Zabjade wrote: Actually if that egg you have there hatched the result would be a child about the size of a five year old. Baby reptiles always look too big for the egg they just hatched out of, as they are tightly packed within it. Whenever I watch a nature show that has hatching crocs for example, I always find myself thinking 'how did that big baby fit in that little egg?'. Therefore, if you took a human newborn and folded it up as it would be in an egg of approprate size, the egg would be half the size at the most of the one you have depicted. So with the smaller egg size as a result, that means the female Iksar could lay more then one egg. How many more...that's up to debate....
Aye that is true, reptiles continue to grow as they age, so older females would be able to lay more eggs then one that just reached maturity. Unfortunately, it seems Iksar don't continue to grow throughout their lives as far as we know, so the number of eggs would be pretty much fixed, though I imagine there's an average 'range' of egg numbers.
Slaskia wrote: I would LOVE to have something similar to this on my Iksar. I've always wanted (since Kunark launched in EQ1) to have something much more "primitive" and tribal for the Iksar. I look at the Kunark box art with Danak on it, and I really like that, and then the in-game models for Venril Sathir, both in EQ1 and here are more along the lines of what I see Iksar wearing anyway. It makes more sense from a lore perspective as well. If the female Iksar need a way to regulate body temperature, one could infer, given their reptilian aspects, that they are ectothermic, and too much clothing would overheat them. In fact, I think that was the reason given that they couldn't wear plate in EQ1, it would chafe their scales, and they would overheat, and thus need to wear chain armor to "vent" the buildup of heat from wearing armor. Of course, it look awesome as well.
More Mayan then Primitive really. As for the Egg I admit to not studying egg size to infant inside ratios, but that is not something that you can easily Wiki or google BTW they would be more of a yea old size then a 5 year old. of course the egg's size is made to look larger by the camouflage of the rocky texture (as to how a iksar gets out of so thick an egg well the crevasses offer week points.
Aye I forgot that the female was kneeling when I made that last post: I really should have said 2 year old instead. Be careful on how 'thick' you make the egg. The thickness of an egg's shell is related to it's size: the bigger the egg the thicker the shell has to be to keep it from collasping on itself. However, if the egg was too big the shell would be too thick for the hatchling to break out of: this is why the largest dinosaur eggs found weren't much bigger then an osterich egg, even though they were much bigger then the osterich. This again shows why I think you depicted the egg as being too large to begin with. Weak points? If the egg is soft during passing...why would it need weak points? Camouflage on eggs usually involved more the actual color of the egg itself, not so much the texture (not saying it can't have texture, just not so...extravagent), though the mother may provide more by covering it with sand and/or various flora. Iksar eggs I believe would be mottled brown or grey in coloration, depending on typical environment they laid them in more tribal times. (this is turning into more of a history and lore discussion isn't it? lol) Edit: Ok, did some checking up and found I was a little off on how much bigger dino eggs can get then an osterich egg. Turns out there used to be a bird that laid an egg at least twice the size of an osterich (middle egg is the osterich egg, left one is a chicken egg). Still...that chick must have had a struggle to break out....
The reason The Iksar egg is likely so large (Perhaps too large) is that unlike other reptiles the Iksar has a highly developed brain and will need a little more room
The egg is just a little big. I don't think that they continue to grow in size after exiting the female. That would cause for a broken pelvis or other very unpleasant things to happen.
Though it's not exactly clear, the lore (from what I recall, need to read it again) seem to suggest that more then one egg is laid per female. This would mean the eggs would have to be smaller anyway: can you imagine more then one egg at that size inside the female? Poor girl wouldn't be able to move!.
We may never know for sure unless Vhalen of another Dev decides to drop a lore snippit, then I will redo said pic for a more correct version.
I know for a fact that "clutches" have been mentioned, by Iksar NPC's on Kunark I believe. This does mean more than one child, so yup Kinda sorta confirmed there.
Why exactly would the eggs have to be hard shelled? That is the impression I'm getting from everyone posting about the egg size in how you see it to be. Reptiles, as a rule, lay eggs that are soft and leathery so would be quite malleable at birth surely. So, why couldn't the egg be that big once it's lain?
