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Description

When the forest of Serina succumbed to the cold in the mid ultimocene ice age, it receded not in a line but irregularly. Some Patches of forest in areas with favourable microclimates endured longer than others, and in those patches lived some of the last arboreal creatures of Serina at that time. Including the Bag Ornkey. It comes to no surprise that, as food availability in the trees was dwindling rapidly, some of these Ornkeys would wander off in search of food on the ground, just like gibbons do, if they have no other choice left.

Not adapted to living on the ground, they were somewhat ungainly on land, and not particularly fast, so would frequently fall victim to predators and they did not find much food in the grassland. All they could find was some herbs, bugs, plant roots to dig up, and if they were particularly lucky they could catch small injured animals.

But at the shores, some to them would - for a time - successfully, adapt to forage for food at the beaches.

The would feed on seaweed at the shores, which was available in sufficient quantities, just like the woodcrafters did, and if the opportunity arose, they even scavenged fresh dead fishes that were washed ashore, for they were omnivores, which was a highly advantageous trait in such a rapidly changing world.

They wold make their home not only in the dwindling patches of forest, but also at the cliffs, making the most out of their climbing abilities, and living where most of the other predators could not follow them. They would shelter not only in the remaining forest patches, but also in crevices and caves at the cliffs.

The faced brutal competition in the form of Squotters, particularly the more primitive terrestrial ones, like the Skuorc, which were not as aquatic as other Squotters and therefore more likely to be encountered at the shore, and therefore Bag Ornkeys would be restricted to the cliffs most of the time and usually only coming to the shores to feed.

The Squotters, solitary and highly territorial animals, would see them as competition and attack them by biting them ferociously, injuring and sometimes even killing them.

Bag Orkneys were fairly intelligent and social creatures, and they could find safety in numbers against the solitary Sqoutters, foraging in groups enabled them to chase the squotters away most of the time, but there was another issue.

Maybe it was not only the competition from Squotters that killed them off. While the Ornkeys were mostly safe at the cliffs, Sea ravens, large birds of prey could pick them off even there, and unlike the Squotters Bag Ornkeys could not replenish their numbers as fast as they were preyed upon. Ultimately they died out.

What if the Woodcrafters and the Social gravedigger had arrived at the shrores of the sea a few centuries before the forest refugia on land had died off?

Then they would have encountered the last costal Bag ornkeys, and these little beasts might have stolen quite some food form them.

Using the element of surprise one of them has snatched a fish from fishing social Gravediggers, and the accompanying woodcrafter, being too surprised and having jumped away in fright at first, ran after it too late, the Ornkey gallops towards the cliff in a slightly ungainly and awkward manner and finally climbs the cliff to get out of direct range.

There it will move to a safe place and enjoy its steal –a fish, more specifically one of the generic Jetguppies which are prevalent in Serina´s could and nutrient rich ice age oceans.

The Gravedigger at the shore and the one still inside the boat are confused, the one at the shore is holding the net with remaining fish and the other one is paddling away from the shore, they are visibly acting in a discoordinated manner.

But even with additional stolen food from the Social Gravediggers and Woodcrafters, the days of the Bag Ornkey were numbered anyways, and as the last of the coastal patches of forest vanished, so did the bag Ornkeys, as their main shelter areas were now gone, and caves in the cliffs to hide from predators were simply too rare to maintain their numbers in the long term.

Description

When the forest of Serina succumbed to the cold in the mid ultimocene ice age, it receded not in a line but irregularly. Some Patches of forest in areas with favourable microclimates endured longer than others, and in those patches lived some of the last arboreal creatures of Serina at that time. Including the Bag Ornkey. It comes to no surprise that, as food availability in the trees was dwindling rapidly, some of these Ornkeys would wander off in search of food on the ground, just like gibbons do, if they have no other choice left.

Not adapted to living on the ground, they were somewhat ungainly on land, and not particularly fast, so would frequently fall victim to predators and they did not find much food in the grassland. All they could find was some herbs, bugs, plant roots to dig up, and if they were particularly lucky they could catch small injured animals.

But at the shores, some to them would - for a time - successfully, adapt to forage for food at the beaches.

The would feed on seaweed at the shores, which was available in sufficient quantities, just like the woodcrafters did, and if the opportunity arose, they even scavenged fresh dead fishes that were washed ashore, for they were omnivores, which was a highly advantageous trait in such a rapidly changing world.

They wold make their home not only in the dwindling patches of forest, but also at the cliffs, making the most out of their climbing abilities, and living where most of the other predators could not follow them. They would shelter not only in the remaining forest patches, but also in crevices and caves at the cliffs.

The faced brutal competition in the form of Squotters, particularly the more primitive terrestrial ones, like the Skuorc, which were not as aquatic as other Squotters and therefore more likely to be encountered at the shore, and therefore Bag Ornkeys would be restricted to the cliffs most of the time and usually only coming to the shores to feed.

The Squotters, solitary and highly territorial animals, would see them as competition and attack them by biting them ferociously, injuring and sometimes even killing them.

Bag Orkneys were fairly intelligent and social creatures, and they could find safety in numbers against the solitary Sqoutters, foraging in groups enabled them to chase the squotters away most of the time, but there was another issue.

Maybe it was not only the competition from Squotters that killed them off. While the Ornkeys were mostly safe at the cliffs, Sea ravens, large birds of prey could pick them off even there, and unlike the Squotters Bag Ornkeys could not replenish their numbers as fast as they were preyed upon. Ultimately they died out.

What if the Woodcrafters and the Social gravedigger had arrived at the shrores of the sea a few centuries before the forest refugia on land had died off?

Then they would have encountered the last costal Bag ornkeys, and these little beasts might have stolen quite some food form them.

Using the element of surprise one of them has snatched a fish from fishing social Gravediggers, and the accompanying woodcrafter, being too surprised and having jumped away in fright at first, ran after it too late, the Ornkey gallops towards the cliff in a slightly ungainly and awkward manner and finally climbs the cliff to get out of direct range.

There it will move to a safe place and enjoy its steal –a fish, more specifically one of the generic Jetguppies which are prevalent in Serina´s could and nutrient rich ice age oceans.

The Gravedigger at the shore and the one still inside the boat are confused, the one at the shore is holding the net with remaining fish and the other one is paddling away from the shore, they are visibly acting in a discoordinated manner.

But even with additional stolen food from the Social Gravediggers and Woodcrafters, the days of the Bag Ornkey were numbered anyways, and as the last of the coastal patches of forest vanished, so did the bag Ornkeys, as their main shelter areas were now gone, and caves in the cliffs to hide from predators were simply too rare to maintain their numbers in the long term.