the Cower journal

So basically i'm redoing everything, using the recent design as a base..

Their size is going to be way smaller than recent designs, since being big isn't the best quality for a predator, and i decided that they'll have fur. I also need to think up of better names for them other than Prairie and Mountain, i'm getting a little tired of those.

Prairies
The height at the average age of 100-150, they are around 5ft tall at the head. Their fur is smooth, like the Vizsla or the american bulldog where you can hardly tell there is fur. They have a mohawk mane, which they use to communicate. Their wings have color changing abilities like chameleons, they can change from brown, tan, yellow & black to blue, white, gray & black. These color changes help the dracolgas to camouflage better on the ground or in the air. The changes aren't the best though, there will always be some colors leftover like yellow in the blue or blue in the brown; and the colors are not perfectly blended or patterned, they are completely random and spotty. The Prairies are gentle natured, most will gladly share territory and food and will accept all kinds of characters.

Now for the stuff i haven't figured out:
The prairies favorite prey is a wild horse that can run up to 45mph, so they need to run up to 50mph. So they need long, strong yet flexible legs and a long slender body, and a deep chest for maximum air intake while running; like the cheetah or whippet/greyhound. And the legs have to be straight underneath them to support their weight. The hard part of this is fitting in the wings..
I have moved the wings from ontop the front legs to over the ribcage, the reason being that all the muscle needed for flight going around the shoulder would seriously hinder the legs movement and get in the way. What i have come up with for the wing placement is to have the wing-shoulder blade float ontop of the main body's muscle, the wing muscle and tendons are attached to the body, keeping the wings from falling off. The major flight muscles wrap around the ribcage and attach to the enlarged breastbone, like birds. An issue i'm having here is how much muscle to have and how big to make the breastbone and what shape to make it; and also how to attach the breastbone to the ribcage, since i want them to have flexibility but i don't want the the ribs to break or flight doesn't work because the muscles squish the flexible ribs or something.
I also want to make sure if making the shoulders long and low on the body, so the elbows can reach the ground when lying down, won't effect running.

Animals i've considered referencing off of are cheetahs, lions, greyhounds/whippets, great dane, african hunting dog, peregrine falcon, albatross, frigate bird, and the giant golden crowned fruit bat/flying fox bat.

Here is a sketch of what i have so far:

http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/Cower_bucket/ORAKO.jpg

Mountain:
The height at the average age of 100-150, they are around 4ft tall at the head. Their fur is more fuller than the prairies, to keep them warm. The mountains are smaller but stronger and more agile than the prairies,since it takes a lot more than just speed to catch just as agile prey on the mountains. Their wings also change colors, and they also have the mowawk mane to communicate. They are much more aggressive than prairies, and they need to be; the size of your territory could mean how much food you get.
The issues with these guys are similar to the prairies, with the wings and fitting them on the body.
Animals i've considered referencing off of are Snow leopards, lions, wolves, great dane, puma, golden eagle, accipters and the giant golden crowned fruit bat/flying fox bat.

Here's a sketch :


http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc250/Cower_bucket/ORAKO001.jpg

man i'm getting tired..

no one watches me :'C

I'm gonna use my LJ now like a blog supposevely?? Basicly ill just post sketchs, concepts of my characters and of aliens for my Orako books, some stuff from my Orako books, and for rantings and more constant updates of my life than on DA. so yeah, yayness if anyone reads my journals  ;o;


so if anyone wants to see all of this you have to become friends with me