[✓] [Creature Lore] - The Sphinx

[marsloll 1384]

 

Spoiler

 

 

"There are various eyes. Even the Sphinx has eyes: and as a result there are various truths, and as a result there is no truth." - Friedrich Nietzsche

 

[Source]

 

“This was the Sphinx’s riddle: ‘What goes on four feet in the morning, two feet in midday, and three feet in the evening?’ At around this time Oedipus came to Thebes, and he solved the riddle. Oedipus said, “The answer is ‘man’.”

 

The legends and stories of mighty Sphinxs with tricky minds and even trickier puzzles, are not uncommon to hear as myths told unto travellers who seek treasure, glory and fame. Those unprepared for such a task often never come back, and even those who believe themselves ready will go seek out this prized creature only to come crawling back upon the brink of death - the sound of flapping wings following their steps, like a vulture circling a carcass. One should always be prepared when meeting a Sphinx of any caliber, and it would be wise to bring one’s wit as well as a blade.

 

There are two different classifications of Sphinxes currently documented: the Greater and the Lesser. They are similar, yet different at the same time. The Greater Sphinxes are considered the prime of the general species, while the Lesser Sphinxes are more like mutated from birth, defected - much like dwarfism in other animals and people.

 

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Spoiler

 

 

Greater Sphinx

 

[Source]

 

Appearance

A Greater Sphinx is quite large, given its name - most roughly average around 12’ in height when on all fours, and the females are larger than the males. Every Greater Sphinx is made up of three portions - a feline-eque body, wings, and a humanoid face. Regardless of physical gender, the humanoid face typically is more on the feminine side. 

 

Depending on their region, they may exhibit different fur coats, manes and feather colours. A Greater Sphinx who was born and grown in the tundra may appear more like a snow leopard, with the wings of a snowy owl and a pale woman’s face. On the other side, a desert-dwelling Greater Sphinx may have the body of a caracal, with vulture wings and tanned features. On occasion, they may sprout horns or animal-like ears to reflect the other animals in its habitat, or even adorn their own treasures like necklaces or crowns upon their head to show it off.

 

No matter the appearance, the Greater Sphinx is equipped with plenty of defenses and offenses to protect its treasure from those undeserving. Its maw is able to split wider from its visible mouth, opening into a large snake-like mouth, with rows of sharp teeth. Each paw of theirs bears five fingers, and a razor-sharp claw outfitted to each. The creatures are extremely muscular to account for being able to fly with their large wings and support the weight of their vast size. They are also able to speak much like a Descendant would, if not with slight cat-like intonations or an otherworldly quality to them.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

-  Greater Sphinxes are ST-played only.

- A Sphinx’s appearance is solely based on its environment - one would not find a pure white Sphinx in the middle of the jungle.

- A Greater Sphinx’s pelt and skin is akin to reinforced leather, being able to cushion blunt damage and slashes.

- Its claws and teeth are as tough as steel, and can easily scratch through gambeson and anything less. It may be able to puncture through steel given enough force, such as biting.

Habitat

Greater Sphinxes are located in the far-to-reach places of the realm, secluded and away from most descendants. They enjoy their solitude being in the middle of a desert, a lone island in the ocean, or hidden away behind a waterfall in the woods. Because of this, they are extremely territorial - having verbal, and sometimes physical disputes with other Greater Sphinxes. If one starts to hear voices and arguing in the middle of nowhere, there is a chance that there are two Greater Sphinxes nearby debating over territory. 

 

Within their chosen den, they will hide all manners of precious gems, gold, treasure and knowledge that they’ve managed to collect over the years from failed scholars and challengers. This trove is well hidden, tucked away deep within their habitat where only the Greater Sphinx would know. 

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Greater Sphinxes do not live underground in any manner - the most that they will tolerate is a cave.

 

Hunting & Diet

Greater Sphinxes are strictly carnivores, and are able to go a very long while without eating. Similarly to camels, the Greater Sphinxes may last a whole week without water, and up to two weeks without food, being able to store energy and fat in pockets within its larger body.

