The Ciztic are a carnivorous quadrupedal canidae-like species. They were native to Lor, however were relocated to Hici'emi IV and Nyli III when the moon fall incident happened in an attempt to save the species from certain annihilation. The Ciztic have been known to the Lor as domesticated workers, and as such have a presence in both the wild, and the normal Lor home, and are very common animals.

Ciztic are a Canidae-like species with Insecta-like traits. Ciztic have a canine-like head with almond shaped eyes that tilt slightly upwards towards pointy canine-like ears. The eyes have three separate iris' one at the top of the eye, one at the bottom and one at the middle so that they are able to see behind, below, and in front of themselves at all times.

The torso section of a Ciztic is covered with a hard carapace that is covered in a light path of fur that matches the colors of their canine style head and legs. On the top of the carapace there are two Praying Mantis-like wings that while not strong enough to allow full flight, allows them to hover temporarily and jump higher then other quadrupedal species that don't have wings. The wings tend to grow to the length of its body, from its shoulders to its rear in terms of size. The male and females have the typical genitalia of their respected gender, however there is one difference for the male in that it has a specialized faux-womb located near its testicles allowing it to house the eggs the females place in them.

The legs of the Ciztic are not covered in a carapace like the torso, rather its biological mass that is coated in a thick fur that protects it. It has four legs, making it quadrupedal. The paws are about the size of a normal hand on a male Lorath, and it has four toes on each of the four paws, each toe has a razor sharp claw that cane be used to dig into their prey's body and to tear meat from them.

The tail is made of a boney carapace like structure that allows it to be used as a weapon for the Ciztic. The tail is about as flexible as a whip, allowing it to take many shapes and forms based upon how the Ciztic desires it to form. At the very end of this whip like carapace tail there is an extremely sharp and pointy tip that can be used to penetrate into prey, or enemies. The tail can be erupted forward with enough force to impale into a thick surface, such as a tree trunk or with less success a rocky like surface.

Ciztic tend to have exceptional sight, hearing and smell each giving them advantages when hunting. Their eyes allow them to see in three separate directions all at the same time¹⁵⁾, they achieved this through evolving to have rather large eyes, while the eyes are positioned as a canine's normally are the socket that holds the eyeball in question has extended to go as far as the beginning of the side of their head; which allows them with the third iris to see behind them. They are able to see quite a fair distance, as well as hearing equally as far… Their smell however is their strongest asset being able to smell beyond their line of sight, or perhaps even their hearing and being capable of hunting with it.

Ciztic are a Matriarchal Pack animal, where the pack is ruled by a single female and the rest of the pack is nothing but males. Ciztic hierarchical structure tends to consist of a typical Alpha, Beta, Omega structure, with the Alpha being in the lead, and the Beta group being beneath the Alpha but higher then the Omega group, while the Omega group is the bottom of the barrel. The typical job of an Alpha is to protect the pack, while the Beta's go out to hunt each with a group of Omegas underneath them. It should be noted that while the Beta group would be enough to survive with the Alpha, the Omegas have a purpose as well. If the Alpha is the Queen, and the Beta's are the kings, then the Omegas would be the citizenship of the city. They are basically there to work for the Beta's and Alpha and make life easier for all of them

Each Ciztic pack consists of a group of 20 to 30 Ciztic at any given time. Ciztic typically keep it in the family so to speak, rarely taking in outsiders. However, should the Alpha Ciztic take an interest in a lone Ciztic, she'll allow the ciztic to fight for a right to enter her pack by having one of the Omegas fight them. Should the Omega win, then the Ciztic is killed, however should the Ciztic succeed then they are welcomed into the pack with open arms. The Ciztic tend to compete with other packs of Ciztic for rights, and territory consistently, however they have been known to come together in times of strife to fight off a common enemy, or take care of a possible future threat.

Ciztic tend to be extremely territorial, sometimes taking territory and hunting grounds far larger then they need to ensure they have the prey they desire to keep their pack fed. Their core territory is roughly 8 x 11 km¹⁶⁾ in size. Their hunting ground size varies based upon the situation of their pack, such as number inside the pack, the age majority, and so on, however typically their hunting grounds range anywhere between 64 x 80 km¹⁷⁾ in size, without the variation kept in mind. The Beta group tends to hunt three times a day, sometimes passing through up to half of their territory in a single day to bring back food and nutrients for their pack. It is to be noted that their territories are almost always this size. Outside sources can have things that disturb the size of it, such as sentient disturbance, or even other Ciztic sabotaging the territory or the city in question.

Ciztic tend to protect their territory through scent marking, physical marking, direct attacks against other packs, and howling/clicking (see communication). When another pack trespass into a Ciztic territory and ignore all the warnings that the pack give them, a war between the packs will break out with the winning Ciztic pack killing up to 20-40% of the other pack, while typically 'enslaving' the other packs Omegas and Betas using them as either breeding tools, or food.

