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Pachystruthio is a giant bird known from Europe and Africa’s Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. This giant bird was nearly 1,000 pounds and around 12 feet tall, meaning it ranks alongside the giant moa and elephant bird as the largest bird to ever live. Unlike the two however, it lived on a mainland continent alongside many predators, and early human relatives. Already accustomed to such challenges, these birds have managed to make out a living on the Ark. Often seen sprinting across the wastelands of Extinction, these giants can be a useful taming companion, fast travel mount, or even an effective war bird. Whatever the situation calls for you can trust your feathered friend to have your back. Abilities: -Wall runner: When in a full sprint they can traverse and scale steep walls, rocks, and other structures that tend to block most creatures. -Stone launcher: Large bird species today tend to swallow rocks and stones to help grind up the food they eat. In game you’re able to passively feed tamed birds stones. Once it eats enough stones it will gain the ability to perform a new attack, that being the ability to spew out the digested rocks at attackers like a living slingshot. The resulting stones being spat out can cause heavy topor and temporarily blind attackers. -180 degree spin: Able to twist and spin while moving at full speed, then rapidly charge forward in the changed direction -Peck: A basic peck that does damage and collects resources -Boom call: Modern ostriches produce loud, deep booming vocalizations to communicate with each other. Struthio does this as well, and this boom hits at such a low frequency that it can be used for two methods. The first can be used to scare smaller creatures, corrupted or not, away. This works on animals up to carno size. The second can be used to detect resources, as the struthio will boom if you're getting close to a desired resource. You can train the struthio to locate certain materials in a similar way to a moschops. -Weather detector: Able to detect meteor showers minutes before they happen, the struthio will alert its rider of the incoming threat by ruffling its feathers and shaking its wings. -Eggs: These massive birds lay equally massive eggs, and these eggs on their own provide massive nourishment. They are most useful however when used in recipes, as they can be used as substitutes to craft antidotes, and can be used to craft any type of kibble. Predators love the taste of these eggs as well, and they provide a similar use to them in the way that raw mutton does. -Insulation: Their fluffy feathers keep the rider insulated from both hot and cold temperatures. -Kick: A kick that cause bleed and knockback -Duststorm: When in the middle of a losing fight, these birds can rapidly kick up sand and dust, temporarily slowing down the attacker and providing an opportunity to escape. Swimming: Modern ostriches are actually decent swimmers, able to float and propel themselves forward with their powerful legs. While not the fastest swimmers, don’t be afraid to cross water with your Pachystruthio. They’ll be able to pass the map's waterways just fine at a decent speed. Appearance: Unlike modern ostriches who have bald heads and necks, these birds have fluffy down on their heads and necks. The rest of their bodies are covered in tough, weather resistant feathers. The only parts of their body not feathered are their legs and feet. Males tend to have brighter plumage while females have duller, faded versions in comparison. Size: Absolutely massive, and undoubtedly the largest birds in Ark. Large bodied and a long extended neck, they stand taller than an allo. Behavior: These birds usually travel in small flocks made up of one to two males and a handful of females. They are naturally passive unless provoked or if they’re eggs are stolen. If a member of the flock is attacked, the females will sprint away in all directions while the males will charge and attack the aggressor. If the attacker is overwhelming the males, they’ll kick up a dust storm and retreat. When unprovoked and peacefully wandering around, they will frequently partake in dust baths. Taming method: These birds are very resistant to tranqs, and cannot be tamed in the traditional way. Instead a survivor must approach them while they’re having a dust bath, mount them and hold on for dear life as they sprint around trying to knock you off. While dashing around they’ll knock into objects like rocks and trees, and after a while of this they’ll crash and fall, briefly tired out. Once they're like this you can passively feed them their preferred foods, fungal wood, blue crystalized sap, or superior kibble. Rinse and repeat until tamed! Saddle: There are multiple types of saddles you can equip with the Struthio. You can ride them without a saddle, the next is a multi purpose saddle that acts as an extra bit of added armor alongside a mobile crafting station, and finally a small platform saddle. The platform saddle is smaller than the platform saddles of other creatures, but still large enough to carry the basic necessities you’d need during travel or for battle. The multi-purpose saddle acts as weather resistant aid, protecting the tame and rider against the negative effects induced from being out in the wasteland. I’ve left an example below that gives a good idea of what I’d be going for. Additional references:
