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| A Jurassic World; Dinosaurs shall inherit our world | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM (4,039 Views) | |
| RoyalPsycho | Feb 9 2017, 02:13 PM Post #1 |
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Adolescent
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A Jurassic World Is Made: It all began with Ingen and a wild dream of a park that featured prehistoric animals. In 1993 that dream was realised thanks to fantastic new discoveries in the fields of genetic engineering and clever innovations made specifically for the project the genius scientific teams were undertaking. Within a matter of years not only had the company successfully reconstructed a close approximation of the genome of numerous dinosaur species – filling in the gene sequence gaps with compatible material from other, modern species – but had also managed to create and hatch living specimens. The attempt to display the park on Isla Nublar before experts in order to alleviate safety concerns ended disastrously. In 1993 the park was closed after numerus deaths. In 1994 an attempt to extract reconstructed dinosaurs from the production facility on the nearby island if Isla Sorna ended in a similar disaster thanks to sabotage and short-sightedness. The rampage of a Tyrannosaurus Rex in San Diego practically ended Ingen. In 1998, following the death of company founder John Hammond, Ingen and all its assets and patents were bought by Indian businessman Simon Masrani, the CEO of the Masrani Global Corporation who had been interested in acquiring the company since 1997. An idealist and believer in Hammond’s original dream, Masrani invested massively in the development of a new park on Isla Nublar. Dubbed Jurassic World, the park was an unprecedented success. Opening in 2005, Jurassic World saw continuous success with new attractions opening up on a regular basis, new species successfully recreated and new technological developments being made, all of which enriched the park, the Masrani Corporation and Ingen. It was in 2015 that a brave new step was taken by all three institutions to push the boundaries of the technology they had pioneered. Worried about a stagnation in park attendance and a mild decline in profits, Ingen and Masrani commissioned the creation of an original, hybrid species that would be unlike anything seen in natural evolution. The undertaking was massive but nowhere near impossible and soon the new Indominus Rex, a terrifying, artificial hyperpredator with no precedent in the fossil record, was announced. Despite being set to debut in the Christmas Season, the announcement of a never before seen hybrid drew unseasonably large crowds to Isla Nublar. Though people were scared by the viciousness of the creature and some concerns were raised, thrill-seekers more than compensated for the worried visitors and the Indominus exhibit was a rousing success for the company. Reinforcement of the enclosure was necessary after a near breakout but the situation was, thankfully, handled by security and the park was spared a catastrophic disaster. Now free from the restrictions of having to provide accurate – in so far as public expectations allowed them to be – depictions of dinosaurs, Ingen began producing new and spectacular species. The first great expansion of Ingen’s hybrid program was when a successful military contract was made for engineered attack beasts. Though there were objections from Masrani himself as well as other influential figures in the company the contract’s opportunities eventually won the majority around. The first derivatives of the Indominus Rex were developed. Training techniques pioneered by Owen Grady on the park facility at Isla Nublar were developed further to help keep the animals under control. The attack dinosaurs were a success in the field though there were still concerns about how much control the handlers had over the animals. The next generation of animals were developed with more domestic temperaments that still preserved their capacity for violence and intelligence when released into the field. With this success the proverbial floodgates had been opened. Proposals were made for all kinds of new hybrids. Plans were made for new model species that could be displayed in parks in colder climates. Soon Dinosaurs of the Ice Age themed parks were opened both offshore and on the mainland of other countries and furry dinosaurs were exhibited to the public to great acclaim. After seeing massive success in these new facilities the original park was pressed to introduce new tropical animals. As new parks appeared, many of them being given new themes, competition emerged between the different facilities. As the 2010s moved into the 2020s and further on, an ‘arms race’ emerged within Masrani’s genetics institutions. In 2027 the next great phase in genetic leisure products began. Despite protests from various groups Ingen began to release engineered dinosaur pets. Miniaturized versions of the company’s authentic species as well as their artificial ones and even brand new designs were released to the public in the US. They were even more successful abroad in Europe, Australasia and Japan. This was followed by a period where the rich would also buy specially designed specimens for private zoos and menageries. For years these fantastic new creatures were sold to the public and governments to great success. Few companies were able to match Ingen and Masrani but some new pets and products were made to match their expertise. It was this that would doom humanity. In 2034 an epidemic bloomed in South Asia. It spread quickly, crossing borders into the developed world and drawing international