Story:
On another venture out of The Keep, you have found yourself staying in one of the settlements of Arkene, surrounded by cold. A bit of a warmer day for this area arrives, so you decide to go looking around the area for a bit. You ask a local guide to aid you on your hike, and the two of you set out towards the icy field while it is still early in the morning. For safety, you travel in the direction of the nearby Alasre mountains. You could get terribly lost for hours if you find yourself where only flat, snow-covered ground surrounds you for miles; The bitter cold that would come with nightfall could do you in.
As you walk, you focus a bit on the silenceâ€â€only your footsteps and the gently blowing wind are heard by your ears. You begin to travel more cautiously as you near closer to the mountains. There may be creatures anywhere around you, especially residing on the outer edge of the mountains. You suddenly walk slower, more wary, though unsure why you do. Stopping to look around you, you glance in one direction and notice something in the snow. It shifts, and a set of guarded eyes sternly watch you. You glance over this creature, now noticing a few distinct qualitiesâ€â€colorations and patterns throughout its fur, and also wonder why it regards you in such a way. This question is answered as a little cub flies through the air. Having leaped over its mother, the cub lands tumbling into the snow. The mother looks down to watch her young as it paws and bites at her tail, and in light play she flicks her tail around a bit.
Both of you hear the travel of some other creature along the base of the mountain, and you watch as these two beautiful felines bound off into the mountainsâ€â€lunchtime, you suppose. The mother displays a very elegant step, and the young one, already learning to move with equal grace, follows close behind her. Having witnessed this rare, seldom-seen species and not wanting to interfere with a hunt, you head back, deciding to return for another view at some other time. Perhaps then you may luckily obtain an egg, too.
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Egg:
A bit of snow is gathered on the top of this egg, and a long tail wraps around it.
Hatchling:
You glance around The Keep and halt your gaze to focus on a little cub running energetically about. With graceful movements it prances around and nears a group of older snow leopards. Playfully, it bats occasionally at a tail of one of the adults. It catches it. Receiving a bite, the adult emits a low, chiding growl, causing the young snow leopard to stumble back startled. Turning, the elder leans in to nudge the little one with its head. The cub, taking cue, returns to play with the others of its age.
Adult:
With bodies designed to traverse harsh and freezing weather, snow leopards are quite suited for journeys into colder lands. Even when in more dangerous regions, you can feel very safe while accompanied by these creatures, as they are quick and powerful. They have adequate strength to take down creatures that are up to three times their size, making them excellent protectors. Possessing celerity, a graceful step, and keen senses, snow leopards can go very undetected, while acting as excellent guides and trackers. It is rather difficult to get lost while traveling with one, allowing exploration of some of the more vast terrains.
General:
Snow leopards are astoundingly beautiful and majestic creatures. Originating from the cold land of Arkene, they have coats of thick fur, which are smoky grey in color with dark grey to black open rosettes along the course of its body. This allows them to survive in frigid temperatures and blend into their natural habitat. They have not only an extensive knowledge of magic which helps them survive in the wild, but also fierce qualities, making them quite dangerous when untamed. However, when raised from birth by magi snow leopards are rather gentle and loving creaturesâ€â€one can even safely feed them a small bite of food from their hands.
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Lack of spriting skills on this end, so this is here so that a staff artist may give life to the snow leopard.
Sprite Design Descriptions:
Egg –
Spoiler
**Note: The tail is long, yes, but that is because snow leopards have tails that are generally the same length as the body….. (So if it is X feet long, the tail itself is also X feet long.)
Hatchling – The little cub/kitten’s body position is it is facing almost directly at the viewer, but it is sitting on its hind legs, tail to one side, and looking up and pawing (as though it is focusing on an object a bit higher than it in the air and it is going to attempt to touch it). i.e.,
Spoiler
Adult – http://www.snowleopardtreks.com/image/s ... add%20.jpg (Reference picture (Image is too large to display..))
General:
*Eye color: Light Blue
*Fur color(s): “smoky grey in color with dark grey to black open rosettes†with white underside (since that is how they are realistically..) Those spots are basically spread throughout any part of the body that is non-white.
---Color Scheme:
Spoiler
Reference pictures:
- http://www.gadgetlite.com/wp-content/up ... ted-24.jpg - Best for some fur colors, I think
- http://onthebutton.files.wordpress.com/ ... eopard.jpg - Nicely shows the rosettes/spots
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... 040242.jpg - More fur details
- http://i28.tinypic.com/2jfyn1s.jpg - IDK, just more reference, I guess.. Plus it looks nice. ^^
- http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... _uncia.jpg - Also just kind of here/reference/details..
Thank you for reading and considering our entry!
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