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Zerikal; Alternative Earth-like fantasy world
Topic Started: Sep 4 2010, 09:55 AM (1,688 Views)
Cephylus
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Okay. While I'm working on Alterniverse, I thought I'd bring this up.
Basically it's a world for a fantasy short novel I hope I'll get finished soon. Not magic and all that, but realistic fantasy. But still remember that this is fantasy, mind you
It's named Kauthron. It's a totally new world but very Earth-like with very Earth-like fauna...... so although it's not Earth I'm still posting it in Alternative Evolution.
It's a land where kingdoms clash, strange animals walk the lands, and where dinosauroids and humans co-exist. So whaddaya think?
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Holben
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Rumbo a la Victoria

So are the chances of most beneficial mutations. :P

But i won't force you to go a way other then the one you have planned! Do as you wish.
Time flows like a river. Which is to say, downhill. We can tell this because everything is going downhill rapidly. It would seem prudent to be somewhere else when we reach the sea.

"It is the old wound my king. It has never healed."
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Cephylus
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First, the general continents:

Motherland: the most Northernmost continent, home to few nomadic dinosauroid tribes and the birthplace of the entire race of dinosauroids. Homeland is mostly consisted of wide open environments such as steppes, prairies, tundras, savannahs with a few open forests. Mountainous range running down the center of the continent. Almost half of the continent is covered in glacial sheets in the middle of winter.

Homeland: Home to many dinosauroid empires and smaller states, and where dinosauroid civilization blossomed. Few humans tribes who crossed the sea from their own home continent dwell in the islands close to the main continent. Mostly temperate climates, but the far North can be freezing cold. Dinosaurs, mammals and a few relicts from earlier periods co-exist.

Podland: An isolated island continent, but faunal interchange occured some millions of years ago when Podland colided with Motherland briefly. Supports a rich variety of fauna and flora, a strange mixture of modern version Permian, Mesozoic and Cenezoic fauna and flora. Chain of tropical islands broken off from the mainland continent located in the Eastern coast.

Silgrilonia: Birthplace of humans and home to various human tribes, cities and mini-nations. Another isolated island continent, mammals flourish in this continent more than any other of the major landmasses, but a few smallish bird-like dinosaurs still flourish in different forms alongside mammals, with some assuming apex predator roles. Pterosaurs also still exist in this continent as well.

Virilusian Islands: a large cluster of big and small islands varying in size, shape and climate. As with island environments, the Virilusian islands are home to an array of weird fauna and flora. Small island mini-nations exist in the islands, a center for trade with merchants from every country flowing into their various trading ports.
Edited by Cephylus, Oct 10 2010, 06:52 AM.
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Ook
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interesting,do u have a map?
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T.Neo
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I hope you do proper dinosauroids, not those stupid "lizard-man" ones.

Liard men would be better off as the descendant of actual lizards, or heck, even turtles or crocodiles.

They'd be just as implausible in terms of bauplan though.

Edited by T.Neo, Oct 10 2010, 07:38 AM.
A hard mathematical figure provides a sort of enlightenment to one's understanding of an idea that is never matched by mere guesswork.
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dialforthedevil
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Yes although can they be slightly different to my dinosauroids who have kept exactly the same body plan as their dromaesaur ancestors?
Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/

ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/

Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!)
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Cephylus
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T.Neo
Oct 10 2010, 07:37 AM
I hope you do proper dinosauroids, not those stupid "lizard-man" ones.

Liard men would be better off as the descendant of actual lizards, or heck, even turtles or crocodiles.

They'd be just as implausible in terms of bauplan though.

Don't worry, I AM doing proper dinosauroids with the traditional dinosaur body shape. ;) I hate the lizard-man construction.
Dinosauroids are descendent of beaked dromaeosaurs, some sort of intelligent unenlagiines, and basically haven't changed much from their non-sapient ancestors.


And yes, I am making a map.
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dialforthedevil
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If you want we could combine our projects as i could do with a more knowledgeable person working with me on dinosaurs? and i would give you largely free reign to do as you wish since i trust you with my project :D
Please come visit A Scientfic Fantasy http://s1.zetaboards.com/Conceptual_Evolution/topic/3433014/1/

ALSO!!! JOIN THE NEW RPG SITE!!! FOR ALL MEMBERS!!! IM GOING TO RUN MA GLOBAL SIMULATORS THERE!!! http://s4.zetaboards.com/jasonguppy/index/

Join the Campaign to save minotaurs from extinction!!! (include this in your signature to show your support!)
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Cephylus
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DINOSAUROIDS

Almost all continents in this world is populated by the extremely successful lineage of deinonychosaurian sophonts, the Dromaeosapients or also called vernacularly as the dinosauroids. They are an extremely derived form of Unenlagiines, the clade of dromaeosaurs occupying most large carnivore niches in this world. Indeed, the proto-Dromaeosapients are terrifying, powerful and rather opportunistic predators of the savannahs of Motherland, but were quite intelligent, forming packs with relatively complex social structures. Although frailer and armed with less weapons, the dinosauroids still bear the remains of their ancestors as efficient predators.