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Cygnus Falconeri: The Center's Giant and Graceful Swan
roy3100 posted a suggestion in Creature submission archive
Cygnus Falconeri, also known as the giant swan, was a very large and heavy species of swan from the late Pleistocene period. Living on the islands of Malta and Sciliy, it evolved its larger size and heavier frame through a phenomenon known as island gigantism. It’s often depicted in paleo art bullying the dwarf hippos and elephants it shared its environment with. Given the Center's geography, being of very high peaks and vast bodies of water, this giant amphibious bird would be right at home here. Seemingly evolved past its conventional behaviors, this beautiful bird has adapted well to the opportunities and challenges this Ark brings. Abilities: -Long haul flier: These big birds are solid flyers, and while not the fastest, will still take you from point A to B at a decent speed. Some species of modern swans can actually fly several hundred miles a day while migrating, and Cygnus seems to have inherited this trait. These birds can stay in the air for very long periods of time as they’ve adapted to being able to cross the Center's oceans in a single trip. -All terrain mount: Capable of flight, swimming, and slow but still effective walking. -Diving: While Pelagornis simply perch on the water's surface, Cygnus have adapted a method that takes this ability a step further. While they can land on the water's surface, they often choose different methods of resting and feeding. In shallow water, they’ll bob with their rears in the air and neck extending underwater. In deeper water, they’ll fly and then dive under water, using their large wings like paddles and swimming through the water's depths. Both of these work while ridden.-Honk: Modern swans are very territorial birds, and have been documented scaring off much larger animals with their shere aggressiveness. Cygnus share this personality, and can emit a loud honk alongside the flashing of wings and ruffling of feathers that tend to scare off small to mid sized creatures. This attack can be charged up, and after several honks from a high leveled bird you can even scare off things as Yuty to Mammoth size. -Wing slap: A slap from their wings that causes damage to large creatures and a temporary stun to smaller ones. -Item collector: When bobbing for food, they’ll stir up the shallow water sand and muck, and have the chance to unroot hidden loot like chitin and pearls! -Eggs: Swans are known as symbols of beauty and grace, but their eggs appear rather dull compared to the eggs of most creatures on the Ark. This is only superficial, as their eggs can be fed to creatures, which when bred will have their babies be born with a greater degree of “outer and inner beauty”. Swan eggs allow for baby creatures to be born with brighter and more appealing colors alongside a 25% higher chance of mutations occurring. Appearance: With its long neck standing above that of a survivor, Cygnus is a rather large bird. It has an impressive wingspan, and while swans are usually known to have one universal color, these birds have more of a broad range. They typically have 3 alternating color spots, their beaks, necks, and bodies. Male swans have a small bump on their beaks like Black Necked Swans do, this is mainly for aesthetics to tell the genders apart. I’ll leave an example of the variation of modern species and their colors for some examples in the further references section. Taming method: Swans are passively tamed. They construct nests on the Center’s beaches and offshore islands, and mated pairs defend these nests fiercely from even the largest creatures. The parents, when away from the nest, are generally passive and can be clammy approached. When near their nest however they become aggressive and will charge you on sight. They do have a weakness however, they can be distracted with shiny objects. Pearls, metal ingots, gems, are all effective tools against the parents. First place a shiny object in the last slot of your inventory bar, preferably pearls, and approach the nest/parents. Simply wait for a swan to charge, then drop the shiny object once it gets close. The bird will stop and analyze what you drop. If the item is not very impressive, perhaps a single chunk of normal metal, it will be unimpressed and walk off. If the item is of higher value, like a pearl, it will be temporarily distracted and while they are you have a very small opportunity to feed them their preferred food, Longrass or a Sweet Veggie Cake. Back off and wait to repeat this process until tamed. Because Ascended has wild babies you can claim any eggs and chicks in the nest once the parents have been tamed.-
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