FIRST: Zera’s feral form does NOT have only one claw on her wings. She has a two; one that acts as a thumb and one that acts as an index finger. This is just like the anthro one but they are generally longer on her feral form.

-Quick Info-

Name: Zera StormFire
Race: Glaive Wyvern
Sex: Female
Age: 22
Favorite food: Fish and sweet things like honey/fruit jams

Feral
Height: 7 feet (2.1 m) tall at shoulder in this pose
Wingspan: 37 feet (11.3 m)

Anthro
Height: Approximately 8 feet tall (2.4 m) at top of head.
Wingspan: 20 feet (6.0 m)

Notable physical features: Crests down back are mobile and able to be lifted or laid down over one another. Crests and ears are expressive. Glaives have a long prehensile tongue; it can usually protrude out a little longer than the length of their snout. Tail is also prehensile and expressive.

Role: Zera is a skilled hunter and warrior.

Personality: Dominant, driven, and determined. Reserved but curious around other intelligent species/strangers. Forceful but not cruel. Compassionate towards and protective of those she trusts. Utilitarian and tomboyish. Seeks a position of power and leadership but is still learning the nuances of politics.

Likes: Good, entertaining stories. Protecting and helping those in need. Knowledge of the natural world and cultures beyond hers. Games and competition that hone her mind and body. Testing others’ abilities and limits as well as her own. Competent and interesting individuals. Exploring and new experiences. Being out in nature. Being in small groups with trusted friends.

Dislikes: Individuals that can’t back up their talk. Taking advantage of innocents. Being forced into the center of attention. Bitter food and drinks. Those that can back up their talk and are giant pricks about it. Not being in control. Not being able to help.

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-Description of art-

Zera’s first ref sheet created by SkyShadow, the creator of the glaive wyvern species. Several changes were made and her markings were more or less perfected in this iteration of her. She was given two jagged jaw “ridges” on her upper jaw and three fangs to help differentiate her from SkyShadow while keeping the serrated, toothy look. Her wings were made black, but they can be white as well depending on artist preference. The white markings on her eyes and snout were tightened up to create a very obvious, jagged shape to them that more closely resembles a lightning bolt. This is also the first appearance of her feral form which I absolutely loved; she is so regal and powerful looking. Though, I would tend to prefer her pelvis in feral form to be wider and curvier than pictured here. Her anthro form was given a lean, strong, swimmer’s build which works especially well for a flying character. However, I also enjoy seeing her in slightly thicker builds or other artistic interpretations.

Her clothing was mostly taken from the finished image of her by Courtneydoodles since she is especially hard to dress. The loincloth is threaded through her wings. Inside the piercing of the wing membrane is a circular bead that is basically a gauge. This keeps the wing membrane from tearing or being irritated by the clothing. The vest is split for ease of putting it on and held together by loops over long buttons so it’s resistant to coming off but easy to use with their long claws.

I was very happy with this, as I felt she was finally “official” now after getting something from the species creator and I was very pleased with the final features she has been given. Thank you again Sky!

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-Detailed info on Zera-

Things can change depending on the setting, I don’t have a “headworld” where things are absolute but here’s the general concrete information on what makes Zera herself.

Backstory

Zera is bigger than the average glaive wyvern, standing about a foot higher than the average in both forms. She inherited her imposing figure from her father who is one of the biggest males in her area. He was tenacious but protective and gentle. Her mother was no slouch and Zera’s curiosity of the world around her was nurtured by her. Zera was the biggest of her siblings and now as an adult is roughly the same size as her father. Because of her size she was a bully and a jerk when she was young. She abused her physical strength as she quickly learned she could get what she wanted by taking it. She wasn’t just a brute; she became deviously clever to get what she wanted, lying and reading others when she was outmatched. The life of fighting and hunting suited her well but the exposure to the outside world and tempering from those around her helped her find a little humility and much more compassion. The kindness of those she considered inferior to herself and the realization of the suffering she’d caused came to her in thanks to her exposure to the bigger, wider world and the guidance of those that saw her potential. She feels driven now to earn favor and get into a position of leadership. Despite her good intentions she is still learning that you can’t always control a situation by just taking charge.