Dinosauroids are slender, hypergracile deinonychosaurs. Dromaeosapients still retain the 'traditional', rather horizontal body plan. Although Dromaeosapients are relatively big compared to the standard predatory deinonychosaur size, reaching lengths up to 3 meters, they only weigh about 55~60 killograms on average. They are also less muscular compared to their relatives, but are still powerful compared to the strength of an average human. Dinosauroids have long, lanky and quite muscular legs obviously built for cursoriality (the reason dinosauroids domesticated animals to use as a way of transport far recently than humans), with rather stiff, lengthy tails. The base of the tail is rather flexible, the joint enabling the tail to move more than 90 degrees in every direction. The arm is similar in appearance to a regular deinonychosaurian arm, folding in the traditional style, but their shoulder and wrist joints are extremely flexible, the shoulder enabling the arm to move in up to 180 degrees of movement, and the wrist works much like that of humans. Dinosauroids have three fingers, the first and the thumb digits being opposable for grasping objects much like humans, and extremely sensitive. Their fingers are long and flexible, the middle one being the longest, and are tufted with small, white feathers. Their claws, although short, are quite sharp (they do become blunt over time, but most dinosauroids regularly sharpen their claws much like humans clipping of fingernails), able to slash and cause considerable wounds in small creatures. They are also three-toed, with one hyperextendable claw bearing the dromaeosaurian slashing claw, although the claw is far less impressive and considerably shrivelled.

Dinosauroids have relatively flat faces, with large forward- pointing eyes with excellent vision and giant braincases. They have a relatively short snout in the deinonychosaurian standard, with a big mouth and a vast mouth gape, reaching ear to ear (their mouths are huge, opening up to more than 100 degrees). Their snouts are tipped with narrow beaks resembling that of parrots, which are quite powerful and with serrated bill edges for tearing meat. They are 'eared', with an erectile tuft of vaned feathers encircling their earholes, giving them the impression of an owl, matiching their large forward eyes.

Dinosauroids are covered in soft, downy glossy black or greyish brown or sandy yellow feathers, depending on where the particular tribe lives, with males universally possessing downy, golden-brown feathers tufting up from their heads for attracting females (the feathers are only present in mature individuals, and the sprouting of the head feathers is a sign of maturity). Females have dark grey spots on their sides. Dinosauroids possess thick, muscular and rather short necks covered with an ashy grey 'mane' of feathers which appears more prominently in males and makes the neck appear even thicker. The mane of feathers covers the skin all the way up to their backs, giving them the appearance of 'capes'.

Dinosauroids are generally carnivores, as they come from predatory deinonychosaurs. They also eat invertebrates (including all kinds of insects; dinosauroids do not consider eating insects repulsive any more a human does not consider eating apples repulsive), and guzzles on enormous amounts of food and nuts every day. Dinosauroids prefer ornithischian and mammalian meat more than any other meat, although they will gladly eat therapod meat as well, and also prefer fresh meat, although again they will also willingly scavenge on decaying carcasses, no matter how spoiled and bug-infested the meat is. They also consume most of the smaller bones, with the less digestible parts such as fur and pieces of bone vomited up in pellets. Because of their predatorial tendancies, although dinosauroids are generally non-aggressive and violent disputes or murder occur very rarely compared to humans, cannibalism is a frequent practice and most of the victims in the rare murder incidents end up getting eaten; but cannibalism, although clearly wrong in the ethical sense, is not considered too unnatural in most cultures, as the open plains the dinosauroids originally dwelt in often lacked food considerably, and a few cultures still have the tradition of cannibalism (eating captured enemies) for religious/ spiritual purposes.

Dinosauroids are very adaptable, and can adjust to any environment and climate with ease. Unlike humans who are frailer and require clothing and garments to adjust themselves to life in different environments, dinosauroids do not require any clothing; in fact dinosauroids all go around naked for there is no need of covering themselves, they have a natural coating: feathers. Dinosauroid feathers protect them from heat, coldness and minor injuries, and when in a particularly cold or hot environments, the feathers fluff up a bit more or shed naturally. So apart from armor made mostly from wood and leather with a few small garments, dinosauroids despise clothing, considering them unnatural.

