Dromean

Before humans arrived on the planet, Diaemus' dominant overworlders were the Dromeans. Anatomically modern Dromeans appeared roughly a million years ago, evolved to specialize in the cleverness that makes dromeosaurs successful all over Diaemus. Their craniums are slightly larger to cultivate large and complex brains, with the result being that the child stage of the species is longer and more arduous for the parents than in other raptors. Hatchlings must be allowed to grow from barely sentient lizards to intelligent and high-functioning adults, which takes a little over a decade. It is the necessity for intensive child-rearing that first began drawing packs of Dromeans together. While non-sapient raptors tend to be aggressive and highly territorial, Dromeans have become cooperative. Their society tends to revolve around pack units consisting of an alpha male and female, with grown offspring that help rear younger hatchlings. Packs can congregate together in a similar fashion to humans, forming fierce coalitions that will pool resources, share intellectual findings, and fight together when necessary. Dromean biology produces opportunistic mating seasons, with the females becoming receptive when food is abundant and the temperature is suitable, after reaching sexual maturity. This leads to a wide variety of mating regimes, which are highly location-dependent. During the mating season, the females give off distinctive pheromones, which incite subtle changes in the males, leading to mating conflicts which can be violent and sometimes fatal. Despite this, some Dromean groups are able to maintain monogamous relationships, with a single mating pair producing clutches together year after year. This is largely due to the fact that Dromean females have some control over their own receptiveness, being able to delay the onset of pheromone production for several weeks. Once they have started delaying, they can also induce the onset of these pheromones in sometimes as short as an hour, allowing them control over who they are near when they go into heat. Dromeans possess three fingers on each hand, one opposable to the others. They are equipped with long and razor-sharp claws, which must be filed down to not impede the dextrous manipulation of items. A sturdy scratching post is an important centerpiece in any civilized Dromean household, and only the crazed ferals of the deep jungles leave their claws as long and lethal as nature intended. The primary obstacle for Dromean colonization is not in temperature or biome preference, as their feathered coats can protect them from the cold and their bodies can easily adapt to new germs or conditions. Rather, it is their status as obligate carnivores that makes things difficult for them. Omnivores like humans can eat just about everything under the sun. Dromeans are a step below the great tyrant-lizards as apex predators, and require extremely plentiful numbers of large prey animals in order to sustain their communities. In some harsh regions, pastoral Dromeans can rear the meat they need to survive. The majority, however, stick to temperate and tropical regions that are flush with large game. More innately magical than humans, Dromeans have almost universally evolved the ability to assimilate lumuoles into their bodies. By eating a diet rich in the microorganisms, lumuole colonies can develop practically anywhere in the Dromean body, allowing for fantastic feats of magic. As communities are rarely segregated by class and thus usually consume the same foods, this has the tendency to create entire cultures centered around systems of magic uniquely suited to their habitat and region.