FAQs: Skryke edition.

Q: Where did you get the name "skryke" from?
A: I picked it out years and years back when they were still played by Jurassic Park Coelophysis action figures. It was a harsh sounding word that seemed appropriate.  In 2010 I found out it is also an old Norse word for "shriek", and they do have a hell of a shrieking attack call, so it all worked out beautifully.

Q:Who is "Sky Matriarch"?
A: The skryke creator-deity, skryke society is heavily matriarchal and thus their "god" is female.

Q:Wait...they have religion?
A: Yes it seems humans aren't the only sophonts who concoct divine explanations for things they can't explain.  See this journal entry for more fav.me/d3oegch

Q: Are they "raptors"?
A: The proper term is "Dromaeosaur", and no, they aren't.

Q: So what are they?
A: Current canon is still that skykes evolved from some sort of Jeholornis-type ancestor, though not Jeholornis itself.  As it turns out it was recently discovered that Jeholornis seems to have had elongated feathers over it's tailbase which are broadly similar in concept to what I've been depicting on skrykes since 2009...so another happy accident.

Q:How long do they live?
A: Skrykes, particularly high ranking females, routinely live in excess of forty years.  Their maximum attainable age is not currently known though as they are not kept in captivity.

Q:How big are they?
A: Female skrykes are larger than males on average.  A big female can reach lengths of nearly 10feet (3 meters) but bear in mind a lot of that is tail. Rearing up, a skryke could more or less look the average person in the face.  Weight ranges between 80 and 130 pounds (36 to 59kg)  for most adults, with some exceptionally big females reaching up to 160 pounds (73 kg) on occasion.

Q:How fast are they?
A: Skrykes are well adapted for cursoriality and are capable of speeds of up to 60km/h in short bursts.  More moderate speeds can be sustained for long distances.

Q: Are they social?
A: Yes, very.  Skrykes live in clans that can number in the hundreds, usually overseen by a female Matriarch and her close associates. 

Q: What do they eat?
A: Meat. Skrykes are obligate carnivores.  Typically groups of associated individuals will hunt in parties of two to six.  Small to mid-sized prey are favored but skrykes will tailor their group size for the prey they plan on pursuing, so large groups of two-dozen or more may form up to hunt larger animals on occasion.

Q: So can all skrykes speak human languages?
A: No, as a species skrykes are skilled mimics but imitating human languages is an acquired skill and some are better at it than others.  The skill was put to extensive use during the war. Even rarer are those skrykes who actually learn to communicate in the language instead of merely parroting a few words and phrases.

Q: How about tool use?
A: They are limited in what tools they can craft and use due to their anatomy, mostly it's just stuff like using sticks gripped in the jaws to probe insect nests or the burrows of small vertebrates.  They do build huge labyrinthine communal bowers out of sticks though.

Q: I lurvs me some raptorz, I wish I could hang out with them!
A: I already told you once they aren't Dromaeosaurs, and if you tried to hang out with them, they'd eat you alive and leave what they didn't want for the crocs.

Q: But whyyyyyy!? I only look like a human on the outside, inside I have the spirit of a dinosaur. *poofy-floofy-floofs feathers in agitation*
A: Wow...you're a fucking moron.

Q: Were skrykes the primary reason humans were apparently unable to gain a foothold on Araea prior to arriving en masse during the plague era?
A: They seem to be.  Human remains dating back several thousand years have been unearthed in Araea showing indications of having been killed by skrykes and skryke oral history suggests that "shortfaces" were systematically hunted down and exterminated every time they attempted to make a go of settling on Araea.

Q: Exterminated? You make it sound as if they truly hated humans. Surely humans are the only creature capable of genuine malice.
A: Nope, skrykes have reached that level of brain development where "evil" behavior starts showing itself.

Q: Why did humans and skrykes fight a war?
A: Two smart animals sharing the same space, both decided the other didn't belong there, it was kind of inevitable.

Q: If the truce had not have happened, which side would have won?
A: Eventually the humans would have won, they began altering their tactics and deploying improved technology on the battlefield, however it was clear the skrykes would fight to the last, thus brokering a truce seemed a preferable alternative to continued fighting.

Q: So humans and skrykes are pals now? Sweet!
A: Not quite.  A lot of bad blood exists between humans and skrykes still, given that the war ended only about twenty years prior, many veterans on both sides are still alive and maintain grudges.  It is in both sides' interest to maintain peace though so the Araean government and the skryke clan matriarchs do everything possible to make sure their respective populations behave themselves. 

Q: Oh, so they hate each other still then?
A: For the most part, yes.  In certain areas though the two species have learned to live side by side in relative peace though, and even engage in commerce to a degree.

Q: Commerce?
A: Skrykes have learned the value of human livestock (sheep, goats) as a food source and some clans now engage in rudimentary animal husbandry.  In exchange for livestock skrykes will allow humans access to their territories to dig for their foolish shiny rocks.  Skrykes appreciate shiny things too, but mostly just as novelties, whereas the shortfaces seem to view them as having real value.

Q: You've overhauled the skryke design several times already.  Are you going to end up changing it again?
A: There may be some slight changes coming. Thicker neck feathers and  changing the green feathers to a rusty red-brown are two possible ones, I'll just be modifying the current drawing though rather than doing an entirely new one.