attention. Proposals were just being drafted when it became clear just how far and fast the disease was spreading. Entire populations were infected with no-one being spared, people began to die in droves and as the disease spread, it infected people faster. Speculations emerged that the disease was artificial and one laboratory studying infected victims did manage to reach a reasonable conclusion that it was though no-one could tell where it came from or how to counter it. By 2035 the majority of humanity was dead, by 2037 they were all gone and so was the disease. It was surprising how quickly the entire species was rendered extinct. Untended, the artefacts of civilization rotted away and collapsed and the wild environments humanity had cut back returned, swamping cities and monuments. Animals kept in captivity escaped into the wild and bred and amongst the natural creatures that had been held in cages were the engineered creatures, now forced to find their place in the new ecosystem. In the post-human world there was chaos as the ecosystem tried to reach a balanced equilibrium. Indigenous wildlife battled with transplanted wildlife and artificially created wildlife for niches. After 1000 years the new ecosphere has been somewhat stable for centuries and man’s creations have risen to dominance. This is a new age of dinosaurs. A real Jurassic World. Here's something that came to me after marathoning the franchise and rereading the TV Tropes page for Jurassic World. It got me thinking. What would happen if the Indominus Rex situation hadn't happened as it did in the movie? What if they did shrink it down and sell it to the military? If they can make bizarre hybrid dinosaurs, then what are the limits of what they can and will design? This is an exploration of that and what they might do if humanity was then taken out of the picture. |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 9 2017, 04:08 PM Post #2 |
Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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"Life, um, finds a way." Sorry, I had to do it. I'm stoked for this project! I know that you can pull off some impressive stuff, and I'm excited to see what you can come up with! |
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| Yiqi15 | Feb 9 2017, 05:26 PM Post #3 |
Prime Specimen
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Given how much I love Jurassic Park (used to watch that movie a lot on VHS when I was young), I think I'll be coming back for more a lot. |
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Current/Completed Projects - After the Holocene: Your run-of-the-mill future evolution project. - A History of the Odessa Rhinoceros: What happens when you ship 28 southern white rhinoceri to Texas and try and farm them? Quite a lot, actually. Future Projects - XenoSphere: The greatest zoo in the galaxy. - The Curious Case of the Woolly Giraffe: A case study of an eocene relic. - Untittled Asylum Studios-Based Project: The truth behind all the CGI schlock - Riggslandia V.II: A World 150 million years in the making Potential Projects - Klowns: The biology and culture of a creepy-yet-fascinating being My Zoochat and Fadom Accounts - Zoochat - Fandom | |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 9 2017, 06:37 PM Post #4 |
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Adolescent
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Well here is the centrepiece of Jurassic World: Deinonecos Militarus (military terrible killer): Indominus rex, the infamous attraction of Isla Nublar’s Jurassic World facility, began the next great phase of dinosaur-related genetic works but it was the derivative of the terrifying hyperpredator that changed the world. Deinonecos Militarus was produced from the same genome as the Indominus but was miniaturised and given slight attitude adjustments in order to make them conducive to the new institution they were being given to, the military industrial complex. Standing at a little under two metres tall and over two and a half metres in length, the Deinonecos was exactly what Vic Hoskins, the man responsible for underhanded changes to the Indominus program, had been looking for. In all other regards they were a perfect recreation of the Indominus Rex, presented in a more manageable package. Like its predecessor the hybrid was officially classified as a derivative of carnosauria. Despite being smaller in size the proportions of the animal were kept largely the same. The feet and head were enlarged slightly to ensure balance whilst running on difficult terrain and for the braincase to remain as large as was deemed necessary. They also retained the abilities to detect thermal radiation to hunt other creatures and the dermal chromatophores that were sophisticated enough for rather adept camouflage. All of this, combined with durable claws and an opposable thumb, a high intelligence and good problem-solving ability, made them the perfect asset for military forces, though only once the training had been perfected. They were altered a little bit further as well and given some mental adjustments that would make them a little bit more compliant to training and domestication. The new species was made to operate in the dangerous environments that human soldiers and drone technology were struggling to succeed in. Soon the first properly trained packs were released and deployed in Syria where they rampaged through cities, sniffing out insurgents and tearing them apart savagely before disappearing into the background. In urban environments and the terrain of the deserts they were practically invisible, even to thermal tracking as their numerous genetically designed adaptations allowed them to die from