The Ciztic are generally polygamist, there is only one female and a handful of beta's that help with breeding. The female is the dominate in this situation, being the one to impregnate the male rather than the male impregnating the female. The female tend to have a vaginal cavity that allows them to form it into an ovipositor that will allow her to lay eggs inside of the male's faux womb, which will then be fertilized. The eggs will dissolve within the womb as the pups form. It is well noted that the females, when in heat, are exceptionally aggressive and will force the males to bare their children whether the males desire it or not through seducing them, and then raping them if they are denied what they desire. For the most part, the males take and raise the Ciztic pups that they birth, with the female typically having nothing to do with them. Omegas also tend to help teach the pups to help them learn when the beta's are off hunting or doing something else. There is a production rate of 1 female every 20 males, when the female is born it is taken care of by the Alpha as a 'successor' so to speak. After the female is born, any females born after it will be placed in the Omega class. Once the female grows to adult hood she will be allowed to take three of the beta's from the pack and leave beginning a new pack somewhere in the territory of the other alpha, which upon growing will leave the territory and form their own.

The point in which a female is grown enough to begin breeding with others depends on their mental maturity. The normal age is roughly 1.5 years of age, however environmental situations such as: when food is plentiful, or when Ciztic populations are managed by an outside source, the female may begin breeding at a younger age then what is stated. Once the female becomes sexual active, they are able to reproduce until the day they die if they so choose. Male Ciztic in this species is known to enter estrus, rather than the female. This typically are ready to reproduce offspring at 1 year old, and tend to enter their first estrus at this point. They are able to reproduce every six months from their first estrus to the day they die. The males, when pregnant, tend to stay near the Alpha, and will birth in the general vicinity of the alpha as well. The gestation period of a Ciztic is generally 30 days, and the most common time for a Ciztic to give birth is the winter time.

Ciztic tend to bare medium sized pups, and the average litter consists of 3-4 pups, however this can raise to up to 7 pups when the pack is well fed. The pups are usually born around the winter times and they tend to be born with all of their motor functions and senses already developed. As such, they tend to be able to move, see, and hear upon first opening their eyes¹⁸⁾. They are also capable of eating solid food from the day they are born. Upon birth the Ciztic tend to weigh anywhere between 226.79-317.51g¹⁹⁾. The betas do not leave the breeding cave for the first few weeks, and rely upon the Omegas and Betas not impregnated by the Alpha to bring them and their children food. The males tend to not let the pups leave the breeding cave until they are about 2 weeks old, upon which they will take them out and allow them to socialize with other Ciztic in the pack. At 3 weeks old they begin to play fight with each other, as well as begin developing their strong carapace. At one month the pack begins to teach them how to hunt, and survive on their own. The three best hunters will be then used to replace the three betas that left with the new Alpha.

Ciztic hunt three times a day for up to 3 hours a time-slot. They achieve the ability to hunt by choreographing attacks with basic strategy, that while isn't on the level of a super high sentient being, is more advanced then most non-sentient beings. As such, they have a lot of success hunting down the prey they seek. Due to their exemplary sight, smell, and hearing they are capable of hunting down animals at an incredible pace, and at amazing distances. As such they are capable of arranging their strategy to make the best of the hunt. There are normally three stages of the hunt for the group:

• Location: The Ciztic tend to locate the prey through scent and sound, allowing them to sneak up on the prey without worry of being discovered until they decide to engage. The Ciztic tend to chitter and have a ceremony of sorts where they sway a bit, before engaging in the Observation section.
• Observation: Ciztic are extremely patient, and are willing to watch their prey for hours to study it to ensure that they kill it. They use this chance to observe the prey's pattern, movements, as well as noting the several different areas that the prey can escape. They come up with a plan, and then move on to the take-down.
• Take-Down: The take-down is just as the name implies, the take-down is where they quickly initiate their strategy, and take the prey down killing it.

Upon successfully taking down an animal the pack begins using their tails, mouths, and claws to tear the body apart and render it able to be transported back to the pack they live in. Once there, it is placed in an area akin to a designated feeding area. Once all of the Betas hunting parties are back, a time called the Feast begins. The Fest is a time when the entire pack feeds for that section of the day. The Alpha is the one who gets first dibs on the food, followed by the breeding Betas, the Pups, the rest of the Betas, and finally the Omegas. Once the Feast ends, any left overs are placed within a specialized section for future feasts. The Ciztic typically do not eat much, only eating about 1% of their entire body weight every feast, meaning they eat 3% over the course of the entire day.

