Furvilla Headcannons

Now seems like as good of a time to talk about Shifties as a whole as any! I’ll start with the most basic Shifty, and work up to Primordials...

As previously mentioned, the Shifty was the final ‘species’ to be made, towards the end of human occupation on Furvilla. Previous species needed morphing potions to swap between forms, but Shifties were able to change their forms on-command, without needing to carry around any extra items. This convenience far outweighed their two drawbacks, which wasneeding more food to supply the energy needed for these frequent form changes, and their need to study new forms. Midnight Shifties have to understand new forms before transforming, like how an artist needs to understand anatomy before drawing a detailed body. A skilled Shifty can usually become a very close match just by transforming into anything in their field of vision, but many epic and flawless shapeshifts have ended in hysterical laughter after a Shifty transformed into a fish, dove underwater for 2 minutes, and then came up sputtering and coughing because they didn’t understand how to create functional gills. This brings us up to Galactic Shifties,

Galactic Shifties are a more advanced version of Midnight Shifties, basically. They’re able to overcome the issues Midnight Shifties have with needing to study new forms, because they can take biological material and morph into a perfect match of any creature with a readable genetic code. Though more powerful, Galactics are extremely rare because the potion used to make them was more expensive to produce, and they were created only a few years before the humans left. They went extinct on the planet surface shortly after their creation because of their small numbers, until the “mysterious” crash in 1947. This ‘impact’ was actually a group of Shifties who came down from an ancient space station orbiting the planet.

Every type of costume is unique, and to cover how each costumeprovides its signature buffs I would have to talk about them individually! Fornow, I’ll give a rundown of what costumes do, how they’re made, and talk abouttwo costumes in particular.

Costumes are generally on a sliderfrom “biological” to “mechanical.” Some costumes, such as the aquaticcostume, are actually binding to the wearer and changing their biology almostlike a morphing potion. Others, such as the steampunk costume, are heavilyrelying on the craftsmanship of the outfit itself. All costumes usesome “biological” traits and some “mechanical” traits, but most relymore on one end of the spectrum. The “magic” floating around a costume isa sort of vaporized morphing potion substance. It’s much thicker inconcentration in the ‘biological’-leaning costumes, but existsin ‘mechanical’-leaning costumes as well to make sure the furry iscorrectly proportioned for the costume (which is why all divers seem similar).This is absorbed into the blood when the costume is applied for the first time,where it works its ‘magic’ on the soul. Removing a costume isn’t as simpleas it appears, it actually requires a visit to an alchemist or a mageto ‘disenchant’ the villager. In mechanical-leaning costumes such as adiver or steampunk costume, the clothing parts can be removed at will butthe body remains changed. So, a steampunk rabbit is still brown in color and is able to fit back into their clothing later, unless they visit an alchemist and ‘remove the costume’, or take a morphing potion, or apply a different costume.

Costumes are a uniquely furry invention. Humans would not have considered altering their villagers in such specific ways when they were using morphing potions to rapidly change villager species to fit tasks and scenarios. Costumes would have been too expensive and too specific to have any use.

(If you recall the post about the villager as a species, you’ll remember the “regurgitation” reflex of the soul organ and may be confused. I’ll be talking about the soul more in-depth when I make a post on paintie tickets in the future! Worry not, lovelies.)

 So let’s talk about two costumes in particular.

In this writer’s humble opinion, the diver costume is wildly misnamed. While it’s often used for deep-sea diving, a much more fitting name would be the “power suit costume.” It gives its wearer a significant strength boost, natural protection from harm, and insulation from the elements. These suits can even be modified for specific terrain, giving the wearer less water resistance while underwater, keeping their feet from sinking into the snow in frozen terrain, or even giving a boost to their jumps with small rockets in the soles. This gives any diver-costumed villager an edge over monsters in combat, and allows them to have extra energy and motivation to take on more at a time. Their suit also gives them some extra protection from hot metal and sharp edges while blacksmithing, allowing them to get jobs done quicker and easier.

