Everything you want to know about...
Quarry Oris!
General Information:
Pronunciation: “Quarry" (like the word is pronounced) "Ore-ee”
Plural: Quarry Oris (Oris)
Baby Quarry Ori: Chick
A Bunch of Ori: Drove
History:
Quarry Oris were named after the type of location they were initially found in: Quarries!
Wyngrew first started noticing these animals accumulating in rock quarries specifically. Although they are mostly found in desert oases, these giant, two-legged beasts are quite hardy at surviving in various terrains, and traveling long distances very quickly. They are able to survive easily in any climate aside from lower temperature places. But some have rumored there to be variations with adaptations for colder climates.
Wyngrew quickly found use in taming these creatures, and they are used as a the most common steed to this day.
Sexual Dimorphism
It’s generally extremely easy to tell the difference between a male and female, though many gros likely wouldn’t know due to females being far, far more common than their male counterparts.
For every dozen eggs laid, generally only one will hatch to be a male ori. Males are also often sold exclusively to breeders, and more wealthy Wyngrew in larger cities, making the sight of them out and about among the common folk an uncommon sight.
Female oris are generally much larger than their male counterparts, always large enough to be a good riding steed and beast of burden for all walks of life. Females also sport “plainer” colors, largely natural browns, tans, blacks, and uncommonly, brighter orange hues. They generally have a dusty color that helps them blend into desert biomes.
Male oris are generally lither in shape, not quite as broad in the chest, and smaller than females. They are also much quicker to fright, always preferring Flight over Fight responses in stressful situations. What males lack in size, however, they more than make up for in speed, and variety of color! They can also be seen with other wildly-varying types of ornamental body growths, like larger fins, long whiskers, and much more!
Anatomy:
Their bones are hard, but light, enabling quick and speedy movement, while also enabling them to carry heavy loads on their backs.
The “Gill like” flaps on their necks are actually used primarily for heat dispersal, flaring open when an Ori is particularly hot or exerting itself. These also open up when an ori is stressed or in pain.
Oris have long, straw-like tongues that are used to suck the liquid and nutrients out of anything they can find in the desert. This is especially useful for rough, prickly plants found in desert areas.
They will also eat just about anything. Grass, tree bark, clothing… they'll even eat Wyngro eggs if you're not careful!
Wild droves are usually made up of anywhere from four to ten females, one or two males, and their chicks. The female oris make up the majority of the drove and act as the protectors of the group. Males and chicks are often kept to the center of the drove for protection. Males, having a natural flighty and watchful nature, make them often the lookouts. If trouble occurs, the males run for safety and the young follow, while the females drive off whatever the danger is.
When the species was first integrated into the Wyngro way of life, gros used the female's natural desire to protect smaller, more colorful creatures. They quickly became protective over their small riders.
The natural male instinct in oris to challenge colorful interlopers to a “Show off” battle did prove to be a problem at first, though through years of domestication has tapered this instinct … mostly. Some male oris can still be known to flair their frills at Wyngrew that prove to be “too colorful”. (Some ori ranchers with naturally bright coloration often wear brown jackets when taming new males they get!)
Ori Care:
Oris are used to living off very little in the wild, so spoiling one will usually result in it becoming unmotivated to work. Constant overfeeding can lead to an overweight ori as well, which causes the animal to feel discomfort and pain in their legs when walking around, and extra difficulty breathing when exercised. Do not overfeed your ori, no matter how much they beg!
Quarry oris are pretty derpy and seemingly happy-go-lucky animals for the most part, but they have amazing memories and survival instincts! This makes them wonderful companions for long travels.
Their memories are particularly great for knowing where ‘home’ or ‘food’ is, so once an Ori has been to a particular town stable and fed, it can always find its way back without fail.
Many desert settlements use this ability to its fullest advantage, using the steeds as both a compass, and beasts of burden for just about everything.
Be very mindful to how you treat them though, as that amazing memory also means they’ll never forget the face of a gro who’s been cruel to them (no matter how a Wyngro may have changed since the encounter).
Tasty Oris!
Ori eggs tend to be a bit bigger than Wyngro eggs, but merchants still end up mixing the two up at times, despite the Ori eggs being very pale and bland.
Ori meat is extremely stringy and tough with little flavor, so it has extremely little value for most, though desert dwellers don't seem to mind it too much, as they don’t have access to much of anything else.
Laying Eggs
Female Quarry Oris lay one egg a month, fertilized or unfertilized, so long as she is kept in the vicinity of a male. A quick trick Wyngrew use to check whether an egg is fertilized or not is to use either light magic or a candle in a dark room to see through the shell a growing embryo in the yolk of the egg. As the embryo has generally already begin developing inside the female before laying, it’s usually quite easy to see whether an egg holds life or not. This trick only works within a few hours of the egg being laid, however, as once the shell has fully hardened, it’s impossible to see inside this way!