tracking devices and the naked eye. Though there were issues the Deinonecos was soon made a somewhat regular sight at many NATO installations around the world. The years also saw continual improvements on the training techniques as handlers improved upon what they already knew and taught it to new recruits. The technology to track, assist and tame the dinosaur hybrids also became more sophisticated and less likely to irritate the creatures, ensuring more compliance and good behaviour from them. They became a valued asset for the army and many even became famous mascots of certain regiments though the value placed on them was something only soldiers who had seen them serve in combat seemed to exhibit. Then the Red Rot came and humanity was gone. The Deinonecos, spread throughout much of the world thanks to their deployment in NATO facilities, quickly abandoned their bases after the food and water ran out. Now thrown into a wild new world they did what they do best, adapt. After one thousand years the Deinonecos now fill a niche similar to that occupied by hominids. They are deadly hunters, though not yet at the top of the food chain, that use intelligence and adaptability to survive and thrive. There are clans scattered on every habitable continent. After a thousand years of development they have formed various, distinct subspecies of sorts that are adapted to particular environmental conditions, most often independently of one another in the case of continents that cover numerous different climate zones. Deinonecos tribes are commonly made up of around twenty adult individuals with a variable number of infants that normally averages at around thirty healthy individuals. A third of the infants in a given generation commonly reach adulthood. Deinonecos tribal structures are based on the military training and hierarchy that they were created to follow. Every tribe is led by an alpha which is commonly a female but, on occasion, can be a male. Betas hold the next position of authority in the hierarchy. They can sometimes be the mate of the alpha but are commonly not. The techniques their ancestors learnt to hunt down insurgents and enemies of the nations they were commissioned for have also been adapted to hunt prey by their descendants. Thermal sensing, possible through pit organs, aid in hunting and allow many tribes to operate in dense forest, difficult terrain and at night when necessary, offering them a wider range of hunting possibilities. Communication between pack members is a complex affair. A large range of calls are used for vocal communication but on many occasions they will utilise body language, their chromatophores or even their ability to regulate their thermal signature to communicate in a non-verbal fashion. Many tribes in different regions will even have different signals that means different terms, almost like regional languages and dialects. Like hunting, communication is something taught to the young with painstaking care by all members of the tribe and considered a key aspect of every tribe member that they must learn. Deinonecos infants are taught these various techniques and the rules of tribal structures by the adults. Mated pairs, which are temporary affairs, give birth to a clutch that averages around five eggs in a nest. Whenever the tribe goes to hunt a pair of adults will be left behind to defend the nests. Should a threat come along that the pair cannot defeat by themselves, they will let out a shrill warning cry that will prompt the rest of the tribe to return to assist them. When not on the hunt the females will brood on their eggs and, when the tribe are away, the sentries will also monitor nests and adjust the protective leaf litters that cover them accordingly. Young are raised collectively by the tribe until they are old enough to find a position for themselves in the tribal hierarchy or leave to form their own. Though they possess long and terrifying claws that are fully capable of subduing prey, the Deinonecos has also shown an aptitude for tool use. Their natural weapons have removed the need for tools that can assist in that but there have been numerous signs of Deinonecos tribes taking stones and sticks and using them to strip kills of meat more effectively. Others have crafted spears that they throw at prospective prey. The configuration of their shoulders limits the mobility of their arms but they have perfected a form of underhand throw that is somewhat effective. Deinonecos in the tropical and temperate regions will be active throughout the year though in the winters in temperate climates they will usually construct complex nests in order to shelter from the colder weather. At this time of year, the tribes will gather wood and dirt to build shelters for themselves that can protect them from difficult weather. These shelters often appear dome shaped and it is common for larger tribes to build several structures in order to accommodate all of their members. Tribes who live in deciduous or colder climates will usually precede the winter with busier hunting seasons than usually all to build up energy stores for their hibernation in the winter. Deinonecos in the subarctic regions will go even further than this in order to survive the winter. Like the tribes further south they will build shelters against the cold, sometimes even cutting the skin off of their prey to lay them over the bones they build their nests from before packing dirt over the top. They will also eat excessively in order to build up stores of energy for the winter and then exhibit their most distinctive survival strategy. They enter a state of torpor, reducing their metabolism until the temperatures rise once again. Deinonecos have also been known to