Creature:Libertus

The Libertus, are medium sized carnivorous bird-like saurians native to the Cyrannus Galaxy. They are famed for their memberships in United Republic of Cyrannus, the Confederacy of Allied Systems and many other organizations throughout Cyrannus. Caprisaurus libertus is the most famous race of Capricornians, which includes the Osteola, the Adelphi and the Basileus.

''The name Caprisaurus libertus directly means the Free lizards of Caprica. Despite the fact that they are much more closely related to birds.''

Biology
The Libertus are a race of sentient bipedal raptors native to the planet, Caprica. In prehistoric times, the Libertus were a deadly killer that hunted when not even hungry, however when they became sentient, they became noble, just, intelligent and cunning. Today, Libertus are famous for their belief in friendship, democracy and justice, to this end they have many alliances with empires all over the universe, relations are particularly high with the Rambo, Krassio, Grimbolsaurian and Ravernii.

In terms of physical appearance, Libertus look like the raptors of Mesozoic earth, with an upright posture, feathers and most notably they bare a relatively large, sickle-shaped claw, typical of dromaeosaurid and other dinosaurs. This enlarged claw, which could be over 8.5 cm long around its outer edge, is a predatory device used to tear into prey, delivering a fatal blow, today however they are a subject of fashion, with large claws being considered attractive. Caprisaurus Libertus, like many other theropods, have a large hand with five strongly curved claws, which were similar in construction and flexibility to the wing bones of terran birds, but on a more powerful scale. Libertus and all Capricornians as a whole are warm-blooded, as in ancient times it required a significant amount of energy to hunt.

Fossils of Caprican dinosaurs more primitive than the Caprisaurus are known to have had feathers covering their bodies, and fully developed, feathered arms and tails. Libertus today have many feathers which they find very attractive and lovely.

Creature
The Libertus were a dangerous species that killed when not even in need of food. They evolved on the Island Continent of Capricana where they quickly became its most intelligent and successful creature. Its mortal enemies the Raptorous (see Caprica page) were the most successful hunter and many battles were waged between the two. Above all the Libertus love exploring and this helped them to find and discover new creatures to hunt.

Capricana at this time was home to many large predators, and many large and fast herbivores, to adapt to these, the Libertus evolved raptor like reflexes and speed, in other words as soon as you saw a Caprisaurus you were already dead. These deadly creatures also had a particular fondness for fish, and often nested near rivers or lakes in order to have a large supply of available food to eat.

Delphan
The Delphan were the first Caprican life form to step foot on land, they however spent most of there time in the sea, swimming to catch their favorite food, fish. They evolved on the east coast of Capricana, an area with lots of moisture and rainfall. It was not very intelligent and often walked into fights it could not win. The area was full of large predators that enjoyed to kill this small creature. It had 3 frills on its sides which were used to attract mates but also to fight enemies.

Archeosaurus
Archeosaurus was in fact an early amphibian, on its way to becoming a reptile. Like its earlier cousin it spent most of its time by the ocean in order to catch fish and other aquatic life. It had a clear advantage over its predecessor because of its strong jaws, and fast feet. It also had a large brain capacity which it used to great effect against its unfortunate pray, this being said it was preyed upon by larger bipedal hunters.

Lophosaurus
Lophosaurus is one of the first Capricornian reptiles, it however was primitive and was yet to evolve arms and so its only weapon was its powerful jaws from which there was no escape, like many of its later cousins, Lophosaurus was distinguished by its large frill on its head which it used to both charge and to attract a mate. Despite the fact that is walked on four legs, sometimes they would rear up on their hind legs to look more intimidating.

Monolophosaurus
Although small, Monolophosaurus was a very important creature, it was the first armed member of the Caprisauridae. It was fast, deadly and they could survive in a wide variety of locations. They were very beautiful creatures with a lovely crest, feathers and other features that made this creature stand out. Its hands however still have some way to go before they are perfected. This creature was still a tempting target for larger hunters.

Leonaraptor
Still relatively primitive, the Leonaraptor lived on the shores of the Eastern Ocean and was a great hunter and fisher. Due to the thick marches on the coast of the Eastern Ocean, the Leonaraptor was a great ambush predator and could spell doom with a well aimed bite on the neck, using this grip it would inject poison into the victim killing it in moments. It is also known for having a lovely tail.

