what is a wicker?
Unlike their human neighbors, The wickerbeast are a reptilian troll-like creature that lives in the world of Osova. They come in a wide variety of colors, sizes, genders, and subtypes.
This page will guide as a starting point to help you create your wickerbeast effectively and participate in the large world of Osova!
All images below are to be
used for reference purposes only.
basic body structures
Skeleton
The skeleton of a wickerbeast is incredibly dense in order to support their large mass. Overall, the skeleton can weigh 20% of a wicker's weight. This can ensure heavy impact damage to an enemy if a wicker charges.
To counter this, the skeletal system is comprised mainly of compact bone.
The jagged structure of their mouth allows for a high pressure force and extra grip. Once a wicker's jaw has a hold of something it will lock into place which is bad news for any prey a wicker may catch hold of.
As they go through old age, are susceptible to things such as arthritis and hip dysplasia more so the King sub-typing due to having such a massive body.
Blood System
Wickerbeasts have a four chambered heart like humans do.
The heart takes in deoxygenated blood from the body, sends it to the lungs to become oxygenated, the blood comes back to the heart, where it will then be pumped to the rest of the body.
Wicker blood will match the eye color. If the eye is a gradient, it is one or the other color.
Muscular System & Health
Wickerbeasts are essentially walking tanks with the musculature to match the title. Their strong thighs act as a powerhouse of energy due to vast amounts of mitochondria in their body. Combining this with their sturdy hind-legs and they have the capability of producing long running strides for maximum impact along with great leaps.
The tail is one long, thick muscle in itself which is used as both a weapon and to keep their balance when charging. The tail enables very abrupt acute turns in combat and travel. Weapon wise, wickers will use their tail as whip or club to throw their whole body into motion. The end result of the opponent can be paralysis or even death depending on how hard the hit was.
Wickerbeast limbs are just as powerful. Their thighs enable them to master heavy weaponry such as axes. It also allows them to travel long distances and work much longer than the average human could.
Disease
A hereditary disease unique to wickerbeasts is known as Sphinx Syndrome. This disease is where a wickerbeast will be born hairless and deaf. Sphinx Syndrome wickers can be born with horns but the horns are typically small or will break easily.
The appearance of one with sphinx is that of pale, wrinkled skin. If a wicker manages to make it to adulthood with this disease it will require additional aid for their quality of life. Sphinx syndrome wickers will benefit to have hearing aides, heavy duty armor and weaponry, and communicate via sign language. These wickers are able to have young, but the chances of one being born with the disease increases by 25%.
Berserker's Disease is one while unique to wickerbeasts. The disease develops as a result of years of malnutrition from famine-like conditions. Due to a wicker beast's headstrong nature, Berserker's Disease can exacerbate this into constant aggression accompanied with: poor cognitive skills, mania, and loss of sleep.
Even with proper nutrition into later years, enough internal damage has caused permanent scarring to the brain and will continue to have the disease. Beserker's Disease turns hereditary when a pregnant female is involved. Due to lack of nutrition from the mother, there will arise a possibility of the egg being underdeveloped. As a result, the hatchling that is born may have their brain damaged. The hatchling will display physical traits of being underweight or smaller than the average size of their sub type.
a wicker's
are pupil-less!
The appearance of Wicker eyes varies between single colors and gradient hues. The species retain relatively good eyesight despite lacking an iris. The eye is mostly one big pupil to allow a greater amount of light to enter the eye. This allows the creatures to see in UV light and process the regular three channels of color. At night, eyes also exhibit retro reflection (reflected light in dim areas) or in some cases glow in the dark.
Many wicker parents seek moderately lit areas to give birth due to their sensitive eyes at birth. This action minimizes their risk of accidental blindness.
In priority of senses, the sense of smell and hearing still are actively the most relied on for them.
approvable eyes
rEJECTED eyes
Eyes should have no shapes or pupils.
They can have very small shaped highlights
(Must be a lighter color like white).
THE CLAWS
Wicker claws are some essential tools for many things like work, foraging, brawling, and even artwork. The claws on the hands are the actual fingers of wickerbeast. The claws have a small bone piece and a nerve ending. These claw bones are covered by a sheath of keratin.
Wicker claws can bend to hold objects.
Wicker claws grow until adulthood and then do not grow anymore. The tips of the claws are able to be shaved and even be sharpened.