This costume was developed very recently in Furvilla history, within the last 100 years or so. It’s based off broken-down human bio-suits found in remote locations, and gets its name because it was developed by Oceandome to replace an older model of true “diver” suits. It was only after the first prototypes were invented that the true potential of the costume was considered. Though the suit is based off ancient artifacts, it’s nowhere near the sophistication of a true human bio-suit, as the furries don’t fully understand all of the lost technology within the artifacts... yet.

Mythic-costumed villagers are masters of perception, they almost seem to have a “sixth sense” with how sensitive they are to minor changes in their environment. This is because their sense of touch, smell, and hearing are highly refined, to the point of only needing to walk into a room to know if it’s too dry or too humid for maximum crop yields. Being able to notice such fine detail makes them excellent herbalists and farmers, and yes, much to their chagrin this does mean they’re abnormally good at taking care of bonsai trees. This extra perceptiveness also makes them excellent at trapping wild animals, as they can smell exactly where the animals have been and notice small details while tracking that other villagers may have missed.

Snowpets! You love ‘em! You hate ‘em! You bury Sora in them every year! You may have heard some rumors, you may have some questions, so let’s dive right into the three species of Snowpet and what makes them tick.

The first thing anyone learns about snowpets is how fast they multiply, so that’s where we’ll begin. Snowpets enter a breeding frenzy once a year, around the time of the snow festival, and have incredibly short maturation periods. To celebrate the Snow Festival, many wild snowpets are captured by the Tigereye Peak government and given out to anyone who wishes to participate. It’s very important that these progenitors are wild-caught, because after the breeding period ends, tamed snowpets will never re-enter estrus. They can only ever breed again if released back into the wild, and to start a captive breeding program, they must be caught during their breeding period. They are also quite difficult to capture, since they’re hard to spot and detect and much craftier than they seem.

To keep things interesting, the Tigereye government distributes a new species of snowpet every year. Capturing snowpets on one’s own is usually too difficult to be done, and also generally frowned on by other villagers because of snowpet reproductive rates. If they’re going to be drowning in snow butts, it may as well be a hip and trendy snow butt that’s government-sanctioned!

Snowpets are actually covered in a thick shell of snow that naturally sticks to their bodies. This covering actually serves two purposes, the first being quite counter-intuitive; warmth. This tightly packed layer of snow actually traps heat inside like an igloo, and keeps them very warm even in the most frigid of temperatures. Even if the snowpet is frozen in a block of ice, it can survive by entering a stasis while its snow layer keeps its true body from freezing. The second use is to highly sophisticated camouflage. Several monsters in Tigereye Peak are able to “see” heat, which makes snowpets completely invisible to them. This snow layer is so tightly packed that no heat escapes. Dirty snowpets are generally what happens when a snow layer hasn’t been replaced in a long time, they’ve been in areas with a lot of dirt, or simply as a mark of experience. Dirty snowpets are usually much more clever than their white cousins, and in the wild are often pack leaders.

The snow layer can drop off and get thinner in times of great stress, allowing the snowpet to run faster to escape from an enemy, or to wiggle out of a trap. On rare occasions, snowpets bred during snow festivals have a hard time forming a thick snow layer, revealing their natural color. These are called “melted snowpets” and they have no chance of surviving in the wild. Not only are they easily detected by predators, but they’re also ironically prone to hypothermia because they have no insulating layer that traps their heat inside. While some villagers like the hardiness and cleverness of a snowpet for companionship in exploring, melted snowpets are too delicate to bring on long expeditions and are mostly kept as house pets. They’re perfectly fine and healthy as long as they have access to a warm shelter year-round!

So, what’s the opposite of a melted snowpet? A decorated snowpet. These hardy creatures can create an extra thick snow layer, thick enough to carry decorations such as rocks and holly branches. In the wild, a decorated snowpet will adorn itself with festive decorations to impress others of its species, but in captivity, decorated snowpets are sought after for many reasons. Explorers desire them for their survival skills and intellect, animal collectors value their rareness, artists find them to be a stunning living canvas. There's even a story about an explorer who pushed a message in a bottle into their decorated snowfox’s snow covering, and the snowfox ran 100 miles to get help and save their master.