Virnaraptor
The Virnaraptor was a relatively advanced creature with sharp claws and fast feet, unlike its ancestors they were found in the plains and woods of Caprica, hunting in packs to bring down prey. It used its lovely horns on its head for attracting a mate and defending itself. They were known to be very intelligent and caring towards their offspring. They were still not at the top of the food chain however.

Capricaraptor
The Capricaraptor became the apex predator of the Caprican plains, few could escape its gaping jaws, it was the most intelligent creature on the planet and hunted in packs in order to successfully catch food to eat, it explored the entire continent and nested near volcanoes in order for the eggs to gain strength in the volcanic soil. No other hunter dared to challenge this intelligent and efficient killer.

Libraraptor
The Libraraptor is the most lovely ancestor of the Capricornian, with lovely colours and feathers, however this creature was the apex predator of the Caprican plains and it hunted when it was not even hungry. It was very fast and could run at 73 miles an hour, it used this to great effect when hunting down prey.

Tauraraptor
The Tauraraptor was among the most successful hunter ever seen on Caprica, one of its tactics including climbing up trees and pouncing down on unsuspecting prey, biting them on the neck until they died of blood loss. It also used its hands to throw objects at other creatures to stun them, and of course for humor. They were also succesful swimmers and loved catching fish.

Cancertiraptor
The Cancertiraptor is believed to have been the direct ancestor of the modern Capricornian races, it gained speech and communicated to its family members, with intelligence it became more stealthy and generally less ferocious. It was dexterous and it was at this time that is discovered fire, it was 10000 years later that the Caprisaurus Libertus evolved.

Caprisaurus Libertus
Pre-Tribal Libertus were easily the most intelligent creatures on Caprica, they are fast, intelligent and dexterous and because of its three fingered hands easily discovered fire, and tools. When it entered tribal stage they wore festive garments that covered the majority of their bodies, they also made alliances with other tribes for the first time in history. The ancient organisation, the Atlantica observed them, but did not tamper with the Libertus natural evolution.

Tribal
When they entered tribal stage they no longer hunted land animals and turned to fish. They were the most skilled fishermen on the planet. After a while they started to use their commune with nature to wipe out all other tribes until the world was populated by Capricornians. It was now that they first left Capricana to explore the wider world, it was now that the Twelve Tribes of Kobol landed and interbred with the native Libertus, history was soon to repeat itself as the The Twelve Tribes of Capricornians were formed over 100,000 years before the unification of the Twelve Colonies, when an ancient civilisation known as the Atlantica transported tribal era Capricans (A being from Caprica) to the other eleven habitable planets in the system. All these separate civilisations had their own culture and history, this molded the colonies behaviour when they met almost 10 millennia later. The Atlantica called this organisation the Twelve Tribes, after the ancient travelers from Kobol.

Planet
Caprica is a lush, blue green world. It contains large oceans and continents, including the arctic region of Capartica, small desert regions but mostly forests and plains. The planet's climate can be described as temperate, especially in the region around Caprica City and Oldale.

Caprica shares its orbit with Picon. This planet is another one of the Twelve Colonies. At times, Picon can be seen as a large celestial object on the Caprican sky along with the moon of Lunasa. The surface of Caprica is covered by dense swamps, rolling grass plains, seas and verdant hills.

Today, the Libertus holds great care for Caprica, and despite the fact it is no longer the capital, it is a place of great cultural and spiritual importance.

People
Libertus culture varies from colony to colony and planet to planet, however they are generally liberal in there outlook on life and moving forward is key to all the Libertus nations in history.

Libertus are almost always incredibly intelligent, diplomatic and wise. For example, after becoming a key member in universal society, idiotic empires galore thought by insulting the Libertus that they would wage war. Nothing could be further from the truth as an average Libertus would find such a threat idiotic and futile.

However, meeting different empires is a sure path to hostility and the Libertus often fight on the side of good, but this is in no case set in stone, Libertus can be manipulative, cunning and some individuals can be evil and sadistic. In civil wars, the URC would almost always fight for the righteous empire, a notable exception being aiding the Tralor Freedom Force against the United Lanat Empire.

Libertus are naturally curious about other races, civilizations and cultures, which means that since reaching the universal stage, the Libertus are now common in allied nations across the universe.

Religion
As a species, the Libertus are generally not very religious, the majority of the URC are agnostics or atheists who place their trust in science. Most however, believe in the Thirteenth Tribe, not as a race of gods, but an enlightened ancient civilization.

Few Libertus worship outside deities, such as Spode, however they are generally respectful toward the religions of others.