The Bay Kingdom
Southern Pyrrhia
Bayterras are medium-size, oceanic Terrawings that have traded flight for a life at sea. These social dragons are a common sight along Pyrrhia's warm southern and western Pyrrhia, and can congregate in the dozens. Bayterras are also the most colorful of th Terrawings, their scales rivalling the Rainwings in their vibrancy. Queen Tidepool rules an undersea kingdom among the tropical islands south of the rainforest.
population
info
climate
warm, humid
Ruler
Queen Tidepool
terrain
shallow ocean, coral reefs, beaches, rainforest, tropical islands
ANATOMY
Bayterras are slightly larger than Riverterras. The marine dragons have a full, streamlined figure with a wide chest and short legs and neck. Bayterras have short legs, making travelling on land a bit of a challenge. Their long, heavy tail often drags in the sand. Bayterras are much more graceful in the water, where their strong limbs, wings, and tails help them twist, turn, and glide through the currents effortlessly. Bayterras have wide paws with five webbed toes on each foot, efficient for digging and grasping.
The scales covering the majority of a Bayterra's body are slightly different from regular dragonscale. They are slightly tougher, more like scutes, and come in many different patterns and arrangements. The specific arrangement of one's scales is genetic and can be used to identify families.
Horns
Fire
Bayterras are barely capable of producing a weak flame. It's not very intimidating or useful for much. Instead, their flame sacs store air like a second set of lungs, allowing Bayterras to hold their breath for many hours while they are underwater.
Flight
Highly-specialized wings with thick membranes act like flippers under the water, allowing a Bayterra to swim with impressive speed and strength. Because their wings are specialized for swimming, a Bayterra will lose the ability to fly when they reach ~30 years old, as their wings become too small for flight. Young Bayterras will use their wings for gliding.
Colors
Bayterras are a very colorful tribe. Most are strongly countershaded, with their undersides being lighter than their backs. Bayterras pride themselves in their vibrant colors, so a dragon with dull scales may be seen as less desirable. Eyes can be any color.
Common Colors: blue, teal, green, brown, purple, red, orange, yellow, pastels, darks, off-white
Rare Colors: gray, black
Uncommon Traits
Fish Scales: A Bayterra will have smooth, round, overlapping scales like a fish. These scales are weaker than regular dragonscales.
Rare Traits
Multiple Horns: Extra sets of horns growing from the head.
Gray Scales: A Bayterra's colors are mostly shades of gray and black
Diet
Bayterras are omnivores and eat a variety of small fish, mammals, crustaceans, algae, and plants. The dragons lack the speed and agility to hunt large marine life, so they stick to grazing or hunting in groups. Established Bayterra colonies usually depend on farming for their food instead of gathering it in the wild. Some colonies have taken to land to farm crops.
Range
Bayterras reside in the warm, shallow waters along Pyrrhia's western, southern, and eastern coasts. These areas include bays, beaches, islands, rainforests, coral reefs, kelp forests, and estuaries. Bayterras are capable of traveling the open ocean, but stick to shallow waters to avoid competition with Seawings. Bayterras cannot handle the pressure at extreme depths like Seawings can. Bayterras avoid the cold northern waters and don't stray too far from the sea, as they are quite clumsy on land.
Map depicts the Bay Kingdom in dashed blue, with the full range of liveable areas in solid blue. Few Bayterras live outside this region.
SOCIETY
Naming
Bayterra names are usually one-word names inspired by elements of the natural world such as sea life, vegetation, and weather. Dragons who specialize in some role or craft will often add a suffix to represent their profession.
- Urchin, a jeweler, may add the suffix "-jewel" or "-gem" to their name.
Homes
Bayterras live in colonies that can be several dozen strong and consisting of multiple family groups. These family groups are close-knit and work together, with the eldest members taking on leadership roles. Most colonies reside underwater in natural caves or dragonmade dens carved from stone. It's common for underwater homes to be decorated with gardens and vegetation to provide food for the family and help disguise the home. Colonies will also build homes on the beach if they plan on staying long, with structures made of rock and clay and painted with natural dyes.