build their nests in caves if they are able to find ones big enough to inhabit. This does save them from building the more complex nests of their relatives elsewhere but they still build up some insulation in addition to the protection the cave provides. Deinonecos do not need clothes but the habit of many NATO regiments giving their ancestors small decorations and names in the past have actually been adapted into traditions similar to tribal decorations in primitive human societies. Many Deinonecos are known to take feathers, horns and claws from prey items that a tribe or individual will consider significant and wear them as fetishes. Many also continue unique traditions wherein they scratch distinctive, individual marks into carven stones and wear them around their necks on strings made from animal sinew. This is derived from their military heritage and the dog-tags that soldiers wore around their associated Deinonecos packs which has been continued by the dinosaurs and is used as both an individual signature and sometimes as a tribal sigil. One of the most interesting developments has been their ability to maintain fires. They do not need to cook meat to eat it but the Deinonecos are intelligent do understand the use of fire and know how to preserve and feed it. They do have trouble making their own fires but if an individual does come across a naturally occurring flame they will often try to build a protective fire-pit and bring it to their pack or nest. In Europe, a number of tribes have learnt how to light fires with flint, a precedent that is becoming more commonplace as they perfect their flint-knapping techniques and work around the obstruction their claws present to working flint in their hands. The success of the Deinonecos species is a surprising story that has established a new precedent. Already highly intelligent and capable of teaching their young the habits their ancestors learnt when they were tools of the human military, the Deinonecos are continuing to thrive. Given enough time, they may move on to even greater success and advancement like the hominids who’s niche they nominally fill. This group was both my own vision of taking the intelligent raptor (or in this case Indominus Rex which had raptor DNA added into it) aspect of Jurassic Park to its logical conclusion and also my take on the old Saurosapien idea that has been around as long as the idea of saving dinosaurs from extinction. |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 10 2017, 03:33 PM Post #5 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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Niiice. Looking forwards to more of this! I wonder what sort of animals are available to feed these creatures... |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 10 2017, 05:14 PM Post #6 |
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Adolescent
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Here is an in-universe advertisement by Ingen as well as a nice little indicator of some of the things that may show up in this project in the future. Jurassic World: Jurassic World is proud to announce its twentieth anniversary with a new special offer on single and family package tickets for all sites and facilities around the world. Make a trip for yourself the likes of which you will never see again or bring the family for a life changing experience that will be fun for all. All worldwide parks will be included in this deal so feel free to make your choice and come and join us in the worlds that were and may have been. Jurassic World Costa Rica-Visit the park that started it all. Come and visit a lost world returned to life and see the giants that once ruled our world. Jurassic World Canada-Come and see the Dinosaurs of the Ice Age. Visit a world that might have been where dinosaurs lived to the age of our earliest ancestors and adapted to a world of snow, ice and frost. Jurassic World Brazil-Nestled in this tropical paradise is the Grand Aviary. Dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds and in this park they are brought closer to their distant descendants than ever before. Jurassic World France-The World of Dragons is open to the public. Through the miracles of science the creatures of fantasy and legend have been given life and can now be seen by all. Jurassic World Kenya-Here lies the world of Ancient Pangaea. Here the primordial world has been brought to life with a wide variety of bizarre beasts available for your viewing pleasure. Jurassic World India-Our top geneticists have brought to life a truly Bizarre World. The weird and wonderful have been brought to life and can now be seen by all willing to see something unlike whatever has come before. Jurassic World Japan-Explore the beautiful world of the Mega Reef today. In our state of the art artificial reef is an almost alien world of oceanic beauties and terrifying swimmers ready to great those who will brave the deeps. Jurassic World Australia-Awaiting the bravest of visitors is the Death World. The scariest and most monstrous of beasts can be found here for those of you seeking a real thrill. All this and more are available to you on this momentous occasion. Expenses for all park-owned facilities are included in this package and children under the age of four travel for free. Edited by RoyalPsycho, Feb 10 2017, 05:14 PM.
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| Fazaner | Feb 10 2017, 05:33 PM Post #7 |
Шашава птичурина
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Really an original idea, especially that advert for parks, i don't think i saw it here often. Are you going to leave i on ad, or you are going to write about parks? Edited by Fazaner, Feb 10 2017, 05:33 PM.