Claw painting is a lovely practice done during court seasons for a mate. Claws might have little designs or patterns painted on them during that time.
A wicker's jagged jaw is one of the signature traits of the species. This jaw allows for a vice grip over prey as it can lock on. If truly motivated in a life-or-death scenario or hunting scenario, a wicker will not let go til they succeed with the outcome.
The insides of a wicker's mouth is a slightly acidic saliva that can break down food as it goes down the throat.
It has a numbing sensation to the prey. The tongue can be forked (hereditary) or normally pointed at the tip.
Wicker teeth and jagged jaw points are incredibly sharp. The teeth of a wicker are serrated at the back edge like a shark's teeth would be.
reproduction & life
when a mommy & daddy love each other-
Don't worry, we'll spare you the birds and the bees talk. That's for your parents - not us! However, jokes aside, wickers still have to reproduce in the big world of Osova to make the world go round.
WHAT DOES A WICKER EGG LOOK LIKE?
In the first and second images above, these are examples of land dwelling wicker eggs. A wicker egg will be generally a light color of your choosing with darker speckles casted over the shell.
The third image of the green egg is an example of swamp and pelagic eggs. These eggs are see through and have a jelly-like texture. Swamps lay them in shallow non-moving bodies of water while pelagics lay them amongst clusters of coral and under-sea plant life.
Generally, the subtypes are sometimes able to be told by the egg sizes themselves however it is not the most accurate way. That big egg might in fact be a 7-9 pound rogue. Who knows?
INCUBATION PERIODS
Mainland and swamp wickerbeasts also differ in how they have their young. The two classes have separate gestation periods: mainland being three to four weeks with swamp being typically two weeks. A healthy mainland wicker will normally produce 5-6 eggs for their clutch while a swamp wickerbeast has 2-5 at a time. A wicker egg will take 14-40 days to hatch.
Any subtype can breed with another subtype. The offspring would not be a hybrid - like a king/swamp offspring for example would either be a king or a swamp in the egg. Not a mix of them.
lifespan
A wicker can reach anywhere between 150-200 years of age, sometimes a little more. Wickers do not age like humans do. Usually, the beginning of a wickerbeast's life is fast in growth and the rest of its life is very slow aging.
A wickerbeast's childhood is from ages 1-4 years old. Their teenage life is from 5-10 years old. A wickerbeast is a "younger" adult from the ages 10-20, and then after the age of 20 they are considered a mature adult.
HORN GROWTH
Newborn: Baby nubs, embedded a bit into head.
6 months: Tiny nubs, sprouting from head.
1 year: Slightly larger nubs, sprouting from head.
1 year, 6 months: Horns start taking shape, stop at base of ear.
2 years: Horns still taking shape, stop at mid ear.
2 years, 6 months: Horns generally have taken shape, stop at mid ear if curled ram horns and then start extending towards jaw.
3-4 years: Usually fully grown horns at this point.
Longer horns could take 3-6 years to develop depending on the shape (antlers for example would take longer).
HORNs
Their horns are very similar to how their claws are.
These appendages that sprout from the wicker's head
all start with a small bone piece that connects to the skull.
The rest of the horn however is very hard keratin and can at
times be broken. A wickerbeast horn will grow back over 3-6
years.
Horns are solid colors, gradients, and typically matte or
a little shiny in texture. They can be segmented shapes
as well. Though a wicker will have no more than two
sets of horns (4). There should only be two on each
side of the head at most.
Wickers can also have small nose horns though they
are most common on the dweller subtype. This is okay
to have along with horn sets.
They will be the same shape unless they are a dweller.
no flights
Wickers as a species do not have wings and cannot grow them. There are some exceptions that can however be seen on the hybrid page.
The wickers body is typically too heavy to fly which is a reason why wings have never been a feature along with some early species agreements. Aerions however can glide for short periods.
However, you can give your wicker accessories.
By that, we mean that the wings need to have a harness or strap shown in order to "have wings."
Wickers cannot have robotic wings on them as the limitations and features on robotics are still being developed.
height chart
Wickers have many heights and body types. A wickerbeast can be a stronger body type, a softer body type, or even a petite body type. Heights are similar in that they have a wide range to choose from. These are averages for the species and there can be outliers. If you want a tall rogue, that is more than acceptable.
