Garruw
The Garruw are a flighted, sentient species with incredibly sharp claws and teeth, and the ability to breathe a kind of energy blast. They are the strongest species on Thaiterra, and yet despite that and their reputation for being the apex predators of the planet, they see themselves as scientists and philosophers. This is not an inaccurate view.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Four limbs, plus four wings on their backs. Capable of breathing an energy blast in select cases. Highly dexterous foreclaws they can use to inscribe stone tablets.
Genetics and Reproduction
They reproduce with eggs, usually about 1-3 in a clutch. Most mothers produce about 3 clutches in their life, provided they have a normal life span. Garruw egg shell is extremely tough and is valued as a building material.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Garruw require two different kinds of food to survive. First, they need to consume some kind of biological matter. This can be plant matter, as they are omnivores, but their great size means that it is simply easier for them to consume meat. Their claws and breath and ability to fly very fast means that they are able to eat pretty much everything they like. Including the other sapient species on the planet. This last has fallen out of favor, but the Weinadi still (rightly) don't like them very much.
The second thing they "eat" is the electrical energy of the storms.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Garruw live only in the mountainous areas of the planet, which limits them somewhat. They require high spaces to work with their flight. In modern eras, they've constructed towers in the flatter areas of the planets, enabling them to live comfortably in more diverse areas.
Average Intelligence
They have created tools appropriate to their physiology, and their mathematical work is highly advanced.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Their vision is keen, but the truly impressive part of Garruw is their audio abilities. They are capable of hearing extremely high and low frequencies.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Sounds are added to Garruw personal names with every significant achievement of their life. This includes entering their 20s (about 46 in earth years), finding a mate, birthing a clutch of eggs, defeating an enemy, discovering a star, and so on and so forth. Their sensitivity to sound means that some of these sounds are not audible to human or wight ears, so gaps will sometimes appear when a name is being voiced. When written, these gaps are represented with hyphens. The more hyphens, the longer the gap.
The sequence of names they use is [personal name] [family name] [location name].
Average Technological Level
A common goal among the Garruw is to "find the harmony of the stars." Flight is not enough. The height of their mountain homes is not enough. They seek spaceflight. Their theories and methodology is immensely creative, if somewhat unfeasible in most instances.
The main difficulty in this comes in their relative lack of advancement when it comes to gathering mined resources. They are not built for the chasms, and since they do not have an amicable relationship with either of the other sapient species on the planet, it is difficult for them to trade for what they would need.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Language is largely unified, and all Garruw speak some form of Grazu . Garruw populations are spread out, but they are also capable of great speed and covering long distances, so their language has largely developed on similar paths since they are able to stay in touch with distant relatives with great ease.
Common Myths and Legends
See The Orchestra Constellation for a reference to an early legend. Also see The Faith of the Star-Eyed for earlier religious practices.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Humans
The Garruw have very little to do with the humans of the Dome, since they largely stay within their protective shell and are usually respectful of the Garruw.
Wights
Not good. Garruw are the traditional predator species of the otherwise apex Wights. (Not to eat, outside of the most ancient times, but for sport.)
Lifespan
100-125 years (assuming they make it past adolescence) (about 230-285 earth years)
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
The coloring of their bodies ranges all across the rainbow, but brighter colors are more rare. The most common color is some shade of green, and the rarest is pure yellow. Lurid fiction aside, there is not much sheen to their scales, since the environment and their hunting practices render it more practical to be matte.
Related Myths
Related Materials
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