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Projects (they are not dead, just updated realy slowly, feel free to comment): -World after plague After a horrible plague unleashed by man nature slowly recovers. Now 36 million years later we take a look at this weird and wonderful world. -Galaxy on fire. They have left their home to get out of war. They had no idea what awaits them. My Deviant art profile, if you're curious. Before you get offended or butthurt read this | |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 10 2017, 09:37 PM Post #8 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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>Hype intensifies |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 11 2017, 11:13 AM Post #9 |
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Adolescent
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Yes. That was based on the idea of that park's regional management deciding to apply the 'everything tries to kill you in Australia' meme to the exhibit he planned to make. Now here's the disease that set the stage for this project's 31st Century: The Red Rot/Cruentus Corruptionum (bloody decay): Cruentus Corruptionum, the Red Rot, is the disease that killed the world. During the later 21st Century genetic engineering had become an expansive source of new products for all kinds of businesses and institutions. The military had been the first to receive genetically engineered products outside of Ingen and Masrani and it was ultimately one of their own that destroyed humanity. Though no-one knows where exactly the disease was produced the first reported cases were in Laos where it was likely released by accident, presumably from a testing facility owned by whoever developed the pathogen. The Red Rot exhibited an alarmingly quick spread and incubation rate that made it disturbingly virulent. The symptoms at first appeared similar to the Common Cold but this would inevitably mask the true nature of the disease and distract the victim. The first specific symptom would be a weakness of the body as the disease systematically attacks the victim’s body in order to stress their immune system. Once the immune system has been compromised the Red Rot begins eating away at the cells of the vital organs, slowly dissolving them. The Red Rot doesn’t stop until the body’s internal organs have been liquefied and in some extreme cases has even consumed flesh and skin in their entirety, rendering the victim down to bloody mulch. Most victims die from drowning in their own blood and dissolved organ flesh long before organ failure of liquidation destroy their bodies but the copious amounts of gore that come from their bodies through urine, vomit and spit led to the moniker Red Rot. The rate of death is also incredibly quick with the masking symptoms lasting several days but the dissolution of a victim’s organs being nearly as quick – and death taking place long before the second stage is complete. The rate of infection was disturbingly fast, quickly spreading out from South East Asia and into the rest of the world. It was inexplicable how far and how fast the Red Rot spread as it seemed to appear to bypass borders and hastily established quarantine zones that quickly collapsed. By the end of its rampage, humanity was virtually extinct and the few weakened, traumatised, lonely survivors quickly succumbed to other threats soon enough. No longer able to find victims, the Red Rot then died out as well, following humanity into the abyss it had thrown them down. |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 13 2017, 11:47 AM Post #10 |
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Adolescent
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Woolly Mammopod – Ingenosaurus Lanatus (woolly giant lizard): By far the most iconic creature of the Dinosaurs of the Ice Age exhibit and the Jurassic Park Canada situated off the coast of British Columbia, Ingenosaurus Lanatus was a massive and distinctive centrepiece for the local branch of Ingen. It was built to fill the hypothetical niche of giant grazing herbivores of the tundra like the mammoths and mastadons of the past and designed to evoke as much of that image as possible. Its base genome was an Apatosaurus that was then remodelled and had Iguanodon, elephant, Musk-Ox and revived Mammoth DNA introduced and selectively placed to allow it to develop in the manner Ingen wanted. Careful genome sequencing was employed to ensure the product ended up appearing like it did in the numerous concept art that the laboratory’s associated design departments had produced. The Ingenosaurus was supposed to be massive, majestic and familiar to those who had even a passing knowledge of the Ice Age and its megafauna. To complete the image, despite having a far less recognisable official name, it was given the public name of the Woolly Mammopod by the marketing department. The Mammopod is as large and impressive as the animal its genome is primarily derived from. It has the familiar sauropod body design with the pillar-like legs, rotund body, elongated neck and long whip-tail of all sauropods and can reach up to fourteen metres in length and over four metres in height. Its basic design has led to it being classified as a diplodocuid, much like its base genome. The Mammopod’s most distinctive feature is the thick coat of fur that covers all of its body. This coat continuously grows throughout the year, being the thickest in winter and then shedding in he spring to reveal a lighter undercoat that regrows as the year goes on. The fur coat has a double layer of insulation as the outer layer serves as a waterproof coating for the insulating undercoat beneath, allowing the heat of the Mammopod’s vast bulk to be retained in cold weather. The Mammopod’s head also saw serious redesign during the gene sequencing process. In order to graze the sauropod was given a larger head in order to allow it to have the stronger jaw and extra teeth required to crop grass stalks. It was, for the sake of its image, also equipped with long Mammoth-like