STAR ARMY

Sci-fi roleplaying and worldbuilding community

User Tools

Site Tools


faction:lorath:animals:gif_elm

Gif'elm

The gif'elm are a viverridae like species with large wings with almost no functionality. They are native to Lor but have been relocated to Nyli III when the Lorath culture moved as well. The gif'elm has long since been known to the Lorath culture, however do to it's behavior it was never really a common species, and it was often only Lmanel that got the chance to see it, because of their frequent proximity for forest.

Gif'elm
Planet: Homeworld Lor Migrated to Nyli III and Hici'emi IV
Classification: Viverridae-like mammal
Lovomotion: Arboreal
Active: Crepuscular
Length
Female: Body: 43-55cm1) Tail: 30-45cm2) Wingspan: 50-65cm3)
Male: Body: 40-50cm4) Tail: 35-50cm5) Wingspan: 45-60cm6)
Weight
Female: roughly 2.5kg7)
Male: roughly 2.3kg8)
Life expectancy
Wild: 17 YE years
Domesticated: 25 YE years
Other
Diet: Omnivore
Special: vocal mimicry, wings

Physical Characteristics

Appearance

Gif'elm possess a slender cat like bodies with short limbs and digitigrade paws and semi-retractile. Their heads are some what small for their size with pointed muzzles and large oval ears. Their long tails that are often longer than their bodies and over sized wings stand out easily amongst their otherwise small stature.

Besides their wings and tail, they are often known for the variety of their fur patters. While only a a hand full of colors exist frequently in the wild, prior to the Moon Fall there were many colors bred in domestication. However the patterns are well diverse even in the wild.

Senses

Gif'elm are renown for their sense of hearing that allows them to pick apart and analyze sounds carefully so that they can recreate them on their own. Though they have fairly good vision in low light situations, they rely mainly on their ears for watching their surroundings and use their eyes for watching what they're focused on.

They can see in color and as stated have decent vision in low light situations, but that's all expected for an animal that is active when they are. If there was anything noteworthy about their sight it would be their ability to accurately measure things at a glance.

Special Characteristics

  • Wings:Gif'elm have large fur covered wings that are unfortunately too weak for them to fly with, however they can glide with them. However because these wings are present, gif'elm tend to avoid moving more than necessary because their balance is thrown off and the wings are easily snagged.
  • speech: Gif'elm have the ability to produce a wide variety of sounds, even capable of mimicking other creatures and the sounds of machinery. They often use these sounds to confuse their prey or predators.

Life Cycle

After a 120 day gestation period gif'elm are born in litters between 2 and 4 on most occasions. They are blind when born and while not death their ears are clogged, and will open up after a few days on their own. All gif'elm are born with only their undercoats showing at first, but their guardhair will grow in after a few days.

Kits will reach sexual maturity in about a year, but will have only grown to roughly 85% their final size. The last bit of growth comes in the second year. Between their first and third year in life9) the children will leave their parent's clique and head out on their own to find a clique of other unpaired gif'elm. When the parents no longer have any children to raise it is not uncommon for them to break up to find new partners, even if their children are still in their clique.

When a gif'elm finds a new clique it will first look for a mate and then establish it's position in the group. Gif'elm has little concern for the age of their partner, often times mating with years apart in life span, but they do tend to be a little picky, and refuse to mate with those they don't like.

Behavior

Gif'elm are very curious creatures, but their natural shyness leads them to appear reserved about these impulses. They will often times circle around something of interest at a distance, slowly closing in on it as they learn more about it through observation. Due to their shyness gif'elm tend to avoid forming large communities, and instead for several small groups that relay information between each other. They are also known for being very intelligent and able to problem solve, it's even been noted that in nature they will set traps for prey to make hunting more easy.

Gif'elm do not have the physicality to deal with many of the creatures they have to live along side, and as a result they have developed the habit of observing things carefully and problem solving. They have been known to construct sorts of traps to injure or even kill predetors in order to protect themselves.

Habitat

The gif'elm is native to dense forest environments where it can use it's natural abilities to the full. They tend to favor softer soil as well when they are not climbing so they will often be found near water sources.

Diet

Gif'elm have a somewhat odd eating habit for omnivores, they prefer nuts and berries over meat which would make most wonder why such a creature would eat meat at all. However they have a tendency to become prey for creatures more adapted towards hunting. When a gif'elm is hunted if it survives it tends to seek revenge, and will try to kill the creature that hunted it if possible, and then will eat as much of it as it can. Because of it's tendency to use traps, other creatures might get caught, and it will eat those as well to better it's condition for taking on it's target.

Domestication

The gif'elm was domesticated prior to the 'Moon Fall' incident after having been discovered by members of the Tur'Lista caste who took some as pets. Because of the creature's timidity they do not make good pets for large households, and it is best to avoid introducing several people to the creature at a time. Many gif'elm are breed to keep their natural instincts relatively intact, which can make them somewhat dangerous if they feel threatened, placing tacks they might have found, or pushing heavy objects down from high locations.

Because of their intelligence, gif'elm are fairly easy to train and acclimate rather well to new environments. They need to regularly exercise and play though to keep their bodies healthy. Most pet activities are suitable for gif'elm but they do not enjoy strength based activities. Though they can survive on a mostly vegetarian diet it is important to occasionally give them meat to keep their digestive systems working properly.

Coloration and Patterns

Because of it's rarity and varying colors it was subject to boutique breeding and many breeds were started with only a concern for it appearance and not it's health. These breeds with poor health are labeled as 'vanity breeds' and many breeders stopped breeding such breeds, especially after the animal became even more rare after Moon Fall.

Color
  • Ash10):Light grey, almost silvery guard hairs with smokey grey undercoat.
  • Berry: Burgundy plum guard hairs with deep brown undercoat
  • Calico:White under coat with two or more shades of brown guard hairs
  • Chocolate: Chestnut brown guard hairs with a light auburn undercoat
  • Cloudy: Silvery guard hairs with white undercoat
  • Royal11):Tawny guard hairs with blonde undercoat.
  • Sandy: Medium blonde guard hairs with white undercoat
Pattern
  • Solid:Over 80% body is covered in guard hair color with no visible patterns
  • Roan: Roughly 50 to 60% of the body is guard hair color with
  • Stripped: Guard hair color groups noticeably in strip like patterns.
  • Mitted: Body is almost entirely undercoat color with guad hair color only visible at the limbs.
  • Spotted:Majority of body is guard hair color with with grouped spots of undercoat color.
1)
17-22in
2)
12-18in
3)
20-26in
4)
16-20in
5)
14-20in
6)
18-24in
7)
5.5lbs
8)
5lbs
9)
depending on how much the gif'elm feel they need to breed to increase population
10) , 11)
Vanity Breed

Quality:
faction/lorath/animals/gif_elm.txt ยท Last modified: 2023/12/21 04:23 by 127.0.0.1