Lathan Dove
| Lathan Dove | |
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| Fauna | |
| Official Name | Lathan Dove |
| Common Nicknames | Star-Autumn Dove, Elven Peace Dove |
| Classification | Bird |
| Habitat | Lathan |
| Domesticated | Yes |
| Current Status | Common |
The Lathan Dove is an enigma - a very strange and solitary, yet communal creature, that was first found by the Elves who became the Lanlath upon their entry into Lathan, the pocket realm which they later built their civilization within. The only animal they found amidst the crags of stone and eternal autumn light, the Lathan Dove has remained a symbol of the Lanlath and an animal found among some of their number who have left their pocket realm.
History
The exact length of time the Lathan Dove has existed is not clear, nor how the creatures came into being in the first place. When the Teledden who would become the Lanlath entered Lathan, they found a barren realm, its mounds of rock sitting in a starry sky, save for one creature: the Doves. Depending on one’s belief about how Lathan emerged, the animal’s origins are different, but as the great spires rose and forests were planted, the Lathan Dove cooed its way through history. It was joined by an array of external fauna imported into the pocket universe by the soon-to-be Lanlath, and it adapted well to their presence. Curiously, the Dove population has remained steady and consistent throughout the millennia, never too much for any Lanlath valley to handle. As a result, they faded into the background, a feature of the landscape that does not impede anything taking place in the great cities. Partnerships between individual Doves and the Lanlath became commonplace sometime around 5000 BC, and today, certain Lathan Doves have been seen outside of Lathan. Despite undergoing little formal “training,” they do not roam free and keep close to their Lanlath owners when beyond their home dimension. They are thus often unique, and one-of-a-kind fauna roaming Aloria, though often understated and easily ignored from a distance or misidentified by the people who may encounter them.
Physical Appearance
The Lathan Dove is a small bird, measuring about a foot tall and a foot in length, with a wingspan of two and a half feet. Their head is smooth and small, with a similarly small pecking beak, and a pair of compact eyes. The animal has a stout neck that connects them to the larger body, with a puffed chest, standing on two small feet and ending in a small tail. The Lathan Dove is covered in cream or white feathers along its entire body.
Diversity
The diversity of Lathan Doves is subtly but deeply tied to their origins. The Sunrise and Midnight Breeds have diverted in which unique eye shade they possess, which also spreads its hue to their feet and beak. For instance, the Sunrise Breed has the same ivory-to-magenta pupil as can occur in the Lanlath, with their peaks and feet either possessing one or both of these colors in a gradient or pale solid hue. Otherwise, the species is uniform and features an equal gender ratio by every count taken by the Lanlath over the millennia.
Life Span and Development
Lathan Doves lay up to two small, pale pink eggs, speckled with black or white dots depending on if the chick will be of the Sunrise or Midnight Breed. Upon hatching, the chick is initially a white fuzzball, with milky-toned eyes, very pale legs, and a pale beak. However, as the bird rapidly matures over four weeks, it possesses the coloration they will have as an adult and the Breed as was indicated on its egg. By two months, Lathan Doves are capable of flight and by the age of four are considered young adults. They are considered full adults at six months and often leave the immediate environment of their parents between the young adult and full adult stages. They can live up to twenty years, but some believe that Lathan Doves are functionally immortal in Lanlath itself, simply rebirthing over and over in recycling of the Lathan energies that might have created them.
Mental Overview
Lathan Doves have lived in proximity to Elves, their cities, and their activities for millennia now, yet remain an enigma for many. The first species to exist in the place, they show barely any interest in food or sustenance, capable of eating it, but otherwise flying about in their flocks, or landing to perhaps meaninglessly peck at the ground or to preen themselves or each other. They are a tightly knit species, and while many of the species the Elves have imported into Lathan have fully adapted to the constant presence of these birds, new-coming animals, or particularly precocious creatures should be wary, as attacking one Dove will trigger a flock to descend on any interloper. Broadly, however, the species is non-confrontational, yet also incredibly stubborn, as when they land, they land, and will not easily move once in place. They have learned to avoid highly trafficked areas at certain “times of day,” but will then immediately fly back into place (Lathan is wreathed in an eternal, static setting of time yet the Lanlath still sleep and operate on a calendar). As a result of this familiarity with those who call the pocket realm home, some individual Doves have been known to grow attached to certain persons, though the process is somewhat random. An animal expert can have trained their whole life, and never get a Lathan Dove to notice, and follow them, while a Lanlath as young as a toddler might suddenly find a Dove perched on the edge of their crib looking down at them. Lathan Doves are noted, in particular, to often attach themselves to those Lanlath with a connection to Lathan Magic. When outside of Lathan, often traveling with these companion Mages, the doves are extremely skittish and wary, seemingly suspicious of all they meet, from fellow birds to sentient peoples. They usually survive quite well as a result of this and also seem to develop more normal appetites for food as compared to when they are in Lathan.
Territory and Groupings
“Wild” Lathan Dove flocks number up to three hundred individuals, often associated by family. While the Lathan Dove does not mate for life, they do keep close to their mates in many cases, allowing smaller, younger flocks to rapidly balloon over just a few years. Lathan Doves appear to roam the whole of the pocket dimension, being able to reach and then seemingly vanish over the perpetual horizon, and stark mountainous terrain, returning perhaps years later as if they were on a simple migration. They thoroughly populate the cities too, and while they often nest in the forests, tend to prefer the millennia-old Elven architecture. Singular Lathan Doves, meanwhile, break apart from their flocks and do not return to them, once they have made “their choice” to stay with the Elf or other individual that has drawn their attention. Lathan Doves are rarely ever kept in cages by the Lanlath, with this only happening for the bird’s safety in times of particularly hazardous travel.
Trivia
- The two “Breeds” of Lathan Dove get along fine, and there has never been a Dove seen to blend the traits of the two groups. Instead, the offspring of any union between members of opposing Breeds wholly defaults to the appearance of one of the parents.
- Ithanian nobles love the rarity and exotic nature of the Lathan Dove, but very few have ever “owned” one. Lathan Doves do not reproduce outside of Lathan and do not go wild once they leave the dimension.
- Lathan’s great expanse has never been charted in full, with some theorizing that entirely charting the realm may be impossible. However, some have considered using observation devices or some sort of unique spell to track and view where the Lathan Dove flocks go as they travel across the realm, perhaps aiding in this charting process.
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