Gravents
Gravents are normally small, feral species that have bird-like hands and feet with small, thin wings
that cover their ventral magic vents. These small wings have a singular thumb-like appendage to hook
into the collarbone holes when their wings are tucked in, allowing them to rest flesh with the body
and cover the magic vents on their sides. These wings can be bat-like, feathered, or a combination of both.
Their heads are often thinner, with pointed snouts that occasionally have jagged teeth on their external
mouth. Inside they have two rows of teeth, their top teeth being connected as one whole with patternings differentiating their
teeth between individuals. Their bottom teeth follow the same method, being connected and differentiating in
pattern. They tend to have a singular thick tongue (similar to that of a gecko) within their jaw.
Upon their cheeks, often connected right behindtheir eyes, is always a marking that resembles a false
eye of sorts. This marking is theorized to be used to alert other Gravents from a distance that they have eyes
on them, easily noticeable from afar due to them always having a reflecting, glowing, or opalescent sheen.
Their tails are flat and kite-like, shaped with extravagent patterns and littered with holes (often in patterns as well).
They often have feathers and fur, but can be covered partially or entirely in scales as well. Their sizes are
small, but can grow in size when they take an anthro form.
Many creatures were on Eeridi before humans existed, which included the Gravent species. Gravent’s
are creatures who often spread legends and lore as well as general information across the planet. In
the Titan Era, Gravents were often the ones that assisted in relaying info about safe places for
Skireans to go when Titans would cause great catastrophes in other areas. They are one of the first
species to focus on honing in and creating a widely-known language for others.
A Gravent is a different creature than that of the other well-known species on Skire like CCCats and Crooks -
they don't have the same luxury of contorted flexibility that the other species do, and can be considered more
similar to that of real-life cats. They're spindly and more bird-like with their limbs, but their overall
flexibility can behave that of something with very flexible skin like a cat. Their bones are relatively light,
but more dense than a real-life bird, allowing them some better structural hold for daily life and potential
crashes or skirmishes.
A Gravent's blood and innards tend to reflect their magic's dominant coloration (this often is the case with
species on Skire), though their blood can sometimes become the exact opposite of that color on a color wheel
when exposed to the natural air around them. This is assumed oxidation and different components within the
individual's blood, though the color always differs from Gravent to Gravent.
Unlike CCCats, Gravents eyes and tongues are not limited in color, and can be pretty much any color or any
mix of colors. They are also able to get tattoos and piercings, though, it can't be on their vents or their
vent wings.
Gravents are also able to change their gender. Much like CCCats and Crooks, Gravents are naturally genderless and can
adapt their bodies (with magic form shifting) to take in humanoid types of gender presentations.
Wings
Gravent's wings are extremely important for their survival - both their true physical wings as well as their
vent magic wings. If a Gravent were to not have wings, their magic would likely flood out of their systems, and
would cause them to slowly perish.
A Gravent's true wings can only appear as wings or something of a similar nature - not as additional arms, as an
example. Their size must remain relatively small, but large enough to cover their lateral side vents. These
wings are not truly usable in anything other than emoting and exposing or covering their lateral vents.
If a Gravent's vent wings are out and exposed for a long while it normally doesn't cause any major issue, but if
they are kept out over a largely extended period of time, they can suffer extreme fatigue and possibly worse effects.
A Gravent's vent magic has no specific color requirement or limitation. Their wings and magic are unique to
that individual, magic personifying itself to be best "harnessed" by the Gravent and that type of magic or
makeup of it may result in one color over another or a mix and array of them. Their vent wing's shape can only
be shaped so that they are naturally "casted" like their wings, and cannot change.
Tail
A Gravent's tail must always have a kite-like tail, though they can be tied like a ribbon and/or have knots in it. The
tails themselves are a funny material - not exactly alive, and not exactly dead - more like inanimate. They can carry
the fur over (though it is not necessary) onto the tail's texture, and they are actively able to be posed by the Gravent
itself, but they aren't skin nor have muscle/bone in them.
Hurting a Gravent's tail won't cause blood to pour, but they will still heal if harmed. A Gravent who has their tail
stepped on or cut won't feel pain, mainly just a form of discomfort. It's assumed to be a solidified form of magic
that acts as a solid ribbon, unlike their vent wings which are "loose" magic.
Body
When it comes to Gravent's feet and hands, they are limited only to bird-like limbs. This is because they are not
like Wormlings who adapt new host traits onto their 'blueprint' and instead follow a more routine appearance. Though,
their hands and feet can absolutely look like different real-life bird feet patterns and styles, as long as they remain bird-like.
Gravents are slightly smaller than humans, averaging around 5'5" amd 6' being their larger known sizes. Their vent
wings can span nearly three times their size, however.
A Gravent can lose a limb far easier than CCCats or Crooks; they don't have the same strength on regrowing them
like the aforementioned species, but it's possible for them to get these limbs healed/regrown by powerful magic casters.
