Sea Wyvern

Sea Wyverns are small, playful, and rather mindless Wyverns that populate the world's tropical coastlines. Their primary habitat is the coast of the bay north of the Dragon Empire and northeast of the Red Claw, a large congregation nicknamed Whirltide.

Physical Description
Sea Wyverns are a strange race of Wyvern. They're semi-aquatic and completely lack scales. Their skin is smooth and slippery, much like a dolphin's. They must stay wet at all times to prevent their skin from drying out and cracking, but do often come out of the water or stick in the shallows. Their skin can range in any hue of the blues from azure to cerulean, but do not get as bright as turquoise. Their markings, on the other hand, usually are a bright blue such as turquoise or aquamarine. Eyes generally are shades of green or blue, matching the ocean's hues. Their undersides are also very light, usually white or maize colored. Overall, their coloration helps them blend into the ocean. When swimming, light colorations from below helps them blend into the bright sunlight beaming down, and dark above lets them fade into the darkness that's below them. Their swimming is also aided by the frills that grow across their head and back, which act like a dorsal fin to keep the Wyvern upright in the ocean. Their tail flipper is vertical, leading to them swimming like a shark would in a side-to-side motion. When swimming, they fold their legs back against themselves and spread their wings out to act as extra propulsion or to guide them and help them make quick turns in the ocean.

The wings of these Wyverns can't really be called wings, truthfully. They are more like oversized appendages in a half-evolved state between wings and flippers. The digits of the wings no longer are made entirely of bone, instead comprising of cartilage. The "membranes" are made of muscle and fat, making them much thicker and heavier. These wings are useless for flight and can only support short glides into the water.

A Sea Wyvern's paws are the usual paws of Wyverns, except the claws are much larger and hooked. They are meant to latch onto slippery fish and sea creatures, causing damage and preventing escape. The digits also have webs between them to allow for slower, lazy swimming in the water if the Wyvern decides to kick rather than use its tail. Otherwise, their legs are somewhat weak - they can't hold themselves up without support of the ocean water for extended periods of time.

Sea Wyverns are like dolphins when it comes to breathing - they have no gills and therefore must surface for air. They breathe through their mouth, though, and have a special flap in their throat to prevent water from filling their stomach and lungs when they open their mouth in the water.

Finally, the Wyvern's teeth are sharp and conical, meant to pierce and hold onto sea creatures. Their jaws are also very strong and made for cracking open tough shells. Their tongue is flat and not very mobile, leading them to speak a weird dialect of the Wyvern language that conforms more easily to their mouths.

Culture
Sea Wyverns begin their life in the shallows of the ocean, learning to swim before walking, among many other various eggs and chicks. They grow up under the watchful eyes of multiple Wyvern females, often mothers who left their eggs somewhere in the mass. They learn to associate all the females as a sort of mother figure, never truly knowing their own parents. They are aware of their siblings, though, since their eggs hatch at once and imprint on each other. They don't really grow attached with family and end up clinging to friend circles instead.

As they grow older, they learn to walk more confidently on land or in shallow water, but as with all Sea Wyverns, they refuse to move inland. Juveniles learn to hunt for the group they live in around now, chasing after large fish in the deeper parts of the ocean. Sometimes, they may disappear for days at a time out at sea, chasing after schools of fish for the greater good.

Even when Sea Wyverns enter adulthood, though, they don't lose their playful and friendly attitude. Living in rather harmless environments, these creatures don't have any reason to fear strangers. They'll gladly welcome anyone to their living space and show them around. This does not mean that they won't fight to defend themselves if attacked, though. They just won't draw blood first.

Sea Wyverns live in medium to large groups sometimes referred to as schools. This "school" is headed by the largest female and her mate. Since these creatures never stop growing, the largest generally are also the oldest and wisest of the group. The leadership of these Wyverns are never questioned. When said pair dies, the next oldest pair comes to power and leads on. Usually, this leadership just consists of telling the others how much food is needed for the next few days or weeks. The pair may also try to help solve any rare squabbles that occur between schoolmates and will determine the best area to bed down for the night.

When it comes to choosing a mate, a Sea Wyvern won't search for a mate based off of emotional attachments despite being sentient. Males will usually compete for the largest single female they know once they become of age, and said female will choose her favorite male. Most of the time, these attachments last for life. Sometimes, though, they may split off and find new pairs to try to spread their gene pool further.

The most complex thing these Wyverns will do is keep pets. It's possible to find an old Sea Wyvern with a pet sea turtle or manta ray, usually kept nearby through bating with food. If a Wyvern loses its pet, it will either try to find another one soon after or just give up on the work of taking care of a pet.

To the amusement of the other sentient races, sometimes dolphins may take on young Wyverns as part of their pod. These Wyverns will usually follow with the dolphins for as long as they can before either losing the pod or finding other Wyverns that would take them in. This is a rare circumstance, though. Wyverns raised by dolphins generally can't survive without "their" pod and aren't accepted into normal society.