[Hello and welcome to the official site for the Warrum species!]Warrums were created in late 2022 by the artist G4rg0yle as an open species for anyone to use. All that's asked is that you please follow the guidelines, respect the lore for them, and send more folks this way if they find it interesting!Warrums are an alien predator species that evolved in a world of titanic flowering forests, dense old growth, and long dark days with only a few hours of sunset level lighting. Their home world is full of horrifying predators that rip creatures from the sky, wallow in the pitch black forest floor, and shred anything that dares step foot in the sea.Warrums themselves evolved to combat these terrors by using plant mimicry. Every Warrum population is unique depending on what specific plant they evolved to mimic, making them look anywhere from graceful, beautiful, ugly, horrifying, creepy, or downright cool. It's up to you what kind of cool alien plant your Warrum takes after.Despite achieving space travel, most of the Warrum species has no real interest in leaving their home world, but the few that do leave lasting impressions on everyone they meet for their curiosity, tenacity, independence, creativity as well as their exotic colors and vast differences.
<[WARRUM ANATOMY]>Warrums stand roughly 1.2m tall with a tail that stretches roughly the same length, ending in a tuft of tightly packed feather fluff. The species will walk on two legs for most of their daily life, but when running they will resort to all fours. Their limbs are clawed with nails that grow in two parts, growing together and self sharpening to resemble the tip of a fountain pen. Warrums evolved to mimic the plant life of Nuoko in order to camouflage themselves, so as a result, there are tons of different Warrum populations that vary drastically depending on what plant they evolved to mimic.Much like most of the creatures of Nuoko, Warrums have feather plumage that serves a variety of purposes, from keeping warm, to camouflage, to transportation. Since Nuoko is an incredibly windy planet full of jet streams, wind tunnels, and serious storms, Warrums evolved to make use of the airflow like a lot of other creatures. However instead of flying with wings, they use a much different method.At the end of a Warrums tail is a compact ball of feather fluff that resembles a dense cotton ball, but in reality, they are large feathers connected to numerous muscles inside their tail that can force them out to resemble a gigantic blooming flower. When unfurled, the tail fan is nearly the size of their body and can easily catch the draft, pulling them in the direction of the wind while their dangle upside down. They can control what direction they're going by those tail muscles and glide to their desired landing area. Among the variations are distinct subspecies that have tail fans designed for different purposes.Warrum eyes are very different as well, being able to see the color spectrum, and also ultraviolet light. Each eye has three different pupils, a main one in a center responsible for night vision and detecting colors, and two smaller ones that train light specifically to specialized optical cells meant for seeing the ultraviolet spectrum. Their sense of smell and hearing are also really keen, but not as much as their vision.Warrums do not have a strict male and female gender, the many creatures of Nuoko rarely do on account of how difficult it is to survive. Each individual is hermaphroditic, possessing both biological functions needed to reproduce in the same body. Warrums also share similarities with Marsupials, possessing a pouch for their young to develop in on their naval. Warrums will adopt characteristics of both sexes if it suits their personalities.Warrums have strange internal anatomy. They do not have centralized brains, instead having neural tissue in the abdomen and under their rib cages. While this gives them plenty of room in their heads for their large eyes, as well as making them much less vulnerable to death, it has the caveat of making them very sensitive. When things hurt, they hurt twice as much as normal. They also have an entire body system dedicated to cleaning. Their skin secretes its own disinfectant that eliminates odor, cleans their plumage of dust and dirt, and gives them a smell reminiscent of charcoal that the species can somehow distinguish individuals from.Warrums born around their planet's solstice will be born with a special set of teeth depending on which season it is. Winter Warrums will have tough, grinding molars meant for breaking open the tough seed pods of the season, and summer warrums will have sharp molars meant for stripping a special vine that grows in the summer. Equinox Warrums will have both sets but they are less efficient at either task. Baby Warrums are called JoeysThere are more details involving their reproductive system, but viewer discretion is advised. You can find this information by clicking the button below.