While the snow layer and breeding season is a defining characteristic of every snowpet, the three species are very different in their behaviors, and often serve different functions in domestication.

Snowbunnies live in high altitudes around the Tigereye Peak area. They live in truly massive warrens, dug in inaccessible locations such as the sides of cliffs, or monster-infested areas. Since they can move undetected by certain giant monsters, they often crowd around them for protection like a big bunny cloud, taking care not to touch the monster’s feet. They’re almost never seen alone, and form small groups (called fluffles) that do everything together, to the benefit of the warren. These ‘fluffles’ act somewhat like bees to the warren’s ‘hive’, bringing food back to their home, expanding the burrows, and even sacrificing their lives to protect their homes from attacking monsters. Disturbing a snowbunny warren is a terrible mistake that can cost an experienced warrior their life. One snowbunny is not a problem, but a thousand angry ones sure is.

 Domesticated snowbunnies favor their master first and foremost, but still form a bond with other members of the town (typically their master’s close friends and family). They’re fast, cunning, and will sacrifice their lives to save someone they love, but being so small and weak on their own, they aren’t often used by explorers. They’re more often given to children, because of their friendliness with the whole family and intense loyalty that keeps children safe from minor dangers.

Snowfoxes are not eusocial like snowbunnies. After the breeding season is done, snowfoxes will break up into “small” skulks of about 5 - 10 individuals and go their separate ways. Over the course of the year, these skulks usually thin down to 2 - 3 members, because of members dying, groups breaking away from lack of food to support a large skulk, or simply from in-fighting. However, they are only ever alone if something terrible has befallen their skulk or partner. They’re predators, mostly targeting snowbunnies and snowphoenixes, but also eating whatever is small and unlucky enough to fall into their jaws. Since snowfoxes and snowbunnies are both undetectable by certain monsters, there can be fights to the death between skulks and fluffles right between a monster’s legs!

Snowbunnies are intelligent, but snowfoxes are smarter. A snowbunny is only a threat in numbers, but snowfoxes have power on their own. Extremely quick and agile, a snowfox can assist its master in battle by attacking a monster’s weak points and dodge just as the monster makes a move at it. They can’t take down a monster alone, but they can distract a monster long enough for the master to make a killing blow, or to make a safe getaway. A skulk of snowfoxes can kill an entire fluffle of snowbunnies or take out a weaker monster, such as a common silver.

They bond deeply with a master who treats them well, and can’t stand being left alone. They’re perfectly content to follow their master from a distance, watching over them and making sure they’re not in danger. They aren’t particularly affectionate or emotional, but even when they’re unseen, they’re usually somewhere nearby. They hate being caged and kept away from their owners, and if separated, they can travel great distances trying to find them. They’re almost like a mix of cat and dog, behaviorally speaking.

Snowphoenixes aren’t nearly as social as other snowpets. After the breeding season, they promptly break away from the group and go back to living solitary lives. They mostly eat fish and the occasional small mammal such as a pika, and flock around frozen rivers and lakes. They’re much lighter than they seem and their wide feet make it very easy for them to stand on thin ice. They peck holes in the ice with their beaks, and catch fish by dunking their entire head in. 

Despite their beautiful wings, their feathers are covered in a thick layer of snow that makes them too stiff to fly properly. When they do take flight, they have to drop their snow layer, which reveals their stunning orange plumage, and this gives them the appearance of bursting into flame. The name ‘snow phoenix’ likely comes from early explorers who accidentally startled these birds and watched them take flight. Even though they can fly, they aren’t very good at it and often fall prey to snowfoxes and other predators that stalk the mountain.

It’s related to the reason why the Fluffy Snake’s tail tip is exposed, that little noodle tail is completely flexible like that of a spidermonkey. The bottom of the tail is also strangely textured, like that of a gecko’s foot, and can hold a surprisingly heavy object even when the tail isn’t curled at all.

