#floxes

Since I already covered Floxes to a point in my [Monsters] post, I’ll be leading off with that. I will make a note of when I stop for those who just came from there, so you can simply scroll past to the new content. 

{Floxes are a very common, intelligent Monster that resemble bipedal dragons with fur instead of scales. A preference to fly rather than walk leads to the false assumption all Floxes waddle; ground-bound Floxes can walk and run as steadily as any other bipedal species. They can range from a mere foot in length, to close to six feet tall. Capable of human speech, and in fact have their own language, society, and culture, but a close proximity to humans over time added some human customs and familiarity. Personalities among them vary widely, but they tend to be very family-oriented, going as far as to forgo last names so marriages only bring groups together. A very social species, and have no misgivings with invading the personal space of someone they trust, and vice versa. As such, some elect to keep some as pets. There are debates on the derogatory nature of such an act, but the Floxes themselves don’t complain so long as they’re treated kindly.

The ability for a Flox to use Ux is at a baseline greater than a human’s, as every Flox, including Sereph Floxes, can use Air Ux with their wings to aid in flight, as well as “float” by expelling it from their wings. In addition to this innate Type, Floxes also have the potential to use other Types, two more being the most common. Floxes still can only have use of Air Ux, but such cases leave the Flox in particular with extreme flight capabilities. Floxes also have their own Pseudo Type, tied to their flight ability. While exceedingly weak on its own, Floxes with increased Air capabilities still have the potential to induce Changing in humans they encounter.}

[NEW CONTENT]

In this new section, I’ll be diving more into the differences between the genders of Flox and trends in appearance, their customs, and significant anecdotes.  (Shoutout to @snowysaur for doing the refs for me! Lots of cute stuff over there!)

This is an example of a male Flox. They have less muscle mass and density than their female counterparts, but are more agile fliers and shed/grow a “winter coat” when local temperatures reach sufficient lows. This coat is thicker than a female’s all-around coat, but the female’s coat is a better insulator. Thanks to a male’s capacity to better manifest their Ux outside their bodies, they tend to have more options in combat versus just raw strength. 

This is a female Flox; note the wider hips and thick chest fur. These two factors are key in identifying gender and makes mistaking gender difficult. She is more muscular than a male Flox and is pound-for-pound stronger, and is capable of lifting one and a half times that of a male at matching weight. The key to this strength is utilizing Ux in her muscles, rather than the wings where male Flox have specialized it for speedy flight. A female Flox is purpose-built for caring for her young, the fur on her chest allowing them to nurse even in the harsh cold where the species originated.  Floxes give birth to live young, with one child being the norm, but twins and “litters” are still fairly common thanks to high fertility compared to other species, increasing with the size of the Flox. A Flox child reaches full development rapidly, starting off very small and growing larger the longer it is carried, ultimately leading to larger Floxes when they reach an adult stage. This is what leads to the large variation between sizes, and their fertility ultimately being the limiter on how large or small that range is. Small Floxes rarely have more than one child at a time, and large Floxes frequently have multiple unless environmental factors limit that capacity.  A well-known way for a Flox to increase fertility despite their size is to consume dragon fruit, the unique scent and flavor eliciting an immediate sexual stimulation and leading to it inevitably becoming a controlled substance where large Flox populations exist due to abuse of the fruit from Flox and humans alike. 

The two genders still share a number of aspects that influence their appearance, despite the numerous differences genetics offers them. Fur markings range from nothing to extremely complex designs, with no clear indication as to what influences them. These markings follow the same trends their fur, mane, webbing, and eyes follow: an indication of the Ux Types of the individual in question.  To utilize the two above, let’s start with the male. His yellow and silver are indications of his ability to use Lighting and Metal, and while the webbing (and inner ears) are darker, it doesn’t remove from this. However, there are still instances like with the female, who appears to have three or even four different Types, but only the orange is indicative of her Types. (Nova, and the second is unknown.) These five color aspects (webbing, mane/hair, fur, fur markings, and eyes) can vary widely, but a Flox always has one of their colors a mark of the Ux they can utilize, even if it’s very weak. But as with any species that has appearances based on Ux, there isn’t a strict standard of one color per Type. Red can indicate Fire, Sun, and Nova. This will be explored in more detail when I explain Ux Types in a more advanced light. 

The original customs of Floxes have been diluted from a close relationship with humans, as mentioned above, but utilize human customs in a Floxish manner versus complete mimicry. “Floxish” is the name humans have given the Floxes’ language, which has a unique dialect between humans and Monsters due to different hearing ranges altering the syntax.  For a Flox, it’s normal to be more interactive with those in their community, including hugging strangers and other physical actions to indicate affection, or more violent ones to indicate distrust. Visiting communities where humans are rare can lead to being mobbed by curious children and adults alike, but they have implemented fragrances or sashes to indicate a discomfort with such actions to better accommodate visitor’s preferences.  A notable community that doesn’t follow these tenets of behavior; Yitkin. “Yitkin” is Floxish for “grey-haired” and was named after Tommori Felkin, who organized a starving Flox community into a mining and foundry city, despite his young age at the time. These Floxes were oftentimes at the largest end of the Floxes’ sizes, and boasted pitch black fur despite living in a desert wasteland. Due to Tommori’s close influence and that of humans as the city developed, the Floxish part of their culture faded to something more strictly inter-Flox.  As isolated populations rose after the incidents of the Great War and those surrounding the Dragon Drive, Flox culture flourished and could hold sharper distinction from human culture. 

Another important note with Flox biology, to return to dragon fruit’s aphrodisiac-al effects, is that of other foods, particularly fragrant fruits, bringing about a specific reaction. This is due in part to a lack of sweet and fragrant foods in their original habitat and coincidences with their natural pheromones. While dragon fruit is the substance with the most apparent effect, other fruits have been known to cause serious harm and death due to Floxes’ unique metabolism. Some on the known list of poisons include many fruits that would normally allow a human to replenish and utilize more Ux than they previously could. Ux in the fruit itself also plays a significant part in these reactions, compounded in the more potent reactions.