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Description
In this valley there lived creatures of an older world that lingered in forgotten mountains, cold beneath the moon and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood. The Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly, and he gave it to his most deadly servants to be their steeds.

Another ink drawing I've been meaning to try. I'm still kinda new at adding detail to scenery but I'll get the hang of it eventually, also something about my outlines and shades just doesn't seem right so whatever is wrong with it I'll fix that to.

Anyway, Here in Mordor is where the fell beasts (Nazgul Birds) which the ringwraiths ride on make their home. A valley to the east of, Gorgoroth, Mount-Doom, and The Tower of Sauron in Bara-Dur. I've tried to stick to Tolkein's description of a bird-like animal while still retaining the; "Peter Jackson Touch" mostly with influence from pterosaurs (Pterodactyls) like pteranodon or the azhdarchids.

The influences include a beak, a crest, and the wings. Even thou Tolkein said that the wings are like a bat's...well okay, maybe in those not those exact words but in his own way; "vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers", while pterosaurs wings have only one finger, what we must remember thou is that back then paleontology was not very understood, especially by the general public. So from time to time (Even Today) pterosaurs have been depicted as having hairless bat-like bodies, even if not that often people's imagination can still get mislead and have people thinking what prehistoric animals in general may have looked like in bizar ways. In other words; Had we learned more about dinosaurs and other extinct beasts like we do today, Tolkein would know what he's doing and get it right. And, as a creature of "The Older World" I knew that the author was indeed referring to a pterosaur, or atleast some pterodactyl-like animal, and as a paleo-nerd that's why I gave it proper wings.

Also, I used influence from the Dromaeosaurids (theropod dinosaurs like the velociraptor), for the length of the main trunks of their bodies and for their tails So that the wing membrane is attached to the hip-area rather than the tail or legs). For the beak alone, I borrowed influence from the "Phorusrhacids" (Terror Birds) but lengthened it to give it a more "Pterosaur-eqsue Feel" and even added teeth like, "Icthyornis and Hesperornis".

And the over all skeletal build and anatomy of large flying birds, particularly of the order Cathartidae (New World Vultures like Condors). That goes for hollow bones, an air-sack breathing system in their lungs, and bones above and below their chests, which are crucial for flight. (Something that pterosaurs have had to, as well as non-avian dinosaurs) And again, the wings are attached to the hips instead of the tails or legs, and speaking of legs, the overall design of their legs, including their feet with toes (Talons) is inspired by those of eagles and owls.

So guys tell me what you think, remember if there's something wrong with it that's fine, tell me what it is and I'll work on it.

The Lord of The Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

PS. Did you know; "Fell" means, "Terrible"?

Description
In this valley there lived creatures of an older world that lingered in forgotten mountains, cold beneath the moon and in hideous eyrie bred this last untimely brood. The Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the measure of all other things that fly, and he gave it to his most deadly servants to be their steeds.

Another ink drawing I've been meaning to try. I'm still kinda new at adding detail to scenery but I'll get the hang of it eventually, also something about my outlines and shades just doesn't seem right so whatever is wrong with it I'll fix that to.

Anyway, Here in Mordor is where the fell beasts (Nazgul Birds) which the ringwraiths ride on make their home. A valley to the east of, Gorgoroth, Mount-Doom, and The Tower of Sauron in Bara-Dur. I've tried to stick to Tolkein's description of a bird-like animal while still retaining the; "Peter Jackson Touch" mostly with influence from pterosaurs (Pterodactyls) like pteranodon or the azhdarchids.

The influences include a beak, a crest, and the wings. Even thou Tolkein said that the wings are like a bat's...well okay, maybe in those not those exact words but in his own way; "vast pinions were as webs of hide between horned fingers", while pterosaurs wings have only one finger, what we must remember thou is that back then paleontology was not very understood, especially by the general public. So from time to time (Even Today) pterosaurs have been depicted as having hairless bat-like bodies, even if not that often people's imagination can still get mislead and have people thinking what prehistoric animals in general may have looked like in bizar ways. In other words; Had we learned more about dinosaurs and other extinct beasts like we do today, Tolkein would know what he's doing and get it right. And, as a creature of "The Older World" I knew that the author was indeed referring to a pterosaur, or atleast some pterodactyl-like animal, and as a paleo-nerd that's why I gave it proper wings.

Also, I used influence from the Dromaeosaurids (theropod dinosaurs like the velociraptor), for the length of the main trunks of their bodies and for their tails So that the wing membrane is attached to the hip-area rather than the tail or legs). For the beak alone, I borrowed influence from the "Phorusrhacids" (Terror Birds) but lengthened it to give it a more "Pterosaur-eqsue Feel" and even added teeth like, "Icthyornis and Hesperornis".

And the over all skeletal build and anatomy of large flying birds, particularly of the order Cathartidae (New World Vultures like Condors). That goes for hollow bones, an air-sack breathing system in their lungs, and bones above and below their chests, which are crucial for flight. (Something that pterosaurs have had to, as well as non-avian dinosaurs) And again, the wings are attached to the hips instead of the tails or legs, and speaking of legs, the overall design of their legs, including their feet with toes (Talons) is inspired by those of eagles and owls.

So guys tell me what you think, remember if there's something wrong with it that's fine, tell me what it is and I'll work on it.

The Lord of The Rings ~ J.R.R. Tolkien

PS. Did you know; "Fell" means, "Terrible"?