Unlike horses and their horseshoes, they don’t need any special body modifications to properly hold things. Their tongues are also much more prehensile and stronger than that of an Earth snake, at the cost of not being as sensory as a normal reptile tongue. Each fork of the tongue can be curled independently, like two fingers.

Usually, a snake who’s building a house won’t pound nails with a hammer in their mouth, but will hold a nail steady with their tongue and pound with a hammer wrapped in their tail. A snake who’s a tailor will typically do delicate maneuvers with their tongue as the tail holds things steady. Generally, the tongue is for precision, and the tail is for power, but some snakes are more ‘tongue-dominant’ than ‘tail-dominant’! 

Even with all of this, snakes aren’t usually as adept at handling tools as other species and typically have to work harder or be more resourceful. Humans would overcome this by using morphing potions on their snake villagers when it was convenient to them, but in modern times this has lead to stereotypes of snakes being, well, “snakey” and untrustworthy because they find shortcuts that help them do things faster. For example, a snake would train a minipet to do certain activities for them, leading to people calling the snake lazy and saying the clothing they made is cheap and low quality because an animal helped to make it. Another snake stereotype is that they keep a wide array of amulets and tools on them to help with simple tasks like lighting fires, which is based on truth, but is not something they deserve to be mocked for.

A question I see often is, “how do the equines hold objects with those hooves?” Well, what if I told you it’s because of those shoes?

On the two front hooves, the equines wear magnetic horseshoes. The two shoes have opposite alignments, which means they can’t clap their hands together and accidentally get stuck.

Since there’s a large population of equines in this world, most tools are made with a magnet inside them. Some crafters even boast that everything they make is “magnet-friendly” as a selling point, and every relevant object that’s mass-produced is sure to include a magnet inside its handle! Some tools are still unwieldy for a horse to use, but they get good at it especially when they’re born horses. To remove an object from the hoof, they only need to use their other horseshoe to push it off.

There are some two-handed tools, but these are rarer because there’s the obvious problem of the equine not being able to take it off with only their hands when it’s stuck to both hooves. These two-handed tools are often custom-built for equine use, such as scissors or equipment like chainsaws. When these tools need to be removed, usually the equine has to awkwardly sit down and kick them off.

Are you ready to never be able to look at this item the same way ever again? No? GREAT.

“Yes, that is definitely jellied blood. Eat with caution!“

It is possible to make food from curdled blood, and you may have even eaten it at some point! This substance is known in most western nations as ‘black pudding’ or ‘blood pudding’, but because it’s so easy to make and discover (you only need a bucket of fresh mammal blood and some common ingredients) there’s variations all over the world across many cultures.

So how do you make blood pudding? Basically, get a few cups of mammal blood (I’ve been told bird blood doesn’t work as well but if you can teach me more, let me know! I’m always curious), some animal fat, and some oatmeal. Put these together, pack the concoction into a casing with whatever spices you think will somehow make this palatable, let it sit, and voila! It becomes a black or dark brown substance ready for consumption. It can be grilled, broiled, fried, crumbled, anything you want! Apparently, some people even put it in their mouths. The existence of blood pudding is proof that Dragonsmaw Manor exists irl.

One thing that blood pudding isn’t, though, is red. That ‘blood’ probably isn’t blood, but a common topping served with blood pudding cakes. Lingonberry jam! That would make Jellied Blood Bites count as a sweet, being packed with berry pulp and probably some extra sugar. You may notice that the ‘blood’ is leaking from the sides of the candy, that’s likely because the top has been cut off and the insides scooped out, so it can be filled with jam.

Look familiar?

As for the tooth, that’s probably a real ass tooth. This is Dragonsmaw Manor, everything is trying to kill you here, even the candy.

Short entry today!