There is a period of time for a Gravent to learn to understand their ability to maneuver in flight, however,
flying/foating above the ground is second-nature and comes naturally to them. Their wings are lifted by a
gravitational levitation magic so they don't normally need to fly like actual winged creatures do.
Gravents are better at speed and short-distance flying rather than longer journeys, but they can remain airborne
for almost an entire day without much issue. They can break into rapid speeds that cause their bodies to whistle and
their vent wings to stream behind them, but doing so will expend a lot of energy and tire them.
Gravents do have the ability to fly long distances for long furations, such as crossing large bodies of water,
as long as they stock up on food and prep beforehand. Doing so will usually wipe them out for a few days once
they land until they can next fly again.
Since Gravent’s don’t fly like you would see a bird fly and rather utilize their gravitational magic,
they get the majority of their speed via “dipping” continuously as they fly via momentum they catch,
while keeping their gravity and friction low when in the air. They are not built to utilize speed as
birds are, and are likely able to get only to 100-150 MPH with full control and flight in the air.
More speed than that may make them have a hard time controlling themselves while in the air. On foot,
they would probably only run about 20-25 MPH due to their claws, and the lack of gravitational magic
to aid their leaps and bounds.
Though Gravents have a large lung capacity, they still need to breathe and can't survive without oxygen very
long. They are very good at holding their breath for long periods if they dive underwater, but they're not the most
graceful of swimmers and will often prefer to not need to go underwater.
When it comes to communication, Gravents follow the similar style of Skire-wide sign language known to most
all Skire species of sentience. However, Gravents will often speak the language of the area they dropped on,
as they form in random areas usually all over Skire. They do not have their own verbal language, but they backpack
off of Dramasks in writing, who write primarily using emblem-styled fonts.
Gravents are also very good with communicating with other species overall, as they often take up life all around
Skire and even sometimes outside of Skire. They're known for their ability to be diligent workers and bringers of good or bad
news be it weather, trade, or general life happenings. This causes them to be liked by knowledge-gatherers, but often
disliked by any who try to keep secrets.
Gravents can not be a part of CCCat hives as they can not communicate telepathically, but they can be part of
hives or protections in companionship.
Family structures aren’t a normal occurrence nor an utilized structure for Gravents. They will instead
form groupings, often called a ‘gossip’ if it is with other Gravents. They usually won’t perceive
anyone as what humans’ idea of “family” is - however they may sometimes utilize these titles for the
sake of quicker understanding to others.
There may be some Gravents who create family-styled titles, but to most Gravents they are all born
without bonds so that they can form them in their life. It’s not uncommon for them to create unique
titles or nicknames for these bonds made in their lifetime. Even obtaining a title as simple as
“friend” from a Gravent is normally seen as a big deal, as it implies they intend to remember that
person and speak of them on their travels.
Eating is a necessity for Gravents, and they eat small things pretty frequently on their travels. The food
they eat goes directly into energy for their vent magic and general usage of activity for movement/surviving.
A Gravents diet consists of all sorts of different things, but their primary go-to is fish and sea-life, as
well as smaller land creatures. They can have an affinity for berries and vegetation, and their bodies are quite
strong against the majority of poisons, but they have a few things that may knock them out of business for
a few days if they're not careful.
Gravents can also get drunk or high, as they have a much easier time becoming intoxicated or poisoned as opposed to
Crooks or CCCats who can take a lot of poisons into their body without much issue.
Gravents are not limited in their magic ability to just the levitation magic that they are naturally born
with. They are able to learn more magic beyond that, and their abilities to learn them are not hindered.
Gravity/Levitation Magic for Gravents is unique in that its main focus is purely on gravitational
pull upon themselves. They can alter the direction of that pull as well as the force of it, and they
can influence it with true body movements.
A Gravent can levitate themselves off the floor without moving and have their gravity pull them
forward without moving and have their gravity pull them forward without making a single physical
movement - an invisible force acting upon their gravity. However while doing movements like this,
they may struggle to keep themselves upright. For the most part it comes almost as easy as one
shifting their weight to balance for them, but they still behave rather clumsily and usually they
do mimic flight/bird-like behaviors, because they personify their magic to help control it and know
how to best use it themselves. Thus they will flap their wings (or mimic the flapping of wings) using
this part of themselves to figure out how to be showy while balanced in the air.
Their kite tails help them know how wind may act upon them and their wings help them feel out and
balance themselves. While they don’t need to dip and dive, they love to because it’s fun. They
consider it normal for them to catch air this way, it's more strange for them to fly without this
method. They whistle and they howl as they do so, and their vent wings usually light up.
