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Page One – A Social Dispute

February 7th, 2010 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Animals, Announcements, Yabun Forest

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Here is the first page to “A Social Dispute” – a sequential approach to Red Tailed Mardiks and their behavior. The comic will be six pages long and will be available in the store soon.

I’ll be adding a new species to the blog toward the end of February.

We are still working out the kinks on the new website and should be launching it in the coming weeks.

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The Black Mardik

January 4th, 2010 by admin | 6 Comments | Filed in Animals, Yabun Forest

Female Black Mardik

The black mardik is the second largest tree climber in Yabun forest as well as the second largest mardik. Males can weigh up to nine kilograms and females up to seven. They are black in color with faint spotting and bright yellow markings along the neck. Black mardiks are social and live in large troops of up to 40 members. The whole of the troop is made up of smaller family groups, each governed by a dominant male and female. Dominance is decided through intimidation and is mostly carried through bloodlines and offspring.

Female Black Mardik and Young

The Black Mardik is the most numerous species of mardik in Yabun Forest. Dominant females give birth to two cubs every year. While they make great mothers, the entire troop (males included) collectively looks after the young. This behavior produces a tight network of family bonds among the troop. Mothers and caregivers will carry offspring on their backs until they are old enough to follow on foot – a common mode of transport among mardiks. Black mardik troops tend to exist on lower canopy levels than the red tailed mardik and so the two species have less chance of competing for the same food sources and territories. Red tailed mardiks are known to be highly protective over their territory and so the two species tend to stay wary of each other. Red tailed mardiks have been noted to attack black mardik troops, however, this behavior is rare and will occur only if the groups’ food sources overlap.

Male Black Mardiks

While this particular species isn’t the largest of mardiks, it is the loudest. Black mardiks use sound to communicate with each other and their calls can be heard up to 3 km away. They use these calls to mark boundaries between rival groups and also as an alarm system to warn the troop of potential enemies.

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The Juka Tree Flower

December 30th, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Plants, Yabun Forest

Juka Tree Flower

The flowers of the Juka tree are large and have thick waxy pedals. They offer up energy-rich nectar to animals and insects in order to pass on their pollen to other Juka trees in the area. Some of the pollinators rely solely on this flower for their active metabolisms.

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Print Collection

December 5th, 2009 by admin | 4 Comments | Filed in Announcements, Store
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"A Social Dispute" Working Cover Design

In the process of creating this “experiment” that I had mentioned before, I have decided to make it available for purchase once completed. The final product will be a six page comic that illustrates a fight for hierarchy between two Red Tailed Mardiks. The comic pages will be presented as individual, removable, full color prints and will be packaged inside of a cover folder (pictured here). Each one is hand made and will be available soon through The Morae River’s new store.

click on the image for larger view

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New Direction

November 27th, 2009 by admin | 8 Comments | Filed in Announcements

Now that the Morae River’s show has passed and things have settled down a bit, I’ve been able to take a step back and really look at this project. What I have done so far has been very brief and really has only scratched the surface of everything that belongs to Solturna.

In the entires to come I will be diving deeper by exploring families and environments in greater detail. I’m still working on the presentation format of the blog and I’m hoping to have a “light-box” sort of display for the images so you can view them larger. The project might also take a turn in it’s context so the origin and placement of Solturna might be revealed in the coming year.

I’ll be posting an experiment in two weeks so keep an eye out for that. I am taking a graphic novel approach with the Red Tailed Mardik and will be illustrating a “social dispute” among the group.

In other news, I’m building a links page and will list other artists who are exploring similar projects in Speculative Biology. Don’t forget to check out the Announcements and Upcoming Events page for updates on The Morae River.

Thank you to all of you who have been following and reading along, I really appreciate the support!

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Gramova

November 22nd, 2009 by admin | 7 Comments | Filed in Plants, The Balandic Mountains
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Gramova

Gramova (celo novacula) The Gramova is a small tuft of grass that grows throughout Orcura. It is virtually indestructible and can grow in almost any climate. This grass reproduces by spreading seedlings underground through its root system. This results in the plants being inner-connected, making it one of the largest living things on the continent. The Gramova will flower in late spring and pass its pollen onto the female plants. Both plants can flower either male or female depending on variations in climate and soil composition.