It seems odd that this potion has no lid, right? Well, it’s actually because this potion is multipurpose. Meant to be worn as a ring, the Leodon potion can be used as a tool for cutting or scratching. It’s like a tiny knife for villagers without claws, and in the distant past there were special shapes created for hooved villagers. That ended when the humans left, as the recipe for creating these potions has been lost to time. Leodon potions are rare because they’re all artifacts from a time long gone.

This one’s gonna tie back into the ‘failed terraforming experiment’ mastertheory, which is the first post on this blog. If you haven’t read it, it’s lengthy but I’d suggest you go read up on that one first to understand the origin of villagers and why they have these capabilities! 

The first important bit about villagers to know is that they are all technically the same species. Though they seem to be different ‘species’ such as canine, dragon, or bovine, that’s not their actual ‘species’ and is more like a living costume, or a shell. Imagine a human wearing a fursuit, but the fursuit is bonded to their body and they gain the power and senses of that animal. That’s essentially what a villager is. They are all the same animal underneath, and have the same IQ range, can eat the same diets, have the same general organ layout, and can all breed and create viable offspring. Most of the ‘behavioral differences’ between ‘species’ is because of social perception or perceived stereotypes, but anything physical attributed to the second layer is actually there. Canines are better at following scents than dragons, sharks can breathe underwater freely where bats would need to use breathing devices. For the same of simplicity however, from here on out, the villager’s outer ‘species’ will just be referred to as a species. Just remember that it’s technically incorrect.

So, put extremely simply, there are two major parts of a villager. The “outer” layer, which creates the villager’s appearance and physical abilities, and the “inner” layer, which contains the “true” villager, including vital organs and the base DNA. Though, this is a HUGE oversimplification. Not all organs are unique to the ‘inner layer’, not all of the ‘inner’ layer is unaffected by the ‘outer’ layer. For example, sharks actually have their lungs (which is typically part of the ‘inner’ layer in other species) modified in order to breathe in both the water and in air, and horses have larger hearts than crocodiles which makes them better runners. I digress though, generally the “inner” layer and “outer” layer is a good analogy with some exception.

So how does a morphing potion change this ‘outer’ layer?

Inside the ‘inner’ layer, right in the middle of the heart, is a small, fluid-filled sack dramatically called the ‘soul’. Special combinations of chemicals are recognized by the villager’s body and end up there, and this little ‘pool’ acts as the control center for the ‘outer layer’, telling the cells how to form and what to alter. In this way, the ‘outer’ layer doesn’t actually have its own DNA, it takes instruction from the soul. This is why the soul is in the heart, it can quickly spit instructions (RNA) directly into the bloodstream to be carried to the outer layer. When new chemical is taken into the body through a morphing potion, the soul will tightly contract and spit the old chemical out into the blood rapidly before taking in the new chemical. Overloading the cells with chemical gets them ready to quickly transform into the new species. 

Transforming into a new species is a burning, painful feeling, as bones, certain organs, and muscle have to quickly snap into place. However, the pain instantly vanishes after the transformation is complete and is often described as being ‘reborn like a phoenix, out of the ashes’.

The only ‘true’ DNA villagers have is the DNA in their inner layers, which is mostly made of classic cells like the ones in human or animal bodies. When the ‘inner’ layer is affected by the ‘outer’ layer, it’s always in the form of modification. Nothing completely new is ever formed in this layer. An ‘inner’ organ can shrink, enlarge, duplicate, move a little, or even transform slightly (like tear open) for the ‘outer’ layer to build something on top of it, but an inner organ is always that organ. Yes, this means that the moths have the same basic organs as the mammalian villagers under that exoskeleton!

What purpose could a big goddamn fruit in the middle of a bear’s torso have? Well…

Commonly called the “Blue Beary”, the common color is actually the closest to the wild type. Found in dry forests with low rainfall, Bearies have a plump midsection that mostly stores fat and water. They can go over a month without a drink, and can even survive just by eating food rich with water. Their claws are very powerful and their sense of smell is impeccable, and when the weather gets too dry they sometimes scratch trees until they can access the sap within. They are omnivores and will eat anything they can find, but their favorites are bug larvae and berries, which are both rich in water.