tusks that it uses to clear snow off of the tundra grass. These features required it to have a slightly shortened neck that was also made thicker and stronger in order to support the larger head. Though the tusks are not used in battle, male Mammopods have longer and more impressive ones in order to impress potential mates. The tusks are also pointed up at an angle to allow the Mammopod to dip its snout down to graze without the elongated teeth getting in the way. Its head and neck are rather low slung, allowing it to reach over the ground to graze. Despite these adaptations the Mammopod still has the simplistic peg-like teeth that actual sauropods possess. In order to process the grass eats it is still forced to swallow gastroliths in order to aid in digestion. It is common to find piles of perfectly smooth stones littered around the tundra and subarctic regions of North America as the Mammopods regurgitate gastroliths that have been ground down by friction and the digestive juices. Mammopods mate in the latest days of autumn and lay their eggs in the beginning of spring. When young are born they will, like other sauropods, find refuge in the forests. Due to this requirement eggs are normally laid when the herds are travelling through the subarctic forests of North America. Young grow quickly, developing their fur coats before the summer season is over and reaching sexual maturity in about five years. Most Mammopods can live for over a hundred years before succumbing to natural deaths. Young are especially vulnerable in infancy and adolescence and this attrition is only counteracted by the sheer number of eggs that are laid a year. A female Mammopod will commonly lay a cluster of up to twelve eggs a year but an average of three infants will be lucky to survive to adulthood. Mammopod’s normally live in herds of, up to, twenty individuals that migrate constantly in search of food. During the winter they migrate south and return to the north in the summer. During these migrations the herds will often meet and combine into much larger gatherings that remain together until the journey is complete and they disperse again. So they continue to feed while they move, these herds can often deplete entire areas of grass and other soft foliage with their passing. These herds are mixed and have little in the way of hierarchy though there are commonly more females in the herd than males. New additions to the herd have to be accepted by at least one individual and acceptance is communicated by subtle signals passed through the ground that the other animals receive through their feet. Males will occasionally form bachelor herds if they cannot be accepted into another herd whilst other, larger ones will even live solitary lives where they follow proper herds in search of mating opportunities. These massive animals are one of the few survivors of Jurassic Park Canada’s unique exhibit and have become one of the largest surviving animals in North America. With their vast size and protective coats they have few natural enemies and live as the undisputed kings of the tundra. Though engineered for an enclosed park long ago, they have managed to adapt to one of the most hostile environments on Earth and face no competitors to their position. Edited by RoyalPsycho, Mar 1 2017, 09:05 PM.
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 13 2017, 03:56 PM Post #11 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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What were some of Jurassic Park Canada's other attractions, ones that didn't survive? |
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 13 2017, 05:05 PM Post #12 |
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Adolescent
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The Woolly Mammopod was the only survivor of a variety of Mammoth and Mastodon style sauropods. There were also the trunk-equipped woolly ornithopods, the beaver-lizards, a thinly feathered pterosaur that was supposed to look like the Thunderbird, a group of sail-backed stegosaurs and the Tyrannobear. |
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| GlarnBoudin | Feb 13 2017, 09:34 PM Post #13 |
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Disgusting Skin Fetishist
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The pterosaur and stegosaurs have me intrigued-
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| RoyalPsycho | Feb 14 2017, 12:54 PM Post #14 |
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Adolescent
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A slight change from the usual entries with an in-universe narrative showing life in one of the 31st Century ecosystems. King Of The Skies: The Tale Of The Dragons: The midday sun shines brightly over the highlands of what was once known as South-Eastern France. It is summer and the sky is clear, allowing the heat of the sun to reach down unimpeded to the scrubby woodlands of the foothills that border the western Alps. These hills are covered in thick conifer woodlands that have not been as prosperous as they are now in many thousands of years. With mankind gone the forests of Europe have returned and even the semi-arid lands that border the Mediterranean have become heavily wooded. In one area of the highlands, the rolling hills are broken by an escarpment that cuts through the land, leaving a large cliff-side looming over the land. On the top of the cliff, the soil is thinner and bare of trees for several metres until conifers once again begin to grow out of the ground. Lying on the edge of the cliff, sleeping through the heat of the midday sun, is a massive animal. It is a bare-skinned theropod with a dark green colouration, a light underbelly and dark red stripes of skin that lead down its neck from the base of its skull to its shoulders. Its head, which is curled up slightly so that its head faces its large, barrel chest, is long and thin, reminiscent of an Allosaurus with the distinctive crest placed over its eyes as well. Wrapped around its body are two massive bat-like wings that are folded up