HK-36
The Iron Lord Protector (Neutral Good)
- Image: Image taken from the site DeviantArt, a piece called "Griffin" by artist NimueKaiba (http://nimuekaiba.deviantart.com/art/griffin-49562527)
- Name: Cliff Leovi
- Designation: Non-sentient
- Homeworld: Abregado-Rae
- Language: Squawks for calling out to other members of their pack, shrieks to alarm other members of the pack of incoming danger, soft clapping of their beak to show comfort, enjoyment, or affection, and screeching roars to show hostility and scare off any intruders or attackers.
- Average height of adults: About 1.60 meters in height, 2 meters in length
- Skin color: Ranging from pinkish white to tan
- Hair color: Often dirt blonde, light or dark brown, or black with sections of light and dark blue, golden, violet, or white feathers.
- Breathes: Type 1
- Strengths: The Leovi have ability to fly, that is their main and greatest advantage. Their strong muscles and wings, conditioned to bringing their rather large bodies into the air and any prey they are able to catch, make them available to be taken as mounts by human-sized beings. In addition to capacity of taking a rider up into the air the Leovi are also rather swift on the ground due to their lean bodies, able to chase down most of the pray found on Abregado-Rae as well as escape from danger when it is necessary.
- Leovi are rather social animals, living in often large packs their nests can be mostly found in sides of cliffs somewhere near water, this causes them to be able to develop almost empathic bonds with each other or someone lucky enough to domesticate a Leovi, always loyal to its companions and eager to protect them from harm. For defense, or to catch they prey, the Leovi use their front talons, piercing the skin of their prey to either push them down into the ground or raise them up into the air from where they can drop them to finish the job or carry alive to the nests in the cliffs. The grip and strength of their claws is powerful enough to pierce through most mundane light and some medium armor. What they cannot pierce or slash with claws they can always break with their powerful beaks, a weapon strong enough to crack all but heavy mundane armor.
- Examples of armor Leovi can easily pierce through with their claws are most of the leather-based armor, except the alchemical-modified leather with properties to withstand physical damage such as metal weaponry or slugs, cloth armor such as robes or spider-silk armor, and some plasteel or durasteel armor, anything between the armor rating of 1 and 4.
- As for their beaks, they do not pierce through the armor exactly, instead they use continuous pressure to shatter the armor, much like a nutcracker or a crushgaunt. As such they are able to crack tougher armor with their beaks, however, tougher armor takes longer time to be cracked. Their beaks have strong enough grip to crack anything between the armor rating of 1 and 7.
- The Cliff Leovi also have rather high reproduction rate.
- Weaknesses: The Cliff Leovi do not have the toughest hides. Most animals on Abregado-Rae are able to harm them, as well as any conventional blasters, pistols, or melee weaponry, the Leovi depend mostly on surprise strikes from the air where they are able to catch their prey off-guard rather than fighting them toe-to-toe. Their high reproduction rate, weakness of their hides, and the fact that their meat is rather tasty, made them one of the more favored delicacies on Abregado-Rae. Although hunting Cliff Leovi is regulate, and they are not consumed as often as common livestock, like banthas, would be.
- Their strong bonds with their packs, sometimes also called flocks, make them rather difficult to be domesticated, especially after they are hatched. The easiest way to domesticate a Cliff Leovi is to steal one of their eggs and hatch them in synthetic hatchery, however, this can be a rather dangerous endeavor considering that the Cliff Leovi have often some of their pack members stay behind in their nests while most of the pack is out hunting. The pack "sentries" would attack any adventurers or predators who would try to snatch one of the eggs, trying to throw them down from the cliffs into rocks or waters below, making the whole process quite, quite dangerous and often, considering their limited carrying capacity, not worth the risk.
- Distinctions: Feline bodies with beaks, wings, a mix of fur and feathers, long tails with plums used for steering and additional maneuverability.
