SPEEDPAINT slowed down bc it actually took 1000 years

design notes:

all these patterns are from this amazing medieval patterns pack (that i will SO be using more in the future omg) by saturns_day !! they have so many great free brushes

fossas are endemic to madagascar, so i tried to take inspiration from madagascar's indigenous malagasy culture, though i think the only thing that really shows up here is the lamba (cloak)

according to some sources (wikipedia is lowkey the most trustworthy of those i found so take with a grain of salt), fossas are the subject of "fady" aka taboos in malagasy culture. "fady" also happens to be an arabic name (meaning redeemer) so...name be upon ye

fady's fav food is chicken bc fossas eat birds; barely any of my ocs have designated fav foods but i offered fav food chibi sketches with the kemonomedieval adopts so i thought abt this beforehand FHFJ

fossas have semi-retractable claws, which means they're always sticking out but can extend. this is the insp for fady's claw gauntlets, which are activated by a specific mechanism:

short lore:

fady received his name because his mother passed in childbirth, and his father died in a freak accident on his way to see her. the elders of the village took fady in as their ward. surrounded by rumors of his bad luck, fady grew up hyper-vigilant over any possible misfortune that could possibly be his fault. one day, when he happens to enter a room just as a beloved elder passes away from natural causes, fady panics and runs away.

after a few years surviving along busy trade routes as a thief--fady has always been good at running and climbing, though pushing people away to protect them from his bad luck took some practice--fady runs into one of his old fellow orphans, now a courier delivering goods along the trade route. this old playmate tells fady that while he's been missing, several other elders have passed from natural causes. but many of them missed fady and their heartache may have hastened their deaths. plus, the expanding trade is bringing bandits and other threats closer to fady's hometown, and now everyone's in constant danger.

fady realizes with remorse that he'd fled to "protect" the elders, but his absence has instead hurt them. he decides to make up for his flight by returning with his old playmate and using his agility and fighting skills for good. after receiving the forgiveness and blessing of the remaining (and new) elders, fady is gifted armor and special claw gauntlets to help defend the village from bandits.

fady becomes a formidable fighter and earns a reputation big enough for bandit groups to leave his village alone for good. he also learns that his name isn't his fate, and he can bring as much fortune as he does misfortune to keep balancing the scales. this mission eventually takes him back onto the trade route, though he always makes sure to visit home. and while he sees misfortunes in every little thing--someone tripping over their own shoelace, a child dropping a piece of candy--and strives to aid anyone in need, the people whom fady helps know only his kindness.

fady is afab, but there was never any pressure for them to grow up As A Girl (or As A Boy for that matter). they happened to play with the boys more and grew to have a naturally lean-muscled, androgynous build, so people began referring to them with masc pronouns/as a masc person and fady was like okay (thumbs up)

most ppl in fady's village and area are "trans" in that they just grow up to be whatever they want, they have better things to worry about than gender i.e. bandits and trade and being nice to people

you can refer to fady with either he/him or they/them pronouns! ideally one per sentence but that's sort of just a me thing, idk how fady would feel about it i just work here

also the

random extras:

lineless :D + some details im proud of

one last close up, partly so i can have a simple portrait ref without zooming in in the future LOL, and partly bc wahhh lowkey fady is one of my fav designs as of late