Keirolté (keer-ohl-tay)

(This article is still a WIP, so expect occasional updates for readability, context, and additional information on biology and abilities. ~AuraGuard/Rilaméth)

Basic Information

Anatomy

Keirolté are feline-like quadrupeds, with females averaging about an inch or two (2.5 to 5.1 cm) more in overall size than the males. They have long bodies with long legs, with a moderate length neck and a thin tail that is almost as long as the body. A long row of short, but sharp spines flows down the back, interrupted only at the shoulders.
Eye colour varies, frequently being the colour of a brilliant gemstone (most common being sapphire or emerald, with topaz and ruby being notably less common, and other colours less common still). Their irises are frequently flecked with metallic or white specks, in such a way as to initially make them appear faceted. Pupils are slitted, and the sclera (eye whites) are rarely seen.
They also have feathered wings that are over twice their own length from tip to tip, and deep chests with a sternal keel. Their fur covers their bodies and is of a moderate length, though short on the head, tail, and lower limbs.
Colouration is most commonly tawny or fawn, though melanistic, erythristic, and leucistic examples exist. Whatever their colouration, their most common markings are a form of sparse tapir-like markings seen intermittently throughout the coat.
The wings are usually a darker colour than the body, with banding and the primaries fade to be almost black at the tips. The underside of the wing is lighter than the upperside, though still slightly darker than the fur on the body.

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Keirolté can assume a hybrid or humanoid form at will, with the hybrid form retaining very similar hind legs to their natural form and usually has a human-like head and face while otherwise mostly retaining the natural form’s traits with an upright posture.
A keirolté’s humanoid form can be of whatever humanoid species they are familiar with, though the irises, pupils, and skintone generally remain the same, with the hair usually mimicking fur colour and patterns. They may retain their wings and tail in this form, but may also choose to do away with them if they are trying to fit in.

Genetics and Reproduction

Keirolté reproduce the same as any mammal, with live births. The female goes into heat once a year, during the early spring or late winter, and if she does not already have a chosen mate, then males may show off or fight for her (depending on the males and female in question).
A male's display involves showing that he has a desirable level of strength, health, and fitness to make his genetics a good candidate to pass on. Frequently this involves a lot of running, carving the female a new den, and/or complex flight patterns meant to test and show off the male's agility.
When fights break out between two males vying for a female, it is rarely fatal, with the loser determined by who backs down first - the exception being if it is a one-sided fight where the weaker refuses to back down, in which case the stronger may win the female's favour by voluntarily ending the fight instead of continuing to pound the weaker male into the dirt.
Once a male and female pair off - whether permanently or temporarily - they take flight or dimension fade to somewhere private and mate. This mating may take anywhere from one to three days, with many repeated attempts.
Once the female's heat ends, the male stays near her, and they hunt and rest together while waiting to learn of if their mating was successful. Keirolté gestation is roughly one hundred days long, or slightly less than four months, with the mother able to tell if she is pregnant about three to four weeks in.
If the female is pregnant, then the male will stay with her for the duration of her pregnancy and will hunt for her, while she focuses on preparing her den for the arrival of her cubs. This usually involves forming of a flat nest made of grasses, leaves, and fur, with large rocks moved to form a line in the den's entrance to keep young cubs from being able to easily leave (and to help hamper predators).
The cubs are born in the summertime, usually a litter of three to five (with as few as one and as many as six having been recorded), and are quite small.

