A sort of quick first attempt at designing a critter for my personal fantasy world that I've had the idea for for quite a while - a quadrupedal, non-sapient relative of my hedgehog-bird-creature-people.
More info below the cut ↓
"These clever creatures are a common sight in forests that have high levels of magic. Their problem-solving skills and ability to easily sense and track most types of magic along with their social nature make them an appealing choice at first glance for mages looking to form a bond with a magical being or for those searching for an interesting and fun pet. However, living with and properly caring for one is a difficult endeavor that many are unprepared for due to their extremely high intelligence and the fact that they have not yet been truly domesticated, leading to them being a somewhat uncommon mage companion and rarely being seen as pets."
- Thinking about calling them critterhogs or something along those lines lol
- They're capable of walking on their hind legs if they need/want to (carrying food, etc.)
- Have opposable thumbs on their front paws
- While they still have feathers, unlike the hedgehog-bird-creature-people they don't have actual wings and can't fly. Buuuut I imagine they have some sort of patagia/membranes like a sugar glider or flying squirrel and can glide!
- Live in large groups that are usually led by an older female
- Males have longer tail feathers and brighter/more vibrant markings than females, but females are usually a bit larger/bulkier
- The one pictured here is a male kinda sorta based off of a great-tailed grackle
Alsoooo I have a name idea for my hedgehog-bird-creature-people as well - faerie/fairy urchins (or something similar). Buuuuut I'm wondering if for many people urchin will bring to mind like....."street urchins" lmao instead of "archaic term for hedgehog", and they're also not really actual fairies so. Idk this is all still a WIP but I'm trying here lol