<[THE WARRUM HOMEWORLD]>Warrums come from a semi-dark world called Nuoko. Nuoko is an incredibly diverse world locked in a near constant twilight with only a small sliver of the world getting sunlight. The reason for Nuoko being mostly dark is on account of the planet actually being a moon for a gas giant known locally as “Orvuun.” Nuoko is orbitally locked behind Orvuun and as a result, life has adapted to low light levels. Many of the Creatures living on Nuoko have evolved acute vision, with the 4 main animal families being well adapted to vision using infrared, Ultraviolet, and compound eyes.Nuoko has 34 hour days with 8 of those hours being light, and the rest being twilight and darkness. The atmosphere of Nuoko has taken on a strange layer that seems to refract light around the planet about halfway. The foliage has also adapted very alien qualities as a result of the lack of sunlight, and as a result, forests tower several thousand feet into the sky, ripping up chunks of continents to suspend islands in different layers of the canopy. Because of this particular ecosystem, the world is very hard to traverse with large rifts in the crust, islands, and wind tunnels.The foliage of the planet grows black with special parts around the high canopy that flower outward in vibrant colors. Each day, the forest does this, it rains down petals and leaves with the rising and setting sun, making the planet incredibly beautiful to see in person as well as from space and filling the wind channels with a constant flow of saplings, petals and debris. However, the world is also considerably dangerous, home to desperate creatures snagging whatever prey they can while they can see it the best, numerous airborne predators that ride the winds of the world and swarm, and carnivorous plants that will kill you very quickly if you tread too close.The landscape of Nuoko is a lot more stable on the continental coastline with wetlands and mangroves being more commonplace as well as the planets tropics, home to large prairies, jungles, and islands. There are telltale signs off sentient activity with lights pouring out from clusters around certain areas, but there is very little traffic in the planets orbit with only 2 space stations. Nuoko doesn't have cities as Warrums are still very solitary creatures, but they do have large colony bastions that serve less as towns, and more as glorified rec rooms and rest stops.
<[WARRUM CULTURE AND HISTORY]>Warrums, having evolved from solitary hunters, developed civilization in a very different way than most other creatures did. Their evolutionary intelligence and reason dictated that working together in a group would be more beneficial, contrary to their instincts. Because of this, there are aspects of Warrum society that are a lot different from most others. Their society first came into existence on the suspended islands of the world, evolving from ambush predators. When they started to realize their role in the world, they began building communal bastions where many would live, but rarely interact other than to further their own goals.Since most Warrums lived solitary lives, there wasn’t a real need for wealth, and those few that tried to implement a money system had their dreams crushed pretty quick since many felt that they could just do what they wanted and succeed. As time progressed, they leaned more into sciences and engineering, developing hospitals where those inclined would teach Warrums to heal themselves, and Machine shops where Warrums interested in it could study under a Warrum that had years of experience in the field. They still embrace their hunter gatherer ways to this day, but also developed a society that values knowledge and advancement. In modern times, the species has achieved space flight, but has very rarely left their world collectively, instead setting up small mining operations on a nearby asteroid belt and on occasion, trade with other aliens.In their culture, it is very much expected for you to carry your own weight. Hunting groups leave with specific skills of an engineer, warrior, medic, chef, and scout, all of which can fight, but can benefit each other whenever leaving out into the wilderness. The few Warrums that travel outward to explore do so independently, but have also earned a rough reputation as barbarians, having not been accustomed to galactic culture. They may seem a little standoffish at first, but if you get to know a Warrum though, they are pretty compassionate creatures.
<[RULES]>Basic Stuff[Please follow the posted guides when creating your OC]
[Your Warrum can only mimic one specific plant. It doesn't have to be a real one]
[You can make hybrids between Warrum subraces, but you can only have one of their abilities]
[Warrums can have any patterning or markings]
[Warrums have specialized feathers that resemble the leaves of plants they mimic]
[The Warrum species does not have any real mutations, but you likely won't even need them with how plant mimicry can make your Warrum stand out]Colors / Markings[No hate symbols]
[No color limits]
[Pupils must stay the same, but iris's can be any color]Not Allowed[Claiming ownership of the species]
[Creating Hybrids between other custom species]
[NSFW Feral artwork of Warrums]
[Wings, Though you can emulate them with their feathers]