Gravents do not have the same ability to shapeshift as freely as CCCats and Crooks do, as they can only morph
into an anthro form and their feral form. They are unable to take forms like centaur or sphynx, or any other
form that a CCCat and Crook can easily shapeshift into. They are unable to adapt a true human form. [Note: Human Form Shapeshifting may change in the future, but as of current the before sentence stands.]
Gravents are not formed through Wormlings as CCCats and Crooks are - they are believed instead to be born of
magics that have escaped the hold from the land below and have begun to collect in the sky, only forming when a
unique type of magic that creates Gravents is joined with those magics.
Their production works extremely similar to rain - in that the magic will form and collect and create a sort of "raindrop"-like
egg that grows in size until it becomes so heavy the Gravent forms from it, quickly falling and making use of its
vent wing outpour to catch and parachute itself back down.
Though they do not form from Wormlings themselves, Wormlings have been known to inhabit deceased Gravent bodies, and it is
assumed this is where they got their commonly-seen holed ears for their hosts as well as levitation magic if they obtain wings.
Gravents are far more mortal than CCCats or Crooks, and their deaths can come a lot easier than the Wormling species.
They have a much higher chance of dying to large or serious injuries from bleedout or magic loss. Similarly to Crooks and CCCats,
they can spend heavy focus to heal serious injuries with magic, but they are likely unable to handle regeneration of entire limbs if lost. (Example:
Fingers, hands with focus, yes. An entire arm, no.)
[Note: This may change as their creation lore would technically allow them to pull in diverse magics they don’t directly use, which is similar to CCCats or Crooks. Though if this is further clarified at a later date and does change, they are still far more likely to die to blood or magic loss.]
Though there are creatures on Skire that age well above 100 years, Gravents are considered one of the
shorter lifespan groups for magical creatures, with 130 being their max age. They age, but most of
the time old age is not their cause of death. Usually accidents occur on their travels - be it by
their own mistake, a creature attack, or weather. Their lifespan is considered shorter than average
due to casualty caused by their travelling ways. It’s not uncommon to hear of a Gravent who has passed
around in the age range of 50-70.
For the most part, Gravents don’t age like humans in that they won’t get wrinkles or things of the
like, but will slow down a bit in their life and likely will start to travel less. They only begin
to physically show age around 80. They usually get the more-similar bird style of aging, where some
feathers or fur may just be unkept or poorly preened, they’ll have some graying of their fur and
feathers in small peppering or streaks, their claws will usually get chipped and don’t heal as well,
and their teeth will often be a bit more dulled-down. Their vent wing magic effect will appear as
less “clean”, it may appear as wobbly for example, and they will often struggle to heal as well as
they once did. Usually in a Gravent’s older age, they will retell stories they experienced or learned
to young or newly-hatched Gravents who seek to start an adventure.
When a Gravent dies, they don't suffer the same dusting effect that CCCats or Crooks do upon their death - they normally decompose and will
often have pieces left of them. The first thing to often fade are their tails, often their hands and feet remaining last.
Per usual with cannibalistic tendencies of sentient species, the same goes for Gravent cannibals, being
extremely frowned upon by others of the species and not easily welcomed. However, unlike CCCats who can
see and smell a cannibal of their own kind, a Gravent does not suffer magic mixing effects, noticeability,
or harm from cannibalism. They can be a cannibal without others around them knowing, however, Gravents
have a pretty lengthy ‘news’ system. This ‘news’ system informs them quickly and easily of events going
around the world and especially on Skire. Word travels fast, otherwise, and if a cannibal is found they
will likely be known about by more than just the Gravents.
It is rumored that the Gravents had influence on the Kite Carcass tradition of kite-flying for those
who had recently departed, though Gravents won’t often take credit for it. This influence is believed
to stem from a legend about an older Gravent who claimed the spirit of the titan remained, and they
would need to put on a facade for the departure of their friend so the spirit would not claim them.
So the inhabitants of Kite Carcass made and flew colorful kites, had parties, and made loud noises
with their whistles and cheers to fool the titan’s spirit into believing that person was still alive
and was celebrating before they left the land, so that the spirit would not think it could claim them.
It’s unknown if it’s truly something a Gravent inspired, but many of the longer-term residents of Kite
Carcass will say that it is the case, and it’s why Gravents love their festivals and parties. Some in
Kite Carcass believe that Gravents are naturally good at “lifting spirits” because of this - both
metaphorically and literally. It has become tradition to do this, and thus why it has become known
more commonly as “Kite Carcass”.
“Communication is the most powerful weapon.” Was the primary thought behind Gravents’ creation. The
thought of fighting among the titans as large beasts purely of violence was not desired. This creator
thought that the best way to keep their species alive was to keep them small, smart, and have them able
to pass along information to not only their own kind but others they could ally with. It was effective and led
to them working, though Gravents became a species not interested in fights.
Gravents are assumed to have a Creator like other creations on Skire and Eeridi, but it is unknown if
they have guardian figures like CCCat gods.