I posted that very thing about eggs being soft and leathery when clutched As for Clutches, Kunark and likely Freeport Iksar have Cheches where several mothers lay the eggs in one spot and take care of the hatchlings (Qeynos Iksar are still rare enough that a mated pair would likley raise the egg in a more nuclear environment)
Not a rule actually: Dinosaurs (which were reptiles) laid hardshelled eggs. Either way, yes they would be somewhat soft and mallible when first laid, but that would allow for only so much distortion in shape during the laying process, especially since these were filled with fluid/embryos. I seriously doubt the shell had the elasticy of soft rubber. Heck, even a ballon (which is made of soft rubber) filled with water can only be 'squished' so much before it breaks. Since egg shell is made of material that is not nearly as elastic it the 'squishiness' is even less.
Most eggs are soft when laid and the shells harden afterwards, for birds this is pretty quick. (Ever wonder why eggs from farms are more egg shaped and eggs from 'factories' are rounder? They are dropped to a conveyor and sort of roll about as moved to processing, nested eggs do not, thus keep the shape that is best for them and the hen trying to keep them from rolling away.) Reptiles, including turtles, tend to have eggs that stay 'leathery', or harden much slower, this particular feature allows for some expansion afterwards as the hatchling grows, but not much. Also, do not forget how much smaller hatchlings are compared to adults for reptilians, those 6-9 foot alligators started out about 8 inches on average from the shell (which hardens by the way and the little ones use an 'egg tooth' to batter their way out) I think a smaller female Iksar could reasonably have an egg about volley or basketball size if she was having only one, but I suspect it should be smaller and probably not as round! ((Love the artwork!))
Thank you! On the balloon full of water, a balloon is not designed for that you would need a thicker bladder like a medicine bottle. I may have said about watermelon sized, but the egg is only slightly larger then a basketball, I chose Watermelon because that is about the size of a human infant give or take a few sizes, and even though Iksar are reptiles I am guessing that they are at least potentially sentient at the time of hatching so have a larger head and body then say an ordinary lizard or avian. And I'm not even going into the Froglock reproduction cycle in which after they spawn and the froglock tadpoles hatch (I assume that they are not sentient until they start growing hands and feet) You know if this keeps up we might get moved over into the lore section lol ^_^
The balloon thing was simply an example (a rather poor one I admit...). Personally I can see my Iksar character wincing in pain at the thought of laying something that big, even if it was more long then round. A little smaller then that would be more reasonable IMO: that is if they only lay a single egg at a time. I still believe they lay more then one egg, in which case they would have to be smaller (perhaps the size of a grapefruit?). On brain size I do believe they grow after birth (human baby brains are definatelly not as big as they would be when adult), which would allow for the head to be smaller in size for birth. So I see that as only one factor (a minor one IMHO) in determining egg size. Plus I don't believe whether or not a being is sentient really factors too much in this. I hate to use an example completely out of this genre (and likely a piss poor one, but considering we don't have any RL sentient reptiles around to ask....), but let's take Trandoshans from Star Wars for instance. The canon behind their species state they lay four eggs per clutch and they are only, at most, a foot taller then an Iksar. Granted, there are other factors that would determine why they lay more then one egg (they live barely half as long as an Iksar for instance), but I'm basing this comparison soley on sentience and realitive size. The point being that just because they are sentient doesn't mean they are limited to only one egg per pregnancy. Since Iksar's are rather war like in their culture (like the Trandoshans actually), it would make sense if there were more then one egg laid at a time to help keep the population up. Indeed, from reading some of the lore on the Archives of Ik site, Iksar's seem to bounce back population wise fairly quickly after a big loss in numbers. Considering they were once slaves as well, a fast reproduction rate (eg multiple eggs per laying) would be preferred by the slave masters to help keep the slave numbers stable. Yeah I think way to much about this....and I so apologize for derailing this thread so badly lol! Maybe we should start a thread in the Lore section to continue the debate there instead? (on topic *gasp* I am trying to get my lazy butt to scan another robe idea)
Zabjade wrote: The NPC's that spoke of 'clutches' I think were talking of 'noble clutches'. Which would still hint at more than one egg These are lizardmen. Not human beings. So yeah, more than one egg? The iksar as lithe as they are? Erk...
My personal best guess? Two to four eggs, spaced a day or two apart, per clutch. Iksar eggs volume-wise are the size of basketballs, but in shape are closer to footballs or rugby balls.