The bearies commonly kept as pets have actually been bred to be more cute and friendly with their owners. In the wild, they’re extremely territorial, have longer claws and muzzles, and often have very thick, slightly sagging skin like that of a lion. Wild bearies tend to be about 2 feet tall and 2.5 feet wide, blue bearies, and chocolate-covered bearies tend to be about 1.5 feet tall and 2 feet wide, but red and black bearies typically clock in at 1 foot tall or less, and are only 6 inches wider than their height. No beary is particularly intelligent, but they are very curious and will often root around the house for food. Those owning a beary are advised to make a simple latch or lock system for their pantry or fridge, as bearies will stop at nothing to get in! Bearies are very gentle with their owners, so their strength often comes as a shock to a first-time handler. A common first experience with this is coming home to a pantry door ripped off the hinges and food cans crushed!

Many remark that the Red Raz Beary is the sweetest of the bunch, and for good reason! The pet of choice for many beary owners, their fur is soft like velvet, their fruity bodies are plush and huggable. Like black bearies, they can be placed in handbags and carried around, but both colors weigh slightly less than a bowling ball so this is reserved for strong owners. Black, red, and chocolate-covered bearies were specifically bred for Villager use, so they cannot be found in the wild nor can they survive if released. Their shapely bodies are not optimal for storing food or water, and they’re often gobbled up by the monsters that lurk near villages. Even the domestic blue beary doesn’t often survive if released thanks to its smaller claws, thinner skin, and shorter muzzle, but there are concerns that domestic blue bearies breeding with wild bearies is tainting the wild gene pool.

Interestingly, the name ‘Red Raz Beary’ is only partially in reference to the animal looking like a razz berry. This color was developed from crossing Black Bearies and Chocolate Covered Bearies to create an especially friendly and soft beary. This project was under taken by the Raz family, who were a rich family of red pandas and beary enthusiasts, dedicated to removing a bad stigma from the Beary species. What was this stigma? That brings us to the last color...

We’ll probably be getting an official lore entry from Furvilla during this festival and it’ll probably contradict my headcannons, but hey, let’s see how my impression of Dragonsmaw Manor lines up with the official entry!

The climate of Dragonsmaw Manor is hot, humid, and wild! It’s warm year-round and never sees a flake of snow, and is the perfect land for growing crops and other vegetation. The monsters of DMM are said to be the most aggressive and dangerous in the world, but also the most delicious! The bodies of these monsters are used in all the town’s architect, with remains of the most powerful monsters used in the most important structures. This is where the village gets its name- it is said that the manor was built from the mighty jawbone of a massive dragon.

Dragonsmaw Manor residents are very proud of their home. When asked about it, they’re quick to tell you all about how accepting and free their land is, and how anyone in Dragonsmaw can be anything they want. They have a long history of libertarianism and democracy, the the government tries its hardest not to interfere in the lives of its citizens. Ask someone from a different village, however, and they’ll call DMM an “unhinged free-for-all barely kept above descending into utter bedlam by vigilantes and a careless government”. Really depends on who you ask.

Dragonsmaw is home to a very diverse population, from undeads, to mad scientists, to proud lycanthropes, and even just edgy furries. These very diverse groups makes it very hard for government to represent or please everyone, and thus, DMM’s history is laden with violent revolution and war, particularly between DMM and Olde Foxbury. This is probably why the modern government is so lax, and mostly lets individual settlements decide their own laws. DMM culture also places a very strong emphasis on personal accountability, so many societal problems are completely ignored by the DMM government. This has lead to problems such as a high murder rate, many kidnappings, high mortality rate, and high drug use. Though it may not seem like it to an outsider, Dr. Chester is actually a very progressive candidate in this village. He rose to power in DMM after promising to pass laws that would protect victims of domestic abuse and tackle the kidnapping problem and illegal organ and drug trade.

