#nymbak

[skycowboys]

This here is a male nymbak. They have boney heads, like a ram's horn was flattened over his skull so they can bash things in the air. Their fluff contains buoyant gasses. They normally roost on the sides of cliffs, hanging on with their wing claws.  

I'm thinking the fluff can be oily near the skin - the oil gives off natural fumes which collect in air-tight pockets near the body and naturally filters out slowly through the rest of the fluff. The fumes/gasses give the nymbak some buoyancy - allowing flight for an animal that would not normally be able to lift off. Baby nymbak have SO much fluff - they look like little cottonwood seeds floating along in the air. 

The people of the world cultivate nymbak for their fluff/wool to be spun into cloth, and for their natural oils to be used to make lamp oil and such. The oily fluff near the body can even be spun into waterproof fibers. Pilots who ride pegasi drive swarms of nymbak south across the land each summer like areal cattle drives.

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[skycowboys]

What else lives in the upper sky?

Do lightning fish have "Filter- feeder" Cousins? ..sort of "Air Whales"? ( They could be smaller)

They could live off of tiny air born, plants and bugs.

Perhaps even swooping low, over meadows to gather more, bigger insects. (Eventually evolving into larger carnivorous types, like we see today??

Hi!

That all sounds COOL and I'll make a note in my lorebook, but as of right now the lightning fish rule the upper skies. Doesn't mean there won't be creatures added :)

Nymbak are low-altitude creatures and they roost on the sides of chasms rather than staying in the air all the time.

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

Jufly day 13 - Swarm

Despite being like...85% floof, nymbak will form a surprisingly strong swarm around the queen to protect her from anything they deem a threat. For pilots intent on capturing the swarm, they need to get to her, for where she goes, the swarm goes. 

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[skycowboys]

Do Pegasi have any other natural predators? Like I know there’s the bush cats and lightning fish, but would a regular lion be able to take down a zebra Pegasus? Or do Pegasi just have very few natural predators. And would they play a large part in any ecosystems?

Hi there!

Pegasi don't have very many natural predators - bush cats and lightning fish are the two main ones like you mentioned :)

I've been working mostly with a region that has ecosystems and terrain similar to North America (mostly because I live here and know this landscape better than anywhere else), so I haven't really fleshed out more Saharan/African grasslands environments yet. I'd like to do so later after I'm done with a story for this region that I'm working on but for now the main world sandbox is the Windy Wing Basin.

All that aside, yes a normal lion probably could take down a pegasus but it'd be very hard for them to do. They'd probably go for small hoofed animals or even nymbak when given a choice.

As for ecosystems, yes pegasi do play a part and they do migrate. Their role isn't as massive as, say, wildebeest herds which usher in continent-wide changes, but pegasi are roughly migratory, often nesting at the same ancestral places and moving from meadow to meadow or across grasslands as the season change. That said, some breeds stay in tighter territories like downy broadwings - they rarely venture very far south at all since they're so well-fitted for arctic weather. Generally speaking carnivores can't rely on pegasi for a steady migratory pattern so pegasi's impact on the other animals is more sporadic and carnivores have adapted to hunt smaller more reliable prey.

I hope all of that makes sense :)

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

how would ranches work? would they have roofs? or would there just always be possibility of escapes?

Hi! Good ask!

Most pegasi need a decent amount of space (tens of yards) to get into the air, as they need to get into a gallop (or at the least a quick canter) in order to get airborne, like an airplane going down a runway. If a rancher is needing to keep pegasi contained, then they need to keep pegasi in paddocks sized just small enough to prevent take-offs.

That said, most ranchers that deal with pegasi as livestock tend to deal with one specific breed and settle a ranch on that breed's natural home grounds. For example, Holli owns the Matalutke Homestead.

She has laid claim to a herd of deepwood broadwings deep in the heart of the Shandy Mountains by way of branding a healthy selection. Her ranch is located near where those pegasi naturally choose to breed and raise their young, allowing Holli to round up and manage the herd when she needs to. It's not in a convenient location by any means, but with pegasi it's reachable.

Under her care, the herd's genetic pool has flourished and she makes a good living on raising and selling Deepwood pegasi to pilots.

For specific pegasi that need special attention, they'll often be housed in large covered paddocks, or paddocks with poles and ropes forming "walls" that dissuade a pegasus from taking off. Most ranchers understand that keeping a pegasus in a small stall doesn't work well as they tend to be more energetic than the average horse in our world. Covered paddocks are expensive though, so ranchers are often at the whims of the weather and climate of their location. So if you want to manage snip-tails, you'll have to live on the coast. If you want to breed dune-hoppers, you'll live in the Sentomia Desert.

Nymbak are similar. Since they can fly, they won't respect fences. But if you capture their queen and keep her tethered, the swarm will stay where she is.

That said, cattle do exist in this world so ranchers who manage them do so the "old-fashioned" way :)

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

Do Nymbak get branded like cows to tell which belongs to who, or do they do something else, like tagging the ears?

Hello!

Yeah they totally would! They'd get branded as ear tags would add weight.

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

Question; like there are some wild horses still around (only know one off the top of my head), are there pure wild pegasus that can't be tamed? Almost like zebras or such

And besides pegasus, are there any other horse like creatures with similar traits; i.e wings for flying, maybe something just to glide, or take after goats for advance climbing or leaping to make it appear like they can fly

Maybe a creature that has the advance jumping of some horse breeds, but takes more after the goat, maybe for a "unicorn" (maybe just two horns that look like one from a angle, or something like a rhino or narwhal) that can travel from one place to another easily; it evolved that way

Hello!

