Faux Sphinxes (or Finxes for short) are a Semi-open Species of magical (demonic), deceptive shape-shifter creatures that physically resemble 

Sphinxes but that’s the end of all similarities

(they aren't called “false” for nothing)

✦T.O.S (Must read before making one)✦

If you have any questions you can comment or DM! Ill be happy to awnser uvu

This is Cordite, the Species Mascot! Click to see their profile  

Species Update 6/21: Species become semi-open, changes on Traits and T.O.S

Update 12/20: Announcement the DA page stating that it becomes inactive, outdated and the species stuff entirely moves to here on Toyhouse as a new start

General Info

Note : Following this lore (entirely or not) its optional, Finxes can be put into any world and setting
You only need to respect the concept of the species, their biology and the rarity of the traits!

Origin

Some centuries ago, a grear demon managed to escape from Hell looking for a more peaceful life on the other side.

They were a stunning creature who had traits from all terrestrial mammals from Earth, but blended in an elegant and exquisite way, with intricate and cryptic drawings and sigils all over their body, and their fur sparkling softly as if it was covered in fairy dust. A quite powerful being who possessed an unknown set of magical abilities , and was once a high rank demon and appreciated soldier, but they eventually got tired of that life and was getting degraded until they couldn’t stand it anymore. 

So they left.

It was a long and difficult journey (their peers wouldnt made it easy for them, they were saw as a coward and a traitor), and when they finally managed to get out of Hell, the exhausted and hurt creature fainted in some unknown place. 

Some time later they were found by some humans who lived in a small town nearby, and rather that fear them, they were fascinated by the creature’s  majestic presence, and treated them like some kind of divine being who was sent to protect the place. So everyone ended taking care of them until they got better.

Surprised and pleased with the humans' behavior, and knowing they made the right choice, the creature decided to stay in that place and returned the favor protecting the town and their inhabitants.

They ended blending easily with the humans, despite looking so different from them

And finally, the creature lived the peaceful live of their dreams, fell in love with humans and had descendants with countless of them.

Those children were what now people know as “Faux Sphinxes”, or Finxes, mysterious creatures who had human features of all kind and the animal and magical features from their chimerical demon parent.

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This is just a legend Finxes have been telling every time someone asks about their origins (being passed from parents to their children), since nobody ever found that place, nor anyone from there, and there’s also no evidence of the creature’s existence, not even a name 

Finxes just refer to them as  “The Great Old One”

In the matter of the legitimacy of their legend, they say that their only existance is proof of that

Enough.

[Some also justify it by saying that the incredibly huge variety of sigils found on their bodies come directly from The Great Old One, and every Finx inherited the ones which fits the most to their own being]

However, even though their exact origin remains a mystery, what we truly know is that Finxes do have a demonic origin, probably due to one or several demons which crossbred with humans enough to form, with the pass of the time, a species on their own here in the surface

Nowadays Finxes live in all kind of places around the globe (the general preferences are more or less isolated places like forests or deserts)

Since they can transform into humans for a while, several Finxes like to live in society with them, but curiosly the majority  prefers roaming on their own or living with others of their kind (in couples of friends/lovers or smalls groups of such)

Theese wandering Finxes usually just make contact with humans and other creatures when they are bored or want something (which is most of the time sffdhjg) 

Even though they are widly accepted when living among humans, more "wild" Finxes are usually hunted down for their precious fur, cloths, and specially to extract their Third Eye, very appreciated as magic enhancer amulets, lucky charms or even ingredients in potions/rituals

Finxes are pretty chill creatures in general, but due to their demonic origin they have a innate thing for pestering and pranking the rest of living beings, and like 99% of them are pretty guilty of at least one of the Seven Deadly Sins (Sloth and Greed are the big favourites)

Their trademark prank as species in general consist in ; since lots people still mistake them for real sphinxes, they deceive them by making them think they are hoarding a great treasure, and try to convince them to do all kind of absurd things and quests to obtain the prize so, once they feel like it, they lead the exhausted human to were The Nice Treasure is….

to finally reward them with just a big pile of garbage, made of whatever junk you can think of, the nastier the better.
At this point the Finx just explodes in laughter in the face of the poor person who, next time, will learn to tell apart a Faux Sphinx from a real one.