What Dragonsmaw does try to regulate tends to be towards removing unfair advantages. Because they value personal accountability, laws that are passed and enforced tend to be ones that promote meritocracy or punish unearned advantages. There are no monopolies or oligopolies in Dragonsmaw, thanks to extremely strong anti-trust laws. The estate tax is extremely high and has taken a bite out of income inequality. The government of DMM will allow mad scientists to perform inhumane experiments as long as the subjects either sign a contract or were created in the lab for the experiment. Education standards rival that of the Oceandome, and cleverness and intellect are valued in a leader above all else.

You may have wondered to yourself what these three sicknesses actually do to afflicted villagers! How does a Hyena get ‘feather rot’? How does a cow get ‘gill rot’?? An allergy to rocks??? It’s a bit gross, so if you’re sensitive you may not want to read this. Consider this your warning!

The feather rot of the Furvilla world is much like the feather rot of our world. It’s caused by parasitic mites that infest a host and chow down on its feathers. The difference between the two illnesses is that the mites in the Furvilla world feast on all keratin. Keratin is the stuff your hair and fingernails are made of, but did you know that it’s also the material used in feathers, scales, and animal horns? The worst cases of ‘feather rot’ actually tend to affect the reptilian villagers, as the mites can eat away at scales until they start to peel and bleed, though moth and other insect villagers are actually in the most danger of a severe infestation, as the parasites can eat a hole right through their exoskeletons. Urban legend in Quetzal Palace tells of an antelope who was chewed bald and was stripped of his horns after falling asleep on a cloud! While it’s possible for horns to be chewed off a villager if the infestation got too severe, this wouldn’t happen overnight so rest easy!

So why is it called “feather rot”, then? Mostly because most of the population of Quetzal Palace is either a feathered villager, or owns a feathered pet. Through numbers alone it’s more likely to affect feathers. On top of it, it very often affects wild birds because their nests are perfect breeding grounds for mite swarms.

Someone who knows insects may be quick to point out that insect exoskeletons are not made of keratin, but a similar material called chitin. Chitin and keratin are different in some ways but similar in others, and the mites have developed ways to digest both.

Just like feather rot, gill rot has an Earth counterpart. It is caused by a fungal infection. However, not all villagers have gills, so how do they get gill rot?

There is an object you may have seen if you’ve explored Oceandome, called ‘magical gills’. These can actually be held in the side of the mouth, and they filter oxygen directly out of the water. I may make a post on magical gills later, but for now that’s all you need to know. These gills are flawed, however, as if they’re not properly cleaned they can grow the fungus. This fungus then takes root in a villager’s mouth and lips, like a horrible canker sore mixed with a gum infection. Gill lotion is most often sold as a lotion, as gill rot most often affects gilled minipets and shark villagers, but it can also be purchased or made as a toothpaste or oral medicine. Standard procedure for local village doctors is to make a non-toxic lotion that can be applied topically, or held in the mouth and then spit out, so it can be taken in a variety of ways.

This disease cannot affect a villager using diver gear, but many divers have to resort to using a backup pair of magical gills if they run out of oxygen, or in emergencies like if their tank gets damaged. From that point they’re often more likely to catch gill rot, since divers often forget to keep their magic gills clean.

Have you ever wondered why there’s stone slabs on the back of a flying serpent? How are your villagers collecting rock, while walking on a living being? It’s because the marble slabs aren’t stone. It’s chunks of the Serpent’s mighty scales, the pink color drained from them after being chipped off and drying out. So what does this mean for marble allergy? Villagers are not actually allergic to stone- they’re having reactions to the Serpent’s dandruff. Like pollen, when the serpent has a bad shed, or even just has a dry spot, the air is filled with ‘marble’ dust and it irritates the villager’s skin and eyes. It causes sneezing and rashes, and many villagers go to enormous lengths to keep their homes as free from marble dust as possible.

I’ve immediately fallen in love with Worgons, but found their descriptions lacking, so I quickly headcannoned some stuff for them!