Growth Rate & Stages

Keirolté, though born small, grow very fast and have ravenous appetites during the first few years of their lives.
For the first month of a cub's life, it is blind and deaf, having only smell and astral sight to rely upon to find its mother. The wings are covered with soft white down, with the fur being a dark, muddy brown to start with. A newborn cub is able to crawl, chirp, and spit, weighing in at only three pounds (1.3 kg.).
By the second month of life, a keirolté cub will have tripled its weight and size, and at around this time is when its eyes and ears open. The iris colour is uniformly blue at this time, with the rare exception of those with ocular albinism, which causes pink or lavender eyes. A cub learns to walk at this time as well, and may learn a small handful of words in the kierolté language.
At the age of six months, a keirolté stands a little over a foot at the shoulder (over 31 cm.), with the wings beginning to fledge to their juvenile plumage. It is also at this time where the cub is weaned off the mother, with the mother and father bringing their cubs fresh kills and occasionally live small animals to practice on. Most keirolté are quite agile on their feet at this age, though some occasional clumsiness is still expected.
By the end of a cub's first year of life, their wings are fully fledged to their dark brown juvenile plumage, they stand two feet (61 cm.) tall at the shoulder, and their irises either begin to take on their final colour or remain blue permanently. They are capable of holding relatively simple conversations and are mentally the same maturity as a human five-year-old.
A keirolté learns to fly soon after their plumage fully comes in, and by this time may have had their first successful hunt on the ground. The plumage of a juvenile lacks any markings and matches their cub coat, which also lacks any markings. Their first flying lessons are simple and short, usually little more than fifteen feet (4.6 m.) off the ground - a keirolté's legs are quite capable of absorbing the shock of a fall from that height.
At about two years old is when a keirolté's more supernatural abilities begin to develop, most notable being the dimensional fading that they are known for. This ability is dangerous for novices to use, and is the primary source of cubhood fatality rates - since it is instinctive to resort to it in response to danger, keirolté parents are very thorough in training their cubs in safe usage, though invariably deaths do occur - approximately thirty percent of keirolté cubs die to dimensional fade mishaps, even with all the precautions from their parents.
It is soon after their dimensional fade ability becomes more developed that a keirolté gains a deeper access to their soul gem, which they may draw energy from in the form of a powerful white beam of energy. At this age, a keirolté cannot sustain the beam for more than a short, one-second burst, and is trained to be able to use or suppress it at will.
Perhaps due to their supernatural abilities' energy-demanding natures, a keirolté's growth begins to slow at this age, having reached four feet (122 cm.) at the shoulder - past this point, a keirolté's growth becomes much slower, though their appetite is no less voracious due to the aforementioned developments.
At the age of two and a half years, a keirolté's coat begins to lighten from a dark muddy brown to a lighter shade, though it does not yet gain the slight golden tone of an adult's coat. Faint, intermittent tapir-like markings also begin to show, and the eyes are their final colour by this point.
By the age of three, most cubs have mastered their dimensional fade ability and have mentally matured to the equivalent of thirteen-year-olds. They also will have become adept enough at flight to hunt from the air, though airborne hunting success rates are usually low for the first few months.
A keirolté cub will be reasonably successful hunting on the ground at this age, and is able to hold complex conversations with their parents, peers, and others - it is around this age that most keirolté are taught any additional languages apart from their own.
Keirolté also develop the ability to shapeshift at this age, capable of taking the form of any quadruped or biped with approximately the same amount of mass.
At the age of four, a keirolté cub's wings will begin to fledge to their adult plumage, trading dark muddy brown for tawny feathers with the primaries having faded black tips. Their coats also begin to take on a faint golden hue, the process lasting until the age of five.
Upon five years of age, a keirolté finishes growing, now on average standing five feet at the shoulder, with their fur and feathers now their final adult shades and patterns. They are mentally the equivalent of a seventeen-year-old, and are considered independent by others of their species - parents are no longer considered responsible, and the keirolté is no longer referred to as a cub, but instead as a juvenile.
Keirolté juveniles usually form their own bands at this age or perhaps a little younger, though some remain with their parents for as long as three additional years. They are yet to be sexually mature, and may still spend the major part of their day playing - this is seen as normal and acceptable.
Naturally curious, a keirolté juvenile may wander some distance from their pride's territories, though any who are gone for more than twelve hours are tracked down by an adult and lead back home.
A keirolté's development is slow for the next fifteen years, with mental and sexual maturity not progressing very far. During this time, they further develop their skills and abilities, and learn more of the world around them and the languages of neighbouring sapients (if there are any). It is also during this time that they either find their place in their home pride or split off with a band of other juveniles to form their own or to find another.
At the age of twenty, a keirolté finally reaches sexual maturity. Puberty lasts for only a few months, and the females have their first heat the spring after they reach that milestone age. Most females will not have a litter their first heat, and those who do usually have a litter of all stillborns - the body is not yet ready for cubbearing in the first year of sexual maturity, which also leads to miscarriages and premature births.
The female's second and future heats, however, are typically far more successful than the first, with reasonable assurance of the cubs being born healthy and at the appropriate date.
Once a juvenile is twenty-two years of age, they are considered to be the age of consent, and are mentally the equivalent of eighteen-year-olds. They are not, however, considered to be true adults, and are still referred to as juveniles by their own kind. It is not until the age of twenty-five that a keirolté is considered to be an adult, having a mental age equivalent of twenty.

