They're so cute.
PICHI DRAGONS
THIS IS A SEMI-OPEN SPECIES
UPDATES:
- 12/30: Released 12 new Adopts
- 12/6: Made a new Amino
- 09/28: Finalized Layout and added pages
- 09/25: Added lots of new or updated art and updated forum layout
- 09/24: Updated some old images with new art
- 09/22: Created and uploaded a walk-cycle gif
AT A GLANCE:
Pichi dragons are a subterranian creature that lives in colonies like ants or bees. They each have their jobs and tasks in the clan, as well as their individual personalities, relationships, and goals. Each clan has traits that make them unique, anything from appearance to even personalities. If you're interested, we would love to have you as part of our community!
OVERVIEW:
The Pichi was descended from a huge and powerfully destructive "true dragon" who terrorized the multiverse. Millions of years later, the Pichi isn't exactly a terror. As conditions throughout the worlds changed, the Pichi was forced to evolve and became smaller and smaller. Their wings disappeared and they took to the underground, hiding their existence from the world. As they did so, they lost their sight and gained sensory feelers on their heads and down their backs. They developed a complex social structure and reached their final form. The Pichi evolved to be much like it is today, though the species is constantly changing in different parts of the world and in many different clans.
The individual clans formed from the original Pichi queen. Some of the Clans are millenniums old and forever hidden beneath the Earth. Many are newer, only a few centuries old. There is a rumor that the original clan is still going strong, only shut off from the rest of the world forever. It would be over 10,000 years old if it still existed, and many Pichis still believe it does. Their ancient stories are passed down from generation to generation, recounting how the true dragons will one day reclaim the skies and be unearthed from below. Whether that will happen? Only time will tell. For now, the proud and playful Pichi rules the soil and is content where it is.
LORE:
BEHAVIOR:
A Pichi's day starts in its burrow. Most Pichi's spend about 99% of their time underground and only surface to find a new clan or rarely, to reproduce. They spend most of their days either socializing or searching for food. Underground, most of what they find to eat include insects, especially grubs, and vegetation. Their favorites by far are soft worms, but they also adore mushrooms and tender roots. They do sometimes farm their own food in underground tunnels by transporting roots and fungi to a "growing chamber." As well as the growing chamber, they have separate rooms in their burrows for bedrooms, nurseries, bathrooms, and a large room that links them all together where Pichi's will meet to socialize. Some entrepreneurial Pichis will also dig burrows that function as shops, where they trade goods for food or other items. Most of these are found items, as Pichis like items that have an interesting shape, texture, or smell. Found objects could be from burrow excavations or the rare Pichi that enjoys traveling above ground. They can also make rudimentary clothing and some may sell food or services like grooming.
Pichi society tends to be a scaled-down and simplistic tribe or clan similar to the way human societies function. The average Pichi lives to be about 100 years old, though queens live much longer, up to 1,000. The average Pichi has the intelligence of a roughly 10 year old child, and behave similarly. They love to laugh and play and goof off more often than not.
CLAN LIFE:
A Pichi is nothing without its clan. The clan determines everything about a Pichi Dragon from its looks to its personality. While not every Pichi will have its "clan traits," almost every Pichi is strongly loyal to its clan. The clan is viewed as a Pichi's family and many are tight knit. Usually a Pichi will be able to recognize almost every member of the clan, no matter how many of them there are.
Incredibly rarely, a Pichi will be solitary. In this case, generally the Pichi will not survive very long, as they have safety in numbers and crave companionship. Usually a wandering Pichi will be accepted into a new clan should they stumble upon one, though it isn't unheard of for a clan to be too wary of a loner.
Pichis have a very complex social system. In each burrow, there is a queen who leads the entire clan. She is significantly larger than the others, often as large as an elephant. She also has vestigial wings, a throwback to their dragon heritage. While she is technically the leader of the clan, the queens will hibernate 100 years at a time or more and so the clan is often led instead by a group of representatives. They treat the words of the queen like words from a prophet, and do their best to follow her will. Under the representatives, the Pichi often have different groups designated for different tasks. There will be a group of builders, explorers, child rearers, hunters, artists, ect. Pichi are usually assigned to this role at birth, designated by their inborn strengths and weaknesses. Every clan has a different set of roles, tasks, or jobs chosen by the queen. Children are raised communally, and generally not much importance is given to who the parents are of each young. After about 10 years of education and growth, the young Pichi will join their trade group. The exception to this is when a Pichi is hatched with wings. In this case, the young is considered a princess and is raised to eventually leave the clan and start one of her own. Only females can be born with wings and it happens only once in 500 years per clan.
In each social group, there are elders, masters, and apprentices. The elders are the most skilled in their trade and lead the groups. Usually the eldest Pichi in a group is that group's royal representative. The masters are also quite skilled and they mentor the youngest group, the apprentices. When the Pichi reach 20 or 30 years old, they are usually ready to graduate from apprentice to master. Elders are Pichi who have worked in their trade for at least 60 years. Occasionally a pichi will be assigned to a trade but then never show any aptitude for it. In this case, the pichi is given the chance to chose its own trade.
