In the sixites or so it was believed that, just like modern bats, pterosaurs were helpless on the ground, so these giants must have spent their whole lives in the sky, and this is how the Quetzal is presented in the game.
But they were wrong.
Azhdarchids were a groundborne nightmare, a giant slenderman of a pterosaur, with a head bigger than their body, stalking the land for anything small enough to swallow whole. And as they could grow to the size of a giraffe, that was quite a lot of things.
Now, as far as we know no azhdarchid was flighless. But imagining one is a common paleoart trope, and would fit quite well into the mutated caverns of the Aberration.
I went for Arambourgiania as it is the tallest, with the most extreme proportions. Also it is only known from neck vertebra, so it is not unreasonable to be very speculative.
Playing up the spooky atmosphere even more, I would like to combine this with a rather obscure cryptid called the Van Meter Visitor - A large bat or pterosaur with a glowing horn that terrorised the town of Van Meter, Iowa, for a few weeks in 1903. In the end they organised a posse and tracked the creature down to an abandoned coal mine - Where they spotted it with a smaller individual, probably mate or offspring.
After being disturbed, they fled into the dephts of the earth, never to be seen again.
(I think you see why I think this one fits onto Ab so much)
One of many interpretations of the Van Meter Visitor. While this is one of the more common illustrations used, I'm not sure who the artist is; The earliest link takes me to a deviantart page that no longer exists. Even the art is a cryptid!
Creature Concept:
About the same footprint as a Paracer, but more than twice as tall, these giants stalk the darkness of the blue and red zones, the light emitted by their hornbill-like crest promising a brief respite from the Nameless onslaugt. But nothing is free in these caves, and many survivors have approached the light only to be promptly eaten and killed by their savior.
But should you succeed in taming one, it makes for an excellent living lightpole to keep your bases safe or bring otters in caves, and it can use its light for long-range signalling.
Stats:
Despite its size Arambourgiania is a glass cannon, weaker than the usual boss creatures.
Wild:
Spawns mainly in the blue zone, but more rarely in red.
Wilds are hostile to small creatures, neutral to large ones. Though they will prefer any Nameless or Reapers they see over tames. (getting themselves wrecked in the latter case)
Taming:
There's no shame in using vanilla taming methods now and again. But if I have to pick something more creative, luring Nameless to them to eat might be fun and not too annoying.
Mobility:
Jump and a weak glide, more like a Deinonychus or Terror Bird than a drake.
Wing-assisted climbing to get up steep hills, but not vertical walls.
Initially slow, but gathers speed like a rhino.
Decent underwater speed with its little wing stubs. Would be nice to have an underwater light that's not as flimsy as an anglerfish.
Can move in any direction and turn on the spot.
Double-tap directional keys for a short dash. Changes direction when gliding.
This mobility is needed for...
Combat:
Chargeup peck attack. While immensely powerful, it attacks far away from the main body, requiring skill to get the max out of it.
At max charge, unleash a chaotic flurry of pecks that causes something like a localised earthquake, disorienting survivors, disloging climbing picks, etc.
A stab using its underdeveloped, blade-like wing fingers. Doesn't cause much damage, but knocks back enemies as an emergency.
Picks up decently sized creatures in its beak, with an attack to shake them to death.
Against small wilds, this instantly kills and harvests them, with a swallowing animation. Including nameless.
Against small tames and players, it instead has to do an animation where it fights back, which can be interrupted by a headshot, dropping the creature and disbling the attack for a while.
A turret mode of sorts, where it will always return to its starting position. Not that it needs to move much with the massive range of its neck.
Can grab fliers, and mode to jump at and snag enemy fliers in turret mode.
Utility:
Using a whistle while riding makes it play morse code on its light - massively extending whistle range. For those bigger boss fights...
Light is always on, and drains stamina to supress.
Radiation immune.
No oxygen stat.
All-purpose rock harvester, but not as good as the more specialised Doed or Anky.
Roles:
Base lighting and Security.
Pack counter.
Excentric choice for travelling and fighting.
Caves and the Bossfight without needing a light pet. So you can bring otters into the Ab caves, and nobody has to endure the loss of their lightpet by accidentally dropping them during the bossfight. (RIP Alfonse. And Alfonse II.)
Here, have another picture of random azhdarchids being unnerving:
Suggestion
Moebius137
Preamble: Azhdarchid Pterosaurs were weird.
In the sixites or so it was believed that, just like modern bats, pterosaurs were helpless on the ground, so these giants must have spent their whole lives in the sky, and this is how the Quetzal is presented in the game.
But they were wrong.
Azhdarchids were a groundborne nightmare, a giant slenderman of a pterosaur, with a head bigger than their body, stalking the land for anything small enough to swallow whole. And as they could grow to the size of a giraffe, that was quite a lot of things.
(Art source: Spuno on deviantart, https://www.deviantart.com/spuno/art/Quetz-Forest-937672488)
Now, as far as we know no azhdarchid was flighless. But imagining one is a common paleoart trope, and would fit quite well into the mutated caverns of the Aberration.
I went for Arambourgiania as it is the tallest, with the most extreme proportions. Also it is only known from neck vertebra, so it is not unreasonable to be very speculative.
Playing up the spooky atmosphere even more, I would like to combine this with a rather obscure cryptid called the Van Meter Visitor - A large bat or pterosaur with a glowing horn that terrorised the town of Van Meter, Iowa, for a few weeks in 1903. In the end they organised a posse and tracked the creature down to an abandoned coal mine - Where they spotted it with a smaller individual, probably mate or offspring.
After being disturbed, they fled into the dephts of the earth, never to be seen again.
(I think you see why I think this one fits onto Ab so much)
One of many interpretations of the Van Meter Visitor. While this is one of the more common illustrations used, I'm not sure who the artist is; The earliest link takes me to a deviantart page that no longer exists. Even the art is a cryptid!
Creature Concept:
About the same footprint as a Paracer, but more than twice as tall, these giants stalk the darkness of the blue and red zones, the light emitted by their hornbill-like crest promising a brief respite from the Nameless onslaugt. But nothing is free in these caves, and many survivors have approached the light only to be promptly eaten and killed by their savior.
But should you succeed in taming one, it makes for an excellent living lightpole to keep your bases safe or bring otters in caves, and it can use its light for long-range signalling.
Stats:
Wild:
Taming:
Mobility:
Combat:
Utility:
Roles:
Here, have another picture of random azhdarchids being unnerving:
(I love them)
Sources:
Arambourgiania on wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arambourgiania
Van Meter Visitor on Cryptid Wiki, LOL https://cryptidz.fandom.com/wiki/Van_Meter_Visitor
(Paleontologist Darren Naish famously described fellow azhdarchid Hatzegopterix as "a shoebill stork crossed with the terminator")
I'm not the best artist as you might guess from my illustration choices, but I might try my hand at some photoshopping over the weekend. Who knows.
Edited by Moebius137forgot something.
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