Caeli have long bodies with two pairs of arms with hands and a pair of legs with paws. An important anatomical distinction should be made between the different purposes of each pair of hands. Those secondary hands have suction pads on them, not alike those found in geckos, which are used to keep a secure hold on their eggs. They're more delicate than their front hands which is why they can be also used for finer labour like crafting whereas their front hands are strong and used to do all the harsher manual labour, including walking. Caeli also have two pairs of retractable wings that require expansion before flight. Their large number of wings functions to keep them aloft similarly to a dragonfly, where both pairs of wings are able to move around independently. On occasion, Caeli may be born with a genetic mutation causing undeveloped wings, deformation of bodily parts or skin conditions. However, this is extremely rare and often results is ostracization and in more severe cases even death due to lack of medical knowledge.
There are some defining features that are important to remember. For starters, Caeli have eyebrow spots, regardless of their colour - their shape can change from Caeli to Caeli but they must be there. Their nose appears more like a guinea pig's and is warm rather than wet, with soft fuzzy fur covering its sensitive skin and nose slits. They have forward facing eyes, with white sclera and coloured pupils. Their vision is far superior to hearing or smell, and they hunt mostly by sight. On the topic of hearing, their ears are large, reminiscent of deer in size, shape and hearing quality but vary greatly in shape. Due to their omnivorous diet, they have defined canines as well as molars that can crush both meat and vegetation. Additionally, Caeli have a flat long tongue which is soft and pink. Their bite force is astonishingly high, aimed towards crushing prey. Lastly, Caeli are monotreme meaning they lay eggs but feed offspring milk!
Behaviour Overview
Habitat Caeli live in excavated cavern and tunnel systems that they’ve created as shelter from the environment. These are often hollowed out using the sides of mountains, cliffs or hills. The caverns are made over long periods of time and are constantly being maintained to prevent cave-ins and collapse. At night, these dwellings can be seen from a distance as the bright lights from within make the dark mountain appear to glitter like stars.
Social Within these dwellings caeli live in family group called nests, often made of several nonrelated families and few individual caeli. A nest may comprise of as few as 10 to as many as 500 individuals. A nest is usually led by a single monarch called the Queen, which all other caeli follow. A Queen is often born within royal blood and is chosen by the previous Queen if there are multiple successors. They have a complex language that they use to communicate, including written text and music. Their culture is very prevalent and caeli will often stay with one partner and nest for life. Caeli technology is not very advanced, with approximately medieval level of knowledge and industry. All goods are hand-made and crafted often by the caeli themselves or family. Only within larger nests do you find specialised goods or stores. Jobs and responsibilities are chosen by the individual caeli and usually end up equally spread between all members of the nest. Ranks exist within the royal bloodline and this has influenced other caeli to also designate themselves a rank within their nest.
Diet Caeli are omnivores, meaning they eat both meat and plant matter. It is to note though that they are predators and thus are known to hunt, their prey varying from nest to nest. Another thing that varies are crops, each nest having their own distinguishable crops which they trade amongst themselves. Due to their size, Caeli require a lot of food to thrive especially to fly.
caeli ages and lifestages
Egg Stage Eggs are smooth, large, and exhibit a wide range of colours that follow a familial line of patterns. They take approximately half a caeli year to hatch and are carried by the parents using their second set of arms, making it evident when they have eggs. If parents have two eggs, they typically share the burden of carrying them.
Newborn Hatchling Newborns are clumsy, with undeveloped wings that cannot inflate well for flight. They lack horns and fur and require constant care from their parents. They drink milk from the mother and need warmth in cold weather. At this age, they can only make small sounds and are not capable of speech.
Child (15 - 35 years) Horns start to grow, wings become fuller allowing gliding and small jumps, and small patches of future hair start to appear. They become more social, learning about the world, and expanding their vocabulary.
Adult (35 - 100 years) Horns are fully grown (if present), wings are developed for flight, and fur has fully grown out. They are at peak fitness, fully grown, and mostly start searching for a mate to create a family.
Elder (100 - 150 years) Elders are between 100 to 150 years old, showing signs of aging such as greying fur and decreased energy. They are powerful due to increased size and muscle strength but are not as energetic as before.
Ancient (150+ years) Ancients are at the end of life, showing physical signs of aging like dull hair and weak wings. Caeli typically do not live past 200 years. Queens with the mutation may survive for 300 years or longer, but Queen breeding typically ceases by 200 years of age.