Characteristics

What makes a Faux Sphinx a Faux Sphinx

✦ Faux Sphinxes have 3 forms : feral, semi-anthro and human (<click to see) 

Can switch between them at will! But can only maintain the human form for a certain period of time

✦They all have a set of 3 magical powers by default:

-Illusion magic: to decieve other creatures—since Finxes cannot fool each other! (their Third Eye can "see" through their magic) 

-Telekinesis to manipulate objects in feral form (can't manipulate more than three at once in most cases)  

-and Hypnosis which let them take control of a person like a puppet at their will for a certain period of time (usually 1h with a great amount of concentration) 

✦They can be any mix of terrestrial mammals and always come in a mix of 2 at least (in common ones, more increases rarity)

and the head, chest and shoulders are always human

✦All of them posses a Third eye, which is the source of their magical power 

It can be found anywhere on their body and its always unnaturally colored contrasting with their body palette (usually combining with their sigils colors) 

It can have any shape, but need to be clear that its an eye

Size range is from small as a normal human eye to as big as a human heart

Pupil (or pupils) and iris can be whatever shape, and can have weird patterns

Its ALWAYS open

✦Mysterious Sigils of all kinds are always present on their bodies, and can glow when using magic

They are placed above their natural markings (if they have them) all over the body or in a few areas, but need to be clearly visible

Sigils are unnaturally colored the same way as Third eye above (and can be multicolored) 

They can also have any texture : can be metallic, glittery, water-like, gem-like, plant-like, whatever (but this is just the look, at touch they are as smooth as the fur/skin the Finx have) 

Human parts need to be clearly discernible from animal body (specially when they are a very similar or the same color)

✦Finxes always wear a distinctive piece of cloth called the Soul Cloth that is very precious to them

This special cloth serves not only as a shield that protects the Finx from physical and most magic attacks (bc that depends on the Finx own magic power), but also keeps them stable an healthy (both physically and mentally) under almost any circunstances

No wonder why youll basically never see one without it!

It’s made from an unknown kind of fabric that can come in many textures, and rumors say it has great magic properties for non-Finxes...

They also wear it in a big variety of styles uvu

Facts

• They are vegetarian, herbivores and frugivores, since most of them can’t digest meat (with some rare exceptions, which have distinctive sharp teeth) 
• Due to their nature, is believed that seeing a Finx around it’s a symbol for bad times or that having an encounter with one will bring bad luck are common superstitions, and people usually dont trust them
• The natural markings that can be present on their animal bodies are optional (but the sigils needs to be there) 
• Some rare cases can have other magic powers
• Third Eye is ALWAYS open. If it blinks it means the Finx are close to dying, and if its closed the Finx is 100% dead. The same way, if the Third Eye is damaged the Finx would be very weak, and if its destroyed the Finx will die inmediatly. Because of that, Third Eyes are pretty resistant, they have an almost thick crystal-like consistency, and lot heavier than you can expect. The more powerful the Finx is, the more resistant their Third Eye is.
• In order to get all the magic potential, the Third Eye needs to be extracted from the Finx when theyre still alive. Otherway the Eye will be "dead" as well, and therefore useless. (well you can fill your tumnmy with it I guess, theyre pretty hard to chew tho)
• They generally love bad jokes
• Very fond of adorn themselves with jewellery, natural decoration (like plants and insects), accesories they found or steal  and make up
• They don't care too much about gender and sexuality labels stuff, its not relevant in their society--its more like a residue from human culture
• No feathery wings, only bat ones in very rare cases.
• Can have animal ears/horns  if desired. A chest tuft is also optional but pretty common
• They also come in a variety of sizes
• Their legend says that the Great Old One made their mysterious clothes as a sign of gratitude, engagement and protection amulets for the humans, and all of their children are born with the hability to make them.
• If a Finx loose the cloth or its destroyed, they will become incredibly weak and anxious until they can repair it or make a new one (but the loss of the original will always lurk in their minds, traumatizing them for life)
• Cloth cannot be a solid color, it always needs to have a simple pattern at least (its usually linked to the Finx´s personality/tastes/appearence)
• When a Finx is expecting a baby, they and their Finx partner will began to make the piece of cloth that their child will wear until they can make their own, and finish it before birth. Once the baby is born, they use the cloth to cover and carry them until they can walk. When the child is old enough to make their own cloth, they will return their baby cloth to their parent(s), as a sign of maturity and growing up, showing that they dont need their parents extra protection anymore

Note : Only Finxes can, and know how to make the Soul Cloth. If the Finx partner it’s another species, they will make the cloth alone in secret.

