Valkyries are dragon/wolf/horse/fish/bird hybrid creatures that live on the planet of Somia. The males are pretty different from the females with their facial horns and brighter colors, not to mention their larger size. The females are smaller with duller colors, used to blend into their surroundings to escape attacks by rival Valkyries that want to kill their offspring, and they also have extra fins on their front legs to help swim faster so they can hunt for their hatchlings.
Somia is mostly covered in water, hence the creature's gills and fins. There is only a few small patches of land the Valkyries can get to, but there is a very large patch of land the size of America (not including the Mexican peninsula). On this larger patch of land, many Valkyries stay and call the land their home. Not many Valkyries go farther than a few miles inland, away from the beaches. The beaches are the center of their habitat, they can't be more than 10 miles from a water source since their lives revolve around the presence of water and the tides of the seas. The tides are their version of our seasons, they change and are vital to the creature's lives and in turn the lives of the other smaller animals that live on Somia. The high tides are called the times of Deep Water and are present during winter, which is their breeding season, and during summer, which is when their eggs hatch and the parents must go out and hunt in the seas to feed their offspring. The lower tides, also called the Dry Times, are present during spring and fall when most of the Valkyries are more docile and not as active. During the Dry Times, the Valkyries tend to head away from the beaches and into the thick tropical forests to hunt the smaller animals that live in the trees and in dens on the ground.
Creature Name:
Valkyrie
Lifespan:
They can live up to 100 years, almost like humans
Hatch -> 10 years = Hatchling
10 years -> 18 years = Adolecent
18 years -> 50 years = Adult (breeding age)
50 years+ = Elder/Death
Home Planet:
A vast planet called Somia, 90% covered by water, their main land is 5% of the land mass the other 5% is smaller islands that most Valkyrie can't get to. Also hasn't been discovered by humans, Somia is nearly ten times older than our earth.
Habitat:
During the Deep Waters they can be found on or around the costal regions and beaches. They breed and lay their eggs on the beaches, near a large supply of water, salt or not. During the Dry Times they can be found in the tropical forests that covers the rest of their main land. This is where they hunt and mingle while the sea tides are too low for them to hunt marine life without being in competition with each other.
Diet:
Fish and marine life while the tides are high, but will resort to hunting smaller animals in the forests when the tides are lower. They are almost completely carnivorous, but will eat the wild and addictive fruits that grows in the tropical forest when they can't find any animals to hunt.
Appearance:
Male Valkyries are larger than the females and have facial horns that the females don't. They stand about 8 feet at the shoulder and have a wingspan of about 16 feet. They also weigh nearly twice as much as a full grown horse. The female Valkyries are smaller and leaner with a wingspan up to 12 or 13 feet and stands about 6 to 7 feet at the shoulder. The females also have extra fins on the backs of their front legs to help them swim faster while hunting in water, which is mostly due to the fact that they are the ones that normally hunt for their offspring, the males just protect them.
As for the colorings of the Valkyries, the males have the flashy bright colors that they use to attract the females into their herds and can flush blood into their wings to scare off any rival males that threaten to take his females. Females have the duller colors and aren't as flashy since they don't need to attract any attention to themselves like the males do, plus their dull colors help camouflage them while they hunt in the water and in the forest.
The markings of the Valkyries are about the same for both genders, stripes across their hindquarters and sides, but males have more that trail down their back legs and tails. There are some Valkyries that have different markings, but stripes is the normal kind.
Behaviors:
Like horses, Valkyries tend to live in rather large groups called herds on land and pods in water. There are normally up to 20 creatures in one herd/pod and they are led by one large male called the Takal. Usually each group is made up of one Takal and many assorted females, but some times a very dominant Takal will allow one or two of his sons to stay within his group. When this happens, the Takal's sons are kept away from any females in heat by either the Takal himself, or some of his loyal females. Normally, the sons will end up leaving on their own to try their luck at attracting their own females with the different methods they learned from watching their father.
As stated above, Valkyries are very similar to horses. The leader of the group, the Takal, will breed with all the females in his group, just like a horse, but there are a few exceptions. Some of the creatures will take only one female as a life-mate. This normally happens with older males that hae trouble attracting and keeping a group of females. The Valkyries breeding season is during the colder Deep Waters (winter) when there is plenty of fish and other prey for the males to catch and use to attract the females. Females can only be bred once a year when they are between 18 and 50 years. They breed in the "winter", which is the colder Deep Waters, and then lay their eggs at the end of "spring", the first of the Dry Times, or the beginning of "summer", which is the warmer Deep Waters. The eggs hatch a few weeks later and the parents must bring food back to the new hatchlings since they don't drink milk or hunt for themselves. The mothers are the one that usually get the food for the hatchling since the males are too busy protecting the young from rival males that want them dead so the mothers go back into an early heat and the desperate females that want to steal a hatchling after either theirs have died or wasn't bred in time.
Hatchlings stay with their mother until the age of 10 when they become adolesents. Once an adolecent, the offspring can hunt and feed themselves, but still needs the protection of a group. Once the adolecent turns 18 though, they become adults and the males are kicked out of the group by their parents, just like horses. The female offspring normally wonder farther and farther from the group until she is taken away by a rival male, the father isn't very protective of the daughters once they become of age, no one likes inbreeding.
