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Hi, these guys are currently closed because I'm still working on things! I'll announce when I do any kind of release. This character page is intended to gather all visual info.
last updated 3/21/18
Fuernice are a humanoid species. They are the most widespread species in Nov Basia and are known for their ability to communicate emotions and far distances through smoke.
Vents: All feurnice have symmetrical vent placement across their bodies. Vents can close, this is to keep out dirt and debris but also to control smoke appearance. Vents tend towards saturated colors that contrast the main coat color.
Smoke: Smoke is largely dependent on diet but can also release pheromones. This can be used for wordless communication. A feurnice can release smoke mostly as they please, what it does is not actively controlled and is rather dictated by mood for the most part. A scared Feurnice will release a chemical to unnerve an enemy, same with one in a fight. It can be used to calm as well.
Color is dictated by diet, and color and consistency of smoke (ex tendrils vs full plumes) can be used as rudimentary long distance communication. It’s usually consistency that explains context more so than color as one might not always have that certain food that creates a specific color on hand.
This smoke is not entirely a natural process though they do commonly have a high body temperature. Environmental magic taken in by ear crystals is sometimes used to help with smoke production. Magic infused smoke may glow to improve visibility.
The scents Fuernice use in their smoke is not easily detected by other species unless they are able
Tail: Fuernice tails are flat similar in idea to a flying squirrel’s. Length tends to vary by genetics and environment. Feurnice from highly populated areas tend to have shorter tales that don’t serve much use, while Feurnice that have come from many generations of more rugged dwellings are likely to have a longer tail that can weakly grip things or provide a little more support.
Crystals: Ear crystals are actually more like horns, they just happen to have crystalline appearance and structure. These crystals take in environmental magic as fuernice do not naturally produce magic. This makes casting without a catalyst potentially easier as a fuernice can use their own body to channel thaums.
CRYSTALS DO NOT GET LARGE you will never see a feurnice with antlers or goat horns. They tend only to be a few inches in length. There are 2-3 on each ear with the amount always being symmetrical. Crystals can break, this is not a death sentence for a fuernice as it only inhibits their ability to take in environmental magic.
Crystal color should match the vent color.
Ears: ears are small and rodent like typically at the top of the head and typically covered by tufts of coarse hair . You generally will not be able to see the inner ear casually and they just look like tufts of hair.
Senses:
- Sight- Fairly average as far as detail and distance is concerned. Feurnice have the ability to see well in the dark, though they cannot identify color as well as they'd be able to in the day. They cannot see the thaumatic spectrum.
- Smell- Feurnice have an extremely keen sense of smell due to the use of pheromones as a secondary communication method.
- Hearing- Better than a human’s. Worse than a cat’s.
- Touch- Pretty normal? I’d say that due to shoes not being a common accessory their feet tough and don’t sense as sharply as say one’s hands.
- Taste- Tying in with smell Feurnice have a very refined sense of taste and can pick out flavors with great accuracy.
- Magic- Magic certainly aids feurnice’s biological processes, but isn’t a necessity. As such they cannot sense magic around them without it being a large amount or using a device.
Biological Sex and Gender
Feurnice can identify as any gender and have any sex. Traditionally Society is much like our own but there is little sexual dimorphism between male and female feurnice. All sexual organs are internal and neither gender have mammaries.
Diet
Fuernice are omnivores and this is in part what has made them one of the more dominant species in the world. They eat most any type of plant or animal that is well, feasibly edible and they have a robust culinary history depending on where you go.
They commonly raise smaller livestock and insects for meat and go the grain route for agriculture.
Language
Fuernice spoken language is primarily the common language for Nov Basia. But different more isolated Fuernice populations have their own language.
Communication through smoke and scent is however universal to the species. You cannot hold deep conversation with it but you can get a rough point across.
Misc (To be categorized later)
- Though its dependent on where one lives a feurnice tends to lean towardfs being nocturnal.
- Eyes can be any color, schlera is white.
Culture (WIP)
Feurnice culture is based around the eternal flame believed to be the seed that grew into Feuergrimbelm their believed progenitor god conjured by their precursor species. All Feurnice somewhere down the line in their culture's history migrated from Enaset, particularly the capital city of Dresey. As such there are often times similarities at their core level. Feurnice of the races are the most opened to intermingling with others be it living or trading and so depending on who is neighboring a Feurnice land you will often find they've picked up things from other cultures as well.
History(WIP)
Fuernice started as hunter gathers. By adapting to eating a wide variety of foods early on they have always had moderate success wherever they choose to settle. Family groups would often split off when things became too crowded. Feuergrimbelm, their deity, was the first ember of which the dominant clan carried with them and all other clans took their branch flames from. All clans under the dominant clan no matter how far were obligated to worship their deity as well as keep their gift flame lit. To let it go out or to let it wane was to shame one's clan and the leaders would have to seek forgiveness from the dominant clan. Many branches fell off the tree some even going so far as to dissent from the faith, one of these literally going underground after discovering how to easily make their own flame without the aid of magic or a god.
Feuergrimbelm had always been a god that sat on its laurels growing fat and strong on the praise of its people. Only in great disaster would it act, but for the most part it simply gave its people its magic to do as they saw fit and they treated it well. Once the deity became too big to feasibly carry the Feuernice settled down and created a city state around it, this would become Dresey.
Historically Feurnice have always been expansionist mostly because clan branches would fall off the tree. Feurnice populations would migrate in small groups and settle wherever they landed. When stripped of their gods warmth they were quick to find shelter under new gods often integrating (Ususally peacefully... usually.) with populations of other races. Feurnice have always been successful as a species because their loyalties became flexible over time as they grew more and more dissatisfied with the main branch of the Clan of the First Ember.
That original clan eventually had the gall to assert itself over territory despite breaking many, many bridges. As the largest clan it had success in a territory surrounding Dresey and this lasted for many years forming the country of Enaset. The surrounding feurnice population who had been cooperative mostly through pacts and ties did not like having a higher power aggressively claiming their land, nor did the mixed populations of other races that occupied some of the territory. The Clan of the First Ember was unseated and its pillars cast out. The power vacuum in Dresey was quickly filled by the rebellion.
Feuergrimbelm was never blamed for the actions of its most devoted followers, but overtime it lost its traditional reverence. The Feurnice call their deity a god engine as once the devout faith wore thin an age of exploration of magic came and Feuergrimbelm provided the fuel. Feurnice today are known for their contributions to modern magic technology. Many common conveniences are thanks to their mages.
