Varkery are a very complex species and this page will continue to update as more information is revealed about them.
Varkery
Pronounced: Var-Kur-Eee
Terms: Knight | Rogue | Queen | Other
Varkery are a well known mount- having only been domesticated and tamed with the golden age of New Prosperos/Aureum. The Varkery we know of is called a Common Vakery or also the Central Land Varkery. Not much is known about Varkery but it is said they first came from the West, first off being used as carriage pullers or for traveling the large areas of land at a fast pace than you could cover by foot. Many say with the domestication of the species, gangs and criminal rates raised since it was easier to get away than in the past.
Knights are males of the Varkery species, often being docile and used in day to day life due to their easy going personalities and how they tend to have more use than females. They are larger, faster and tend to have more power behind any attacks they my throw at you. Their horns and tusks tend to also be longer, believed to be for defending Queens or possible bred out by Nyulop and Drakens for fighting or going into battle.
The Queens have an added gland on the top of the nose to help with a feature males do not. The female Varkery are known to be able to breathe small amounts of smoke and that is where the casting gland comes into play. The casting gland, despite its name, helps locate flint and steel minerals for the females to eat and store into a small pouch in the stomach. However this pouch is only present or seen in females who have given birth recently and protect their young. By contracting and relaxing the pouch when small amounts of flammable items the female is able to breath out smoke by having the flint, steel and fuel hit each other. Queens will use this as a distraction to protect their offspring from threats.
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Rogues are an interesting sex of the Varkery since they tend to share traits of both female and males. They however cannot have the casting gland nor the larger tusks/horns the males have. The Rogues are also unable to breed and are rare.
There are a few reputed upsides to having a Rogue, however. They are known to be more silent and faster than males, making them a deadly addition to any hunter’s arsenal, but with this they may also be as moody as a brooding Queen.
Others are just what the name implies. They are others outside of the three main class. An example of this may be an extremely large male with an angry temper or a small Rogue that has weird mutations. Often times, any Varkery with a mutation is listed under this class.
Knights tend to stand anywhere from 6-8 feet from the head to the ground, while Queens can stand anywhere from 5.5-6.5 feet. Rogue are unique, since they can fall anywhere from 5-8 feet. That being said, pups are tiny, only coming to about 7-12 inches at birth.
The main anatomy of Varkery is pretty explanatory. They are bipedal, enabling them to run fast, and have claws, tusks, and horns to defend themselves. A bulky tail assists with balance. The only thing not readily explained is the presence of mana sensors; something this species has grown to have over time. These sensors are used to detect magical energy. Oftentimes, magic-wielding beings or objects posing a threat to the Varkery, so they have apparently evolved to help sense these dangers.
The Casting gland on a Varkery is only found on females and don’t actually help in casting any magic at all. More can be found out up above when reading about the Queen class of Varkery.
Behaviour
Varkery are more often aggressive than they are docile. They tend to be on high alert constantly and will run if they feel they have to but, more times than not they will fight back. Males tend to be more calm and are easier to tame, while females are more dangerous . Brooding Knights and Queens are both dangerous, and will protect their young at all costs. Rogues are trusty to an extent, and take awhile to warm up to others, but make great companions. Oftentimes Rogues are cast out from packs since they can’t fit in, and eke out solitary livings. The life of a Rogue is often sad and lonely, making them easier to tame than the others, since Varkery are social creatures.
Breeding for Varkery is very complicated, but is still manageable in captivity. One critical factor to replicate in order for them to breed is their social structure. Queens, Knights and Rogues are named from how their social ladder is constructed. Varkery live in packs ranging from anywhere between 4 to 15. Out of the whole pack, there can only be one Queen. On rare occasions, there may be two if they are merging packs, but this tends to lead to a fight for dominance, where the loser will end up surrendering their pack to the winner. With one Queen as center of attention, the Knights will protect and guard her so that she may bear pups safely. Normally, a Queen will pick one Knight to always stay with her to breed and protect while the others are mainly just around for protecting each other. In rare cases, two males may form a pair within the pack, behaving as a mated pair would. When this happens, the Queen pays them no mind so long as they defend her and her young. Rogues do not fall into the normal social structure of the Varkery, and tend to lurk on the outskirts of packs. They pick off of scraps and leftovers from hunts if they choose to stick around at all.
When in captivity, Varkery all seem to be docile, except for pregnant Queens who only seem to get a tad moody until their litter is born. When the litter comes,they get extremely aggressive. Knights, being rideable easy to get along with,make great mounts. Rogues are interesting, and are more based on the individual/s who reared them.
The young of Varkery are call pups. Pups are normally too small to show much aggression, and are known for being as friendly as Pieshu. The Queens are often sweet and nurturing to their young, and teach them hunting and other skills needed. Not much is known about interactions between adults and pups, due to their nature for protecting their young. The pups often leave on their own when they become juveniles to seek out others and start their own packs. At this age, Rogues start to show and must choose to live on either their own as hunters, or scavengers reliant on packs.
Body language is a key mean of communication for the Varkery. Besides their normal chirps and barks, they can talk through movements and actions better. When relaxed, Varkery will let their ears droop down and take their time in blinking and moving provided there is no threat. A Varkery may show focus or interest when checking something out by pointing their ears and mana sensors at the thing in question while sniffing it. If happy, a Varkery will have their ears perked up while wagging their tail. In some cases some may jump about and chirp to show to others that they are happy and playful. A good way to tell if a Varkery is scared or upset is if they hold their ears back and snarl while puffing up their neck fluff, chest and standing taller to make themselves seem more threatening. If agitated, they will appear mostly as they normally do, but will stomp and swish their tails about in long, drawn-out strides.