Zera’s names weren’t just random. The markings on her face are the most significant for her, especially the one around her eyes and down her snout. The jagged marking they create has a close association to her name; it resembles the jagged form of lightning striking. StormFire is a term glaives use to refer to lightning, specifically that which causes fires. So that’s how Zera got her name! It also vaguely resembles a “Z” and so when she began dealing with others that spoke different languages she adopted the name “Zera” from it as well to avoid using her harder-to-pronounce glaive name.

Physical Notes

Zera’s feral form is large but not so large that interacting with human-sized characters is dangerous for them if she is a little careless. She might break your foot if she steps on it but accidents won’t squish you like a bug. I felt the size was perfect for being imposing while still allowing pleasant interactions with human sized characters. She’s large enough that a human sized character could ride her though she might have trouble flying/gliding. Both forms are powerfully built and incredibly strong. Neither form is fragile. Her anthro form tends to have smaller breasts that wouldn’t get in the way of rigorous physical activity. She has an extensive series of crests that run down all the way to the base of her tail, all of which are mobile and able to lift and lay flat and interlock with one another like staggered spoons. The crests grow smaller behind her head until they reach her back where they grow larger again. The biggest is about halfway down her back and they grow smaller again until the base of her tail. This gives her a “wave-like” pattern to the size of her crests. The crests and her fangs are slightly more masculine features and her tomboyish personality fits them well. These more masculine features may have caused her to be teased when she was young and may still be used as insults.

Personality notes

Zera is a driven, tough, dominant individual. She likes being in control and tends to only relish surprises when she’s giving them. She is forceful, but she doesn’t enjoy cruelty. She likes to test others, probing them for weakness or for hidden traits and to see if they can stand up to her. She doesn’t tend to act on what she finds anymore unless she is given a good reason. However, she is protective of others and knows how others come to be bullies and abuse their power. She is kind and loyal to those she comes to trust and respect, but her own driven nature ensures that very few fit into those categories to see this side of her. She is clever, and has grown curious as she has begun to discover the larger world. She enjoys the thrill of hunting and has become very good at leading hunting parties and through this, has also grown fond of learning tactics for battling others. She’s ferocious and ingenious in a fight and will take every single advantage she can get. In anthro form she is growing skilled at crafting simple things. She made her own vest herself; simple, comfortable and good for what it needs to do. She likely traded for the cloth for her lower coverings and tailored it to herself. She likes finding and trading for simple items that glaives cannot make.

Zera is a bit of a sourpuss and is not given to wild revelry or hedonism. She’s very reserved and calculated unless she is in a place and with company she trusts. She does enjoy this time where she feels she can relax the expectations she has for herself. Only with those she trusts absolutely will she ever let her grasp on any situation slip. She enjoys good stories and acting, but it is rare she will participate in them. Since Zera is often one of the first to encounter new individuals or cultures she has come to enjoy new experiences once she has determined they are safe. Glaives can be artistic but they simply lack the manual dexterity to rival other races and Zera loves being shown art and images of faraway places.

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-Description of species-

I figured I may as well write something for those that are curious. I am paraphrasing so consider everything here second-hand information unless it is said explicitly by the species creator.

Zera is a glaive wyvern, a species created by SkyShadow. There has actually been very little canon information given about the species but I try and remain faithful while taking a couple liberties here and there. Most information will be paraphrased from this description. Please read that to get information straight from the wyvern's mouth. The default setting for the species is a more generic fantasy setting but they can fit almost anywhere.

Physiology

Glaives can appear in two forms. They are not shapeshifters, the two forms are just for preference and adaptability. They are warm-blooded and have more mammalian traits than reptilian.