- Average Lifespan: 60 years
- Races: The Crag Leovi, a larger race of Leovi who live in mountains and crags, removed from large bodies of water. The main difference between the Crag and Cliff Leovi, except for their natural habitats, is that the Crag Leovi are much larger, about 2 meters in height and 2.40 meters in length, due to their diet being composed of much larger animals than that of Cliff Leovi. The increase in their size also yielded an increase in the thickness of their hide, as opposed to normal Leovi the Crag Leovi needed to last long enough against other predators of Abregado-Rae to survive, their hide can last two good shots from a blaster or slugthrower before breaking. However, this came at a price, the Crag Leovi can be considered rare and definitely sought after on Abregado-Rae, they have much lower reproduction rate than Cliff Leovi and live in much smaller packs, but their powerful bodies can carry even a rider in full armor and they are large enough for native Gados to use them as mounts. However, the Crag Leovi have a harder time taking into the air, they require to have a bit of a start to bring up their speed before they are able to raise into the air or they need to start from some high-point where they would be able to pick up enough speed during the drop. Smaller numbers also mean that their eggs can be stolen easier than those of Cliff Leovi, although this is made more difficult by the fact they make their nests at large altitude and it is often hard to get to them. Cross-breeding can occur between Crag and Cliff Leovi, the resulting offspring can live in either environment, as either a large Cliff Leovi or small Crag Leovi.
- Diet: The Cliff Leovi diet is composed mostly of fish and small to medium animals, the Crag Leovi diet on the other hand is composed of medium and large animals.
- Communication: Vocal, as described in the Language section, and some pheromones to mark the territory.
A Leovi Subspecies Beneath
- Image: Image taken from DeviantArt, a piece called "Penguin-Griffin" by artist DolphyDolphiana (http://dolphydolphiana.deviantart.com/art/Penguin-Griffin-50868926)
- Name: Tundra Leovi
- Designation: Non-sentient
- Homeworld: Abregado-Rae
- Language: Squawks for calling out to other members of their pack, shrieks to alarm other members of the pack of incoming danger, soft clapping of their beak to show comfort, enjoyment, or affection, and screeching roars to show hostility and scare off any intruders or attackers, although as opposed to other Leovi, these roars are quite adorable.
- Average height of adults: 63.5 centimeters tall, 91.44 centimeters long
- Skin color: Black
- Hair color: Black, shades of grey, or blue, with spots of white.
- Breathes: Type 1
- Strengths: The biggest strength of the Tundra Leovi comes from their large numbers. They have a large reproduction rate and they live in flocks from anywhere between twenty to fifty. As other Leovi, they create tight bonds with each other, however as opposed to other Leovi they are much better swimmers, due to their diet being composed almost entirely of fish. Their feathers and fur, quite fluffy, makes them very resistant to colder environments. The cuteness of the Tundra Leovi can also be considered their strength, their appearance often earning them favor with sentient beings, mostly tourists, who encounter them.
- Weaknesses: The Tundra Leovi have only a limited ability to fly, they are capable of short flights, almost gliding, however their biggest strength comes in swimming. As well they are not able to cause as much damage as other Leovi, their claws can pierce through most light armor, as well as their beak, but anything tougher than mundane light armor can protect from their attacks. Their cuteness often makes them targets for traders, the natives of Abregado-Rae like to capture them to sell them as pets to passing spacers or wealthier citizens of Abregado. This occurrence has been usually hindered simply by the fact that the Tundra Leovi can only be find in cold, remote regions of Abregado-Rae, however, ever since HK took over, protection programs has been placed over the native Tundra Leovi populations to protect them from any potential poachers to keep the wildlife from going under danger of extinction.
- Due to their natural habitat being in colder regions of Abregado-Rae, the Tundra Leovi do not handle well hotter climates, they thrive in moderate and cold temperatures, with access to water.
- Distinctions: Smaller size, fluffy tails, fur, and feather, small wings.
- Average Lifespan: 40 years
- Races: None
- Diet: Fish
- Communication: Vocal, as described in the Language section, and some pheromones to mark the territory.
- Culture: Leovi live in packs, sometimes called flocks, for Cliff Leovi they can be quite large, averaging around ten members, for Crag Leovi they are much smaller, of maximum around five members in each flock. The members of the flock create tight bonds and are eager to protect each other in order to ensure continuation of their flocks. Same bond can be created between Leovi and whoever domesticates them, as long as the Leovi are taken young enough, the older Leovi is the harder it is to domesticate them.
- Technology level: None
- General behavior: Leovi are very protective of their companions, especially when there are eggs or young around. However, when caught away from the fields they can be rather curious, although cautious, approaching adventurers who do not show signs of hostility to them. Should an adventurer approach one of the cliff or crags the Leovi have their nests on, they would be greeted by a cacophony of shrieks and displays of the Leovi large wings, the animals spreading them and facing the offender. This is done to alarm other members of the flock of a nearby intruder and to make themselves seem larger, more intimidating, the echoes of the rocks often carrying their shrieks in an echo to make their numbers seem even larger.
