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[Riath]

@Riath

From what I personally know about mana, I don't think it exactly works that way in regards to mutations.

 

Also would that really be a FAQ about them?

Why wouldn't mana work that way? I assumed that since mana mutated things, multiple types together would cause a mix of mutations. Since Magi is the 'pure' mana I thought it would make sense for the Glubbers to become smarter as a result of exposure to it. Being the 'pure magic' element, it made sense in my head for it to turn creatures into better versions of themselves as a mutation. And since I remember TJ09 saying that dark mana turns people into Orcs, I felt that it would be cool to have little rodent goblins caused by dark mana.

 

Edit: also the intelligence question is just flavor text, doesn't mean anything

Edited May 31, 2016 by Riath

[Pyrowings]

Yeah, I probably shouldn't say anything, given that only TJ really knows how it works. XP

Anyway, thanks for reminding me of that. I need to go back and read the AMA again, it seems!

 

 

Still, after their exposure to mana wouldn't they be able to utilize it to some form? And for that matter, wouldn't it have more of an impact on them, appearance-wise, if they were exposed to two, potentially clashing, elements?

[Riath]

Yeah, I probably shouldn't say anything, given that only TJ really knows how it works. XP

Anyway, thanks for reminding me of that. I need to go back and read the AMA again, it seems!

 

 

Still, after their exposure to mana wouldn't they be able to utilize it to some form? And for that matter, wouldn't it have more of an impact on them, appearance-wise, if they were exposed to two, potentially clashing, elements?

It's fine, feedback is always good regarding writing : D

 

I wanted to make these guys a low-threat species. Think Sneevils from dragon fable, or Murlocs. These are little angry buggers who hang around near humans, but aren't enough of a threat to be worth exterminating. They're meant to be mostly in the background of a fantasy world doing their own thing with hunting and Glubbimg angrily at rocks. And as such, I decided that it was better to have them not able to utilize the magic, to lower the level of danger when faced with one.

 

Well, I read that Magi, Light and Dark mana were compatible on the wiki and felt that they wouldn't have any effects from the colliding mana as a result

 

Edit: Taken from the encyclopedia

Element Compatibility

 

As well as belonging to different categories, certain elements still have a certain degree of compatibility with one another. Again, Neutral is compatible with all elements, but the other elements are grouped together into four different clusters based on their compatibility. These clusters are as follows:

 

Light, Dark and Magi.

Life, Death and Time.

Earth, Lightning and Air.

Water, Fire, and Ice.

Edited May 31, 2016 by Riath

[Pyrowings]

Just saying, but TJ said that earth mana can transform humans into '...something resembling traditional orcs.'

https://forums.dragcave.net/index.php?showtopic=166725&st=40

 

And they can't be analogous to sneevils. They don't steal/horde objects of questionable value and make forts out of them.

 

[Riath]

Just saying, but TJ said that earth mana can transform humans into '...something resembling traditional orcs.'

https://forums.dragcave.net/index.php?showtopic=166725&st=40

 

And they can't be analogous to sneevils. They don't steal/horde objects of questionable value and make forts out of them.

I...misread that. Completely. D: I guess I'll keep dark mana as an explanation for their violent tendencies. (Like Dark green dragons being life/dark to emphasise their description)

 

And yeah, my absolute favourite things about sneevils were the box forts. But I couldn't find a way to factor that into there without making it unoriginal. I was gonna have the Glubbers make bricks by cooking mud and poop into blocks using the heat of the sun, but I remembered that this is a PG13 forum and a castle would be kinda iffy in regards to that rule :^)

Edited May 31, 2016 by Riath

[Pyrowings]

Ehh, I think your picture of them is fine with the two mana types. ((Now that I know about how mana mutations work )) From your description they're not particularly goblin-like anyway.

 

That seems PG-13 to me. If you're still iffy about it they can make them out of clay and mud instead.

[Kakaru_of_DOOM]

Here is a set of closely-related creatures that could be cool. I might need to find out more about striped dragons and lunar/yearly cycles for them, though.

 

I want to suggest a creature!

Species Name:Azure were-beetle

Type: insect (change)

Diet: tree sap

Habitat: forest, subterranean

Appearance: normal: a small insect, about 1.5 - 2 cm long, brownish-black with an iridescent blue sheen.

Shifted (see description): a large metallic blue beetle, about 6-8 in long. Males have three large horns on their head and a few small spines on their carapace.

Description: These insects spend their lives underground, drinking sap from tree roots. They are almost indistinguishable from other root-sucking grubs that prefer plants associated with the moons. They absorb change mana from the sap they drink and store it in their abdomens; at the right angle they have a distinct indigo blue sheen that comes from the mana inside. Alchemists can crush the bugs and extract the mana; this process has the highest yields in late summer.