Subspecies of Varkery
It was said that Varkery back then were larger and had a tendency to grow odd features, mainly feathers but as they were spread and bred out, other mutations started to occur (Scales, multi-limb, etc.) As the species grew into their new biomes, a few subspecies were born including; Central, Western, Eastern and Northern. This has now been debunked as studies about Varkery subspecies have been made and published stating it was the muddling of gene pools that caused these odd mutations to arise.
The Central Varkery:
This is your run-of-the-mill Vark. They are a common way or journeying across large land spaces and some are even bred for show!
The Western Varkery:
Coming soon!
The Eastern Varkery:
Coming soon!
Northern Varkery:
Coming soon!
The Mini Varky:
These Varkery are called Varky/Varkies. They are short, stout and rather chunky little things. They tend to have bright colors and are easily carried by a Draken/Nyulop. They stand at 1-2 feet tall. This Vark is known to be bred by a few select people and are often sold as designer pets. They also only come in the Rogue class making them docile and easy to get along with. It’s an industry secret on how breeding is done.
Magic in Varkery
It has been a rare sight to be seen but Varkery are known to wield magic. No one is sure why but it has been shown that Varkery have certain traits such as the Caster Horn. Whatever caused these traits are believed to be the reason why these Varkery can use magic. Mana sensors do have to be fully intact for a Varkery to use magic.
What magic does a Varkery have/can use? Varkery are very limited to their magic, mainly being found with the ability to breath fire or make their roars louder so they can paralyze prey. It is said many Alchemists used to try and make potions to increase the magic power in Varkery for warfare but nothing ever came from the testing other than a few upset Vark bellies.
Mana Burn in Varkery and how it affects them. Varkery are not meant to have magic, so they are not known to use enough magic to get Mana Burn. A Varkery can only use it’s magic about 5 times a day after that- they simply cannot use their powers and grow very tired. Resting for a few days is the best for health recovery.
Breeding
Breeding does not require any Registry form — simply follow the breeding guide below!
How does the breeding mechanic work?
In order to breed Varkery, you must have a Queen and a Knight (or Rogue, if using a Temporary Shift Potion) grown up and ready that are NOT related to each other. After that you must do the following:
• Draw a fullbody, colored picture of your character introducing Varkery to each other. There may be more than 1 Knight but no more than 1 Queen (note: this may have a larger gene pool made). This must include a shaded background and the character used cannot be a child.
• Draw a shaded, fullbody picture of the two Varkery interacting and getting to know each other in a non-violent or aggressive manner. This one does not need to have a fully done (shaded/colored) background.
• Submit the following to the group with this form as a note all filled out:
Queen Varkery:
Knight Varkery: ( Next to each Knight added, put a number next to them. IE: Knight Varkery 1: and etc. if there is more than one Knight present)
Image 1: (Your character introducing the two or more Varkery to each other)
Image 2: (The two or more Varkery interacting.)
Item(s) being used: (The item(s) must be in the bank. Also which username the item(s) are coming from.)
Breeding permission: (This is a comment or some other thing to show you have permission to breed your Varkery with the other users. The other user(s) is also required to note the group.If you try to breed without the user's permission you may not breed any Varkery for 6 months. If done more than once you are banned from breeding Varkery and will receive a strike )
After this, a mod will roll for the litter, traits and other things needed before posting the Pups to the group on the resource account with you tagged for notification. If you want to trade a pup, please tag Nera (@NeraEngem) in the trading post so that things may be confirmed and the Masterlist may be updated. After breeding your Varkery, there is a cooldown period of 6 months. You can draw the pups as adults anytime after they have been rolled. Varkery are a big investment so it takes a lot to breed them as well as take care of them.
What Are the Rules and Limits?
Boy oh boy, this question! Well here is a quick rundown of how these things work.
• Can I get an MYO for a Varkery?
At this moment, no, but customs will be out soon and maybe down the line MYOs will be too.
• Kids cannot own adult Varkery mounts
Varkery are powerful creatures, and it takes a lot to own one. Kids wouldn’t be able to handle them, given their size. Having a pup growing alongside your character is permissible so long as they follow the rules and lore.
• Ask others if you want to use their Varkery
Please keep in mind that the Varkery are player-owned characters! If you want to use another character for story building, regardless of if they are a person or a pet, remember to ask! Otherwise, you run the risk of interrupting the owner’s plots.
• You can’t have an overpowered mount!
Sure, your mount may be fast and strong, but you don’t want to make them too overpowered. It’s a turn-off to players that may want to interact with you, and also breaks the lore.
• You may not change your Varkery’s sex!
Changing your mount’s sex is not possible for these mounts, since the art reflects the sex of the mount. At a later date, there may be a feature to allow them to change, but for now this is locked.
What must you have in order to breed Varkery?
To help with your all your Varkery breeding needs here is a list of what you need:
• You must have an adult character that has had their Great Rite who is breeding the Varkery in question.
• An adult Queen and Knight. Rogues and Other Classes are not able to breed at this time, but may be a feature down the line. You may have more than one knight but none of the breeding Varkery may be related to each other.
• If a Varkery you are breeding isn’t yours- Have the owner of the group confirm it by noting the group.
• You must also have the images mentioned above in the Breeding section.