 

Their primary source of food seemed to be made up of arrogant travellers who were unable to best the Sphinx’s riddles, or any other animal that they could catch in the brief time that the Sphinx required to stretch its wings. They never tend to leave their treasure and or den for too long, meaning they are only realistically able to use that time to get something small, but rarely anything big enough to fully sate their appetite in one instance.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Greater Sphinxes hunt alone, and are considered an apex predator in their given habitat.

 

Behaviour

A Greater Sphinx’s greatest boon is its knowledge, with the capability of intelligence on par, if not surpassing descendantkind.  Because of this, they can become extremely vain and haughty, being full of themselves due to how much they know and years of eating individuals not as smart as them to reinforce that fact. Despite this fact, they are still honest enough to never lie - that much is certain. Existence tends to be more of a game for these creatures, given that they are so used to being the top of the food chain, as well as getting enjoyment out of tormenting individuals with riddles and puzzles. 

 

Should one earnestly solve all the riddles the Sphinx has to offer, it will concede and offer a singular treasure from its trove. Should there be cheating involved, like giving a false answer or trying to take more than one thing from its hoard, the Greater Sphinx will immediately turn hostile and defend its treasure with its life - not stopping until the individual has become its next meal.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- A Greater Sphinx are not aggressive by nature, more conniving and trickster-like. However they will become aggressive if provoked, hunting for food, or someone was to steal from them.

 

Life Cycle and Reproduction

Greater Sphinxes can live up to 100-200 years old on average, and they use the time well - collecting knowledge and valuables from their victims from when they were able to eat. Their parents typically pass their troves down unto the strongest of the litter, only adding to the next generation’s collection. Greater Sphinxes are often had in litter of 3-4, with there being a 50% chance of producing a Lesser Sphinx in each young. Those that are Lesser are considered undesirable and not worth the parent’s time - often being kicked out of the den and or left to starve while they devote their resources to the Greater Sphinx, if any. If both the spawn produced as Lesser Sphinxes, then the parents will care for them equally as so.

 

They generally reach maturity around 30 years into their life, being able to hunt for themselves and are able to begin the search for their own den to begin their trove. Each Greater Sphinx has a metaphorical tether which allows them to sense family members nearby, or should something drastic happen to them - hence the idea that they are able to collect their parents’ treasure and add it to their own. Once a female Greater Sphinx bears her litter, she will then cannibalise the male to provide for the young. In a family, the young are stashed away with the treasure while the mother is in charge of guarding the treasure and posing the questions.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Greater Sphinxes as children will always be more favoured than the Lesser.

- A Greater Sphinx will only have one litter their entire lives, and will not choose to mate again.

 

Abilities

Besides it’s bestial advantages of teeth and claws, a Greater Sphinx can manipulate its voice and throat to release a loud sharp-pitched noise for a sustained amount of time. This noise was able to shatter glass, stun anyone without ear protection, and disrupt any magic casting. Such an ability is straining for the Greater Sphinx, unable to do it more than once without risking the rupture of its throat.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- The noise emitted from a Greater Sphinx can be omitted by any potion, or ear covering like earplugs or earmuffs.

- The noise emitted from a Greater Sphinx stuns those within a #RP range for [1] emote.

 

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Spoiler

 

 

 

Lesser Sphinx

  

[Source]

 

Appearance

A Lesser Sphinx is considered the runt of the species, never being able to grow bigger than 5’ tall on all fours. They all bear feline-type bodies, wings and a humanoid face, though due to their mutations, their faces may lean more masculine or feminine based on their gender. They follow similar rules to their larger counterparts, such as their appearance being dependent on their habitat and that females are larger than males. They may grow ears, manes or horns but they often do not have enough treasure to wear upon themselves for decoration.

 

They too have similar teeth and claws, but due to the size of the creature, they perhaps aren’t as effective as their Greater relatives. Their wings are only able to sustain flight for a few moments before being forced to glide and eventually land. While they cannot form proper descendant sentences and words, they have been known to learn how to parrot and speak certain phrases if repeated enough. 

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

-  Lesser Sphinx can be RPed in player-run and or DIY events.

- A Sphinx’s appearance is solely based on its environment - one would not find a pure white Sphinx in the middle of the jungle.

- A Lesser Sphinx’s pelt and skin is akin to leather, while the underbelly and neck of the Sphinx behaves as regular fur and hide.