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A keirolté's reproductive years typically end at the age of one thousand, for both males and females, on average - on rare occurances, some never lose their fertility, while others may become sterile early or even from day one.
A keirolté does not age much once they have reached full sexual maturity, their body's development finished. Their soul gems are the reason for their longevity, however, and a keirolté does not last long if the gem is removed or begins to fail - it is this failure that causes a gradual decline in health starting at the age of three thousand five hundred fifty on average, and the keirolté often dies of organ failure brought on by old age at around three thousand six hundred, if nothing else kills them off earlier.
Some keirolté may have this process occur earlier or later than the norm, and in a few rare, isolated cases, it never occurs at all. A keirolté's life may also be extended by transferring their soul to the soul gem of a younger keirolté, though the process is difficult and liable to fail unless the soul inhabiting the younger gem is willing to depart.

Ecology and Habitats

The keirolté largely prefer cliffs, canyons, and gorges, preferably located near forests and plains. They have a wide range of temperatures they can thrive in, everywhere from subarctic tundra to savannah plains. They carve their dens into rock and stone, and prefer to hunt in more luscious environments than they make their resting places in.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Omnivorous.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

On Terra, there is only one known pride, consisting of a little over two hundred adults.
Alluani has multiple prides scattered across the planet, with some small ones in Solimensis and the largest being in the Eluémuz mountain range.
There are only four known prides on Vruanhai, along with many smaller bands, the total keirolté population on the planet numbering only two thousand.

Average Intelligence

Sapient and somewhat keener in mind than the average human.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Keirolté have exceptionally keen eyesight, aided by their large eyes. That are somewhat far-sighted, however, which makes anything close become somewhat blurry. Their eyesight works best at twilight, with good night and day vision. Though able to see in colour, some humans can see more of the spectrum than most Keirolté can.
A keirolté's hearing is very keen, sensitive to both volume and pitch. Their ears are mobile, allowing them to more closely pinpoint the direction a sound is coming from.
The sense of smell is very strong, able to track a days-old trail, sometimes even during and after rain. As such, they do not tend to be very fond of strong scents, excepting that of a fresh kill or - when needs must - carrion.
Their sense of taste is finely discerning, able to detect toxins and other undesirable substances, as well as get an idea of the nutritional value of the food - though they cannot tell the exact nutritional makeup. This makes it difficult to poison or deceive a keirolté.
All keirolté inherently have astral sight - the ability to see auras and other things on the Astral Plane. They use this heavily in their judgement of another individual's character, and a masked aura leaves a keirolté wary and suspicious.
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Keirolté are gifted in dimensional travel, able to simply fade from one existence to another, or choose to stay ‘between’ the dimensions. They can use this ability to teleport or to escape threats, but most frequently use it to explore and satisfy their curiosity and wanderlust.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Names are all considered unisex, with no distinction made between male or female. A keirolté is most commonly named after a gemstone or some manner of poetic concept in their own language.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Keiri is the primary language of the keirolté.

Keirolté Headshot by Sehanbrel and Rilaméth

Scientific Name

Lanorsus Felis

Lifespan

3,600 years (4,200 Alluani years, or 2,000 Vruanhaian years).

Conservation Status

Critically Endangered on Terra, but in actuality has high enough population across all dimensions to be Least Concern.

Average Height

5' (153 cm.) at the shoulder.

Average Weight

400 lbs. (181.4 kg.)

Average Length

10' (3 meters), with wingspans of 35' (10.6 meters).

Geographic Distribution

• Alluani
• Astral Plane
• Celestia
• Energy Plane of Elemental Air
• Energy Plane of Elemental Earth
• Energy Plane of Elemental Fire
• Energy Plane of Elemental Water
• Éterangloré
• Ethereal Plane
• Hulanith
• Limbo
• Luna
• Nyhalder
• Pandemonium
• Plane of Shadow
• Positive Energy Plane
• Terra
• The Abyss
• The Grey Wasteland
• The Nine Hells
• Vruanhai

Related Organizations

• Lithazhél
• Solimensis

Related Ethnicities

• Aerial Racer
• Blitz
• Companion
• Defensive
• Exhibit
• Heavy War
• Light War
• Offensive
• Racer
• Reconnaissance
• Show
• Terrestrial Racer

by Sehanbrel and Rilaméth

by Sehanbrel and Rilaméth