The secret: Soul Cloths are made with a special material called The Anima Thread: Its literally the magic and the vital energy of the Finx very own soul (as the name hints,), extracted and compacted into a fine, faintly glowing thread that slowly comes out from the Finx´s Thrid Eye pupil. Its a very important and delicate process, the Finx is the most vulnerable when doing it because theyre too focused on extracting the thread to defend themselves, and also literally their heart is exposed to the world. If the string breaks, or is cut by another individual besides the Finx themselves, the Finx will see how the detached thread falls slowly and loose its glow, as a sign of that Finx loosing forever that part of their soul, and therefore their power and life will be decreased depending on how long the broken/cut part was.

-As said in the Facts, Finxes can repair and make new clothes without losing power, its just during the process when that risk exists (but now that you know how important the Soul Cloth is for them you can understand the trauma of losing a literal part of you). Thats also why Finx parents make the cloth together: one do their part while the other watches out for danger.

-Sould Cloths can be unraveled and reabsorbed by the original maker. Finx children return their baby cloths to parents and they just reabsorb it.

-Cloths can also be made from various Anima Threads (like the one made by parents), resulting in a patchwork-like piece called Cluster Cloth that has its protection properties greatly increases, depnding again on how many and how intense are the powers combined. Finx consider this the most high form of bond, union and intimacy, so unless theyre parents Cluster Cloths are rather unusual.

-“Crossbreeds” do not exist on Finxes, and crossbreeding cannot be possible  (but there are incredibly few exceptions) 

That is because all of a Finx’ genes are magically "linked", meaning that they will always be inherited together (thats bc of their demon part)

Therefore they cannot “blend” with the partner’s genes while reproducing, so their offspring will always be at least one Finx, and the rest will look like the partner’s species

Also since their genetic info is a big mess, it's pretty uncommon that children have any physical similarities with Finx parent(s) at all

-Finxes cannot die of old age, but can be killed

When born their human part have the appearance of a 3-4 year old child

They reach maturity both physical and mental at the age of 6 aprox. Their human parts already look like a very young adult. From there they stop growing and start aging slower (Ex.: A 60 y.o Finx will have the appearance of a 20-25 y.o human)

Possible Traits

Common (Free)

• Natural colors (for humans) on human skin, doesnt affect eyes irises, those can be any color (but pupil will always be black unless albino or blind)
• Heterochromia, no pupils or no iris
• Any body colors with random animal markings (ex: you can have a dog-goat Finx with zebra markings)
• Hybrid: pick your 2 favourite mammalian species <:3c (with rarer traits exceptions, see below)
• Natural horns that match the body (this means they can’t be present on mammals without horns because that would be considered an uncommon Mix or rarer)
• Third eye anywhere on human parts (head/neck/chest/shoulders)
• Basic magic : Illusion, telekinesis and hypnosis, can maintain human form up to 1 week

Uncommon (3€ each)

• Unnatural colors on human parts, pupils and sclera now included
• Sparkles/Iridiscence on fur, skin, or both
• Animal pupils that also match the body (ex: rectangular if your Finx has equine or caprine attributes) 
• Mix : body with traits of  3 mammals (horns included, ex : a wolf-cat Finx with moose horns it’s considered a Mix) 
• Dwarfness:  Finxes who have a mix of traits of pretty small mammals, such as domestic cats, some dog breeds, rabbits, mustelidae, rodents, etc (all the species picked need to be small sized for the Finx to be a Dwarf!) 
• Third Eye anywhere on body
• Stronger magic: Hypnosis works for a bigger period of time, can maintain human form up to 1 month and manipulate more objects at once (but less than 10)

Rare (7€ each)

• Void Eyes (no iris and pupil, doesnt affect Third Eye), odd shaped pupils and/or irises
• Bioluminescence
• Carnivore (eats meat, has larger and sharper set of teeth)
• Random odd shaped pupils (animal and geometric) 
• Random horns (any colours, no bigger than half of the body)
• Chimera : traits from 4 mammals
• Organic and inorganic growths or things coming out of body like metal, chrystals, plants, etc (with the exception of prosthetics)
• Extra eyes anywhere (non magical)
• Extra body parts (head, limbs, tail, etc) 
• More than two horns
• Extra magic : Up to 1 year human form and an extra magic ability like floating or breathing fire, whatever

Super rare/Special/Mutations (only available through adopts/auctions/events) 

Several of these traits derive directly from their demon ancestors, so only a few of the firsts-generation Finxes have them 

• Bat wings (like, instead of arms/front legs)
• Great magical power and various abilities
• Demonic Possession (Finx can “ghostify” themselves to enter and can claim a person's body as theirs) 
• “Monstruous” body appearance
• Great Chimera : traits from 5 mammals or more (then its called a Cluster) 
• Crossbreed features
• Unlisted traits