Wyverns

[Erol of Backford]

Wondering if you were to somehow befriend a wyvern and it became your mount, how much food does it need each day under normal activity.

How many pounds of meat and how much water.

Let's take a crocodile as an example, these carnivores are capable of eating wild pigs, deer, kangaroos and even cattle or wild buffalo...

Looking at Nose Ring and his mount, guessing Albus is about the same size.

Knowing Albus is much more active than a lazy saltwater crocodile I'd assume it eats much more frequently. Guessing maybe half a large pig or 2-3 trollkin a month? They are not as meaty.

Sorry if this has been discussed before but the thought as to feeding mounts and doing other mundane daily events usually have not been focused on as sewing your ripped loincloth or washing them are not usually leading to MGF. Well unless you are playing an Eurmali?

Any input sensical or not is appreciated.

 

  

[g33k]

Depends on how "sensical" you want your biology to be.

Realistically, croc's have that low metabolism, and rest a *LOT* of the time; to sustain flight (let alone the extra work of passengers & gear) takes a very very high metabolism (think "big cat" "polar bear" etc), likely 15+ kg's of meat every day.

Edited September 23, 2023 by g33k

[Erol of Backford]

1 hour ago, g33k said:

likely 15+ kg's of meat every day

So 2 large hogs a month or 4-5 trollkin.

[g33k]

54 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

So 2 large hogs a month or 4-5 trollkin.

Yes, but eating a portion daily.  The reptilian gorge-then-digest pattern doesn't support the higher metabolism (and lower weight) needed for flight.

But, of course, Glorantha does have a few magical principles 😆 so you don't have to adhere strictly to real-world examples...

[Joerg]

TLDR: At a guess, a wyvern might want about a quarter of its Size in meat and/or innards a day. That's half an adult pig, or two or three marmots or rubble runners.

 

Wyverns had their origins as emanations of dragons having sex dreams, a specialized form of dream dragons. Perhaps due to the sexual nature of their origin the wyverns continued to have sex, and their offspring have become a draconic species with rather normal bodies and appetites, unlike the dream dragons who seem to share the True Dragon trait of long periods of meditative hibernation without any need of physical sustenance.

True Dragons control the energies and matter of the world around them, and can take sustenance from that. Greater draconic creatures might be able to do so to some extend, while still getting some visceral enjoyment and great sustenance out of actually devouring stuff.

Wyverns (other than those generated from wet dreams) would be warm-blooded predators similar to say Utah-raptors in size, although possibly a bit less bulky. Their wings seem to use chiropteran (bat) anatomy rather than pterodactyl anatomy. I would expect them to glide on updrafts rather than actively creating lift by beating their wings most of the time, making the food intake of big birds like condors or albatroses a good yardstick.

Wyverns are slightly more massive than griffins, somewhat less massive than sky bulls or wyverns. Giant Pteranodons seem to have the same stats except for the lack of a tail and different hit locations.

Prey is picked up with the teeth, larger prey is stunned first with the tail. Their natural habitat seems to include high mountain slopes beyond the tree border, which makes hunting mountain goats (ibex, chamois) or large marmots a likely source of their natural sustenance. Over open plains like the Praxian chaparral, they would swoop onto smaller beasts like impalas or calves of some of the larger Eirithan beasts. Pigs would be a good alternative to the juicy marmots, but don't often venture out of tree cover. As food for domesticated wyverns, pigs might be ideal.

Carrion would be another natual source for sustenance. As flying carnivores, wyverns would find dead beasts in a large area, and their size and armament allows them to fight off other beasts of prey, or even add them to their diet after their venomous sting takes effect.

Wyvern venom would be a valuable commodity for alchemists. Production of venom comes with a physiological price. If the venom is used to turn prey into docile dishes, it should not be noxic when ingested, only when injected, or otherwise the wyvern should have some immunity to it. Other carrion-eaters might have tolerance, too.

The Bestiary doesn't give suggestions about how many loads of venom a wyvern might be able to inject - a definite oversight when using wyverns as mounts.

[Erol of Backford]

9 hours ago, g33k said:

The reptilian gorge-then-digest pattern doesn't support the higher metabolism (and lower weight) needed for flight.

Understood, as you mentioned 15kg+ a day, trollkin hunch Monday, left leg Tuesday, etc. 

If they come from the Lunar Empire I assume they understand New Pelorian at a low level but how do they communicate themselves, maybe they speak Auld Wyrmish to each other?

6 hours ago, Joerg said:

Wyverns are slightly more massive than griffins, somewhat less massive than sky bulls or wyverns. Giant Pteranodons seem to have the same stats except for the lack of a tail and different hit locations.

Both are a good bit larger than hippogriffs, by say 5-7 SIZ points.

Griffins seem a lot more intelligent as equal to humans... One note from Strangers in Prax was that Wyverns are able to learn spells if taught but hippogriffs do not show a stat for INT in the Bestiary nor in Pegasus Plateau?

Are Wyverns able to join a cult. Let's say they had an INT of 10-12 on the high end. Would an Orlanthi cult let them join if they had a sponsor? Hadn't thought about flying mounts as being initiates but surely highly intelligent Griffins would join cults possibly, IIRC they sometimes visit the Sun Dome in Prax.

 

[soltakss]

17 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

Wondering if you were to somehow befriend a wyvern and it became your mount, how much food does it need each day under normal activity.

How many pounds of meat and how much water.

In my Land of Ice and Stone supplement for Legend, I had it that people needed to eat their SIZ in Food Points per day, with Food Points being derived from many sources, but animals supply SIZx10 Food Points. So, using that logic, a carnivorous Wyvern should eat its SIZ in Food Points per day, or its SIZ/10 in meat per day. So, the Coder's Wyvern would need to eat approximately SIZ 3 in meat per day. Of course, it can eat larger meals less frequently, so it can devour a SIZ 18 person every 6 days, for example. An average wild boar is SIZ 19, so provides 190 Food Points if completely devoured, so lasts for about 6 days.

Edited September 23, 2023 by soltakss

[mfbrandi]

4 hours ago, Erol of Backford said:

This picture is hilarious. It is as if someone thought “let’s draw a picture of a dinosaur — with wings!” but forgot that we all know what winged dinosaurs look like — we see them every day — and it is not like that. 😉

Edited September 23, 2023 by mfbrandi
smaller picture

[Joerg]

1 hour ago, mfbrandi said:

This picture is hilarious. It is as if someone thought “let’s draw a picture of a dinosaur — with wings!” but forgot that we all know what winged dinosaurs look like — we see them every day — and it is not like that. 😉

You are aware that Wyverns are the products of wet dreams? These bat-winged, barbed tailed outsized chickens fit that bill in that "ILM adds a few reptiles to the original Star Wars trilogy" way. (Southern Genertelan) Dragons don't have feathers. Their neotenic form bears a name taken from the amphibian end of the reptile evolutionary kin.

The poison-barbed tail end makes me wonder whether that might serve a dual purpose as reproductive organ in the charming parasitic wasp way.