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Deinocheirus

Written by Losingcount for Ancient Reverie.

Deinocheirus Image
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Group Limits

  • Ballet
    • Up to 10 Sub-adult/adults Deinocheirus
    • A Ballet forms during the migrating and courting season and will split off during the breeding season.
    • Multiple Ballets can be seen traveling together and interacting, this is called a Ballroom.
  • Foxtrot
    • Up to 2 Sub-adult/adult Deinocheirus and any below sub-adult offspring they may have at the time.
    • When the season changes into courting and migrating time, Foxtrots don't split off and continue to stay together while traveling towards the courtship grounds where they spend the time to strengthen bonds again.
    • Multiple foxtorts seen at the courtship grounds is called a Foxglove.
  • Kerfuffle
    • Up to 3 under sub-adult Deinocheirus
    • Kerfuffles form when orphaned Deinocheirus stumble across each other.

Nest Limits

  • Blooming Season: 0 eggs
    • Eggs are non-viable as Deinocheirus focus on migrating and begin to finish up courting.
  • Scorching Season: 5 eggs, 4-hour Interval
  • Wilting Season: 2 eggs, 4-hour Interval
  • Frosting Season: 0 eggs
    • Eggs are non-viable as Deinocheirus focus on migrating and begin courting.

Sexual Dimorphism

  • Sexual Dimorphism is Mandatory
  • Males are known as Loons
    • Loons are smaller than Swans.
    • Loons greet each other by looking at each other before letting out a honk.
    • Suitable Subspecies: Mirificus, Grandis
  • Females are known as Swans
    • Swans are larger than Loons.
    • Swans greet each other with a gentle shake of the feathers
    • Suitable Subspecies: Hirsutae
  • Mutations
    • Due to no color dimorphism, Melanistic and Albino individuals are accepted.
    • However Albino individuals will always have vision problems, often nearsighted not knowing anything is far from it unless it's big and moving around and even then, it can't make it out if it's a danger to itself or not.

Habitat

  • Sedentary / Territorial
  • Likes: Beaches, Lakes, Marshlands, Rivers and Streams, Ponds, Estuaries and Saltwater Rivers, and Sanctuary Isle
  • Dislikes: Anywhere on land that is out of line of sight of water
  • Neutral: Anywhere on land that is line of sight of water

Activity

  • Diurnal
    • Deinocheirus have adapted to spending most of their energy during the day and resting at night. However it is not uncommon during the nights to see them huddling together and grooming or getting a late night snack.

Diet

  • General Herbivore / Opportunistic Pescetarian, Food: Neutral
  • Deinocheirus are not picky when it comes to their meals, happily eating and sharing bushes with other herbivores without a second thought. The only time they aren't willing to share with others is when actively raising offspring, driving off herbivores that eat from the bushes within line of sight of water and any pescetarian threatening their fish within their territory.
    • If challenged off from the food source, some individuals may give it up or fight for it.
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Growing Behaviours

Hatchling

Hatchling Deinocheirus are called a Peep.
When a Peep hatches, it will imprint on the first Sub-adult/Adult dinosaur it sees, most likely being their parents. This is a strong instinct as it keeps the young peep from wandering off too far and becoming lost.
Peeps are quick on the feet shortly after hatching, shaking off the egg shells off their feathers to clean themselves, while their parents also help clean them.
Peeps continue to stay on land with at least one of their parents guarding over them, not having the proper feathers to learn how to swim just yet. However if both parents disappear in the water, they’ll wait at the edge of the water honking at it to call their parents back over to them.
Near late hatchling, these young Peeps begin practicing dancing, usually as a way to exercise or play with their siblings or even parents who might dance with them in return. Dancing is extremely important to Deinocheirus, learning how to dance young gives them the rest of their childhood to practice their unique dance for later on in life. While dancing this early on, Peeps are clumsy and often fall, before getting back up and continuing on.
When hungry, Peeps honk at their parents, stimulating a response in their parents to give them food, typically which are berries or fruits as peeps are still too young to consume fish or shellfish due to their soft bills.