HUMANS

Humans are generally similar to Humans of Earth, although these humans are a bit shorter, tougher and nimble. Humans inhabit Silgrilonia, with a few tribes inhabiting isolated islands.

ELVES

Elves are a distinct lineage of hominids. They are shorter and relatively less hairier compared to humans, and also less adaptable. Although they are sapients and are equally intelligent as humans, they were mostly outcompeted by humans due to their less flexible shoulder joints and lacking adaptability, and are extinct in the mainland, only present in the chain of smallish isolated islands South of the main continent. Elves resemble a less hairier and bigger-brained version of Flores 'Hobbits' in Earth.
Elves mostly prefer higher temperatures. They make their homes in temperate or subtropical forests, living in small tribes of up to 30 individuals, usually a single family. Every now and then two Elven tribes have their young individuals from each tribes form a pair, for establishing peace and to avid inbreeding, which happens quite frequently due to the isolated nature of Elven habitats. Elven societies are extremely female-centered, with the oldest female assuming position of 'leader' of the entire tribe, with a few other elder females forming a council to decide important matters concerning the entire tribe.

DWARVES

Dwarves are another relict lineage of hominids. Dwarves are not much different in appearance to humans, except being a bit shorter, hairier, tough-skinned, heavily built and flat-nosed, and the two species could also breed with each other due to their close genetic relations, which is exactly what drove the Dwarves to extinction.
Dwarves were very similar to the Neanderthals of Earth in both appearance and intelligence. Being better than humans at coping with low temperatures and at climbing, the dwarves used to inhabit the freezing Northern part of the continent and the chilling mountain ranges, but due to cross-breeding with the more efficient humans and now only a few tribes of Dwarves inhabit isolated areas in the mountain ranges or open forests in the Northlands.
Dwarves are nomadic, and live in small tribes consisting of a few families. Their tribes are extremely male-centered, due to the harsh environments they live in. They are known to make large movable tents made from the skin and bones of large Xenarthrans such as Giarriks and Mefirros.


The sophont species.... so much for anthropology for now I'll return to their cultures after I do some environments and non-sapient species
Edited by Cephylus, Oct 15 2010, 08:54 AM.
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Ook
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giant xenarthans,that sounds good,of course i like this sophonts,why are elves less adaptibile?
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Cephylus
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I'm focusing on Silgrilonia, cause i think there'll be various interesting fauna , a mixture of interesting mammals and dinosaurs.
I'm thinking of smallish Tasmanian Tiger-like mammal carnivores, able to take down herbivorous troodonts. I just love the irony of small mammals taking down mighty dinos
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Cephylus
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Slivovica
Oct 15 2010, 09:03 AM
giant xenarthans,that sounds good,of course i like this sophonts,why are elves less adaptibile?
Sorry for double posting

Elves are less adaptable to different climates. They require adequate, temperate climates for thier survival and they are kind of picky in what they eat, due to weak ingestion abilities. Also they have a limit in using weapons, as I mentioned due to less flexible shoulder joints. They cannot make as wide shoulder movements as humans can, which limits their ability to use spears, which are the most common weapons used by hominids.
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Cephylus
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I am working on the map. Some how I can't post the image.
Edited by Cephylus, Oct 15 2010, 09:22 AM.
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Ook
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perhaps you could try do it in photoshop,i drawed all maps using mouse and photoshop
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Cephylus
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I am moving to a specific location, the Two Rivers Land with some interesting fauna.

Two Rivers Land

The Two Rivers Land is basically a region in Silgrilonia where the two large rivers, Siraphs and Mirrfit runs through an area half the size of South Korea, branching into smaller rivers and forming an area of fertile soils, consisting mostly of temperate forests and wetlands. They are called 'Sarulagamii' by human natives, which also literally means 'Two Rivers'.

Siraphs and Mirrfit comes in from subtropical eustraries and mangroves Southwest of the continent. They are mostly large, brackish rivers although the further the west the narrower and fast-moving the rivers become. The climates are mostly subtropical, but there are more temperate areas up North.

Two Rivers Land supports a wide, rich veriety of fauna and flora. The wetlands are inhabited by a lot of birds, some smallish mammals, a variety of reptiles and some amphibians as well.
Edited by Cephylus, Oct 16 2010, 01:53 AM.
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Cephylus
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I will edit the text
Edited by Cephylus, Oct 17 2010, 03:36 AM.
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