- If the adventurer does not heed their warning and continue on to start climbing the rocks towards the Leovi nests while they were spotted, the shrieks would turn into screeching roars as males would take flight and began to circle the cliffs or crags, watching if the intruder would continue onward. It's a final warning, the Leovi circling overhead, before they would begin to swoop down and claw in passing at the climbing intruder, trying to throw them off of the cliffs. While the males take flight, the females stay behind with the eggs and young, acting as the last line of defense to keep their next generation safe.
- To contrast with their nest defenses, in the field a Leovi would first circle an adventurer few times overhead, making sure that they will not open fire. Should the adventurer stay in the area a Leovi would finally land nearby, otherwise they would lose interest and fly towards their goal. Once on land, the Leovi would begin to approach the adventurer, keeping their head low to the ground and watching the adventurer, their wings slightly outstretched as they sniff along the ground for anything that they could deem a danger, such as the smell of gunpowder. If nothing dangerous or suspicious to Leovi is detected they would approach the adventurer, sniffing them carefully and clapping their beaks softly. The adventurer, with careful movements, would be able to pet a Leovi and feel their feathers, often gaining few loose ones as a result.
- History: The Leovi are one of the few larger native species the Abregado-Rae has, along with the sentient Gados and Moochers. The Crag and Cliff Leovi have often found their way into symbolism among Gados, often being used as metaphors for brotherhood and vigilance, due to the bonds they form with each other and eagerness to protect their packs, as well as becoming epitomes of speed and agility, often describing the most agile of Gados as "Leovi" and making saying "As swift as Leovi" common on Abregado-Rae.
- Other than that, the Leovi has been sometimes used as mounts in more primitive times of Abregado-Rae and much more often as foodsource, however that is only true for the Cliff Leovi.
- While Crag Leovi have been considered to be legendary mounts among Gados, due to their rarity and the skills of riding a Leovi being highly valued for communication and warfare, Cliff Leovi have rarely been used by Gados as mounts, due to their smaller size they were incapable of being a valid mount for a tall and lanky Gados. Instead, the Cliff Leovi have been considered a delicacy and their feathers have often been used in jewelry, adorning armor made for Gados warriors, as well as suits for Gados acrobats and other miscellaneous accessories.
- The Gados have rarely been successful in maintaining the population of domesticated Leovi. The problem with domesticated Leovi is that they require to make nests at high altitudes to ensure their eggs are safe. The only successful method in maintaining reproduction of domesticated Leovi has been accomplished in one of the few mountain regions Abregado has by building sturdy wooden shelves out of timber on which the Leovi could build nests and lay eggs nearby Gados mountain-communities. However, these shelves do not create as much space for Leovi to raise their young as a cliff would, therefore maintaining only small populations of domesticated Leovi, as rare as they already were. As a result, throughout Gados history only small populations of Leovi has been kept in captive by Gados and only in rare instances.
- Domesticated Crag Leovi have been often sold out to wealthy Gados aristocrats, kept as mounts for Generals and other leaders to keep watch over a battlefield with ease, or kept along with trained Leovi raiders to be used in combat mostly for reconnaissance or hit-and-run tactics.
- On the other hand, Domesticated Cliff Leovi were kept as livestock or mounts for young Gados who were small enough to mount them and work as messengers between communities of Abregado-Rae.
- Leovi has never had much interactions with the Moochers, another sentient specie on Abregado-Rae besides Gados, due to the Moochers making their homes under-ground, safe from any Leovi that could pass over-head and pray on them. Otherwise, Moochers are often easy prey for the Leovi and many of the Exiled Moochers, kicked out of their underground homes by their queen, has meet unfortunate ends in the claws of a Leovi hunting pack.
- Notable Player-Characters: None so far
- Intent: To provide a flavor to Abregado-Rae by adding another descriptive specie, as well as add in a low-altitude mount for any players who would be interested, and in case of Tundra Leovi, a cute pet.
I really love making connections like that, I would have started to elaborate already in this submission, and I still can if you would be alright with that, but I didn't wanted to put other custom species just yet and assume they would be accepted.
