Heart's megafauna pt1
Common critters found around Heart kingdom, many of them roam in and out the Heart’s queen castle and are more than attached to Queen Lolopechika, much to the Spirit guardians’ (minus Gajah) dismay
Similar to the elves in Elysia, the Heart kingdom over the years developed a good bond with the critters that wander around the land, some may have serve for intimidation tactics when the neighboring kingdoms weren’t as willing to be civilized but nowadays most of the ones that were domesticated make for good companions
Gossypium lion/Cotton lion
Cotton magic
Social felines that form prides up to 20 or more individuals, they roams the open plains of Heart and nap on top of cliff where they can get a good doses of sunlight.
Standing almost as tall as a medium size horse, cotton grows around the males’ whole neck forming a mane while females grow it only on the back, though this is more related to their mana levels, health and season.
Their manes start to fall when the cold months end and get replaced by flower petals till the cold starts again, they will go through spiky trees to get all of the cotton off before growing their flowers.
In Heart, people either collect the cotton from the trees wild lions use to get the cotton off or brush themselves from domestic ones to manufacture different fabrics, some sell it to other kingdoms or even take requests on what kind of designs they want to put in the chosen purchased item.
Although carnivorous, these animals can stand going through long periods without food by lowering their mobilization patterns and spending time basking in the sun.
Domestic ones tent to grab their owners as if they were little cubs, drag them to a corner and curl around them, probably not letting them go for hours since they decided that their owners are in need for some cuddles.
Cumulus leopard/Cloud leopard
Cloud magic
Agile ambush felines that can walk and land on clouds as if they were solid ground, sky dropping when last expected.
Easily reaching a mage to the elbows, these big cats can use a technique akin to mana skin to control their falling velocity or temporally levitate for when they hop from one cloud to another, in order to make any necessary adjustments and prevent injuries.
They come in a variety of different coats that range through all the colors of the sky, blue, orange, yellow, etc, some people in Heart nickname them rainbow leopards due to this.
The clusters of clouds hugging their necks and other limbs varies depending on the altitude the felines are, the higher they go the more covered they get, meanwhile in lesser altitudes clouds can only be seen levitating over their necks.
A leopard which lives constantly in solid ground will have a hard time creating cloud platforms in quick succession contrary to one living in the sky.
In contrast to their wild counterparts, domestic leopards can’t handle staying in high altitudes for long periods of time, often parents need to keep an eye on their kids otherwise the house leopard might take them for a joy ride.
Ursus beaver/Bear beaver
Wood magic
Also known as thick-pelted beavers, these bear size rodents habits rivers and lakes that run around the Heart kingdom, building dams, lodges and cutting down trees with teeth that could easily rip a limb with little effort
Smart and mischievous, they are prone to get attracted by shiny objects in their more younger stages which leads to many people in Heart losing their belongings, reason as to why not many will have collections of shiny things
Youngsters are able to dig long tunnels that start at their core lodges and extend at random creating the strangest underground mazes that helps them stay away from predators, as adults they don't use tunnels nor dig, their size allows them to be less worried preys
Though thick looking, their coats allows them to float around like a raft which helps keep kits afloat when they are still learning to swim, although youngsters will rather prefer to use their parents as boats than getting in the water
They often use their magic to extend the trees they have already cut down and avoid long taxing trips from their homes when the trees are too far away
People that live with one often plop down on their backs as they lay spreaded on the floor instead of going for a couch, in return the beaver sometimes will lay on top of them as if its were a living weighted blanket
Euryale sloth/Swamp sloth
Water magic
Some of the biggest mammals in Heart easily looming over human for half a meter when walking on all four legs, usually staying submerged underwater in swamps with only their nose peeking out while its head gets hidden by a lilypad.
Good swimmers that can hold their breath for half hour, they will climb trees that are thick enough to support their weight only when they're looking for something that usually would be out of their diets, like flowers or even honey when they feel adventurous.
Though not lazy in any way, their preference for staying in water rather than land has allowed small algae to grow in their fur, the habits of rolling around in mud for time to time doesn’t help them get rid of it despite that the green makes for a good camouflage.
Mothers and other females frequently end up picking lost baby creatures with them to their lairs, even males tend to fo this from time to time, when this happens individuals’ aggression levels increase making swamps a dangerous place to wander.
Their magic normally acts clothing their claws and tail making their blows stronger than normal but they can also shot water water at high pressure through their mouths, enough to blow a hole in a tree.
Domestic sloth usually act like guards to small children in places like schools, orphanages or playgrounds, some children climb them like they were another attraction in the place, adults are not recommended to get too close unless the sloths knows them priorly.
Bonus info
Queen Lolopechika has a blue leopard named Spots that loves messing around by either “borrowing” people’s grimoires or flooding the castle with clouds
A small pride (12 individuals) of cotton lions although very chill, they will take the queen off her chambers or throne room and hide her somewhere among cotton manes, Gajah has increasingly getting the same treatment as years go by, nowadays other guardians have to negotiate with the pride to get the queen back
Sloths and Beavers commonly like to lay around the castle floors or hang in the underground pools, sometimes liking to slide around the floors after a dip making people slip when they walk pass