After eggs are laid, they incubate for 3 months before hatching. After being assigned their future role in the clan, they are raised communally in a nursery den. They are helpless for about 10 weeks, and after that they begin to have full use of their senses and no longer have to have their food chewed for them. They grow rapidly at this point and grow for about 7 years. While they reach their full size at 7 years old, they continue to emotionally mature for another 3 years before they are considered adults.
Pichi queens are hatched with small wings. At this point they are recognized as a princess and are brought to the queen's chambers where they are tutored one-on-one. They develop much like an ordinary Pichi until they reach a normal Pichi's adulthood at 10 years old. Unlike a normal Pichi, they continue to grow for the next 100 years until they become an adult. At 10, most princesses will emerge from the clan, never to return. They will strike out to form their own clan usually after a period of time learning about the world. They will usually pick up a straggler or two to help found their clan.
A DEEPER LOOK:
BROXAN CLAN:
The Queen: Queen Broxan, 800 years old
Special Traits: Small bodies, long and dense fur, larger and more robust claws
Personalities: Hard-working, particularly cuddly
Location: Somewhere deep within the alps
Description: The Broxan clan is a very old clan who's subjects have long-spanning mythology and word-of-mouth stories. Queen Broxan flew into the wilderness out of fear of encroaching humans and settled in the remote alpine. She is an incredibly industrious worker who carved her den out of solid stone. She adapted to the cold, and her smaller size and long fur gave her an advantage. Her offspring often carry these traits as well, along with tough, hard claws from digging through rock. They tend to be very loving and enjoy snuggling together on cold nights, their dense coats keeping them incredibly warm.
The Den: Their den is relatively small, partially because of their small stature and partially because of the difficulty in digging through stone. While this tends to mean they can be a bit over-crowded, they don't usually seem to mind as they enjoy closeness anyway. Because finding food is difficult in the cold, they have more farms than the average clan so they can grow their own food. They are also more adept at making tools than other clans and have workshops to do so.
TABARI CLAN:
The Queen: Queen Tabari, 300 years old
Special Traits: Long, ferret-like bodies; long feelers
Personalities: Love to hoard and stash objects
Location: Hidden outside of Hong Kong
Description: The Tabari clan is a well-established clan with a long history. Queen Tabari was the offspring of a long dynasty of queens throughout China and founded her own clan outside of a human city. She was always fascinated by humans and especially human objects, and many of her offspring have that trait as well. She is long-bodied, much like the ancient Lung-dragons she is descended from, and her long feelers are reminiscent of the long whiskers they inherited. While they keep out of sight of humans, they tend to use human objects in their daily lives and construction, though often not for their intended uses.
The Den: Their den is long rather than deep and is relatively close to the surface. The entrance is well-hidden outside of Hong Kong. Their tunnels furl underneath where their tunnels are braced by human objects, like forks and tongue depressors. They have more rooms than the average Pichi clan, often filled with their objects of choice. Sometimes these rooms will be sealed off to protect their contents but then they are forgotten.
KARQUA CLAN:
The Queen: Queen Karqua, 150 years old
Special Traits: Bioluminescence
Personalities: Very emotional, bold and loud
Location: Within Mammoth Cave
Description: The Karqua Clan is a young clan, only as old as its oldest members. Queen Karqua is young and naive, as far as queens go, and has a flair for the dramatic. Inspired by ancient stories of dragon lairs, she chose a deep, dark cave to build her den. She found the deepest part of the cavern and built her den there. Growing there, far beyond the reach of humans, were glowing mushrooms that she found had a wonderful taste. Soon, she and her children realized their new delightful treat made them glow. Each Pichi glows one color, often from the feelers but sometimes from markings or innards as well. As the most ancient of the Karqua, the queen has mastered every color. Karqua Pichis can control their glow, using it to reflect their emotions through glow patterns. They have also developed a sense to "see" each others' glows, although they can't see in the literal sense.
The Den: Their den is very deep. The cavern itself is deep, and the Karqua tunnel down even further. They use the walls of their den to grow their glowing mushrooms, which "light" the dens. Though the clan is young, it is expanding incredibly quickly and thus they spend a lot of time digging new dens. Some rooms have water, which they use as ponds to cultivate cave newts and fish for food.
BODY:
The Pichi has an elongated but solid body similar in shape to a corgi's. They range from rabbit sized to dog sized, or about 5-60 pounds depending on genetics, diet, and clan. They have wide, muscular legs that end in large paws. The front paws end in long hollow claws that are ideal for digging. The hind legs have short, thick claws used mostly for grooming. They are covered in thick fur to help insulate them and on the topline of their bodies they have a line of protective armor made out of keratin. They are warm-blooded, but have cooler blood than mammals and warmer blood than reptiles. They have a short tail that is used mostly for protection when they curl into a ball. When they do so, very little of their undersides are exposed because their armor generally ranges across the entire topline.
