Thumbs up!
I\'d like the Klyros to have a tail (I like extremities of all sorts :] ). It could indeed be used for swimming, but it\'d need to be powerful for this, making it heavy. So maybe it\'s more of a steering than a propelling system? However, this job can as well be accomplished by the arms if they\'d have these retractable fins (which I thought of for the lower legs for propelling, because I think the frog-feet woul make them slow on land).
Maybe the tail could instead be a third \"hand\" (without fingers, of course,
but with the ability to wind tightly around things and hold on). It wouldn\'t need to be thick or heavy for this, but maybe long (for pickpocketing!). :]
[edit]I imagine the tail to be like an Enk\'s tail, just with the fur replaced by the usual Klyros\'s skin. Also, it\'d be more flexible (so they could hold a pencil with it).[/edit]
Anyway, it\'s not a must.
I like the idea of having skin between the fingers, but maybe not all the way (how would they grab a cup?). Maybe the fingers would be longer than usual, but the skin would extend only 2/3 of their length? This way, they could use them to enhance propulsion in water. I imagine them to swim with the arms stretched backwards & next to the body for minimum friction, using the feet / legs for propulsion. I can, however, warm to the idea of using part of the wings to propell underwater, sounds reasonable, but doesn\'t invalidate the above statemets, it could be an additional propulsion system, making up for their lack of streamlinedness or making them
really fast.
I also think that flight wouldn\'t take much concentration if it isn\'t special maneuvering. It\'s going to take stamina. However, I don\'t know if the flight would be
steady enough to make aiming a projectile weapon feasible at all, unless you\'d stop flapping and glide for this duration, making you vulnerable, however.
For the fighting skills: I think they could be
vicious fighters and dangerous towards targets that are either low on armour or that can\'t move quickly enough to get a hold of them. An Enki would be an even opponent as would be a human/elven warrior. A Kran might be at disadvantage but it the Kran manages to hit the Klyros, it\'ll surely break several bones.
This fighting scenario, however, only works if the Klyros would have claws. Of course, small weapons like daggers might be more effective and may be used alternatively, but the abilities need to come from somewhere.
Klyros vs. Klyros would be an airbourne catfight. :]
I however
don\'t think that their triple nature makes the Klyros a great magicker. They may have a better understanding of water, air and earth elemental magic, but not necessarily.
[edit] Actually, their understanding of earth magic might even be more limited than other races\' understanding, because they spend less time there.[/edit]
Also, I can\'t think of why they would be prone to become rich merchants, unless it\'s because they use everything for practical purposes & thus don\'t waste energy and time. Maybe also because they can reach hard-to-reach areas and thus can get rich? However, this won\'t help them once they are so rich that they pay ppl. to do these things for them, but in this case it doesn\'t really matter anyway.
Wings: I think the bat version would be better, because it\'s more compact and might enable flapping better than the dino\'s version. However, they\'d need to be different from what you have now IMO: the bone that leads from the back of the body to the point at which the bones divide into fingerlike things should be way shorter. This way, it wouldn\'t have to support immense strain that would otherwise be due to it\'s length, and is instead dividedly placed onto the individual fingers. This would also give the wing more flexibility in terms of wingspan, allowing for better maneuverability AFAICS. And they can be folded up more easily / tightly.
Also, this main supporting bone would either need to be variable in vertical direction as well as in horizontal direction or angled upwards, not horizontally. This is because if it wasn\'t, the \"fingers\" would end very close to the ground and thus be easily damaged.
The head: I too think the lips are too pronounced. The neck should IMO be angled fully vertically, because when swimming it\'d be looking in what would be an \"upwards\" direction when standing. The way it is now would only apply to flight, but in this case they would be simply looking \"forward\". I think you\'re right in making the head streamlined and the neck thick so that water will flow more easily around it, although it makes the head look too small. Considering this, the mouth should be at the same horizontal level as the eyes are (in profile view).
The feet: There should be bone structure, not muscle structure (the main muscles for the feet are in the lower legs AFAIK, connected to the feet\'s bones by strings).
The bones: I think the Klyros would have bones that are a mixture of bird- and fishbones. This would make them light, flexible but not very durable. They\'d bend more easily than human / bird bones and therefore wouldn\'t break easily (good for crashing and when hit with blunt weapons), but would be more vulnerable to blades. All in all I think they would not even wear medium armor, because it\'s already heavy and inflexible, both things that would IMO be extremely annoying to a Klyros. Apart from this, I can\'t really see the importance of heavy armor if you have wings that can\'t be protected and thus be chopped off easily. It doesn\'t matter where the pain comes from and where the blood leaves your body... :] Maybe we\'d need to think of a way to armor the wings, at least when they\'re not in use (after all, it\'s more likely to encounter a blade on the ground than underwater or in flight).
I can imagine either a complete wing-cloth that\'s wrapped around them (good for cold days!), or a bodycloth that wraps around the entire body with the wings folded as close as possible. Of course, quick take-off isn\'t an option if you need to unwrap yourself first. These clothes could be as fashoinable as any other clothes, I can imagine finely-webbed white and golden silk, with the house emblems on them. Oooh, the options are endless!
Also, you can have wing-piercings, brandings and tattoos, and maybe even fashionable holes (not too big ones, though
). After all, there may be Klyros who don\'t even leave the ground at all and therefore don\'t mind being wrapped all the time or even giant / countless decorative holes in the wings, or chains / bands affixed to them. Maybe there would even societies in which having not clothed your wings is considered bad taste and you\'re not allowed into any importany places this way? Dresscodes may vary...
Anyway, back on topic:
I don\'t know how to imagine the fins you posted on the Klyros model.
Can you please show which way they\'d go on the arms / legs / whereever?
Anyway, great work! I think you should definitely apply for a dev position!
