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Re'orra

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Description

Re'orra
Pelecanignathus thalasa ("Ocean pelican jaw", Greek pelekys [axe, pelican] + gnathus [jaw] + thalasa [ocean])
Height: 4.8 ft (1.46 m)
Length: 15 ft (4.57 m)
Wingspan: 35 ft (9.14 m)
Weight: 500 lbs (226.8 kg)
Lifespan: 40-45 years
Diet: Carnivorous
Range: All boundaries of the World Ocean (Yonder)
Offense/Defense: Powerful tail and wings, Brine Burst from mouth, stabbing beak
Status: Near Threatened
Danger Level: Low to Moderate - Handle with Care

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Reptilia
Division: Archosauria
Superorder: Pterosauroidia
Order: Drakea
Suborder: Neodrakeoidea
Superfamily: Rhynchodontidae
Family: Rhynchodontidae
Subfamily: Rhynchodontidae
Tribe: Rhynchodontidini
Genus: Pelecanignathus
Species: P. thalasa, P. pelagos

Gliding high on thermals, its eponymous bright red throat pouch visible to all creatures below, the Re'orra, also known as the Oceanic Drake or PeliDrake, is a majestic sight to see. Superbly adapted for a wholly marine existence, the Re'orra is an unusual species, in that while it has many features akin to its lineage, it is an offshoot, in that it has lost some of the features common to others of its family. Nevertheless, it is still a drake, and one of the most well-designed for its oceanic lifestyle.
There are two subspecies of PeliDrake. The first, the Oceanic Redtip Drake or Re'orra'conau, is named in both Silurian and English for the bright red tip of its beak. The second species, the Cerulean Estuary Drake or Re'orra'kaiea, is similar in build to the Oceanic Redtip, but is smaller, darker blue, and has larger areas of red on the underside of its wings and on its head and tail crests. Both species have a body covered in pale blue, waterproof fur that traps air for insulation and buoyancy, turning it into a combination fur coat and life jacket. The PeliDrake's banded, muscular tail is used as a paddle in the water and as a rudder in the air; unlike other drakes, its tail bones are separate and its tail is thick, flexible, flattened sideways, and topped with a steering fin. Its flexible, swan-curved neck allows it to dip its head completely into the water to catch fish, while its throat pouch can expand to hold up to three gallons of water at a time. Its large yellow eyes give it good eyesight, to correspond to the bright red fringes on its head and tail crests and its large wings. The wings themselves are scaly, waterproof, and turquoise, but they hamper its movement in the water, so it folds them in and uses them as makeshift flippers to help it swim. Both subspecies are Rhynchodontids, meaning that they have a tooth at the end of their beaks, but the one egg tooth is usually so small that it is barely visible save for the point at the tip of the beak.

As can be expected from their toothless but serrated bills and their expandible throat pouches, PeliDrakes eat fish, and lots of them, alongside amphibians, crustaceans, and occasionally small mammals and birds. This is why it revels in the World Ocean's bountiful food supply. The Re'orra makes its nest on beaches with an abundance of food, and prefers to roost on shores with soft sand and mud. Its webbed hands and feet displace its weight evenly, and also help it steer in flight and in the water. When flying, the Re'orra swivels the elbow struts on its wings inwards towards its body, making the wings narrower and allowing more elbow room to glide upon air currents. Over land, the wing struts turn outward, making a broader surface area for soaring flight. Regardless, when the PeliDrake spots a suitable shoal of fish, it descends unseen towards its quarry, then suddenly dips its head straight into the water, using its long neck to poke into the shoal without exposing too much of its body. It can hold several large fish in its mouth, but it has to empty the throat pouch, which takes up to a minute or so; during this time, smaller drake species can steal the catch from it while it's busy. In turn, the drake reduces its own fishing efforts by harrassing these same species until they relinquish their own meals.
In times when fish supplies are not abundant, PeliDrakes may also turn to other food sources. Consumption of land-dwelling organisms is rare, but Drakes are good at catching them. Despite their slight ungainliness on land, their erect posture and strong legs allow them to move startlingly fast over a short distance, typically 20 mph for up to 10 meters - enough to take small birds and rodents by surprise. PeliDrakes have been recorded scooping up pigeons, rabbits, and even juvenile Deltamanders, with the helpless quarry struggling for up to half an hour before going down the hatch.
With an abundant food supply, Re'orras will flourish no matter what the climate, and they are adaptable and cunning for drake species. Urban populations of Oceanic Re'orras have learned to confront humans in costal towns and villages for food, and at almost 5 feet tall as adults, they can be an imposing sight. A PeliDrake can deliver fierce jabs with its beak if things don't go its way, and its large tail and wings can also break human bone. And if that isn't enough, it can use its long-range weapon, the Brine Burst. When consuming its prey, the drake may ingest seawater along with it, so it extracts the excess salt and stores it in the gland hollow, and when provoked, it can shoot the salt-water as an irritating spray that is over 300 times saltier than seawater. The Brine Burst may not be as impressive as lightning bolts or ice blasts, but it is often enough to convince an enemy to give the drake what it wants or simply go away.
Populations of Estuary Re'orras, meanwhile, have been known to cooperate to hunt. They fly in a reverse V-formation, and their shadowy forms scare fish moving below the surface. If one gets caught up in one of the shadows, it runs the risk of being instantly snatched away. So the fish are driven into shallow water, where they are often washed up or otherwise trapped, leaving the Re'orras to feast at their leisure. Estuary Re'orras also hunt land creatures in this way; they have smaller throat pouches but more powerful jaws. As they swoop towards a flock of seagulls, they use the same reverse V-formation, keeping the seagulls inside the danger zone even as they take off, and then gobbling up as many as they can while they still can.
Re'orras are generally gregarious, and hang out in groups of dozens. These swoops aren't genetically related, but they still fly together, eat together, and harrass other drakes together. Most of the time, PeliDrake swoops consist of individuals that have known each other since their days as flaplings. In the breeding season, flocks will separate into groups of opposite genders, and the males will court the females by inflating their brighter red pouches and serenading the opposite gender with their distinctive namesake caw. If a female responds, each males will mate with her and then move on to another suitor. The eggs are buried in a suitable beach, with the females laying up to 50 eggs at a time. The flocks then convene again and leave, leaving the eggs to fend for themselves. The flaplings hatch three weeks later and emerge from the sand by the hundreds, providing a bonanza for terrestrial and aerial predators that ironically will be on the recieving end of the survivors' vengeance as adults. Survivors will head for the sea to swim and test their wings, where more will soon be taken by predatory fish and sea reptiles. Once in the air, though, flaplings will naturally gather and follow others of their kind, and join those whom they recognize from the nesting sites as friends and companions. Flocks will then migrate hundreds of miles around the world, travelling the long way from Ocassus to Azuma and back each year.

Andy says: "The Re'orra is also colloquially known as the Fisherman's Drake - and for good reason. Since they are common throughout the coastlines of Yonder, it's easy to obtain some for yourself as long as you can catch one during hatching. The babies have a sort of flocking instinct, which allows them to follow you around wherever you go. Their intelligence and worksmanship makes them both practical and entertaining fishing companions, and many coastal towns benefit from having pet Re'orras since they can track down and catch fish easily. Unfortunately, this herd mentality - or should I say, swoop mentality? - can have disastrous consequences too, since when a natural disaster comes by, as in the case of last year's NeverNeverLand Ink Spill, whole swoops of drakes may stick together in more ways than one, especially since if one makes a mistake, the rest of them will inevitably follow by the dozens to their doom."
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