- Its claws and teeth can only penetrate leather, and cloth - nothing else.

- Any material extracted from a Lesser Sphinx is mundane and player-signed.

- One cannot use a Lesser Sphinx's parroting ability to metagame information unless given explicit OOC permission.

Habitat

Lesser Sphinxes may be found wherever the Greater Sphinxes can be found, however one must be careful. If a Lesser Sphinx is nearby, that only could mean that a Greater Sphinx’s den is near too. They will often have their own small nest, filled with smaller treasured or valuables to the animal that they will guard with their life.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Lesser Sphinxes do not live underground in any manner - the most that they will tolerate is a cave.

 

Hunting & Diet

Like their Greater counterparts, they too are carnivores, but unfortunately do not have the luxury of having people come up to them for riddles then turned into food. They are primarily scavengers, hunting after already injured or dying animals before eating them. On the rare occasion, it will go out hunting itself for a fresh kill though it’s unlikely.

 

They may also go some time without food, but not as long as the Greater. A Lesser Sphinx may sustain itself a few days without food or water, before it has to go out to find food once more since their bodies are smaller, and therefore can only store so much energy for later.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Lesser Sphinxes hunt alone.

- Any attempt to get a Lesser Sphinx to eat vegetation will result in the creature throwing it up.

 

Behaviour

A Lesser Sphinx is no less conniving and sneaky as their larger counterparts, though they lack the prideful vanity that the Greater Sphinxes might have. Instead, their territorial instinct has skyrocketed to compensate for their smaller stature, and they will become immediately aggressive and skittish upon sight - either attacking immediately without provocation or simply fleeing back to their den.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Lesser Sphinx cannot be tamed or kept as pets.

 

Life Cycle and Reproduction

Lesser Sphinxes are the products of a genetic mutation when Greater Sphinxes are young. Lesser Sphinxes are rendered sterile and unable to produce their own children, and live significantly shorter lives, about 50-70 years in a lifetime. If they’re raised by their parents without being kicked out of their den, they may push it to 75-80 years.

 

They do however still sometimes take mates, or companions in this sense. Lesser Sphinxes will pair up for the sake of company, but they will never pair up with a Greater Sphinx. Unlike the Greater Sphinxes, the female will not cannibalise the male.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- Lesser Sphinxes cannot be bred, nor can they produce their own spawn.

 

Abilities

The Lesser Sphinx is essentially an underdeveloped Greater, so all of its abilities have been diminished. In terms of its sharp noise, all the Lesser Sphinx can do is make an unpleasant screech. Not enough to stun or disrupt any magic, but it was grating upon the ears like nails against a chalkboard.

 

Spoiler

REDLINES

- The noise emitted from a Lesser Sphinx can never mortally harm or affect anyone or anything beyond just being abrasive to hear.

 

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Purpose

[Source]

 

The closest LOTC has to a true Sphinx is a manticore, but even then it does not capture the feel of a Sphinx, and I thought that it would generally make for more fun events for people not to constantly do CRP in events, and try to think for once, with riddles and puzzles that can be solved. I also enjoy the theme that Aevos creatures have going on where they all seem to be combinations of other animals (Drogokroko, Porculon Bear, etc.) so a woman-lion with wings seemed to be thematically correct for the other animals commonly found on these current lands.

 

Credits

Author: @marslol

 

Changelog

Spoiler

- Lesser Sphinxes are no longer able to be kept as pets / companions in any way, strictly being used for player / DIY events.

 

[King_Kunuk 3022]

+1

[Tav 4336]

such a cool creature, and we could do with more creature-based events that didn't rely on CRP to interpret some form of stakes.




 

[Cheese 8883]

Can't wait to force passerbys to answer my riddles three

[Holyland 3650]

a classic trope and an excellent addition, would absolutely love to use this especially since you've added the capability for Lesser Sphinxes to be used in player eventlines

 

Spoiler

how the **** do you do previous and next pages educate me mars

 

[Islamadon 9158]

This Lore has been accepted. Moved to Implemented Lore, it will be sorted to it's appropriate category soon. Please note that if this is playable lore, such as a magic or CA, you will need to write a guide for this piece. You will be contacted regarding the guide (or implementation if it isn’t needed) shortly.