Under the light of the full Cirion closest to the autumnal solstice, these insects emerge en masse and use the mana within them to transform: males re-purpose their entire bodies to fight rivals and win mates while females transform themselves to produce as many eggs as possible. After mating and laying eggs, the insects die. Eggs that survive the winter hatch in the spring and the new generation continues the cycle. The coming of these insects is a holiday for stripes and other large, sapient insectivores, with much feasting to be had. There is often betting on the outcome of a beetle duel, with the winner of the bet getting to eat the looser of the fight.

 

I want to suggest a creature!

Species Name:Golden were-beetle

Type: insect (change)

Diet: tree sap

Habitat: forest, subterranean

Appearance: normal: a small insect, about 1.5 - 2 cm long, brownish-black with an iridescent yellow sheen

Shifted (see description): a large metallic gold beetle, about 6-8 in long. Males have a large horn with several branches and a few large spines on their legs.

Description: These bugs are almost indistinguishable in habit from their azure counterparts, the only difference being that they have a golden sheen and emerge at Aurax's nearest full to the autumnal equinox. Their night too is a stripe holiday. (Nom!)

 

I want to suggest a creature!

Species Name:Perennial were-beetle

Type: insect (change)

Diet: tree sap

Habitat: forest, subterranean

Appearance: normal: a small insect, about 1.5 - 2 cm long, brownish-black with a colourless iridescent sheen

Shifted (see description): a genuinely huge beetle around 3-3.5 feet long, with a silvery white carapace; males are decorated with branching spikes across their bodies and legs and have four massive horns with which to battle rivals.

Description: Much more enigmatic then their annual counterparts, the perennial were-beetles are poorly understood. Some believe that they are simply hybrids of the other two (were-beetles aren't smart enough to tell each other apart) from years when the double-full moon is the closest either full moon is to the equinox; others insist they are a separate species. Unlike the annual were-beetles they live long enough to form a mana crystal in their abdomen; crystals extracted late in their life-cycle can be among the densest change crystals on Valkemare, therefore are quite valuable despite their minuscule size. Few have studied these insects, preferring to claim the more tangible value of the crystal.

 

To be clear: I don't know how often the perennials will have the chance to emerge since the Valkemari year is TBA and I haven't done the math based on the moon cycle for lunar heralds to earth year ratio. ...I should probably figure out who did the striped dragons, too, since these bugs are closely tied to them...

Edited December 14, 2016 by Kakaru_of_DOOM

[Wildmoon]

I was bored so I decided to think up a creature, it kinda sucks. idk

 

I want to suggest a creature!

Species Name: I haven't thought of one yet, so any suggestions are welcome.

 

Type: Bird

 

Diet: Mainly carnivorous, will feast on fish and small animals up to about the size of a dog, but will occasionally eat fruits if very hungry.

 

Habitat: Coast, Alpine and Desert, anywhere there is plenty of room for them to fly.

 

Appearance: These large birds stand at approximately 2 feet tall, their colors and markings are similar to that of an African Grey parrot, only a bit darker, with a flash of white down their wing.

 

Description: These birds live in groups, or "tribes", they have almost human like behavior in some ways, such as having a social hierarchy and jobs. Some birds will be hunters, and will hunt food for the rest of the tribe, others are gatherers, who will collect materials for nest building. then there is builders, who work to build the round spherical nests of sticks and foliage they live in. There will be a tribe leader pair, and elder birds look after the children.

 

These birds are hunted, but due to their size and strength, are hard to bring down, hence their feathers and meat are expensive and rare.

[OrderStrigiformes]

Oooh, this looks fun.

 

I want to suggest a creature!

Species Name: Mana sprite

Type: Probably 'other'.

Diet: If it's possible, they could live solely on different types of mana. Although born neutral, a Mana sprite will often get a taste for a certain variety of mana and grow to depend on said variety as it ages.

Habitat: Often found congregating around natural sources of mana, although some might follow a creature that has been strongly imbued/infused with mana, like certain species of dragon.

Appearance: This varies depending on the type of mana that they feed on, as older Mana sprites will gain different appearances depending on their preference; kind of like how flamingos only turn pink because of their diet. (I'm thinking they might get intricate patterns and decorative stuff on their skin like sea slugs (such as glaucus atlanticus))

In general, though, they are vibrant, perhaps even softly glowing creatures resembling sea angels (but with bigger, more rounded 'wings'), that are around the size of a large dragonfly.

Description: Mana sprites are small, peaceful-looking creatures that can sense sources of mana from great distances. People wanting to find natural mana pools would often be told to follow a mana sprite, as they will always seek them out.

Mana sprites of the same alignment tend to form 'swarms' for self-defence when provoked, though they don't get many predators (due to their feeding habits, only the most specialised of creatures can tolerate such a strong dose of mana without it having severe consequences).

Personality-wise, it depends on the variety of mana they are fond of; those fond of dark mana tend to be more aggressive than those fond of light mana, for example.