Male Hatchling
Name: unnamed
Species: Ona's Skjoeldus
Birthday: Saturday, November 23, 2019
Owner: whitewolfjustice
Element: Fire 
A young skjoeldus hatches as large as most other adult penguins, but like other penguin hatchlings, depends heavily on its parents until it loses its baby down and can start to swim. Skjoeldi lack the brood flap that other large penguins use to keep their eggs warm, so instead they use magic to raise the ambient temperature of the air around them and keep the egg from freezing to the ground. They can use this ability for other eggs, too, and some who help raise these animals for the Preservationists Association have found ways to use their incubation magic to optimize conditions for creatures with fickle hatching conditions.
The skjoeldus is the largest bird north of Silva, at least on land. Taller than a man but otherwise resembling any other penguin, the creatures frequent the Borean coastline in the remote northern tundra. They are noted for their magical ability to warm things, though this is used almost exclusively for nesting, and no one has ever reported being attacked by it. In centuries past, these creatures were a favorite of northern fisherman and explorers, who hunted the skjoeldi for their rich meat and blubber, and harvested their guano to use as fertilizer. The slow growth of the creatures and their finicky breeding cycle soon caught up to early hunters, though, and eventually populations dwindled until they were thought to be extinct. Many of their nesting islands were destroyed by guano miners, making a population resurgence difficult. The discovery of a few individuals throughout their former range prompted quick action to save the species, and now special protected colonies have been established on a few remaining guano islands in the north. The Preservationists Association have also started to bring some of the animals into a specially-developed cold room at their facilities to study them and hopefully find better ways to manage the small remaining population.
Sprite art: Jrap17 | Description: PKGriffin