Glaives can appear in their original "feral" form which is much bigger and without the more humanoid features. They are about 6 feet tall at the shoulder in their usual hunched posture. Or, they can appear in an anthro form where they typically wear some kind of light clothing, use tools, etc. In this form they are usually about 6 feet tall at the shoulder as well. The anthro females and males have more humanoid shapes to their bodies and the females may or may not have breasts depending on preference. Their tails are long and prehensile. Some have crests down their necks and backs which can raise and lower and are useful for expressing mood and emotions as well as helping them to maneuver when flying/gliding. Having more and bigger crests is generally a more masculine trait.

Having only two free digits on their wings' palm, a thumb and index finger (being tridactyl) they do not have a lot of manual dexterity with their "hands". Some of this is made up by the use of their mouth/beak much like a bird. However, they also possess a very long, prehensile tongue that they can use in a way slightly similar to an elephant's trunk. This is often used for delicate or intimate situations where their claws might cause harm.

Other than breasts/body shape on the anthros there are few reliable secondary sexual characteristics to go on. Females in the bigger traditional form still tend to have wider hips. But females in both forms tend to have fewer crests, fangs and fewer or less pronounced horns on their head/body. Males often have horns on the tip of their chin as well as the horn on the tip of their upper snout. This is not an absolute however. SkyShadow often gives females longer eyelashes.

Glaives move quickly by leaping and gliding. While their slower walk might make them look ungainly they are capable of running with incredible speed by making these leaping bounds. They have excellent hearing, a good sense of smell, and great eyesight even in very dark conditions. Glaives do not possess any supernatural abilities and cannot see in complete darkness nor can they echolocate like a bat. Halitosis is probably the only breath weapon a glaive might have.

Habitat and behavior/society

Canonically they inhabit colder and temperate regions. However, their long, lanky bodies would seem to clash with biophysics under the definitions of Allen’s rule. This basically says that warm-blooded creatures would tend to reduce surface area in their body shapes if they evolve in colder climates. They do possess a thin layer of fat all across their bodies and this helps smooth out their features and keeps even the more muscular glaives like Zera from having very strong muscle definition. They would likely do well in sub-tropical and some temperate areas realistically.

They tend to live in small packs in feral form, while it appears the anthro ones can have larger and more advanced societies organized into clans and tribes. They tend to be nomadic and move to follow prey with changing seasons. Glaives communicate using trills, chatters and singing, probably much like birds or cetaceans use but they can speak most human languages with a few quirks due to their mouths and tongues. For both forms, when clans or tribes meet it often is a cause for celebration. They hunt together, share stories, dance, and mate and it can be quite a wild time to get swept up in.

Glaives have a strong oral tradition, and these stories are passed down from generation to generation. Both forms, feral and anthro, are fond of body painting. The painting is usually symbolic for the occasion. They can be artistic, but they are limited in their manual dexterity and their often nomadic nature. Only groups that stay in areas for extended periods of time tend to make more permanent artistic displays around where they dwell.

Reproduction

Canonically, the feral forms lay eggs. With the anthro form being more mammalian and the females having breasts its possible they are viviparous (have mammalian live birth). Laying eggs or being mammalian is possible with either form depending on preference. Either way, females commonly have multiple young (two or more depending on form). The newborn glaives are very smooth and lack the crests, horns, and long claws of adults save for maybe a bump on the back of their head where the crest every glaive has grows in. In anthro form they wouldn’t have teeth either to facilitate nursing. Being social, raising young is likely a group effort but it appears glaives still pair off to be mates. It’s not canon how fluid/rigid these relationships might be. I tend to think they would have preferences or mates, though how their society works in that regard is pretty open still.

While it’s certainly not canon, there’s been an amusing amount of glaive crossbreeding going on. It appears that the wyverns are fertile with an enormous variety of other species. The resulting young tend to strongly inherit the glaive wyvern body with splashes of features from the non-glaive parent.

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Zera is mine

Artwork and species created by  skyshadow