Yeah! Scrapwings are basically that - pegasi that can't be tamed :)

Yep! Nymbak are gazel/sheep/bat things that have wings used both for lift and as rudders in the air as they float along, held aloft by their buoyant cotton fluff

Currently there are also little gliding lizards, but I haven't drawn those yet. I also don't have any other hoofed creatures that are flying as of right now :)

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

Do perytons exist in this world?

I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT THOSE WERE CALLED THANK YOU.

Uhhh sorta. There's the nymbak, that's basically a flying antelope. They're a very common animal in the SC world, and are the general livestock that pilots herd around (similar to cattle). I'll be updating them soon, but the link is still pretty acceptable info.

But then there's the Lorebok, that's a mythic version of the nymbak with a book between a massive set of antlers that contains all knowledge. I've not drawn one yet, but now I want to

~ Larn

[skycowboys]

An Opal Broadwing - inspired by a Nicobar Pigeon. 

These pegs are rare and highly sought-after by performers and color enthusiasts alike. Often they are kept simply as the trophy of a herd for fear of dirtying or marring their beautiful coats. In their native region, they are given as expensive, lavish gifts between royalty and the upper class. Sometimes they are even given as a dowry. 

 One of these beautiful pegasi is famously owned by legendary bandit Hennison “Scrubs” Foyer.

He's notorious for looting and robbing while in the air, often cornering his victims against cliff sides, giving them no room to maneuver. He's also a damned good knife fighter on the ground. He doesn't seem to go after one particular thing, instead being opportunistic in his attacks, preferring to keep encounters mano a mano. He'll even single out cowboys on nymbak drives if they stray too far from their posse. 

 Legend has it no one's ever seen his face, and his poncho is allegedly sewn together of the blue scarves from the many, many pilots he’s robbed or killed over the years. His own scarf is blank; it bears no pins, signets, or mark of factions or training. Every now and again a brash soul has the guts to claim to have bested Scrubs by parading around a blank scarf, but their blood always runs cold when he shows up to dispute those claims.

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[skycowboys]

Your recent post about mini pegs sparked the idea of a little barnyard animal that's a chicken mixed with a goat or maybe a dik-dik which is an image I just wanted to share with you

Hello!

That's a fun idea!

I've always seen farm/barn animals as a bit more "normal", but I do have a domesticatable animal that's flying and goat/sheep-like.

I call it a nymbak! They have light, fluffy wool that grows on their backs and can be sheared like sheep. Males have big tusks that they use to dive-bomb and skewer threats or rivals.

- Lauren

[skycowboys]

Jufly day 6 - "Prey"

Bushcats are known for taking down nymbak, but sometimes they prey upon young pegasi who aren't paying attention.

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[skycowboys]

Are all ungulates in the world winged, or just the horses? Please, we need an ostrich elephant, or a condor llama, or a secretary bird camel.

Great question!

Nymbak I think would be an example of a gazelle-like winged creature:

To be honest, beyond the nymbak, silverfish, and bushcats, I haven’t done too much work on other fauna...they tend to pop up as I need them. I can tell you that normal deer/other hoofed animals do exist, though they’d be a bit different based on their location on the chasms. 

I liken it to how the birds of the Galapagos islands have been highly micro-evolved due to their isolation on their islands to how the animals in the SC world have changed and evolved to fit their own isolated ecosystems due to the chasms. 

However, that’s not to say that each animal from our world has a winged counterpart in the SC world.  As I keep building, I’m looking for or creating what I think the world itself would produce based on the rules I’ve given it. Hope that makes sense!

But also....I want to draw a condor llama just for kicks now.

- Lauren

[skycowboys]

Hello! So I have a couple questions, because your entire world for pegasai is amazing and has really intrigued me and curiosity has struck me thanks to your approach on these fantasy creatures!

so I know that the pegasai have bush cats as (main?) predators, have you made any other larger predatory animals that could catch said pegasai? Or have you considered any others that could potentially hunt them?

Also, are there pegasai bred specifically for providing food for humans, either for meat or eggs perhaps? (Like how chickens lay eggs, or are eggs just from breeding?) Or are they just companions/work pegasai for humans?

[I'm hope it doesnt seem like to I'm begging for more predators, just curious if you've thought or considered there might be others?]

I hipe you have a lovely day/night! :D

Hello hello hello!

Yeah! Bush Cats are def a main predator. Think lion/cougar that can JUMP. Another pegasi predator are Silverfish. Those are areal predators that attack from high altitudes. 

Bears and wolves also exist, and can sometimes bring down pegasi if the pegasus is sick/injured. I hope to do more work with predators in the near future!

Like horses in the Americas, (and most of the rest of the world), pegasi are used as working/companion animals as their value as an intelligent, mobile animal far exceeds their value for food. Nymbak would be the equivalent of a livestock animal cultivated for food and other resources. Also, cows do still exist, they just don’t fly.  I imagine peg eggs are only eaten out of extreme desperation. 

I hope you have a great night, too!

- Lauren

[skycowboys]

SCA: Day’s End - Chapter One

The setting sun turned the scattered clouds orange, pink, and red-gold, highlighting the cover he could use to conceal their silhouette from the ground, but Rorek barely noticed. He ached. His arms, his legs, his seat - his whole body protested the hours spent in the saddle with nothing but some nymbak jerky to tide him over. 

His mind drifted longingly to thoughts of soft beds and hot meals, but Rorek had heard tell of a big bandit gang in this area and that kept him just alert enough to stay in the saddle. The last thing he wanted was to be caught off-guard, in the air or on the ground. 

According to his map, he was close to the haven at Carver Canyon Falls, an old inn he'd heard was good, but never visited himself. A week to rest. Maybe two. That was what his broadwing, Apel, would need before making the long trip back to Vale. 

Back to his wife and daughter. Back home.

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