with the tips of the wings reaching high above the rest of the animal, the clawed hands planted firmly on the ground to keep the creature stable as it rests. The creature is over four metres long from snout to tail and, even while at rest, looks powerful and deadly. It is Regnadracos Magnificus, known as the dragon and the largest creature flying through the skies. Centuries ago it had been designed to be the crowning jewel of the Dragon Land exhibit, the signature attraction of Jurassic Park France and after breaking free from the decaying park, it and its descendants had carved out the dominant predatory niche on the continent for itself. A loud roar echoes over the landscape, carrying over from miles away and stirs the dragon. The large beast raises its head and turns it to the direction the roar had come from. It lets out a few short, barking calls in response and then begins to rise. The dragon lifted itself up on its arms and then pulled its legs out from under its body. Stalking forward on all fours, its wings still folded, the dragon walked up to the cliff-edge and let out several more barking roars. It’s calls do not reach as far and quickly fade away. Another roar emerges from the distance but it is not an answer to the dragon’s barks, it is a repeat of the call from earlier. Raising itself higher, reaching its neck out, the dragon peers over the edge of the cliff, looking out onto the horizon. It takes a deep breath and then roars, the barking noise drawing itself out, long and loud. Drawing itself, up the dragon then rocked back on its hindlegs, lifted its arms up and spread its wings. Its arms extended out until it had fully revealed its impressive five metre wingspan. Its chest thrust out as it pulled its arms back fully and took another deep breath. Its subconscious threat display made, the dragon then let out another long roar to follow up the first. Several seconds passed and eventually another roar answered, it was from the same source as the first two but the sound was different. It was a reply and a challenge, from a creature that was not another dragon. The dragon, gave another roar similar to the previous one to affirm that it claimed this territory as its own and then settled back down on its arms. Its territory was vast and encompassed the hunting zones of numerous other carnivores that went to great efforts to secure their own territories in turn. Many times one of the top hunters in the area would draw attention with their efforts to deter others of their own kind. Fully stirred from its sleep, the dragon was then drawn by the desire to feed. A fully grown adult of its species required daily feeding to grow strong, a fact that was evidenced by the large amount of bones and other detritus that littered the base of the cliff. There was, however, no fresh kill to strip. The dragon needed to hunt once again. Rocking back on its feet and spreading its wings again, the dragon gives several flaps that become stronger with each flex of its arms. Each flap of its wings lifted it off as it forced its body off of the ground. Inside its large chest cavity, thin, fleshy sacks secreted within its ribcage and filled with hydrogen support each wing beat and aid in getting the dragon’s large bulk off of the ground. In a matter of seconds, the dragon was hovering over the ground and then pushed itself forward, over the cliff-edge and into the air. Now safely in the air, the dragon straightens its wings and began to glide over the land, the thermal updrafts from the heat of the day helping hold its large bulk aloft. The dragon continues to gain height until it is flying high over the ground, its light underbelly camouflaging it from the ground. Soaring over its domain, the dragon lets out another roar to signal its dominance over the land and then angled itself south to where it knew a river flowed. Trees flew past beneath it as the powerful beast headed towards its intended destination, memory and the distant scent of fresh water guiding it. As it travelled the trees began to thin in areas as gametrails began to emerge. It was here that the dragon noticed the other inhabitants of its land. Walking down a wide path that cut through the forests was a large of dinosaurs that reached over the top of the smaller trees. They appeared to be ornithopods though like many of the creatures of the dragon’s world they were not as simple to classify as their ancestors might have been millions of years ago. The herd animals appeared similar to the long extinct iguanodon with large bodies, massive hindlegs and much shorter forelegs. Their heads were long and slightly boxy, ending in a thorny beak. Their bodies, however, were covered in small nobules of bony armour that turned into heavier, triangular spikes as they reached the hips and extended down the tail. The tip of the thick tail was crowned by six long thagomisers that idly flicked and swung as the beasts wandered down the trail. Their hands also bore a long, curved thumb spike that appeared more similar to the sickle claws of the raptors rather than the short, straight weapons that their ancestor’s once bore. These massive herbivores, named Spinigersaurus by Jurassic Park France millennia ago, were supposed to be a common herbivore in their Dragon Land exhibit and have since become one of the most successful large herbivores in Southern Europe. The dragon ignores the bulky ornithopods and continues in the direction of the river. It sees other, smaller, herbivores gathered along the gametrails that become more common as they near the river. Various creatures similar to either small theropods or ornithopods browse along the edge of the trails. These smaller creatures are also decorated with small spikes along their backs and horns on their heads, giving them a mildly draconic appearance even as they delicately pick at the foliage around them. Eventually, the dragon reached the river. It was a small channel of water, larger than a stream but not as vast as some of the other waterways that wound down from the Alps. It was still, however, a vital site for the entire ecosystem