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Fulmos

November 22nd, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Plants, The Balandic Mountains
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Fulmos

Fulmos (humus arduus) The Fulmos is a large fungus that grows high in the Balandic Mountains. It reproduces by releasing tiny spores, which attach themselves directly to the rocks. These fungi feed on rotting plant material and nutrients in the rich volcanic soil. They have also been seen attached to carcasses and skeletons of perished animals in the area.  Fulmos can grow up to 91 cm in height and are highly adaptable, living in some of the harshest climates in Solturna and all throughout Orcura.

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Snow Weed

November 22nd, 2009 by admin | No Comments | Filed in Plants, The Balandic Mountains
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Snow Weed

Snow Weed (nivas herbas) A small weed that grows all along the Morae River, The Snow Weed is believed to be the ancestor of all the variations of weeds that grow along the banks of the Morae. In the spring, Snow Weeds release thousands of tiny seeds into the wind during late spring. These seeds will travel for miles on the small puff of fiber protruding from it’s top. Snow Weeds are asexual plants and produce seeds without pollination, a process called apomixis. This is form of reproduction is effective but results in the offspring being identical to the parent which can result in a weak lineage.

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Snow Weed Pod and Seedling

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The Balandic Cula

November 22nd, 2009 by admin | 4 Comments | Filed in Animals, The Balandic Mountains

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Female Balandic Cula

One of the more notable mammalian creatures in the Balandic Mountain region is the Balandic Cula, a small scavenger that can be found scurrying around the slopes of the mountains and just above the tree line. The Balandic Cula is the smaller of its larger cousin the Morae Cula  |Môr-rā koõ-lah|. Culas are known to live near freshwater and can be very vicious animals. They do not live in packs but every so often young males will pair off to travel and hunt together. Inevitably, groups will form around kills and fighting will almost always ensue. The Balandic Cula mainly feeds on carrion.  They follow herds of Mountain Uru waiting for the sick to finally die and will even eat each other if food is scarce. They also hunt very small game including The Banded Terrinsc. They have even been noted eating eggs, grasses, fruits, berries, and fish.

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Male Balandic Cula

Balandic Culas have very deep chests that host a large set of lungs for running about the Mountain slopes where the air is thin. Their nostril is also large and is not divided by a septum (it is hollow from side to side). It is believed this allows more air to pass through the nostril to supply more oxygen to the body because of their hyperactive lifestyle. Another theory is that when picking though rotting flesh it allows meat and debris to slide through it rather than getting stuck, causing infection.

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Male Balandic Cula Fight

This species of Cula is believed to have migrated up to these mountains about 950,000 years ago. Because of their rapid rate of reproduction, (females can have up to four litters a year) they have quickly adapted to the cold climate by growing thicker coats than their southern cousins.

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The Banded Terrinsc

November 7th, 2009 by admin | 2 Comments | Filed in Animals, The Balandic Mountains

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Male Banded Terrinsc

Banded Terrinsc are the most peculiar of all the creatures that live in the Balandic mountain range. They are small amphibious burrowers that were isolated here before the mountains were formed, about 300,000 years ago. They are thought to have descended from a large species of amphibious fish called the Sabulo that lives further down south near Yabun pass.

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Detail of Banded Terrinsc's face

They have almost lost their eyes and are mostly blind. They rely on their sensitive whisker-covered noses to lead them through the deep darkness under the tundra. Banded Terrinsc burrow deep under ground with some burrowing as deep as 15 feet but most usually stay within the range of plant roots. Banded Terrinsc eat a variety of grasses, roots and insects. They move slowly and rarely surface. Their leathery skin is covered in small, unseen receptors to help locate moving prey deep underground. Females are usually larger than males but both exhibit the same markings and color. The underground of the Balandic Mountain range stays at a mild 55 degrees year round and so the Banded Terrinsc can live here year round.

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Female Banded Terrinsc

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