Juvenile

Once a Peep is juvenile, Peeps are taken to the water and begin to learn how to swim. Gently nudged into it by their parents. Some Peeps might not like the water, and cry out every time they get pushed back into the water but eventually they get used to it. However they are still too young to dive, often floating at the top of the water with a parent right below them to help them learn buoyancy for a short while.
Peeps continue to stay close to their parents, often not leaving their side. Should a peep wander too far from their parent, especially in water, parents may notice this behavior and abandon the young, thinking they are sick as it is heavily instinctual to follow parents. The only time this behavior is ignored is in Same-sex couples who will always go fetch their young.
Now peeps are able to start their pescatrain diet, parents will begin bringing them small fish or chunks of fish meat from bigger fish. Near late Juvenile, parents will also begin bringing them shellfish to also add to the habit of eating these items.

Adolescent

Adolescent Peeps begin to dive, often practicing with their parents before getting the hang of the diving. Once they properly can, Peeps begin to explore their new found world and also begin to become more independent from their parents. However younger adolescents with their baby honks may continue to beg for food from their parents.
Parents also begin to teach their young how to catch fish, this is also when parents begin to fetch for their young less and less, letting the peeps begin to fend for themselves.

Sub/Adult

Once Sub-adult, Peeps are now considered adults and leave their parents territory to set out on their own life.
This is also prime time to practice their unique dances they learned throughout childhood, perfecting it for the courting season.

Orphan Behaviours

  • Orphaned Peeps are easily preyed upon without their parents as they imprint on the first sub-adult/adult dinosaur they see, even if its a carnivore. Peeps that don't fall prey to their “parents” follow them around like they normally do, and live a relatively normal hatchling life, as they begin to learn how to dance at times of rest and honk at their unwilling or willing caretakers for food.
  • Juvenile Peeps continue to follow their caretakers, continuing mimicking their behavior. While Juvenile peeps with same-species parents begin learning how to swim, orphaned ones who haven't imprinted on a semi-aquatic dinosaur, won't learn how to swim and often don't discover they can swim unless following their parents across the water.
  • Adolescent Peeps also continue to honk at their parents for food when at a younger age, until eventually giving in if no food is fetched for them. They also won't learn how to dive unless with another semi-aquatic parent, often never diving until it's shown to them in some sort of way if they make it to adult-hood, and even then it may take them years to master diving.
  • Once sub-adult, they’ll break from their caretakers if they have made it to this age and live a life more based on land if they didn't imprint on a semi-aquatic dinosaur, but due to instincts they continue to stay near water and swimming if needed but not diving if they weren't taught how to dive. They also continue to dance as that is entirely instinctual for Deinocheirus.

Social Behaviours

  • Loons greet by looking then honking right after. Swans greet each other by shaking feathers to relieve tension.
  • Deinocheirus are migratory species, often gathering in large groups during the Frosting and Blooming before splitting off with mates for breeding season and becoming territorial again. Those without mates stay solitary until the next migratory season.
    • A foxtrot of Deinocheirus are extremely close, often mimicking each other to bond or grooming each other's head feathers and wings. This bond is hard to break and only breaks if one dies, and the surviving partner will grieve for them. It's not uncommon to see the surviving pair die of grief for their pair, returning to the spot they last saw them before passing away themselves.
    • If these bonds run deep enough, the grieving Deinocheirus will stop reacting to danger for a while, letting things approach it that it normally wouldn't let approach them and instead of defending themselves they rather flee back into the water or onto land if they were attacked in water, only defending themselves if absolutely necessary. Should the Deinocheirus survive the grieving state, and their pair had died to a hunt, they will hold a grudge on the thing that hunted their mate and always target that species for territory rights when territorial during the scorching and wilting.
  • In a Ballet, Deinocheirus are lively, Loons often flirting with Swans and other Loons as they travel towards the courting grounds. When at the courting grounds multiple Ballets can be seen making a Ballroom.
    • Ballets are often care-free in nature, all members bonding together and it's not uncommon for two close members to court and become a mated pair. They take their time during their migration, often stopping multiple times to bond and find food together before continuing their route as once they reach courtship grounds, they won't leave until the next scorching season.
  • Same-sex couples that are desperate to have young of their own may trick the opposite sex near the end of courtship season that they're looking to court. If accepted they continue this act up until the next breeding season where once the eggs are laid the opposite sex is driven out by the same-sex couple. Should it already be the breeding season, Same-sex couples can look for nesting pairs before the eggs have hatched and take over so the young will imprint on them.