and regularly visited by all manner of animals. In the heat of the midday sun, dozens of creatures had come for a drink and, in some cases, a cooling bath in the waters. Small herds cluster in the clearings that border the river as animals congregate around the water supply. Along the river bank are various herbivores ranging from small bipedal creatures to several larger, horse sized creatures. Many of them are covered in small, superfluous spines, bony nobules and fins that give them a rather fantastic appearance. Several small herds of slender deer feed amongst them, the thin mammals appearing somewhat alien and out of place amongst the dinosaurian herds. Small birds and pterosaurs flit over the water, several of them swooping close to catch insects over the surface of the river before returning to the shore to alight upon either tree branches or larger animals as they feed. Dominating one bank of the river are several upright bipeds that primarily appear similar to theropods but have a more upright stance, ornithopod-like beaks, long, clawed forelimbs, bony plates running along their back and long swam necks tipped by small heads. They also tower over the other animals and most of the trees even as they dip their long necks down to drink. Most smaller animals avoid them as they carelessly stomp along the riverbank, browsing on the treetops as they go. Some more enterprising herbivores do follow in the larger creature’s wake, picking up the partially eaten scraps the giants leave behind. The dragon ignores the river as it soars over it, knowing that too many large and dangerous herbivores are present to safely make a kill and feed on it. The river does mean that more herbivores will be present nearby, however, and so will present many opportunities for the dragon. The dragon circles overhead, staying high and close to the clouds, its underbelly still keeping it hidden from the creatures below. Gametrails on the opposite bank lead back into the woods and present plenty of opportunities as more animals arrive from them. As it passes, high, over a clearing in the woods, the dragon catches sight of a cluster of creatures with its keen vision. The dragon descends, recognising that the sight of so many animals gathering so closely is likely a sign that something is feeding. The shapes below are large but not big enough to deter the mighty hunter even if they are close to one another. As the dragon drops lower it realises that the gathering is, in fact, a pack of predators feeding on an animal. The dragon quickly drops down to the clearing and lands, flapping its wings aggressively to slow its descent and intimidate the current inhabitants of the small clearing. The predators, a pack of small raptor-like predators covered in tiny bony nobules along most of their bodies, all look up and the intruder and raise themselves up to in response to the challenge. Arms are spread wide and teeth bared in a threat display as the smaller theropods try to defend their kill. Every member of the pack, including a pair of small juveniles, let out a hissing screech at the dragon. The dragon settles down its forelimbs, pulling its head up to tower over the raptors and then lets out its own loud, barking roar. It rears back up on its hindlegs again, spreads its wings as wide as it can and roars again to reassert its challenge. The raptors quickly back down, the younger animals turning and running to the edge of the clearing. The adult animals quickly do the same as the dragon falls back on all fours and then begins to walk forward, completely undeterred by the meagre threat displays from the few remaining raptors. Slowly the older members of the pack back off until they are a safe distance from the corpse and then turned and run to the edge of the clearing. The dragon walks forward to see what is left of the corpse. Despite severe damage to the softer and more accessible portions of the body, the carcass is still largely intact. The dead animal is a rhino sized creature with a lean body, long legs, the first pair ending in theropodal talons and the rear pair in a scaled hoof, the auxiliary toes on either side of the hoof being vestigial and small and a ornithopodal head ended in a bird-like beak. It is covered in fine feathers along much of its body, the underside of its hindquarters being the only part of its body to remain largely bare. It also has a pair of long, feathered wings attached to its forelegs which are tattered from the ravages of the predators that had been feeding on it. Though the dragon does not know it, the beast is a hippogryph, a rare sight in Southern France who’s death would have been a harsh blow to whatever declining population still exists in the region. Though its body is torn up there are no signs of killing injuries on the body and it most likely succumbed to natural causes that led to its death. The dragon, uncaring of what its meal is and where it came from, dips its head down and clamps onto the middle section of the dead hippogryph. With a tearing bite, its thin, serrated teeth, slice off a chunk of soft flesh from the beast’s stomach and then throws its head back to allow the meat to slide down its throat, whole. For a moment, the dragon then becomes hesitant, raising its head again to see if any challengers will emerge to contest the corpse and then, when nothing appears, returns to feeding. The raptors and several other smaller scavengers, mammal, dinosaur, pterosaur and bird alike, also emerge as they wait for their turn. As the dragon tears the hippogryph apart it ignores the lesser creatures that gather around it. It is the ruler of this realm and all others will wait for him to have his fill. |
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| Uncanny Gemstar | Feb 14 2017, 02:40 PM Post #15 |
Godfather of SE
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Super cool. By any chance is the Regnadracos based on, inspired by, or made by Jurassic World France to look like the Tigrex from Capcom's monster hunter series? |
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11:56 AM Jul 13