Once fully hardened, ori eggs have plain, solid-white shells, sometimes with very subtle patterns. The size, shape, and weight, surprisingly enough, actually matches Wyngrew eggs quite closely! (Albeit a bit larger) Luckily, the plain look of ori eggs makes it easier (in most cases) to tell ori and Wyngrew eggs apart!
Male eggs however, tend to be brighter than eggs containing females! This makes it easier to set aside male eggs for selling purposes. Although, this makes it easier for thieves looking to make some quick coin for a rare male ori egg!
Quarry Oris generally bury their eggs in shallow or gravely dirt that gets plenty of light throughout the day for their eggs to incubate in the wild. The females of a drove usually keep their eggs all in clusters of different “nests” close to the drove’s usual stomping grounds. The males then take over egg-turning duty, and check on the eggs once or twice a day, using their swiftness to easily bolt between the different nests.
It usually takes around three months before the egg will hatch if the chick inside developed correctly. Once hatched, the chick will usually be greeted by one of the males of the drove, and follow their colorful parental figure for the rest of their growing development. (This is why they were so easy to domesticate!)
Imprinting
Domestic oris are generally raised by designated ‘handlers’; gros who have the job of caring for developing chicks. Wyngrew often have to wear a very colorful garment while on “parenting duty” to ensure the chick bonds with them (though some Wyngrew are colorful enough on their own for a chick to properly imprint on them!)
The chick will follow and copy their “Parent” for the next six months, during which time they will grow exponentially and eat up to their body weight in food each day. By the end of this time, the chick will now be an adolescent, and able to either be sold, and/or begin more serious training as a steed. Extreme care must be taken in the next few months not to overwork the adolescent's still-growing bones and muscles, as an overworked young adult can have many problems once fully grown.
Once a year old, an ori is considered an adult. Females will begin egg-laying, while males will begin displaying their full colors and preening to show off to females (or to their favorite Wyngrew friends!) Oris won’t reach their potential full size until two years old for males, and three years old for females.
Lifespan
Generally, hard-worked oris lose their vigor and strength around twenty to thirty years of age. At this point, most are sold for cheap meat. This is often the fate of female oris.
The most extravagant of male oris, who are often only used as stud animals or for more leisurely riding jobs, often live until they die of natural causes.
In cases where the ori is a companion, a well cared for ori can life to be 50 years old.
“You can Lead an Ori to water, but you can’t make it swim!”
Quarry oris, being largely desert animals, hate having to get their feet wet, and much prefer ‘sand’ baths or ‘mud’ baths instead of water.
In fact, aside from drinking it, oris really don't like water much at all. A little water magic and a threat of getting spritzed with the stuff will surely get a misbehaving ori to knock it off!
Riding
The most valuable thing about any quarry ori,
is its ability to be ridden by any Wyngro!
(Albeit Gorge subspecies are a bit too large-- though there are rumors of larger bred oris specifically for them)
Specific saddles are manufactured for both biped and quad gros for comfort, although like many professions, quads are simply not as commonly seen riding them.
Mounting an ori is difficult unless you've trained them the "foot up", which instructs the ori to raise one foot and hold it for the gro to use as a sort of step ladder onto the back of the ori. This is a basic command almost all ori know. Many will do it instinctively if you are in the right action.
Speeds
Without a rider, a small male ori can reach a maximum speed of up to 60 miles per hour (96 kilometers) But these speeds are done in short bursts. With a light rider, ori races have been able to reach these same speeds, but a normal rider with a moderately fast ori will usually reach a max of 50 mph (80 kph). An ori can easily maintain a speed of about 35 mph (56 kph), with or without a rider.
Equipment
Saddle up! Oris need gear before they can be ridden around! Although ridin' bareback seems like a fun yeehaw time, your Wyngro will likely slip off and hurt themselves! Saddles come in all different colors, shapes and sizes, as well as reigns for easy handling. A properly trained ori will have a much more comfortable time being ridden with a saddle, and so will the gro!
FAQs:
Can I draw my gro interacting with some wild oris?
Wild oris live in the desert or very arid areas, far from Wynsiph! Your gro realistically would not come upon wild droves on their travels.
However, Lasso has a few on her farm that gros are always welcome to visit and ride!
Do I have to be a part of the Wyngro group to draw an ori?
Nope! Feel free to make and draw as many as you want, whether you have a Wyngro or not!
Just remember to only submit made up ori designs to the Wyngro-Fans group, instead of the main group!
What kind of skin do oris have?
Quarry Oris have thick hides, like a rhino!