Interspecies Behaviours

  • Deinocheirus are calm creatures, when not raising offspring. Often letting preener species approach them to pick the loose feathers. They are even willing to share bushes with the largest of herbivores, as long as the herbivore doesn't mind them. Should they be challenged off a food source, some individuals will simply forfeit and others might fight for the right to their food.
  • When offspring are present, they become territorial even over their bushes and other food source, pushing them off so their young can have the recourse. Depending on how protective the parents are, they wont even let preener’s close to them or their young, too focused on keeping their peeps safe.
  • Same-sex couples who are extremely desperate to have young to care for, may leave their territory to find nesting dinosaurus that are feathered to steal their young, going so far to even hurt the parent if it does not flee. Once they have the offspring they will bring them back to their territory and raise them like any other peep, which may end in its own demise as it can not swim and ends up drowning to their new parents' dismay.

Territorial Behaviours

  • Deinocheirus is only territorial during the Scorching and Wilting seasons, as its peak breeding season for these ornithomimosaurs. A foxtrot will push out other Deinocheirus of their territory to have the resources for them and their offspring. The only time this doesn't happen is when its two solitary Deinocheirus residing in the same territory.
  • When offspring are present, foxtrots will push out all semi-aquatics out of their territory and become territorial to herbivores eating bushes within line of sight of the water, while challenging carnivores away from the water so they can't get the opportunity to hunt their young.
  • Once it becomes the Frosting and Blooming season, they lose this instinct and begin migrating towards courtship grounds, even foxtrots.

Hunting/Hunted Behaviours

  • Deinocheirus are large herbivores, they don't fear much even when hunted, even when they feel outnumber they retreat back into the water to protect themselves.
  • If a threat is to large, as in another apex begins hunting, a foxtrot will band together to protect each other if they feel like they can take on the threat.

Engagement Limits

  • 1 per engagement if Sub-apex and below
  • 2 per engagement if Apex
  • 2 per engagement if offspring are present to any tier.

Courtship

  • Courtship for Deinocheirus begins in frosting season and ends in blooming season. They begin migrating in a large group called a Ballet. This migration begins at their old territory and heads toward Palm islands.
  • Once a Ballet makes it to the islands, Swans will begin making their way on land to begin their dancing.
    • While Loons begin searching the island and nearby waters for the perfect gift, once they retrieve the gift they will make their way towards the circle to watch the swans dance.
  • If a loon becomes interested in a swan who is dancing, he’ll approach her and leave the gift in front of her. If the swan is interested in the loon that gifted her, she’ll accept the gift and lead him out of the formation and into another open area where he will dance for her. Should she like his dance and is still interested, she’ll set the gift back down and trill towards him, if she rejects him, she’ll set the gift down and walk off to return to her dancing.
  • Once accepted the two will turn side by side, and walk together for a short distance in sync, then turning around in the opposite direction and walk back to where they started also in sync. Should they break this sync, the courtship fails and they are rejected.
    • Once back at the starting point, the two will turn to each other and raise their heads and turn them side to side to look at each other. If impressed by each other, they will softly trill (friendly call) towards each other before grouping and become a foxtrot where they will stay at the isle and begin bonding.
  • Should a swan become interested in another dancing swan, she’ll walk up to her and begin dancing beside her. If the other swan is interested in her dancing, she’ll coo at her before leading her off towards the open where they will begin the end of courtship ritual where they walk side by side in sync, then back to where they started, before facing each other with raised heads looking left to right to look at each other. If both are impressed they’ll trill softly towards each other and become a foxtrot.
    • If two loons become interested in each other, one will drop its gift in front of the other and dance. Should the other loon be interested, he’ll exchange gifts before dancing as well. If impressed with his dancing, the starting loon will shake his feathers before facing towards the side and wait for the other to do the same. Once side by side they walk in sync, then back to where they started, before facing each other with raised heads looking left to right to look at each other. If both are impressed they’ll trill softly towards each other and become a foxtrot.
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Notes

  • Males greet each other using the look emote before the chat call while females greet each other using the shake emote.
  • If your Deinocheirus gets tricked into courting with a same-sex pair and chased off after eggs are laid, you can court again.

Terms

  • Loon are Male Deinocheirus
  • Swan are Female Deinocheirus
  • Peep are any below Sub-adult Deinocheirus
  • A Ballet are a group of Deinocheirus seen migrating and courting at the courtship grounds.
  • Ballrooms are multiple Ballets seen interacting and traveling together
  • Foxtrots are a mated pair of Deinocheirus and any offspring with them thats below Sub-adult
  • Foxgloves are multiple Foxtrots seen together at the courting grounds.
  • Kerfuffles are Orphaned Deinocheirus that found each other.

Stat Changes

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