Worgons are classed as dragons, and though they may not seem like true dragons at first glance, anyone who comes to own one will see their similarities. They are highly intelligent and quick to learn, live a very long time, and will even begin to hoard shiny objects if given the chance. They form very close bonds with their owners and sometimes even a mate, but should not be introduced to a Worgon of the same gender else they will fight.

However, the trait that sells most people on their draconic heritage is their ability to create heat. As underwater creatures they cannot breathe fire, but their bodies can heat up like a stove. At top temperature, they can actually make the water around them boil! Arctic Worgons use this ability to create perfectly smooth burrows in ice, where they lay in wait for other minipets to swim by. They are ambush predators, and their heating ability makes their bite deadly to anything unlucky enough to fall into their jaws.

Since they are dragons and not fish, Worgons have to breathe air and regularly come up to the surface. This means they can be found in hot environments that have pools of non-water liquid or water with low oxygen content, like volcanos or sulfur pools. However, this is rare as their superheated bites have less effect on animals with a resistance to heat. To keep a Worgon, its owner must have a large pool of liquid with lots of soft ground material, as they naturally burrow and become stressed if they cannot hide. If provided with sand, they will make elaborate and beautiful glass tunnels with their heated bodies!

This is how the Mutant and Robot villages fit into the Terraforming theory,

ROBOT VILLAGE,

 The humans were extremely technologically advanced, and a lot of their technology has survived many years, such as amulets and the robotic monsters seen in the Jousting Tourney. The robot village was the landing place of the first human space ships, and where a lot of the terraforming technology was going to be based. Here, you would find machines built for terraforming, human habitation and comfort, as well as space ships, futuristic weapons, metal supply crates, research equipment, and more. It was also the most optimal position on the planet to place terraforming technology (more on this later). It was the first settlement, but eventually it was abandoned as the settlers quickly discovered how violent the local fauna were, making the area unsuitable as a long-term base. They built special security bots to try and fight the local fauna, but the area was just too populated. It was almost like an active war zone. After they eventually evacuated they had to leave much of their technology behind, leaving a gigantic scrap heap of futuristic technology that later Villagers would eventually repurpose and settle.

So with that, what would eventually become “Silicon Valley” (shoutout to LordMoonBiscuit on FV for coming up with that name on a thread!) was abandoned for the next thousand years. Initially the humans had thought "We'll terraform the atmosphere to fit humanity, and that will kill the native fauna and flora so we can work with a clean slate", but the violent fauna made that extremely difficult and were constantly attacking the terraforming technology, so they had to shift over to get rid of the fauna first. This lead to the creation of Oceandome, placed in a peaceful area where there was reduced risk of monster attacks.

On a side note, for anyone wondering why they don't just bring their terraforming technology to their future settlements, it’s for two main reasons. First off, it was almost impossible to salvage everything from the landing site, as much of the machinery had been set up and was difficult to quickly move while the danger was so great.

Second, the terraforming technology (it's a mouthful to keep typing this, can I just call it terra-tech from this point on?) is best placed in optimal conditions so it doesn't accidentally damage existing atmosphere. One might think it would be best to place it on top of a mountain, but doing that is sort of like blasting a hose full-force at an inflatable pool at point-blank range. You risk popping the pool, or at least damaging a patch of it. Likewise you also don't want to place it in bad conditions, else it'll take much longer to have a good effect. The landing site was the best place for the terra-tech and thus most of it was built there, with a few terra-tech machines placed in a few other places like the mutant village and what would eventually become Dragonsmaw. They probably thought they would be able to go back to their main terra-tech machines after the violent native fauna was driven to extinction and they could fix any damage the weather and the natives caused to it. Of course, that didn’t pan out.

MUTANT VILLAGE,

You may have seen this one on FV itself, but some of the first posts I’m going to be making will be compiling some headcannon/theory things I’ve said around the forums. A lot of my personal theories and headcannons tie back into this one, so I figured this would be a good one to make the first post. I’m going to try to keep this one compatible with any on-site lore, so this theory may change as official lore is added. Enjoy!