Colonies tend to establish loose territories in which to harvest food or raise young, but they are not very territorial. If challenged, a small colony will typically move. A larger colony might put up a fight. Each member of the colony has a role to benefit the community. The Queen herself has her own little colony, consisting of her family and bodyguards.
Sometimes, a family or group of friends will break off from their home colony to find or form a new one. Bayterras may establish a colony with Riverterras or even Pyrrhian dragons living along the coast. It is rare to find a Bayterra living alone, as a lone Bayterra has likely been banished from their colony.
Nesting
When nesting, a pair will come onto the beach to lay between 2-10 eggs. The eggs will be buried far from the tide in a noticeable mound, usually in a protected home. The eggs will incubate under the parent's care until they hatch. The dragonets will continue to be cared for and raised by the entire colony. Bayterras are monogamous and will remain together for the rest of their lives.
THE BAY KINGDOM
Starshell City
The Bayterra Kingdom is located among the peninsulas south of the Rainforest Kingdom. Its borders encircle a large bay and a few major islands. Within the bay is a healthy forest of kelp and fields of seagrass. Some of the lands has been converted into farms, while other areas are decorated into beautiful and relaxing parks.
The Kingdom has various above-water and undersea portions. The peninsulas connected to Pyrrhia are well-developed with gardens, farms, and a sprawl of whitestone buildings with colorful roofs and narrow paths. Under the water lies more clusters of colorful, coral-decorated homes and wide expanses of cultivated gardens. The Bay Kingdom has the highest population among the Terrawings and is considered "a colony of colonies." Each town is a unique colony.
Farther out in the Bayterra Kingdom are two large islands. The smaller of the two is a high-end hotspot for tourism and trade between Bayterras and the other tribes, as it is the perfect tropical island to lie down and relax. Bayterra colonies that live there tend to be wealthier than those living in the main bay. The larger of the two islands houses the Royal Palace. The above-ground palace consists of a large, colorful stone tower with lots of open walls to look out over the surrounding ocean and create and airy, welcoming feel. This buidling often hosts diplomatic meetings, public affairs, and Queen Tidepool's lavish parties. The more private areas of the palace are located underwater and underground. Further out along the island's coasts are beautiful gardens, living spaces for high-status Bayterra families, and guest homes for visiting diplomats.
The city is named after the starry scale patterns of the royal family.
Holidays and Traditions
Holiday Name time of year Coming Soon!
Royalty
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Character Name . role / occupation Sed elementum tempus egestas sed sed risus pretium quam vulputate. Quis ipsum suspendisse ultrices gravida dictum fusce ut placerat orci. Metus dictum at tempor commodo ullamcorper.
Allegicances
Quaketerras ( positive ) The chaparral south of the Claws of the Clouds Mountains provides the perfect habiat for Quaketerras and Bayterras to coexist, even if for a short time before Quaketerra residents move on.
Riverterras ( positive ) A massive river flowing through the River Kingdom connects to the sea, allowing for easy travel, communication, and trade between the sister tribes.
Rainwings ( positive ) Being neighbors, Bayterras have some well-established trade routes with Rainwings. Colonies along the rainforest often have rainwing visitors and even some residents.
Nightwings ( positive ) Nightwings helped establish the Bay Kingdom. As a result, multiple trade routes have been established between the two kingdoms.
Sandwings ( positive ) A few Bayterra colonies are found along the Sand Kingdom's long coast. They have estabished trade with some coastal Sandwing towns.
Mudwings ( neutral ) Bayterras do not interact much with Mudwings, and Mudwings do not interact much with Bayterras.
Seawings ( neutral ) Relations with the Seawings are tense, and have been for quite some time. Seawings are the rulers of the seas - and many fear the the growing competition that Bayterras will inevitably bring. For the time being, Bayterras avoid Seawings, and Seawings avoid Bayterras.
Icewings ( neutral ) Bayterras do not interact much with Icewings, and Icewings do not interact much with Bayterras.
Skywings ( neutral ) Queen Tidepool is hard at work establishing trade between the Bayterras and Skywings in hopes of improving their relations with Terrawings as a whole.