The Ciztic's expressive behavior is rather complex due to the society that it lives in, requiring it to communicate among each other. It has the ability to tell the emotions of another Ciztic by the facial features and bodily features that the other Ciztic does. When the Ciztic is neutral it tends to stand in a lax posture, without the legs being stiff, the tail is variegating between swaying in the air and dragging the ground, the face is smooth and unwrinkled, its teeth are not exposed and their ears lightly slumped. Postural communication in Ciztic consists of a variety of facial expressions, tail positions and piloerections. The females of the Ciztic tend to be the more aggressive, and self-assertive in posture, characterized by slow deliberated movements and high boy posture and raised hackles. The males tend to be more submissive, however, holding their posture low, their hair sleek, and their ears perked up and attentive.

For the most part the Ciztic tend to communicate via short growls, barks, as well as clicking noises that can be translated to some degree into extremely basic language commands. Though for animals the fact that it can do that is actually pretty impressive considering most animals can't break even the most basic of language commands.

The Olfaction sense is probably the most acute sense the Ciztic have, being able to detect scent from a long ways away, it also plays a fundamental role in communication outside of the auditory communication. The Ciztic has a number of apocrine sweat glands on the face, lips, back, toes, as well as their genitalia. The rest of their body has a number of sections that have a mixture of precaudal scent glands, Sebaceous glands, as well as eccrine sweat glands that help them communicate in different ways with the rest of them. Eccrine combined with Apocrine allows the Ciztic to deposit its scent when it scratches the ground, which happens most of the time after, or during, marking territory by either; Scratching, Defecating during breeding season, or urine marking.

On their back are several small hairs that have aprocrine and sebaceous glands at the bases of their hair, which allows a microclimate for bacterial propagation around the glands. When aggravated, the body tenses and the hairs vibrate allowing for them to to release a scent to show that they are aggravated. There are also hormonal scents that come from their genitals as Ciztic alpha's or Beta's have been observed in presenting their genitals to lower citizens of the pack as a form of olfactory domination. Finally; the male Ciztic tend to secret a substance from their faux womb during breeding season that tells the Alpha when its time for them to breed. (See Reproduction and Development)

Ciztic tend to live in heavily forested areas, this is due to their Insecta like traits, and the fact that a lot of pray tends to hide upon the forest floors, and treetop. Along with that, there is also plenty of area that allow them to use their intelligent means of hunting to claim the territory from any other possible predator. The 'city', which is where they tend to spend their time, is usually made within a large open area within the forests. They consist of several burrows that the Omega and Beta use, with one large burrow that the Alpha claims. The Burrows are usually made in a circle around the larger one that way there is always a burrow at all times watching each direction so that the other Ciztic and predators of note can not sneak up on them. It is to be noted that the city also is located within 200 Meters of a water source that allows the pack to stay hydrated. The Ciztic tend to stay far away from the Helashio and Lor that inhabit the planet they stay on, mainly due to the fact they know how dangerous bipedal animals like them can be.

The Ciztic is a carnivore by nature, however it has been known to eat plants and such when prey is scarce meaning that though they are carnivore by nature they are capable of adapting to becoming herbivores if the need is there. They specialize in taking down large prey in groups at a time using their numbers and intelligence to take them down rather easily. The Ciztic, however, when prey is scarce won't hesitate to kill smaller pray either sometimes feasting on extremely large amounts of smaller animals to survive. It is noted that the Ciztic can also feed on berries and plant life, and that their sense of smell can tell which plants are poisonous and which are not allowing them to feed freely when they can not get their meat.

Rarely do the Ciztic have any natural enemies or competitors, dominating other canid species and the prey that they hunt rather well. They are considered apex in the natural line, that isn't to say, however, that they are not threatened. When it comes to the bipedal beings known as the Helashio or the Lor they are outmatched. Humanoid creatures tend to be their biggest enemies and competitors, so much so that they rarely challenge them, and when they come in contact unless directly threatened they tend to avoid the humanoid creatures.

Ciztic due to their intense intelligence, and their capability of being trained, were domesticated for use in society. Most of the time the males are the one who are domesticated due to the females tendencies for domination, however, though rare females have been known to be domesticated as well. The Ciztic tend to make for good guards, as well as military application, and police application due to their intelligence making them able to be trained, and their sense of smell and sight that allows them to pinpoint locations, people, threats, and pretty much anything long before a humanoid could. They are capable of adapting to pretty much any environment which allows them to settle into homes, and other places that the Lor and Helashio decide to place them.

• Black
• Green
• Gray
• Brown
• Ash

• Mixed: A mixture of the colors stated under color, usually in patterns.
• Solid: A solid color.
• Striped: Stripes of a certain color over the other colors

Semjax created this article on 2015/08/09 10:01.