• Votyoger