Seraphs do not have scales, nor feathers, or fur, just skin. As hatchlings they do possess pycnofibers, and brooding mothers grow these on their back for their hatchlings to cling to.

Seraphs have beaks that extend onto their heads, creating a fork shape. This structure is called a crown. All seraphs have it, but male seraphs grow horns on their crowns, called tines. These tines point forward and out, and sometimes split off into more than one single tine. A seraphs crown is always coloured darker than the rest of their body, and this colour is always matching with their claws.

They are a sexually dimorphic species, with males on average being larger than females, and the presence of the tines that males grow on their crown. Conventionally attractive traits among seraphs include vibrant markings, a nice long neck, and healthy vibrant gums. Among males specifically; large tines and being tall.

Seraphs have very short, thin, tails. Sometimes their secondary wings will connect along almost the entire length of them.

With a pair of retractable snake-like venomous fangs, seraphs are able to strike at potential attackers with alarming speed. They only really resort to this when the size and intimidation tactics don't work. That is, appearing larger than what they are and showing off their bright and colourful markings. Their gums are also brightly coloured to aid in this threat display. Their venom isn't lethal to most creatures, but it's still dangerous. A seraphs venom induces visual hallucinations, which can make their intimidation tactics turn from simple intimidation, to a nightmare. The venom can also cause temporary paralysis.

Seraphs have very long, round, tongues. They are technically for drinking nectar out of hard-to-reach plants, but now in the modern age, seraphs don’t have much use for them besides being freaky.

Seraphs have no visible sclera, and their pupils are round.

Seraphs possess two sets of wings, one replacing their front legs (primary wings), and the second pair right above (secondary wings). Due to their positioning, they cannot flap independently and instead flap together, with the secondary wings 'following' the primary. They rest in an 'x' shape when gliding. The shapes of seraphs wing membranes can be varied, but they never resemble bat wings.

Being naturally migratory animals, seraphs are excellent passive flyers. They can stay airborne for weeks without landing. With that said however, they need a lot of space to take off, and they aren't exactly the fastest or most agile of flyers. They take off by sort of pole-vaulting into the air using their long front legs.

[ above ] Rough sketch animation of how seraphs flap their wings. They don't actually flap very often, this is just to showcase how it works visually.

All four of a seraphs wings are structured similarly to azhdarchids, creating an equine looking limb structure. Due to their massively long forelimbs and comparatively very short hind limbs, their body slopes downward, and they have a strange gate to them. Seraphs are capable of galloping however, and can be very proficient on the ground.

All four hands (on wings) posses three digits. Two fingers, and one opposable thumb that they use for fine motor function. The 'hands' on their primary wings always point backward when standing, similar to an azhdarchid.

Seraphs hind-limbs possess five digits. Four toes, and one thumb which is also opposable and is positioned to make contact with the ground. They don't really use this hind-limb thumb claw for manipulating objects.

A seraphs most striking colours are concentrated on their wings and neck frills. They have butterfly or stained glass like patterns on the ventral sides of their wings and neck frills, with a gradient of two or more colours that commonly land in a similar colour range (like orange and red, or blue and purple).

Seraph body colours are comparatively more dull, with little detail. They usually have some kind of underbelly colour (which also covers the underside of their hind-feet), maybe a few simple patterns if any, and some gradients. Most of their detail is concentrated in their wings and frills.

Seraphs can lay anywhere from 6 to 12 eggs in one clutch, so seraph parents most definitely have their plates full, and seraphs can very commonly have dozens of siblings, let alone clutch-mates. Especially now living in civilisations with access to medicine and more protection from the harsh weather and local predators, many more of them survive to adulthood. In nature, seraphs laid so many eggs due to a high mortality rate. Adult seraphs have very few natural predators, but juvenile seraphs, not so much. They were a popular food item for wyverns.

[ above ] A seraph egg. On the left first laid, and on the right roughly 80 days into incubation - assuming normal affinity development.

Seraph eggs are long and narrow, and are roughly 3ft tall if you were to stand one upright. Like all mono races they are laid as their natural colour until roughly half-way through incubation when the seraphs magical affinity begins to manifest. Incubation time for seraph eggs normally lasts about 150 days (roughly 5 months).

Seraph hatchlings have dull/faded colours compared to their adult counterparts, and also completely lack their signature display markings. This is to better camouflage them when in the wild they would have been hunted by predators. Hatchlings are also covered in small pycnofibers which gives them a fuzzy look. For the first two months, hatchling seraphs may spend quite a lot of their time clinging to the back of their mothers via the pycnofibers that grow on their back temporarily and specifically for this use. Seraph hatchlings are however able to walk within hours, and they are also, out of all the other flying races, the quickest to learn flight. Seraphs are a naturally migratory species, and in the wild, by seasons end, a hatchling would have needed to be able to fly with their flock if they were to survive. Along with this, hatchling seraphs also grow very quickly in this period. By the 3 month mark, they usually have more than doubled in size.

[ above ] Seraph age chart. From right to left; Drake for size reference, an egg, a hatchling (0 - 3 months), a fresh glider (3 months - 1 year), a glider (1 - 7), an adolescent/teen (8 - 14), a young adult (15 - 20), and an adult (25+)

Once a seraph starts to fly, they are referred to as 'gliders' - which is essentially their word for a child. By this time their growth speed slows down, they lose their fuzz, and they start gaining the first signs of their display markings, though very dulled. A seraphs display markings don't start becoming more colourful until they are roughly 3 or 4 years old, which is also when they begin to develop their venomous bite. Male seraphs will then start growing the tines on their crown once they reach adolescence, which is when they're 8 - 10 years old. Seraphs are considered technically adults once they are 15 years old, though they will continue to physically grow until about 25 years of age (35 year equivalent of humans).

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