Category:Scythetail

"Deadly Creatures they kill by maiming and have no respect for other predators or the enlightened. They Chose to go their own way long ago. They are quite barbaric, and jealous of our mutual advancements." -Murr (A Gryphon) to a young Shivae

Scythetails are normally agressive animals that do not like sharing their territories with other predators. This is not always the case if there is only one or two. It's more of an occurance when you have a very large pack of more than five members. The boney plate at the ends of their tails grows dull, but is often chipped to a fine edge by repeated thwacking on rocks. The Scythetails use their tails as well as an impressive array of claws and teeth to bring down their prey. They lack a good grip with their jaws that would allow them to hold onto moving prey, so they tend to 'bleed' their prey to death. They are fast predators, but not as fast as Shivae and rely more on brute strength when things aren't going their way. Coloration is normally shades of blue with black stripes, but other variations do occur.

They stand about 3-4 feet at the shoulder, with females tending to be larger, weighing 300 - 500 pounds. They typically only get a bit over two times the size of a Shivae (And even that's rare) and it's the females that get that big. Not all of them do, but these are the matriarchs of their clans and ... typically only the matriarch breeds. It's clutching and diet that increase their size.[1] A good sized clan will often have a huge matriarch. It should also be noted that there are several kinds of Scythetails, categorized by their tail shapes and size. They're generally wide, heavy-bodied reptiloids. They do have grasping forepaws and the inner digit has more mobility than the other two toes, not quite as opposable as a thumb. The tail's rodlike for that stinging slap of the bladed tail and balance. The bone blade itself held normally would definately bruise a person if it smacked them in the knees. It's only lethal when turned so that the sharp edges are exposed. Their teeth tend to be longer than those of shivae or whips due to the fact they tend to use their teeth more for causing damage, rather than to maintain a grip.

Scythetails generally eat everything, whether it talks or not, though not all of them do.

Scythetails and Shivae will not fight each other during a flood anymore than a bit of snipping and snarling since they're both merely trying to survive. Scythetails are more pack oriented than Shivae, they will tend to return to their lands and not wander very far. Any displaced Scythetails will not wander from their territory, especially not during a flood because they fear losing their preferred haunts.

Scythetails also... while being hostile, will not typically go anywhere near a Shivae with chicks. Shivae are far more dangerous than Scythetails. They can live in the same lands.. they would live differently and probably avoid Shivae for the most part just because. These scythetails will more than likely attack any approaching Scythetails.

They are able to climb thick trees.

Scythetails, while they are pack creatures, are monogomous mate for life types... unless you're the pack leader - they can have as many mates as they want as long as they can provide for them. Scythetails can come into season at interesting intervals, anytime during the spring through the early summer and it IS possible for them to clutch eggs for a full month, laying one a day and letting them incubate in the sun or a warm area. You could end up with 30 hatchlings, each one a different size. (They usually clutch in early spring, 6 to 15 eggs at a time, not all survive, obviously.)

Problem is,... if they're not careful and watched, the older hatchlings if not well fed will eat their younger siblings. This danger, fortunately, is only in a two week span. Scythetail chicks don't do much thinking for their first two weeks - they just want to eat and learn to use their legs. Scythetails ONLY lay eggs when they're fertilized, and if allowed to survive, the most recently laid eggs will actually end up becoming the strongest chicks because their embryos spent more time in the uterus.

And female Scythetails,.. get very very nice and overpleasing during their cycles.

• note - giant scythetails like Lord Dior and winged scythetails like Taun have been genetically modified and are not naturally occurring

Domesticated scythetails have the intelligence of a very smart sheepdog, and are often used to tend herds. The tail is wrapped in cloth when very young to help mold it and keep it blunt, and they're never taught how to sharpen them, making the tail more of a club than a cutting weapon.

They are also sometimes used like a bloodhound, since few animals on Cyantia have a better sense of smell than a scythetail. [2]

It should also be noted that there are possibly a very small number of scythetails that can speak normal Cyantian languages due to being a decendant of Dior, the only example of which seen so far is Lenisa who appears to be decidedly friendly, polite, and non-hostile (and thus keeps her tail rounded rather than sharp).