Gabridarço

Eyne Dorsteldyn stared at the gaping hole in the rock, stunned. Where had that come from? He looked around, but the Grand Reception, where the Gabridarç command expected to receive one of these magic objects from the planet below, was gone. He stood in a ravine, grass and brush growing green and vibrant on the top.
"What's going on?"
Arisyn's panicked yell caught his attention. He turned to his friend, and beheld a...a furry being?
He looked at his hands--unfamiliar hands. They were...soft. Fuzzy. He still had claws, but they were not as long, not as sharp.
What was going on?
Arisyn whimpered. Two enormous beasts blocked the entrance to the ravine; one dark as night, one as bright as the sun, their eyes glowing with ethereal energy. In unison they growled, the air vibrating with the sound.
And so did he. Dorsteldyn clasped at his chest, but his hand went through instead of striking cloth-covered scales. Arisyn fled into the cave, the other Gabridarç following. He remained outside, watching the two pad closer, unable to force his feet--no, hooves. Hooves. What happened to his feet?

In this Document:

Gabridarço
by your curious scholar, Yvazhera

all images by Shade Melodique
unless otherwise stated
Featured image background Mihai Vlasceanu, Pexels

As a species, they are the garbridarç neltyn, or Greater Gabridarç, a self-given identification. They also named their home planet after themselves, which irked the other two sentient species, but they, as conquered, had no input in the decision.
The Gabridarç leaders wanted their planet associated with their interstellar conquests, making the name feared throughout the known habitable spheres.

The Gabridarço

Author's Note: As I, Yvashera, am not Gabridarço, what I've gleaned of them comes from Eyne Dorsteldyn's writings. He's prolific, which is good for me!
The Gabridarço are one of three surviving sentient species on the planet of Gabridarç. The other two rarely garner a mention, as the Gabridarço overran them on their way to building an interstellar empire.
They are known for their fierce appearance, their fierce fighting, and their fierce dying.

Appearance

The Gabridarço are what the planet of Sensour peoples would call a dragon. They have heads with large, slitted eyes, a long nose that ends in nostrils on top, finger-length fangs, and horns of various shapes and sizes. Unlike Sensour or Evenacht dragons, they do not have long, narrow tongues, but shorter, thick ones.
Hard, overlapping, dark scales run over their chests, their arms, and their legs, with softer, lighter ones on their backs, inner arms and inner thighs. Colors range from black to deep purples and greens on the chest, to softer golds, blues, pale greens and pinks on the back. Depending on the work one does, the scales can be rough or smooth.
Their species once had mighty wings, but over the last five thousand years, they shrank to the point of decoration only; no modern Gabridarço can fly.
Their hands have three claws and an opposable thumb, their feet three toes in front, one in back. Claws are gold, black or white. Their tail is as long as they, with either a pointy or a fan-shaped tip.

I don't have a picture of a normal Gabridarço. This is a command guard from the command ship. I have no more information other than that.

Dorsteldyn says that in the past, grand talks were held between families concerning who carried a fetus to term, since inheritance came by way of the one who carried rather than the one who planted.
Modern Gabridarço see it as a personal matter, and never ask for family approval--except in the case of leaders. It's typical for them to always demand their children be carriers because it grows their families, and therefore their influence (the larger the family, the bigger the influence).

Ignored for the most part in past cultures, class distinctions are of utmost importance to the Flayn. They see class as a way to distinguish those of worth from those better left to serve.
Most Gabridarço do not see this as natural, and gatherings happen frequently to protest the focus.

Behavior

The Gabridarço have both male and female sexual organs called the çovite. When it comes time to reproduce, the two involved discuss who carries the fetus to term, and whichever partner does becomes the receiver. The other is the planter.
Live infant birth occurs two years later. The infant does not have teeth or claws, and is fed a mush of insect and plant materials. By age five, they grow their first tooth, by age twenty their first claw. By age forty, they are weaned off insects and eat a diet of meat fortified with various plants. Maturity is reached at one hundred years.
Children remain with their parents until at least two hundred years of age (Dorsteldyn says this is due to financial reasons rather than species-related ones). Around this time, serious thought is given to partnerships.
Partnerships are more along the lines of a business arrangement, though many have love as well. Socially, a warrior-like partner is preferred, and parents tend to push their children towards those of strong build and strong bite. This has become especially important, as the Flayn Empire is expanding far beyond Gabridarç.
Once partnered, the couple have between two and three children over two thousand years.
With the development of health technologies, Gabridarço live longer lives. Old age is over four thousand years, with few reaching five.

The Evenacht Change

The Gabridarço, with a fierce look and fierce attitude, were dumbfounded by the change that occurred after the Sensour death deities killed their fleet.
They were no longer dragons.
They did not have a word for their look until long after they entered the evening lands and were told they had a deer-like appearance.
As dragon, they had no outer ears, just a hole in the side of their head for sound. As deer, they had long, furry ones. Their eyes were smaller, their pupils round, their muzzles shorter, with a black nose. They had fangs, but the rest of their teeth looked less sharp (and, as ghosts could not eat, it did not matter). And they had a mane that ran from the top of their heads to the bottoms of their elongated necks.
Fur covered their thinner bodies, and while their hands had claws, they were shorter and blunter. Their legs were deer-like, and ended in hooves. Their beautiful tails, once the most attractive thing about them, became a fluffy little thing that wagged about.
And not only were they half their normal height, they had no wings.
What had happened? Why were they no longer dragons?

Eyne Dorsteldyn

The Mystery

The Gabridarço have researched this change from dragon to deer appearance, along with curious Evenacht scientists. It's odd, for several reasons.

• There are no deer on Gabridarç


• They are not as strong as their dragon form, and as ghosts, they have no muscle to build to regain it


• Why would their ghostly form change without their purposeful intent? No faelareign ghost enters the Evenacht with any appearance other than their own (even shapeshifters), and it usually takes years before a spirit can manipulate their appearance to the point their alterations remain extant, rather than bleeding back into their original look


• Gabricarço can only use Ether and Physical Touch; Mental Touch (magic) is denied them. This may be why they can't alter their appearance, as this requires Mental Touch, but it does not explain why they look like deer in the first place


• Did a death deity curse them? Erse Parr, Death of the Evenacht, says she did not, but another one from Sensour could have. After all, they did not find the interstellar invaders much to their liking

It will be interesting to see, if the Gabridarço return to Gabridarç, whether they revert to their dragon form, or retain their deer-like one.

Further Reading:
The Flayn Invaders
Badeçasyon
The First Love
Mazhsuigt: A New Way to Float