HEAD:
A Pichis' mouth is lizard-like. It is filled with a single row of rounded teeth on the top and bottom that are ideal for their favorite food. They eat mostly grubs and mushrooms that are found underground. They have a slightly forked tongue that is used for taste as well as scent. They also always have feelers both on their upper lip and their chin. While they could probably bite hard if they needed to, they do not have particularly strong jaw muscles. They have a well-developed sense of smell and therefore generally large nostrils. They can seal their nostrils shut while tunneling to prevent debris from getting into them, and the nose ridge helps streamline the shape of their head for better movement through soil. Their skulls do have eye sockets, however only vestigial eyes remain and they can not open them. Living underground, they have no use for them. Instead, they use their feelers to sense the world around them.
PAWS:
Their thick claws are perfect for digging and are made out of keratin. They grow throughout the Pichi's life and must be worn down or they become uncomfortably long. Luckily, the act of digging does this very well. They have three main toes and an opposable thumb that helps them manipulate objects. The paws themselves are hand-like. They are nimble enough to create simple tools and sometimes even art though the claws may get in the way. The hind paws are large and squishy with large pads. The claws are not as substantial as the ones on the front limbs and do not grow continuously.
FEELERS:
One of the most distinct Pichi traits is a set of feelers! Each Pichi has a unique pattern of feelers and they can easily tell each other apart using them. They are concentrated mostly on the head and shoulders, but also occur down the back, on the tail, and on the elbows or ankles.
Dos: Every Pichi has a feeler on each side of its mouth. Without this, it is not a Pichi! They must also have at least one feeler on their head and at least one on their shoulders. They also usually have at least one on their chin, but not always. Feelers can be any length, even down to the ground, though this is rare as it interferes with their sensory abilities.
Do Nots: Feelers do NOT occur on any furry part of the body with the exception of the face and rarely the elbows or ankles. They also may not be any shape other than long and bulbous.
ARMOR:
The second most important trait for a Pichi is its protective armor! Armor comes in many shapes, styles, and coverage. Most of them have rounded plates like in the first example, with the middle being uncommon and the right being rare. The scale-type armor is a throwback to their ancient dragon ancestors but it doesn't protect them nearly as well as the large plates.
Dos: Pichis MUST have armor from nose tip to tail tip. Usually they are covered about 30% by their armor, but some can have a bit more. They may also have armor down their legs as long as there is still fur on the underside of the limbs. Their heads can also be completely covered in armor.
Do Nots: Don't put armor on the undersides of a Pichi's body. Their bellies need to be soft and furry otherwise they can't curl up in a ball to protect themselves!
TRAIT:
Pichi Dragons have very few restrictions. They can come in most colors, but tend to be either earthy colors or light, pastel shades. They often have a bright accent or two, especially on their feelers. While they can come in bright neon colors, it's rare as it makes it easier for predators to see them!
Dos: Give your Pichi a unique pattern and color scheme. Go nuts! Light creams, pastel yellow, dark brown, caramel, steel gray, or cool blue. Zebra stripes, spots, flower shapes, or just plain colors. Whatever you like!
Do Nots: Don't make your Pichi entirely neon colors. The usually rule of thumb I like to use is no more than 50% neons. Maybe add some white, black, grey, or brown to your design or de-saturate it just a little bit. Other than that, you can't really go wrong!
OTHER STUFF and FAQ:
1. Additional "parts" such as horns, wings, ect are not allowed. Wings are exclusive to queen pichis, which are not available to make or buy at this moment, and other traits such as horns, differently shaped feelers, and other unique traits are reserved for possible use in new clans which are being discovered all the time. For example, long fur is a trait exclusive to the Broxan clan, long bodies and extra long feelers are exclusive to the Tabari clan, and bio-luminescence is exclusive to the Karqua clan!
2. Hybrid pichis are not allowed! This includes pichis with traits from more than one clan OR pichis mixed with other species real or fantasy. This may be an option in the future but it isn't at this point in time!
There isn't really much else to it! Once you design your precious Pichi, Come up with its story. What it's job? What is its favorite kind of objects? Really bring your Pichi to life and above all, have fun!
Does my character have to follow the lore?
Not necessarily. All Pichis live underground, and so that is pretty essential. But if you don't want them to have lived in a colony all their life or want to give your Pichi a little magic, that's perfectly okay!
Can I make a Pichi Queen?
I'm afraid not! At the moment, the queens are "NPCs" and do not have owners. Not one can own a queen at this time. There may be a time in the future where this changes but it won't happen any time soon!
Can Pichis have whiskers?
Yes, if you like! They can have whiskers in addition to their feelers or they could also have thin feelers that look whiskery. Make sure you can tell that they're feelers though!
Can Pichis breathe fire?
None of the current clans can!
Do Karqua-Clan pichis glow just one color, or can they change color with their mood?
Karqua Pichis usually have a mastery of only 1 or 2 colors upon reaching adulthood and generally only learn up to 3 or 4 with hard study over their lifetimes. They can only display one color at a time!
What do Pichi Dragons eat?
They eat mostly grubs and mushrooms but will eat anything that fit into their mouths. They do NOT like the taste of dung-beetles, though, which sometimes share their burrows!